Shaping the Future: Emerging trends that impact operations
- RIE Solutions
- Jan 29
- 7 min read
Imagine a leader who could predict the future. Decision-making, risk management and strategic planning would be a lot easier. Yet, in reality, one of the greatest challenges leaders face is identifying and prioritising objectives based on potential future trends. This requires a careful balance of foresight, adaptability, and informed decision-making to navigate uncertainty. While you may think that it’s a bit of a gamble, we’d argue that a close observation of global, as well as more national patterns of behaviour and developments combined with what we know of human psychology, and historic insights can result in rather accurate predictions of future trends. This in turn, enables proactive decision-making, risk management, and strategic planning, giving firms a competitive edge. Managers can optimise resource allocation, enhance customer satisfaction, and drive sustainable growth, which are crucial elements for maintaining resilience and achieving long-term success. As Peter Drucker said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it”.
To help you with your dilemma here is our list. We suggest that the financial services sector in the UK is poised to undergo significant transformations in 2025 and beyond, driven by, amongst other things, these various trends:
1. Increased Mental Health Problems in the Workplace
We anticipate that UK businesses will experience a surge in mental health issues, including burnout and anxiety, as employees struggle to keep up with rapid changes and mounting pressures.
With the projected speed of change, including technological advancements and the need for constant upskilling, we anticipate an increase in mental health problems. Thanks to the Kubler-Ross Change Curve and other similar models which outline the emotional journey individuals undergo during significant work/life events, we know that it’s a bumpy ride. But knowing the different stages, the first one being shock and denial, managers can prepare accordingly and support teams through transitions, ensuring smoother implementation of changes.
According to recent studies, poor mental well-being costs UK employers an estimated £42 to £45 billion annually through presenteeism, sickness absence, and staff turnover. The need for proactive mental health support and flexible working arrangements is more critical than ever to foster a resilient and engaged workforce.
Our first Master Practitioners Club webinar in 2025 with Nick Elston and Zoe Thompson tackled this issue specifically for Operations Directors and Leaders of small to medium-sized businesses. The webinar “Leading Through Conversations: Mental Health Support for Operations Leaders” provided practical guidance on how to create and maintain a healthy well-being culture, manage mental health conversations, and navigate the challenges of supporting employees—especially when resources are limited, and legal concerns are at play.
Question: How are you and your team coping with all this fast-paced change?
2. The Need for an Agile Approach to Project Management
Having an agile approach to project management is becoming more and more essential in business to swiftly adapt to various regulatory changes, changing customer needs and expectations, and to maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
This iterative approach allows for greater flexibility and adaptability compared to more traditional project management methodologies, enabling teams to respond quickly to changing requirements and deliver value incrementally. In contrast, more traditional approaches, such as waterfall, may result in the planned changes being outdated before the project has even come to an end.
Our blog “Thriving amidst change: can agile methodology be an answer?” has some valuable suggestions for adopting an agile approach.
Question: Is your business agile?
3. Training Needs: Closing the Digital Skills Gap and Embracing Lifelong Learning
As the British educator Sir Christopher Ball (Founder and Chair of the Campaign for Learning 1988-1996) and a lifelong learning advocate notes, “we belong to the first generation that knows for certain that it doesn’t know what the future will be like”.
The digital skills gap remains a significant challenge for UK businesses. Research indicates that 27% of UK workers lack the digital skills required to perform their job competently. To address this gap, there is a growing emphasis on lifelong learning and targeted training programmes to upskill teams and ensure that they can thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 two-fifths of the core skills workers have today will be disrupted by technological change by 2027. Half of all workers’ core skills will need to be updated every five years.
There will undoubtedly be changes to roles and responsibilities as technology evolves – businesses will need to upskill teams. To do that leaders need to understand their teams’ strengths, limitations, aspirations, and have a good idea as to how the roles in their organisation are likely to change in the coming years.
Are you having regular 1:2:1s, are you ensuring that your team sees an opportunity to engage with tech as something that can benefit them or are you focused on the increase in productivity alone, which isn’t an approach that we’d advocate. According to Davies’ Financial Services Insights Report 2024 46% of business leaders selected improving operational efficiency as a key focus for their company, making it the most commonly chosen option. Investing in technology (42%), recruiting and retaining talent (34%), improving their product or service offering (34%), and expanding into new markets (30%) completed their top five. Remaining compliant (29%) and improving their ESG offering (24%) rounded off their list.
Question: What skills do you and your team need to pick up on in 2025?
MPC members can watch a playback of the Ops Webinar from August 2024 “Preparing your team for what’s ahead” and “The evolution of organisational structures in the era of technological revolution with Dominika Sieradzka-MacCuirc” to help you prepare.
4. Reframing Change: Constant Flow and Faster Pace
“Experts say our lives will change faster in the next two decades than it has in the last 300 years with the main attributable reason being the incredibly fast developments in this sector [i.e. technology sector].” – Hyper Island
The pace of change is accelerating, necessitating a shift in how organisations approach change management. Embracing a mindset of continuous improvement and adaptability is crucial. This involves reframing change as a constant flow rather than a series of discrete events, allowing businesses to stay ahead of the curve and respond swiftly to emerging trends and challenges.
“Leaders who truly want to lead and participate in a continuous evolution with their company shouldn’t view change from the sidelines — they should be active agents of change.” – Camille Nicita, Forbes
Question: Are you an active agent of change in your organisation?
5. Data Governance Regulations or Guidance on the Horizon
Data governance is becoming increasingly important as regulatory frameworks evolve to address the complexities of data management and new technologies. The FCA’s data-led approach is set to transform the regulatory landscape, making it more responsive and adaptive to emerging risks and technological advancements. Firms will need to prioritise data governance and invest in technology to stay compliant and competitive.
“We are increasingly data-led, focusing on the effectiveness of systems and controls”. – Our Strategy, 2022-2025. FCA
Question: Have you got a data strategy for your organisation?
The last year’s MPC Annual Get Together was devoted to the topic of “Creating data driven organisations”. We have a Data Audit template that we created for the event and that we’d be happy to share, so if you’d like a copy, please reach out to us.
6. An Agile Approach to Business Strategy: Quarterly Reviews
An agile approach to business strategy is essential for businesses to remain competitive. This involves regularly reviewing and adjusting strategies on a quarterly basis to align with market dynamics and organisational goals. By adopting an agile mindset, businesses can better navigate uncertainties and capitalise on emerging opportunities.
“Performance monitoring must provide prescriptive surveillance, enabling executives to decide whether and how to alter course in response to signals from customers, competitors, regulators and others.” – Michael Mankins, Harvard Business Review
Question: Are you adopting ‘strategic flexibility’?
7. Increased Cybersecurity Risks
With the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks on the rise, cybersecurity remains a top concern. The UK’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024 revealed that half of businesses experienced some form of cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months. Strengthening cybersecurity measures and ensuring your team is receiving ongoing training in this area are critical for safeguarding sensitive data and maintaining trust with clients.
Question: How are you mitigating the increased cybersecurity risks in your business?
8. A greater focus on ESG
Going forward we anticipate businesses will be driven to prioritise Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors to meet increasing regulatory demands, address rising consumer expectations for sustainable practices, and seize market opportunities in ESG-linked products and services. Indeed, recent research reported that 66% of Gen Z workers (and 42% of all workers) would take a pay cut to move to a more sustainable role.
By integrating ESG considerations, businesses can enhance their resilience, foster long-term growth, and contribute to a sustainable future. Goodstock – Empowering change the first-of-its-kind Conference for Financial Planners who are passionate about investing for good, took place in September last year. Check out our blog from October last year “Good for business, people, and the planet” which covers this topic more deeply. For Master Practitioner Club member our Ops webinar this April will be on the topic of “Practising Sustainability”.
Question: Is your business a leader in addressing ESG factors?
Do you agree with our list?
If you are wondering why there isn’t a point saying something like “Technology continuing to transform the way we work”, it’s because it underpins or at very least influences in some way all eight points mentioned above. We appreciate that it’s a long list and being able to truly prioritise what to focus on in your firm will be the most difficult task of all that will define future winners.
Based on our predictions, we believe that by addressing mental health issues, adopting agile project management and flexible business strategies, closing the digital skills gap and focusing on constant reskilling and upskilling of your teams, making the most of your data and staying compliant with data governance regulations, and enhancing cybersecurity measures, your organisation can stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Question: Which are the most important changes for you to initiate in your business in 2025 and beyond?
Remember to prioritise! – you can’t do it all at once.
Conclusion
If you are worried about taking informed risks and making decisions in relation to your next steps, these words from Mark Zuckerberg may help: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk…In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks”.
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