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Over the course of 2022, organizations have undergone massive changes largely due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the economic recession, and innovations that continue to change how people do business.

As the year comes to an end, there is a high expectation that the overarching business trends of 2022 and practices will continue into 2023.

This guide examines the main ones to help you understand how you can make your company more productive and profitable.

Let’s get right into it.

1. Technology

Technology integration in business has mainly occurred via two methods in 2022: industrial technology and information technology assimilation.

Industrial technology improves productivity, safety, and profitability through the use of engineering and manufacturing technology. The process improves internal processes and enables people processes.  Informational technology is valuable in enabling better customer experiences.

Some general trends that are currently affecting both industrial and information technology include the increasing use of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the rise of Internet of Things, and the growing popularity of cloud computing.

For instance, Johnson Controls utilizes the industrial internet of things (IIoT) for its automotive, building, and power sectors. An example is the use of Smart Connected Chillers that make buildings more comfortable by sending intermittent temperature data to experts. This makes it easier to control adverse temperatures. The technology’s capacity to monitor air quality further enhances the customer experience, since the experts can use this information to enact proper maintenance measures. 

On its part, IT is being used as a customer-facing technology that provides better customer experiences. For example, with the onset of multilevel marketing, organizations such as Amway and Herbalife are utilizing this opportunity to enhance the brand experience by using social commerce to sell products. This move creates an augmented customer experience, enhances connectivity between customers from different continents, and expands the digital ecosystem. It also becomes easier to collect research data straight from the actual marketplace.

2. Shared Services

Shared services refer to dedicated units that are structured and centralized to focus on specific business functions. These units can include processes, technologies, or people that are integrated to serve different organizational roles.

For example, human resources, information technology, and back-office activities can become shared services between companies. The aim is to minimize service duplication, accelerate globalization, unify governance, enable knowledge sharing, and generate cohesiveness.

It is recommended that the shared services centers meet the following criteria:

• Have a global reach to enhance productivity and minimize costs.
• Become standardized by leveraging global process owners (GPOs).
• Integrate automation to augment organizational capabilities and trigger continuous process improvement.
• Integrate an expansion strategy to widen the scope in the long term.

Siemens Global Business Services (GBS), a Shared Service Organization (SSO) that falls under Siemens AG, provides business process optimization and value-add digital services to companies. This move enables clients to develop unique experiences, such as through NextGenP2P, an automated and digitized payment platform that boosts efficiency.

Another top-performing SSO has been The Kellogg Company’s in-house human resources SSO which has helped improve employee satisfaction within the organization. The ability to share knowledge, generate cohesiveness and utilize collaborative tools has improved interconnectedness and made it easier to manage workplace relationships.

3. New Partnerships With Companies Across Industries

The creation of business partnerships across industries is another top trend that will probably continue to take place in 2023. These partnerships are opening up new doors and unforeseen opportunities for organizations, creating new customer experiences, and fostering knowledge sharing.

For example, GoPro and Red Bull have created a co-branding partnership based on their shared values for adventure and boldness. BMW and Louis Vuitton have also assumed a similar inclination, although the focus here is on luxury and high-quality craftsmanship. Both partnerships have since improved the speed-to-market capability of all brands involved due to enhanced brand awareness.

Crafting an effective strategy for complex business partnerships demands a holistic approach. To build on solid grounds, it is necessary to lay down clear foundations and prioritize communication, understanding of other cultures and capabilities as well as performance measurement along with accountability. With this comprehensive framework in place, successful outcomes are within reach!

4. Hyper-Localization

Hyper-localization is a modern retail trend that entails creating highly personalized and well-targeted content for consumers in each individual market. The process makes use of data collected at the local, regional, or city level and focuses on understanding the modern customer and their online search behaviors.

In today’s business landscape, hyper-localization takes up the following forms:

• The issuing of promotions and coupon codes to customers within a specific region.
• Providing personalized customer recommendations and tailoring in-store trends to meet local customers’ demands.
• A combination of these two approaches and the sending of periodic, personalized promotions to customers through email or text message.

Airbnb, the world’s leading home booking and stay online marketplace, is widely recognized for its focus on hyper-local content. The company primarily leverages community marketplaces to sponsor content around shared rooms and private rooms.

With this strategy, Airbnb has overseen immense growth since the company was launched in 2007. The key strategy has been the use of social media to empower customers, where the organization provides city guides, posts blog articles, and publishes a magazine on its website.

Airbnb also utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to provide personalized experiences based on search histories, preferences, and locations. This move makes it possible to forecast and optimize content, aligning the physical customer experience (PEx) with the digital customer experience (DEx) in the process.

Netflix also invests in hyper-localization by localizing payment methods across regions. For example, in the Asia-Pacific region, the company has begun allowing customers to pay for subscriptions via Unified Payments Interfaces (UPIs), direct carriers, and digital wallets. Such automated payment methods will help Netflix to reduce costs and increase operational efficiency in the long run.

5. Hybrid Work Models Continue to Rise and Are Changing HR Management

Hybrid work models are being touted as the future of work, and it is easy to see why. More and more workers want the flexibility that comes with choosing where to work from. Companies are also using this opportunity to reduce overhead costs, improve digital collaboration, and enhance employee well-being.

With hybrid work, workers can operate in-office, remotely, and on the go. The advantage is that the autonomy to choose their preferred working space helps increase job satisfaction and productivity.

An ideal example of a company that has been embracing this trend is Spotify. The organization encourages employees to choose any location or region they prefer and select a work mode that works for them. Spotify also runs a Working From Anywhere blog that helps workers understand how hybrid work would potentially improve their well-being, allows them to use collaborative technology, and improves the levels of engagement and communication with colleagues from around the globe.

Apple Inc. also maintains a hybrid work policy that only requires employees to work three days from the office. The aim is to boost employee morale and to gradually integrate the hybrid work culture into the company.

In the future, there are indications that more organizations will adopt flexible workplace models. Research indicates that 71% of Americans worked entirely from home at the height of the pandemic. Of course, most people have begun working from the office again.

However, since most business leaders now understand the perks that come with hybrid workplace models, it can be expected that more and more will integrate these into their company cultures.

6. Gaming

Through gamification, organizations are integrating game elements within non-game contexts. This has allowed them to inject interactive game mechanics into business processes, which helps improve brand awareness, fosters productivity, and enhances engagement.

For example, Domino’s Pizza introduced a Pizza Maker course that uses gamification to train and reward employees. The game incorporates simulations throughout the learning experience, which allows them to learn faster and improve their accuracy when making pizzas.

Through this model, Domino’s Pizza has improved brand awareness, created more engagement, and fashioned innovative training opportunities.

Gucci recently launched the Gucci Garden virtual world for Roblox. Users can create digital avatar items and connect with friends in the virtual world. The aim is to celebrate the company’s creative vision, provide added engagement, and work with customers as designers in the creative experience.

As more organizations embrace gamification, they will become better placed to enhance brand awareness and recall, generate consumer insights and opportunities, and study behavioral changes (as is the case with Deloitte’s leadership training program) and social impact causes. 

Due to these associated benefits, it’s little wonder that mobile gaming is expected to rise globally by 2025 due to ease of access, new adoptions, and increased marketing spending.

Adapt Your Business to Change

In this guide, we have discussed the major business trends of 2022 that we feel will carry on into 2023.

We have shown how your business can benefit from technological integration, shared services, business partnerships, hyper-localization, hybrid work models, and gamification. 

In a rapidly changing business world, companies that last are those with strong leaders who create an open environment for teams to share opinions openly without fear. By encouraging input from everyone and fostering transparency about what they don’t know, the questions “What did you learn?” “How do you know?” and “What do you need to learn next?” can be addressed collaboratively no matter where your company is headed.  

At Symmetri Consulting we specialize in empowering executives with the tools necessary to build robust teams dedicated to finding creative solutions – contact us today if interested in learning how this could benefit your organization!