The workplace has always been an atmosphere that is subject to constant change. Over the past year it has been among the most impacted when it comes to the many technological changes that took place in the world. Changes, big or small took a toll on the traditions and practices that was once considered the norm within the workplace, transforming itself to a place that keeps growing. To the millennials who are just walking into the work environment, these practices that were once considered standards, becomes rather alienating attributes that stand out. These often hold in them a sense of structure that was once considered a discipline within the workplace. Here are a few practices to bid farewell in the years to come.

Organisational hierarchy

The traditional workplace took the shape of a pyramid in all aspects concerning the workflow of the organisation. The information, decisions to executions took a top down flow where the superior roles of the organisation would direct the required activities, goals and tasks to be completed to those that were in the operational composition of the structure. This often took away the voice of many who would have more input towards the organisation’s future. Now: The new culture promotes a flat organisational structure that allows communication, decisions and information to flow among all employees within the organisation allowing everyone to be a part of the organisation’s wellbeing. Technology involvement has brought in a visual aspect to the organisational structure, connecting the employees to the organisations functionalities indicating each individual’s roles along with the risks and impact of loss on each entity.

Fixed working hours

The terms agile working, flexible working hours and working from home have slowly taken the strict and structured working hours away from the work place almost completely. Allowing employees to maintain a better work life balance while effectively engaging in work and life commitments with equal attention. This not only takes away the restriction of a set time period of work, but also allows employees to work comfortably even at the comforts of their homes. The technological advancements taken place have allowed almost anyone to complete the work from wherever they might be, with easy accessibility to information and resources at any given time.

Now: GPS enabled tracking solutions and HR information systems, bring in an element of ease and practicality to this practice that is slowly taking over the world by a storm. Systems enable employees to virtually stay connected with the organisation from wherever they maybe. From performance management to leave management, and timesheets are controlled by cloud solutions that cater to the human resources practices of the organisation.

Workplace dynamics

The typical workplace is just a confined space where four walls and a roof sheltered all those who were a part of the organisation. This has taken a drastic change over the years, where organisations focus of creating a dedicated atmosphere for employees to feel comfortable and relaxed to work in. From the facilities available, the color of paint used on the wall and the culture within has been through immense change compared to what it was before. The changes take different forms, where some practice simple and comfortable where as other take it to the grandest of scales, creating almost wonderland of resources and comforts to work with.

Now: larger organisation become trendsetters in redesigning the workplace dynamics that change the attributes surrounding the atmosphere completely. Ranging from relaxing areas, healthy food stations to even game rooms that will create a relaxed and comfortable work environment. Did you know that Google headquarters provides its employees with a gourmet food station, massages for a small fee, pool facilities and even the ability to bring their own pets to work.

Employee review

Employee reviews/appraisals have been a long term tradition that has travelled along years of changes to what it is now. What was once an annual encounter that required a formal discussion and paperwork, is taken up a notch, with the use of technology in the human resources aspect. The encounter are regular than an annual meeting, and the discussion take a more friendly nature where the details discussed are added to HR solutions that collect the input of all employees with managerial feedback to generate an overall picture of the organisations performance status. The information that was once idling by with very less impact adds great.

Now: performance management tools allows comprehensive analysis and insights into the efforts of the employees against organizational goals and expected results. The analytical representation and the structure approach provides greater possibilities of improvements with lesser effort and higher efficiency.

The typical organisational structure changes its course completely with the arrival of new technology, changing requirements, elevating expectation and standards. The new organisation takes a bigger better look with the multitude of changes that occur on a daily basis. The changes take charge with the power of the digital force that constantly changes the functionalities and practices of the entire organisation.