Executive search firm Allegis Partners, part of Allegis Group, released today its list of the top five trends driving workplace change in 2016. The list was compiled through research with C-level executives over several months.

“The pace of change today is so great we can’t reliably predict what the workplace will look like in three years,” said Michael Bergen, managing partner and global practice head of human resources for Allegis Partners. “Companies are figuring out how to manage economic, technological and cultural change in a world that shifts the second they think have a plan. The trends we identified are shaping the workplace for 2016 as organizations create the mindsets and strategies, and hire the people, to lead their markets and thrive.”

The top five trends for 2016:

• Talent analytics: Data Rules the World. MBA talent that once scoffed at careers in human resources is now seeing opportunity in the role digital technology plays in developing a talented organization, and the potential path of analytics management to the C-suite role of chief human resources officer.
• Millennials: Making noise, forcing change. Millennials, once seen as entitled and immature, are the workforce of the next 40 years, and organizations are waking up to the fact that they need strategies to develop, motivate and retain them.
• Diversity: Action at long last. Perennially talked about with far too little progress, diversity lands in the headlines now and then in places like Mizzou and reminds us that young people demanding equity will graduate in short order to the workplace. Titles and occasional hires aren’t enough, but a long, sustained process of creating diversity of thought, imprinting respect and openness on the DNA of an organization top to bottom could be the answer.
• Culture and engagement: Work happy, work harder. Silicon Valley understood early on the connection between culture and engagement, creating flexible work environments to meet the lifestyle needs of employees so they would spend more time at work (productivity) and build loyalty to their company (retention). Today culture and engagement are more difficult to achieve with a mobile, multi-generational workforce with widely varied cultural backgrounds and individual needs.
• Human resources: Driving talent trumps filling jobs. Human resources departments charged with creating strong organizations and leadership are focused on changing their identity (“talent” and “development” rather than “personnel” and “training,” for example). Organizations are moving from a traditional benefits and payroll mentality to harnessing data and insight to predict employee success, improve performance, identify leaders and move on a dime when market forces change. These are elevated responsibilities that require strategic thinkers capable of sitting at the table with the CEO and the board.