IT Leadership: 11 Future of Work Traits
The COVID-19 pandemic forever changed what the future of work looks like and in 2021 it's still evolving.
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Heading into 2020, organizations were on a mission to digitally transform. They had a plan they were following, and then the pandemic hit -- accelerating the digitalization of many things, virtually overnight.
“Three- to five-year plans got smashed into a single year plan,” says Sarah Pope, VP of Future of Technology, global consulting company Capgemini. “Two priorities that became obvious as a result of COVID are customer experience and employee experience. Customer experience didn't have to be just 'good,' it needed to reflect customers' new behaviors and patterns. Similarly, employee experience wasn't just about technology enablement and corporate culture, but about how work fits into digital lives.”
Hybrid Work Is the New Reality
Enterprises have been pushing to reopen their offices and business leaders are well aware that not everyone will want to return. While there's a general acknowledgement that hybrid workplaces will be the norm going forward, few organizations know what that will really look like. However, it's obvious that if some people refuse to return to the office at all, and others only want to work in the office a couple of days per week, businesses need to make smart use of space, people, and time.
“I think people are going to prioritize what are those meaningful, significant moments where we it's better to bring people together from output and productivity perspectives,” says Pope. “Secondarily, [they'll want to bring people together in a physical environment] from a maintaining culture and community perspective, [such as hosting] those dinners or workshops that can tack on to a team event.”
Slack shifted from an office-based culture to a digital-first culture, not surprisingly leveraging digital tools that connect across teams and workflows. The company has also adopted clear principles and guardrails around its digital-first approach, to ensure equitable experiences and opportunities across employees no matter where they are or when they work.
“Our research at Future Forum shows that deep executive alignment with digital-first principles is critical, and that leaders themselves must set the example in their workplaces to realize the full benefits of this transformation,” says Brian Elliott VP of the Future Forum, a consortium launched by Slack to help companies reimagine work in the digital-first world. “That's why, at Slack, our executives plan to work no more than three days a week in the office, and some -- including our CEO -- will remain remote permanently. Our leaders have also worked to establish team-level agreements such as a 'one dials in, all dial in' policy for virtual meetings and core team working hours -- to ensure all employees can be equally present and to provide more flexibility around how employees balance work with life responsibilities.”
Elliott considers the present situation a once in a generation opportunity to affect massive change.
“Thriving in the new era of work depends on radical reinvention. Leaders who push forward to a digital-first working model will be rewarded with the ability to attract and retain the most talented, engaged, and diverse employees. They will also be rewarded with a company that can operate with greater agility, quickly adapting to changing market forces or customer demands. And, perhaps most importantly, they will be on the frontline of delivering positive societal change -- more equal access to opportunity, a more inclusive labor market and stronger communities,” says Elliott.
Following are a few more future of work traits.
The pandemic got employees thinking a lot about work and life. Hence, the resistance of some to return to the office part-time let alone full-time.
“The market is so hot that whatever approach you take has to be employee-centric or else you're going to risk increasing [the level of] attrition because they have like a life epiphany that they don't want to be doing the job their doing or that they want to open their dream ice cream shop or something,” says Capgemini's Pope. “That should influence everybody's approach.”
So much has changed so quickly as the result of the pandemic, that businesses can't be certain of anything. An example is the reopening of America about five minutes before the Delta variant began to spike. Uncertainty is a constant, in other words, so business leaders are testing hypotheses to determine the way forward.
“They're proving it out and continually getting feedback to see how it's trending. It's doing the research and asking people what they want,” says Capgemini's Pope. “Nobody thought people working remotely would be so productive, but productivity went up. Nobody imagined that people would actually be working more and producing more during the pandemic.”
Marketers have been making a point to understand customer journeys so they can optimize customer experience. Given the talent shortage, companies are having a harder time attracting and retaining human capital, so how about focusing on employee experience, too?
“This is a big change to how companies think about the life and work of an employee. Historically companies offered dining services, AV or conference room services, mail services and computing services, but now we are seeing a rapid transformation to a fully integrated experience,” says Antonia Hock, global head and chief executive of consulting firm The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center. “It is time for 'employee journey' mapping as well as a full reimagining of the services offered and how they are delivered and consumed.”
Companies have been told for years that they need to become Agile like their software development organization. Clearly, 2020 demanded an extreme form of Agile. This level of flexibility will persist into the future, requiring flexible technology, processes, and mindsets.
“The most important characteristic of the future of work is flexibility. My goal is to incorporate flexibility into all aspects of our company,” says Zach Hoffman, CEO and Chief Innovation Leader of DigitalPR. “As things are still continuing to change, sometimes day by day, we’re also focusing on helping our leaders and employees develop a flexible mindset. We’ve provided everyone with access to LinkedIn Learning and highlighted courses on mindset mastery, dealing with change, and building resilience.”
Corporations have developed far more humanistic cultures than they've traditionally had. The emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is a recent example. However, the pandemic made it clear that corporations can't be faceless entities. They must care for their talent, or else.
“Empathy is something that we are leading with more and more all the time. In our upcoming annual employee engagement survey, we plan to seek out feedback in terms of how we can better serve our people, including increasing empathy,” says Eric Hutto, President and COO of IT services company Unisys. “We are also actively encouraging our people to seek out the work-life balance that we know they are looking for. Our success in this area is critical particularly in light of the war for talent that technology and other companies are engaged in. If companies are not already leading with empathy, they will lose this war.”
Employees are shaping the way corporations behave with their feet. If they don't trust and believe in the company for which they work, they'll find an employer that better matches their values and beliefs. Authenticity matters greatly to Millennials and GenZ, both of which are now influential forces. Don't just talk the talk: In other words, walk the walk.
For example, financial, retirement, investment, and insurance company Voya Financial, has adopted flexibility as one of its guiding principles, but those principles are not just words on paper or a collection of bits. Its organizational leaders signed a “Flexibility Pledge” that encourages work-life balance and managers were asked to support their employees' individual needs.
“We’ve learned a great deal in the last 18 months by actively engaging our employees and listening to their needs. We are incorporating the best aspects of our learnings into our future work model,” says Kevin Silva, Chief Human Resources Officer at Voya Financial.
Business leaders have been questioning their real estate holdings and leases since the pandemic hit. Remote work and now hybrid work are forcing them to decide how to best utilize office space. While many organizations are adopting workspace “hoteling,” what if the organization considered renting available space at businesses located near employees? Traction on Demand, Salesforce's largest go-to-market partner, plans to do just that.
“I believe we’re going to start seeing businesses explore not just hybrid work models, but [also} a complete reimagining of how we approach community spaces. With housing becoming increasingly unaffordable and the economic hardships placed on small businesses and organizations during the pandemic, what if we create gathering areas in spaces that are underutilized during daytime work hours such as microbreweries, bike shops and community halls that are close to our employees?” says Megumi Mizuno, chief of staff at Traction on Demand. “These ‘Shops’ also provide an alternative working option without creating a demand for more office space.”
Traction on Demand's first Shop will open this fall. The Shops are expected to benefit from the extra income that helps pay their monthly costs while employees will be able choose the Shop to which they go.
Automation is definitely a future of work trend. While alarmist anxieties have faded from a few years ago, people need to realize that whatever automation is in place now will likely evolve. For example, some RPA will be replaced by intelligent (AI-enabled) automation because the former is too rigid and limited for certain use cases. Since AI will continue to improve, the human-machine partnership will continually shift, which will underscore the importance of creativity, a human trait.
“Despite a World Economic Forum claiming that robot automation will create more employment than it eliminates, you'll do well to keep your creative skills sharp and retain an innovative mentality. Natural creativity, like a high level of social intelligence, is something that can't be simply recreated by today's digital tools. You'll be alright as long as you can think beyond the box,” says Adam Fard, founder and head of design at Adam Fard UX Agency.
Document workflow automation platform provider PandaDoc developed comprehensive electronic onboarding paperwork and policies, so new hires can complete time-consuming processes remotely before their first day of work. The company has also automated its talent management processes to route promotion requests, compensation changes, and other employment changes for approval with the ability to set auto-reminders and track the status of requests.
“As the head of HR, I have made it a priority to alleviate the administrative burden on my team through standardized materials and integrated workflows they can count on. We’ve streamlined our approval process to quickly create compelling offers, so we don’t lose top talent,” says Robin Corralez, global vice president of human resources at PandaDoc.
Objective and Key Results (OKR) provider Gtmhub makes a point of aligning with its employees’ changing needs and designing a plan of action to deliver successful outcomes. The company designs transparent alignment trees that outline each employee’s professional goals and plans to achieve those goals. Further, the company lays out how each employee’s goals relate to their colleague’s objectives, so teams can consistently progress toward their goals.
“OKRs are the backbone of the future of work because this methodology alleviates the need for traditional workplace processes like excessive meetings and meaningless work. OKRs provide the clarity that modern day knowledge workers seek, and [they leave more room for growth, outcomes and innovation, which are at the heart of the future workplace,” says Seth Elliott, Chief Operating Officer at Gtmhub.
Greater employee empowerment has led to flatter organizational structures in some organizations, so it follows that even more employee empowerment eliminates the need for any managers and executives, right? Not so fast.
While empowerment and accountability should go hand in hand, headless organizational structures tend not to work well, particularly as companies get larger. Look at the major disrupters. Are the absent a CEO? No. For one thing, Wall Street wouldn't accept it, at least for the foreseeable future. It also wouldn't work well for many organizations on Main Street. There are some things the average employee just can't handle as well as a seasoned executive or manager.
Check out other InformationWeek slideshows.
Greater employee empowerment has led to flatter organizational structures in some organizations, so it follows that even more employee empowerment eliminates the need for any managers and executives, right? Not so fast.
While empowerment and accountability should go hand in hand, headless organizational structures tend not to work well, particularly as companies get larger. Look at the major disrupters. Are the absent a CEO? No. For one thing, Wall Street wouldn't accept it, at least for the foreseeable future. It also wouldn't work well for many organizations on Main Street. There are some things the average employee just can't handle as well as a seasoned executive or manager.
Check out other InformationWeek slideshows.
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