I can remember the day clearly. It was an overcast and rainy Saturday afternoon in April 2020. It had been nearly a month since I left my home office; the only person in our household who routinely cycled back and forth was my wife, an essential worker that traversed five or six days to a veterinary hospital just south of Boston. We (my wife, two kids, and I) ran a couple of errands and ate lunch on the road, the four of us masked in stores and other places of businesses. My heart sunk knowing that this, wearing a facial covering to interact, would be the reality for an uncertain amount of time.
Even now, today, I will fully admit: I was not ready to accept the change in front of me. The business side of my mind was firing on all cylinders, since the hybrid and remote work models were second-nature to me. The world around me, though? It was tough to look at pandemic-ravaged world in which facial coverings, social distancing, etc. were the norm. It was heartbreaking to hear my now-five-year-old say in his sleep, “I miss my friends.”
The thing is, though, is that “change” is a constant. The sooner we all accepted that the so-called “Next Normal” was upon us, the sooner we could move on from merely surviving and look ahead to thriving in these evolving times. Today, my kids pop on facial coverings the second they step out of the door every morning. I have a mask in my jacket pocket, the glove compartment, etc. for anytime I need to head into a grocery store or retailer. We’ve all made due to move forward.
The business world and our personal lives are connected, as we’ve learned over the past eighteen months. That same concept of “change” has been a constant no matter where we are; for the corporate world, change and evolution are inevitably linked as attributes that must be embraced to truly move forward. The question is, however: why can’t both business leaders and workers get on the same page regarding change?
The “talent revolution” is upon us, taking the form of “The Big Quit” and “The Great Resignation.” There are literally millions of job openings across the country (and across the world). Many business leaders understand what it takes to build that bridge to the next generation of its workforce; many, however, are not and are not willing to change their thinking.
Hearing JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon say that the remote workforce isn’t sustainable is the opposite of the Future of Work mindset. Hearing Catherine Bessant, Bank of America Vice Chair, Global Strategy, tell CNBC that BofA is a “work-from-office culture” is also the complete opposite of the flexibility that was supposed to be a foundational concept in today’s evolving world of work. Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon called remote and hybrid work an “aberration” just earlier this year.
Many, many other business leaders are aligned in this unfortunate way of thinking. If there’s anything, anything at all, that we should look back on as a business lesson from the pandemic, it’s this: work can be done anywhere, talent can be found anywhere, and the dynamic catalysts of innovation and creativity can be found anywhere…not just in an office. There’s a level of “proximity innovation” and “proximity collaboration” that cannot be fully duplicated when workers are coordinating remotely, however, the core connection between people remains strong, as does the will to work together no matter if team members are six feet or 600 miles away.
While it is true that many roles cannot be performed remotely, the fact is that there are many that can be, and it’s within those positions that businesses should offer flexibility and hybrid workplace options. Better yet, this is yet another fantastic instance when we can say this: the business world has changed forever. In that CNBC article, Dimon was quoted as saying, “Yes, the commute; you know, people don’t like commuting, but so what.”
But so what? This is one of several reasons why we are currently living in a business world in which talented professionals are playing a waiting game with their careers, leaving their existing positions, and/or targeting potential roles based on factors beyond compensation…such as flexibility. While due credit goes to Bessant for confirming that empathy will be a key focal area for her and other leadership within BofA, there’s still a major gap that unfortunately is present in too many organizations around the world.
Workers have, for the most part, become accustomed to change. They know what’s ahead for them personally and for their careers; they know what they want out of their professional lives and they know how they want it structured. While many business leaders have bought into adaptation and offer flexible workplaces, thinking, and cultures, too many have not.
It’s only when both sides can truly accept the change at hand and the evolution of the business world that the next great era of the Future of Work movement can begin.
