Bring Your Business Processes Into 2022

Trends for 2022 or business creativity with text and young person using computer. Planning and strategy. Image taken frim iStock Getty

Workplace trends to look out and prepare for this year

To ensure success it’s crucial that organizations keep an eye on workplace trends and patterns. “Best Practices” for business management seem to always be evolving. To help, we’ve identified three trends we expect you’ll be seeing this year

1. The Digitization & the Automation of Processes

Have you noticed your neighborhood deli is now accepting Apple Pay? What about your go-to take-out restaurant suddenly appearing on delivery apps? You may have the pandemic to thank for that. According to a recent article from PYMNTS, Covid-19 has pushed some late-adopters into the digital age. In fact, they cite that 61% of CFO’s report the pandemic having a positive impact on their internal digitization.

The digitization of payment and other point-of-sale enhancements may offer convenience to customers, but it also helps businesses manage, track, and automate their financial processes. Whether it’s aimed at customer experience, internal workflows, or back office management- digitization is associated with productivity, a smaller margin of error, and an increase in speed and reliability. Automation and digitization can take a business from complexity to clarity in a few steps- hence why we’re confident this will be a leading trend for 2022. 

Not sure where to start? Zapier helps you to connect the software and apps you already use in order to automate processes- and it syncs with your PEX account!

2. New Workflows & Resources to Support Hybrid Work

Over the last two years, companies and individuals alike needed to adjust to a new way of living and working due to the pandemic. During this time we saw traditional workplace practices be replaced with newer, more flexible alternatives. At first this was a matter of necessity but now that there’s been time to adjust- we expect the focus to shift from implementation to optimization of hybrid and remote work.

1. Productivity Tools: The key to any successful hybrid work environment is communication and organization. Make sure staff stays efficient, on schedule, and ‘in the know’ by implementing project management or productivity tools. Some popular ones to look into are Smartsheet, Monday.com, and Trello.
2. Virtual Payment: Now that it’s much more difficult to securely pass a corporate card around, finding alternatives is key in making sure your finances are protected. Virtual cards can ensure purchases are automatically allocated to the right department, project, or budget. Learn more about virtual cards for vendor payment and procurement.

3. Innovative Employee Perks & Allowances

To address this increasingly common attitude amongst candidates and to retain talent- we predict that 2022 will be the year organizations implement reward programs that go beyond typical benefits. 

There has been a nationwide initiative -driven by both the pandemic and the evolving job market- to create flexible and healthier work environments. In TechRadar’s recent article they state  “Potential employees are looking out for themselves more than ever in 2022.. companies that want to hire the best staff will have to respond to this trend”.

1. Employee Allowances: Remote work can come at an added cost for employees. A one time stipend to purchase work-from-home materials, or a recurring allowance for increased bills can help offset expenses for staff. For organizations that prefer in-person, providing funds to offset commuting costs may help convince employees to return to the office. 
2. Recognition Programs: Keep employees engaged and motivated by creating spot reward initiatives or quarterly recognition programs for those that go above and beyond.
3. Wellness Benefits: In an effort to promote work-life balance or healthy living, many organizations are choosing to provide employees with gym memberships or work-out classes.

Streamline your efforts to implement any of the above by providing employees with reloadable debit cards. Managers can add funds as needed, while employees can review purchases and check balances. 

Talk to one of our PEX experts about how we can help you get ahead of this year’s trends