At the start of the year, the US Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) highlighted five trends to watch out for in 2023. At number one was companies having to rethink how they do business due to pressures such as supply chain issues and technology advancements. Within that, leadership would need to address workforce morale following the ‘Great Resignation’, with firms having to create a shared vision that supports, for example, staff values, work/life balance, mental health awareness, and hybrid telecommuting models.
Next up was staff training. Fewer people working coupled with more jobs, more diversity in available jobs and more competition across industries make workers arguably the most pressing issue, the AEM said. Because of these challenges, development should be a top priority. “It’s becoming increasingly clear up-skilling, re-skilling and new-skilling employees on an ongoing basis is fast becoming the new normal,” it said.
The ongoing impact of supply chain issues was the third trend, with the AEM pointing to workforce shortages and access to intermediate components for production as the driving factors. However, it added there were reasons to be optimistic that “challenges will start to abate over the course of this year”.
Number four was the rise of alternative power, with the AEM stating that this year would represent “an inflection point for new power sources over the coming decade”, while the final trend listed stated that communications would take a leading role in helping to address challenges, identify opportunities and drive success, and that a renewed focus on internal communications was needed.
Whether the AEM’s predictions have so far proven accurate or not is, as it happens, neither here nor there in my view, as I think the five trends contain within them important points for any business to consider as they look to negotiate the second half of the year.
Go to https://shorturl.at/muwP7 to see the list in full.
