You already know that your workforce is changing due to the arrival of large numbers of younger employees. You’re acutely aware of that. But are these two important and transformational trends on your radar. They should be.

Trend One: Remote Employees, Including International Workers, Will Become a Larger Part of Your Workforce

Unless you have a business that requires all your employees to work in defined physical locations, this trend will impact on your business. The cost savings of remote employees, the speed with which you can interact with them and the quality of video connections will make them feel included in your enterprise while they work from home or remote locations. As a result, they will have reduced travel time and a better work/life balance. And this trend will allow you to save a tremendous amount of money per employee.

The message for your business is to begin to develop systems and build a culture that welcomes employees who work remotely. Now is the time to prepare for an age when you will build a talent pool of less expensive remote employees.

A related trend is that the gig economy will grow and offer new opportunities to hire employees in a focused way to meet your immediate needs. Also, be prepared for the reality that more of the employees who work for you on a project basis will be working for multiple companies.

Trend Two: Many More Women Will Arrive in the C-Suite

We are already seeing many more female executives take top-level responsibilities, with the biggest level of change taking place in smaller companies. I believe that in the next 15 years, we will see that as many as 40% of company leaders will be women. It will be an exciting and transformational time of change.

The message for your business is to more actively recruit, cultivate and promote qualified women into leadership positions – or who have the potential to grow into them. If you are lagging behind in this area, as some franchises are, it is time to rethink your entrenched culture and practices.