As the year draws to a close, I find myself scouring the Internet for 2015 HR predictions and talking with my team on what the next year holds for our field. While often I find that many of these predictions seem to roll over year after year and the articles repetitive, I do find a few once and a while that catch my attention.

Before turning to an article that I found interesting, one thing I feel that organizations want to consider for 2015 is how the rapid advancement of technology will continue dynamically and at time dramatically change the workplace. Whether it’s how to utilize social media more effectively in recruiting, remote working policies, knowledge capture/retention or training and development, organizations need to realize that their employees want to be in flexible, mobile-friendly and social work environments.

There was an article in Forbes by Dan Scwabel the founder of Millennial Branding, a Gen-Y research and management consulting firm, on his observations for the coming year. Some, I have actually blogged about, but two of his predictions really struck a chord with me.

More millennials are taking leadership roles.

That number of millenials who are in management roles is expected to grow in 2015 as they become the largest percentage of the workforce for the very first time. Scwabel found that 27 percent of millennials already hold management level positions, five percent are in senior management positions and two percent are at the executive level.

He also pointed out that in another study by CareerBuilder, they found that 38 percent of the workforce is already managed by millennials and that’s already caused a few problems including favoritism towards other millennials and them thinking they know more than older workers.

What struck me is that organizations can do a better job in training their next generation of managers, especially from those that are preparing to leave the workforce. Not only will this ensure that the skills are passed on to the new millennial managers, but it will allow for a level of understanding and respect for the older generation of workers. More on this Baby Boomer retiring workforce shortly.

More people stepping out of traditional career paths.

This issue is interesting because it’s a two way street. Companies are looking to hire more temporary workers and consultants because due to the lower financial investment and overhead, while contractors is seen as a more legitimate and obtainable career path due to the Internet and the accessibility it’s give workers. Scwabel pointed to a recent study by Elance-oDesk shows that 53 million Americans are now contractors, which is 34 percent of the American workforce.

Also, interestingly, data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey show that among employed 65-to-69-year-olds in 2013, nearly one-third of men (31 percent) and almost one-half of women (46 percent) were working part-time. One extrapolation from this data that organizations should consider is to ease the Baby Boomer workforce into retirement. This gives them the flexibility to continue to work, even part time, the ability for your organization to leverage their knowledge and skill sets and the opportunity to develop a flexible multi-generational workforce.

These issues go back to my earlier point about technology being a huge factor in the workforce of today and tomorrow. Organizations should consider taking a closer look at these non-traditional career paths as ways to find the best talent available to drive their organizational missions. However, care should be given to weave these types of employees effectively into their teams and build the organizational culture around them so that the “traditional” employees aren’t negatively impacted.

Overall, 2015 promises to be another great year and your organization should use this opportunity to set some new goals and objectives to strengthen your teams, and in turn, strengthen your organizations

Happy New Year from all of us at HR Advisors Group!