Our business predictions for 2022
In the blink of an eye, 2021 is almost over. We’re sure you’ll agree that it was another very unusual year as the world continued to face the social and economic fallout of COVID-19.
But what does this mean for 2022? Lightbulb Managing Director, Fiona McKay, has given us her predictions for the next year. And while COVID has had a devastating impact, it has also provided businesses with a clear roadmap of opportunity, and we explore where those opportunities are, and what you can do across 2022 to achieve success.
Women-Led Investments Will Flourish
In March we published the Lightbulb report on Trailblazing Women In Investment, we discussed ‘what the world would look like if women controlled the money?’ Though still hugely unbalanced, we’re seeing an increase in female-led companies attracting significant investment. In 2021, female founders raised over $51 billion and continued to outperform expectations.
The exit times for female-founded companies were also 13% faster, at an average of 6.7 years. Fiona predicts that this trend will continue through 2022, especially in the FemTech sector.
See how we help Female Founded businesses.
2. Coaching Will Be Key
Identifying and accelerating leadership talent will become a priority. The focus will change from traditional leadership training to a focus on self-actualisation and creative balance. Coaching leaders to unleash their full purpose on the future rather than just goals and steps to achieve will be critical.
There is also a case to be made for women-only programs to tackle gender bias and imposter syndrome which are not typically addressed in leadership training.
Learn more about how we coach leaders of the future
3. Leadership Ethics Will Take Centre Stage
CEOs and boards can no longer hide. The spotlight is now firmly on the ethical standards of every company. There have been enough corporate horror stories involving brands such as Facebook and BrewDog that companies should be setting out their ethical stance in 2022. Failure to do this will cost you customers and colleagues and drive talent and potential investors away from your business.
4. Role Sharing In The C-Suite
The traditional figurehead CEO will be replaced and role-share will take centre stage. Modern-day post-COVID CEOs need a range of different capabilities, which are almost impossible for one person to embody.
By role sharing in the C-suite, you’re multiplying your talent pool and removing the risk of having a single point of failure. We’re going to start to see future and R&D focused CEO’s working alongside their peer CEO focusing on functional excellence. For example, Netflix has two CEOs - one who leads content and the other leads streaming.
5. Diversity & Inclusion Will Drive Every Decision
It’s been proven time and again that companies with strong representation across genders, backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities perform better. Yet many businesses are still falling short and talent with disabilities is just plain overlooked.
In 2022, we’re going to see D&I be central in every aspect of company decision-making.
6. The Great Migration Will Hit
While we’re still in the grip of ‘The Great Resignation’, the next battle for talent is going to be impacted by ‘The Great Migration.’ Talent will be drawn to companies that have a sense of purpose and ethical standpoint.
Companies with less than spotless ethical records, or those basically ‘greenwashing’ will find it difficult to retain employees.
7. An M&A Growth Bonanza
Some companies flourished across the pandemic, the deal landscape skyrocketed, valuations soared and founders received multiples that they didn’t think were possible. Expect to see more businesses being acquired, but integration and culture valuations will become a critical value indicator and value creator. For those who’ve worked hard and invested in their culture and ESG driven leadership teams, sit back and watch your valuations soar and enjoy less time and cost challenges in integration.
Learn more about our culture and leadership due diligence
8. Leadership Becomes About Adaptability Not Capability
If the pandemic has taught businesses anything, it’s that leaders need to be agile and adapt to changing futures. While many businesses are great at training their leaders in managing the day-to-day practicalities, equipping them to lead in unknown futures has been neglected.
There’s going to be much more investment not only in leadership training but developing adaptability to be visionary future-focused ‘intrapreneurs’.
And in response to the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on women and the gender stereotypical challenges that they face, women-only leadership development programmes will soar. In a recent survey of women viewed as high potential, 93% said that they think that women-only leadership programs are important to their development to become impact leaders in the world.
Find out more about our Futures Not Functions ™ and Winning Women ™ Leadership Development Programmes.
9. Culture Curators
The huge move towards remote and hybrid working has created a need for a different kind of approach. Trying to overlay a culture onto a remote workforce, for many just isn’t working.. Instead, companies will be devoting new resources to define and curate cultures. That will include building cultures that encapsulate belonging in hybrid, remote and work-from-anywhere locations, and adapting their companies to accommodate it.
10. Personalised working experiences
Take a look on LinkedIn and you’ll find poll after poll about whether people prefer working from the office, working from home, or something in between. Certain sectors are coming across as more reticent to adapt their working practices.
In 2022, companies are going to realise that there isn’t a ‘size that fits all’ to working conditions. Personalised working experiences that fit in with an employee’s individual circumstances are going to become more common and necessary to attract and retain the very best talent.
Final thoughts
These 10 predictions focus on how businesses can adapt and capitalise on new emerging opportunities. As many sectors of the economy come out of survival mode, there are a lot of positives to take from these predictions.
Fiona commented, “there is a myriad of growth opportunities ahead but that growth has to serve a tripartite group of dependents - your colleagues, your customers and the communities that you serve. Embrace this across 2022 and watch this significantly drive positive digit P+L movement and top and bottom-line results that drive real commercial returns.”
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