John Yuva, Author at The Future of Work Exchange

Mental Well-Being Critical to Curbing Employee Burnout

Business Leadership General Insights by John Yuva on 12/04/2023

When we refer to the Future of Work, we’re often talking about a better overall workforce experience. Certainly, a workplace that considers employee purpose, well-being, and work/life balance. In essence, the Future of Work should help prevent one of the leading causes of workforce distress and The Great Resignation — employee burnout. Indeed conducted a survey in 2021 of 1,500 U.S. workers to compare the level of burnout before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey revealed that 67% of all workers believed burnout had worsened during the pandemic. What was the primary reason behind the increase?

Despite most employees working remotely, the survey indicated that more than half (53%) worked more hours virtually than when they were on-site. According to Indeed: Nearly one-third (31%) say they are working “much more” than before the pandemic. On-site workers reported longer hours as well, with 27% who said they worked more daily, and 34% who worked longer on a weekly basis. The inability to unplug from projects, coupled with the lack of guidance surrounding work/life boundaries contributed to longer working hours.

The State of Burnout in 2023 and Beyond

While the Indeed survey took place in 2021, how is employee burnout faring as we begin navigating 2023? According to a recent report from Aflac “2022-2023 Aflac WorkForces Report,” more than half (59%) of American workers are experiencing at least moderate levels of burnout, a notable increase over 2021 (52%) and on par with the levels reported in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aflac surveyed 1,200 employers and 2,001 employees. Survey responses indicated the following:

Employees who suffer from high levels of burnout report lower job satisfaction (55%)
Lower confidence that their employers care about them (47%)
Negative perceptions of work-life balance (55%)
A higher likelihood of seeking another job in the next year (56%).

Matthew Owenby, chief human resources officer for Aflac Incorporated, stated, “A major concern of employee burnout is the impact on their well-being and how it affects engagement and retention. Employers are looking for new ways to offer benefits that help improve their employees’ mental health balance,” he said.

Knowing the signs of employee burnout is critical to prevent retention issues. In its “A Manager’s Guide to Preventing Employee Burnout,” Lyra identifies 8 signs of employee burnout that managers and executive leadership should be aware of as they interact with employees.

Exhaustion or feeling overwhelmed
Physical symptoms such as chronic headache or fatigue
Anger or irritability
Distancing themselves from their work
Nervousness or feeling uncertain
Low motivation
Sadness
Difficulty concentrating

Strategies to Extinguish Burnout in 2024

When managers witness the above signs in an employee, it is empathy more than anything else that he or she needs. Acknowledging how work can be overwhelming at times and how as a manager those same feelings exist establishes a common ground by which to probe further.

Here are four strategies to bring employee burnout to the forefront in the enterprise and address it with compassion, understanding, and well-being in mind.

Address employee burnout directly. Often, the best way to come to terms with an issue, is to address it head on. During an interview with CNBC, Jennifer Moss, author of “The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It,” spent time with CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council.

She views employee burnout as a mental health issue. And one that needs the support of management to promote trust, safety, and prioritization of mental health toward employees. Managers need to dedicate 15 minutes every week with their direct reports to assess how they’re feeling and where their mental pain points exist.

Moss says the following key questions can help managers better understand the mental well-being of their employees and devise solutions to address existing issues.

How was this week?
What were the highs and lows?
What can I do for you next week to make things easier?
What can we do for each other?

Flexible scheduling and time off pay dividends. One of the major workplace outcomes from the pandemic is the concept of flexible scheduling. Many remote workers realized they were more productive during specific hours of the day. Depending on the role, companies enabled employees to choose hours that better reflected availability and higher productivity.

Similarly, time off to rebalance, recharge, and reboot cannot be underestimated. Taking time off, even for a three-day weekend, is crucial to mental health and emotional well-being. However, managers (and even executive leadership) must model these behaviors. Unless a manager actively communicates, encourages, and sets the example for taking time off, employees will remain hesitant to pursue mental health days or PTO.

Work/life balance remains critical. The Indeed survey revealed that approximately “70% of all respondents have access to work communications on their phones — making them 84% more likely to work after hours.” How does this promote work/life balance? Employees are never truly taking PTO or enjoying off hours if they’re always connected to the office. However, some employees, particularly those in management positions, believe the company is unable to function without being tethered to it.

Work/life balance is about establishing priorities outside of work and living life off the corporate grid. Whether it’s taking vacation or going for a 30-minute walk to recharge, employers must encourage and model this Future of Work tenet to curb employee burnout.

Employee perks resonate with workers. What is the benefit of working for an organization? While compensation remains high on the list, it is benefits (including perks) that strike a chord with employees. Access to mental health professionals, days off beyond holidays, casual dress code, flexible scheduling, and other perks are helping with employee balance. The commitment to such perks is often reflected in an enterprise’s overall culture.

A strong enterprise culture with employee success and well-being in mind, will seek feedback to choose perks that appeal to most workers. Organizations should also consider activities (e.g., sports, cultural, community service, etc.) that occur outside of work but bring employees together regardless of business unit.

Regardless of whether your team is remote, hybrid, or permanently on-site, managers should be gauging employee burnout. While difficult to quantify, employee burnout does have detrimental impacts on the bottom line. However, that shouldn’t be the primary focus or reason to monitor workforce well-being. It must be an effort that involves every level of the organization. When communicated and acted upon, mental wellness becomes the responsibility of everyone and is ingrained in the fabric of the culture.

Fractional Executives Filling Critical Leadership Gaps

Business Leadership General Insights Talent Talent Acquisition by John Yuva on 11/27/2023

The Future of Work is shaped by several evolving workplace trends. We’ve spoken about many of them on The Future of Work Exchange and CPO Rising websites. Today, in part one of two, we’re exploring the topic of the fractional executive — a game-changing role for organizations lacking executive expertise.

The fractional executive serves as a flexible and on-demand approach to talent acquisition. Whether it’s a role such as a chief marketing officer (CMO) or chief procurement officer (CPO), businesses now have scalable talent options to execute critical programs and initiatives.

Consider the fractional CPO. Small- to medium-sized enterprises (those with less than $50 million in revenue) that lack a mature or formal procurement department can source the services of a fractional CPO who provides similar expertise as a permanent executive but at a lower cost. Whether it’s a part-time or project-based position, businesses can secure this essential role and its associated insights, making it attainable for any sized organization. A fractional CPO can deliver a variety of benefits, including:

Strategic procurement leadership
Supplier relationship management
Procurement process improvement
Sourcing and risk mitigation strategies
Supply chain cost optimization

In today’s volatile marketplace with frequent supply chain disruptions, hiring a fractional CPO’s services is a valuable alternative to weather the storm until a more permanent solution is found.

The Rise of the Fractional Executive

Bringing further insight into the fractional leadership trend, FOWX spoke to two talent leaders with previous experience in the workforce solution realm before embarking on careers as fractional executives. John Healy, chief executive with Whrrr Work (formerly VP and Managing Director for Kelly), and Neha Goel, a fractional CMO with the Rippler Group (formerly CMO and VP of Marketing for Utmost), share their knowledge and expertise for those considering fractional executive services.

Why a fractional executive? Several factors have influenced the expansion of the fractional executive movement. In addition to the growth in the gig economy, specialized skills on a flexible schedule, and the financial benefits of hiring executive talent sans full-time salaries and long-term contracts, Goel says it’s also the advantages afforded to senior executives.

“This shift [in fractional executives] is also driven by the growing appreciation for work-life balance and the diversification of career paths among senior executives, including the trend of building a portfolio career,” Goel said.

Healy echoed Goel’s career diversification sentiments, adding that fractional roles are driven by supply and demand forces. From a supply perspective, he believes optimistically that individuals have chosen to spread their deeper knowledge “across multiple clients vs. being housed exclusively in one place, and that they find greater value in applying their talents across multiple stages of company growth or industries,” Healy says. “The pessimist says that a lot of senior-level folks saw their roles eliminated and this is a way to stay current in the market and demonstrate their skills to prospective ‘next’ employers.

“On the demand side, many companies have come to recognize that there are strategically important roles that are necessary for the execution of their growth strategy — but not necessarily in an FTE capacity, and that often having experience from outside the organization offers increased value,” Healy adds.

Certainly, executives with decades of experience who have led strategic initiatives and transformations would find fractional assignments as opportunities to extend their knowledge and bring success to businesses beginning their marketplace journey.

From Start-Ups to Mid-Sized Firms

It’s no surprise that start-ups are prime candidates for fractional executive leadership. Known historically for their ability to execute with limited resources, Healy says the start-up model has evolved from one person wearing multiple hats to multiple people having a specialist hat. Depending on the nature of the business, a fractional CMO or CPO can help set operational strategy and ensure the business remains focused on its core objectives and spends its investment dollars effectively.

Goel says start-ups or smaller businesses often lack the need for a full-time leader “but [the business] needs the domain expertise to move the needle forward and be a thought partner to the executive team.”

For larger organizations, the savings from not paying a full-time senior leader can be reinvested in a fractional executive “to accelerate growth strategies, while also mentoring and developing the next generation of leaders,” explains Healy.

Part two of our fractional executive series will focus on the primary considerations when choosing a fractional leader and how he or she can best support the business.

The Impact of Contingent Workforce Management Analytics

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights Talent by John Yuva on 11/14/2023

Today’s total talent management strategies rely on analytics to execute workforce objectives. For extended workers who comprise nearly half of enterprises’ entire labor force (49%, according to our research), analytics are even more crucial to developing metrics and optimizing performance. Recent Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research indicates that 81% of organizations cite the improvement of contingent workforce management (CWM) analytics as a priority, highlighting the importance of deeper, more insightful data and analysis.

CWM Analytics for Insights

According to Beeline, a leading contingent workforce solution provider, “For many organizations lacking formal analytics and reporting on their contingent workforce, identifying key metrics can even be challenging.” The focus on analytics goes well beyond hiring, scheduling, and payment data, to include deeper areas of concentration. The following are several analytic subsets imperative to contingent workforce management and performance.

Spend Management

Enterprises can utilize CWM analytics to help track and manage their spend on contingent workers. This includes data on billing rates, contract terms, and other expenses related to the use of contingent labor. Utilize data visualization tools such as dashboards and reports to make it easy for stakeholders to access and understand spend data related to CWM.

Beeline states, “Understanding bill rates, pay rates, and the margins between them per vendor, can be an incredibly powerful negotiation tool. Armed with this data (and more), you can have productive, data-backed discussions with vendors, enabling you to clearly understand what rates vendors should offer to make themselves more attractive and competitive than others.”

Performance Metrics

Measure the performance of your contingent workers with metrics for time-to-fill, retention rates, and quality of work. The Future of Work Exchange regularly reports how enterprises are pivoting to skills-based hiring. As those approaches increase, performance metrics for extended labor will be paramount to total workforce strategies and planning initiatives.

Such data can identify where talent gaps exist as well as which extended workers possess the skills for more critical projects. Also, don’t overlook analytical tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to synthesize and identify patterns and insights.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance

A global contingent labor pool means greater attention to legal and regulatory compliance. Analytics can help organizations remain compliant by tracking data on worker classification, hours worked, changes to regional laws and regulations, and other compliance-related metrics. “You need to know, for compliance, payroll, and project planning purposes, exactly how many employees are engaged in your projects at any one time – so you can track the costs, project status, and progress compared with statements of work (SoWs),” adds Beeline.

Workforce Planning

The Future of Work is not only focused on workforce needs today but the requirements for tomorrow as well. By analyzing historical data on contingent labor usage, organizations can make informed decisions about when and where to engage extended workers long term. Historical data combined with predictive workforce analytics can provide a holistic picture of future needs. Continuously monitor the data and adjust your strategies as needed to optimize your CWM requirements.

Organizations must take control of their CWM analytics if they hope to optimize their use of contingent labor, minimize costs, and improve the performance of their workforce. It’s a combination of being cost-effective while enabling data-driven decision-making to reach performance targets. HR and business leaders will only rely more on big data and analytics to accomplish enterprise workforce objectives. CWM will be at the center of those insights and decisions.

New Kids on the Block — Gen Z in the Workplace (Part Two)

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights HR Talent Talent Acquisition Uncategorized by John Yuva on 10/10/2023

In part one of our two-part series exploring the pandemic’s effects on Generation Z in the workplace, several studies revealed Gen Z endured learning challenges and subsequent skills deficiencies. Soft skill inadequacies make it difficult to adjust to today’s workplace demands.

Today, we feature part two, exploring how enterprises can most attract and retain Gen Z employees. Not surprisingly, those strategies are closely tied to offering programs and services associated with the lasting emotional impacts of the pandemic.

Gen Z Represents a Large Talent Pool

As Gen X begins retiring from the workforce, Gen Z is quickly filling those gaps. According to Homebase, Gen Z comprises 30% of the world’s population and is slated to make up 27% of the workforce by 2027.

Based on results of a Paychex report titled, “The Rise of Generation Z: A Paychex Special Report,” Frank Fiorille, vice president of risk, compliance, and data analytics for Paychex, says, “Our data clearly supports the fact that the workforce composition is shifting as more Gen Z members seek full-time and long-term roles, more members of Gen X begin to retire, and Millennials enter their prime earning years,” he said.

“Considering these facts, employers need to develop recruiting and retention strategies that keep Gen Z at the forefront, appealing to their values-based approach and celebrating the unique contributions this group brings to the table.”

Those sentiments were echoed by Adam Smiley Poswolsky, a keynote speaker on fostering belonging and human connection in the workplace, in his Harvard Business Review article “Gen Z Employees Are Feeling Disconnected. Here’s How Employers Can Help.” He writes, “It is imperative that leaders and managers do more to connect and support young employees in these volatile times, not only as a means of engaging the next generation of talent, but as an investment in a collaborative future.”

Recruiting and Engaging Gen Z Workers

When it comes to Gen Z workers, Future of Work tenets, such as empathetic leadership, coaching and mentoring programs, and cultural initiatives, speak strongly to this demographic. Understanding how to attract and retain this growing workforce subset is critical to enterprise competitiveness.

Both the Harvard Business Review article and the Paychex report offered several Gen Z talent strategies. Let’s take a look at some of the more critical ones.

Focus on Mental Health

The pandemic was a life-defining event for Gen Z — they witnessed the deaths of parents and grandparents as a result of COVID-19. It was also life-altering from social and academic perspectives with the overnight move to remote learning and social distancing from friends and family. As Gen Z enters the workplace, HR and business leaders must consider the lasting impacts of those experiences. “A culture built on mental health and wellness goes beyond offering a meditation app; it infuses mental health throughout the organization through policies and programs that take care of your people,” Poswolsky writes.

Mobile Recruitment Strategy

Gen Z was raised on technology. The ability to adopt new technologies and platforms to solve challenges is a skill for many incoming Gen Z workers. For that reason, Paychex advises enterprises to focus on the social and digital aspects of recruiting for this demographic. “Build a strong brand and have mobile-friendly content (e.g., videos) on your website,” the report says.

Onboarding as Community Building

The sense of belonging and community that Gen Z craves should be integrated into the employee onboarding process. For many young employees, onboarding might be their first or second experience ever in a professional setting, says Poswolsky. “It is incredibly important, especially in a remote or hybrid workforce, that onboarding establish a container of mutual support.

Embrace the Entrepreneurial Spirit

The Paychex report revealed that many Gen Zers aspire to own their own business. Having a sense of ownership over a project or initiative can appeal to that entrepreneurial spirit. Look for opportunities to foster those entrepreneurial goals and provide areas of personal growth. While they may be the youngest generation in the workplace, it doesn’t mean Gen Z employees and extended workers can’t make process improvements or contribute to innovative decision-making.

Gen Z enters the workforce with some uncertainty and disconnectedness. Enterprises have an opportunity through coaching/mentoring, team building, and personal recognition to bring workplace balance and a sense of belonging to Gen Z workers. Recruiting contingent and FTE Gen Z talent requires going below the surface level of this workforce demographic to truly understand what drives their interests and motivates them. This is a unique moment in workplace history to blend four generations of workers. Gen Z is poised to take on this moment and deliver at the highest levels.

New Kids on the Block — Gen Z in the Workplace (Part One)

Business Leadership General Insights HR Talent by John Yuva on 09/26/2023

The global pandemic transformed overnight how work gets done and how employees interact. Enterprises emerged from this tumultuous period with an evolved mindset toward employee flexibility and engagement. As the Future of Work movement emerged, employees from Gen Y to baby boomers recalibrated their work styles — with many adapting to new workforce expectations.

While the multi-generational workforce continues to adjust, newly arrived Gen Z workers (which consist of 20% of the workforce) face several challenges related to their own experiences during the pandemic. Many came through it, not with a new sense of self, but with a feeling of uncertainty and unpreparedness.

The Pandemic and Gen Z — A Retrospective

Most Gen Z workers (representing those born between 1997 and 2012) experienced remote learning (high school and college) during the height of the pandemic. Despite being technologically savvy, online learning and general fears during the pandemic reshaped this generation and its outlook on work and life.

An article by the National Society of Leadership and Success says that during the pandemic, “…education is a pain point for this generation (Gen Z). Adapting to fully remote learning has distanced them from the things they enjoy about school while also making it harder for them to actually learn.”

Gen Z experienced a “generational defining event” going through the pandemic. One that forever altered their view of themselves and the world around them. In the study “The Impact of COVID-19 and Gen Z Looking Ahead” by The Center for Generational Kinetics (CGK), several overall observations were made describing how Gen Z responded during the pandemic and their views of the future. Those revelations included:

Gen Z are more dependent on technology during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially streaming video, Wi-Fi, connected devices, and social media.
Gen Z is experiencing higher rates of anxiety, stress, and depression when thinking about the state of the world and the future.
Gen Z high school students have an overall negative experience with online learning during COVID-19 and would much rather have in-person education classes than online education classes.
Gen Z understands that COVID-19 will change their perspective of the future and believes their generation will bring much-needed, positive change to the world.

Similar insights emerged from a nationwide poll conducted by MTV and The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research from September 1 to 19, 2021, using TrueNorth®, which indicated that “a majority of Gen Z, 65%, cite education as very or extremely important to their identity. And the pandemic is taking a toll on their education and career goals. Forty-six percent feel that the pandemic has made pursuing their educational or career goals more difficult. Fewer Millennials (36%) or Gen X (31%) share that concern.”

Workplace Unpreparedness

The lack of connectedness with classmates and educators, coupled with learning challenges impacted Gen Z soft skills development, according to several studies. A sense of skills deficiencies is not lost on Gen Z either. A study by The Workforce Institute cites Gen Z feeling unprepared in the following areas:

Negotiating (26 percent)
Networking (24 percent)
Speaking confidently in front of crowds (24 percent)
Working long hours (24 percent)

In the same study, “one in five also feel their education hasn’t adequately prepared them to resolve work conflicts (23%) or be managed by another person (21%).” However, there are positive areas as well. For example, Gen Z feels confident about working with customers (56%) and working in a team (57%).

CGK states in its study that, “…Gen Zers already in the workforce are feeling a massive reset at exactly the time they should be starting to build their independence and self-reliance.” This of course should be a major point of recognition for enterprises recruiting Gen Z workers.

Next week, part two will explore how enterprises can most attract and retain Gen Z employees. Not surprisingly, those strategies are closely tied to offering programs and services associated with the lasting emotional impacts of the pandemic.

Voices Behind Quiet and Loud Quitters

Business Leadership General Insights HR Talent Uncategorized by John Yuva on 09/07/2023

One of the main tenets of the Future of Work is employee engagement. It sets the tone for how to motivate, influence, and inspire workers to embrace their work and the culture of the enterprise. Since 2022 when the workplace began to normalize after two tumultuous years of the pandemic, employee engagement has become a cornerstone to achieving a productive and competitive organization.

What is the result when a lack of employee engagement exists? Two employee behaviors — “quiet quitting” and “loud quitting” — become prevalent. Current workforce statistics indicate that disengagement is more prominent than management probably realizes.

Quiet Quitting Proliferates

In early 2022, a term emerged describing workers who are disengaged from the workplace and generally apply the minimal amount of work necessary to complete their job — quiet quitters. When compared to the overall workforce, quiet quitters represent the majority of workers today, with most struggling with stress and burnout.

According to Gallup’s State of the Workplace 2023 report, 52% of US/Canadian workplace employees fall within the “disengaged” (quiet quitter) category. It also represents the largest group that HR and business managers can actively engage with positive results by listening to employee concerns and issues.

What changes are quiet quitters most looking for to thrive in the workplace?

(41%) Engagement/Culture — Providing a sense of purpose and an empathetic environment can go a long way with quiet quitters who feel ignored and undervalued.
(28%) Pay and Benefits — Enterprises are often trying to achieve more with less and workers want compensation for the stress experienced and extra hours required to achieve business objectives.
(16%) Well-being — Stress levels remain at all-time highs and organizations that actively work toward reducing stress and anxiety by offering mental health programs and wellness initiatives are positive steps toward better engagement and a healthy work climate.

Loud Quitting a Silent Toxin

On the opposite end of the disengaged spectrum are employees who identify as loud quitters —who account for approximately 17% of the US/Canadian workforce according to Gallup. Where quiet quitters are often looking for better engagement to change their outlook on work, loud quitters are “employees (who) take actions that directly harm the organization, undercutting its goals and opposing its leaders,” says Gallup.

Trust has been irrevocably broken between these employees and their business managers and leadership team, leading to purposeful actions to disrupt productivity. Loud quitting is a far more concerning issue because of the negative intent involved. As enterprises strive toward greater competitiveness through digital transformation and other significant initiatives, loud quitters are the arch nemesis of change management.

True Cost of Disengagement

According to the Gallup report, disengaged employees — the combination of quiet quitting and loud quitting — cost the global economy $8.8 trillion or 9% of global GDP. What this indicates is that 1) quiet and loud quitting must be addressed as a serious workplace issue, 2) HR and management need to elevate employee engagement as a workplace imperative or risk further erosion in productivity, and 3) evaluate the hiring process to ensure the enterprise is attracting candidates with the appropriate skillsets and desire to bring their best to the workplace.

Workplace Behavioral Definitions

The following are terms and buzzwords describing employee and enterprise behaviors that can have negative consequences on workplace productivity.

Quiet Quitting:

An informal term for the practice of reducing the amount of effort one devotes to one’s job, such as by stopping the completion of any tasks not explicitly stated in the job description. The term implies that this is done secretly or without notifying one’s boss or manager. Quiet quitting doesn’t actually refer to quitting a job. The term is used in varying ways that refer to different methods of reducing productivity or the amount of work one performs.

Loud Quitting:

“Loud quitting” is a workplace trend that involves an employee making a scene or openly expressing perceived negative aspects of their working experience before or during resignation. This phenomenon grew out of The Great Resignation, similar to quiet quitting.

Quiet Hiring:

An informal term for the practice in which an employer fills workforce gaps in ways other than hiring new full-time employees, such as by training and/or shifting existing employees into different roles or using independent contractors to cover certain roles and responsibilities. The term implies that this is done secretly or simply without being explicit about the intent behind such changes. The practice is often interpreted as a way for the employer to reduce or avoid costs.

Quiet Firing:

An informal term for the practice in which employers make workplace conditions worse for employees with the intent of driving some of them to quit. The term implies that this is done secretly or at least subtly enough to make it appear unintentional. The practice is thought to be done to avoid the financial and legal costs that an employer can incur when firing an employee.

Bare Minimum Monday:

“Bare minimum Mondays” are workplace trends where employees do the least possible work on Mondays to avoid burnout during the remaining workdays. Examples of these practices include attending only important meetings, starting Monday with a self-care routine, and taking a break from checking emails.

Calibrated Contributing:

Jim Detert, Ph.D., John L. Colley Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, coined the term “calibrated contributing” as a more accurate definition for employees described as “quiet quitters.” According to Detert, “Calibrated contributing starts from the premise that what we’re seeing might be a very rational response to one’s work situation. If managers can acknowledge that calibrated contributing is, in many cases, rational behavior in response to the terms of employment they’re offering, then they can start to own the responsibility to do something productive about it.”

Elevate Your Workforce Through Upskilling

Business Leadership General Insights HR Talent by John Yuva on 08/31/2023

“Upskilling, reskilling, and continuing one’s education journey — traditional or not — has the potential to serve as a great equalizer, providing opportunities for anyone at any stage of their career.” Par Merat, VP of Training and Certifications, Cisco U.

Workplace culture is a major determinant for candidate attraction and talent retention. Enterprises with a strong focus on professional development and organizational growth — upskilling — are reaping the rewards of higher levels of employee engagement, worker satisfaction, and sense of belonging.

Upskilling is akin to learning new skills to better perform your job — not to be confused with reskilling, which is investing in skills for a different job. How critical is upskilling? According to its 2021 report, Upskilling for Shared Prosperity, the World Economic Forum states that the U.S. could add $800 billion to its GDP by 2030 through upskilling efforts.

Companies have too much to lose by not offering upskilling opportunities and programs. In the Harvard Business Review article, “How to Build a Successful Upskilling Program,” the authors state, “Upskilling is a longer-term investment in augmenting the knowledge, skills, and competencies that help employees advance their careers. When employees are offered and encouraged to take advantage of upskilling opportunities for their personal and professional growth, people metrics, such as employee engagement and retention, also go up.”

Takeaways to Maximize Upskilling Effectiveness

Upskilling is not a workforce strategy reserved for managers and senior leadership. It is imperative for jobs on the factory floor to the corner office. Every worker can benefit from upskilling. It generates a sense of accomplishment in expanding one’s skill sets and future career opportunities.

When evaluating upskilling as an individual or company, consider these takeaways to maximize its effectiveness.

Take the Initiative for Your Career Development

Unless your company is forward-thinking and makes workforce planning a strategic imperative, the responsibility lies with you to make career-progression commitments. Identify how your role is evolving in the industry and where your skills compare to what’s expected in the future. Are there specific leadership skills you need to hone (e.g., communication, critical thinking, teamwork, etc.) or hard skills such as using specific software or understanding emerging technologies? Make the business investment in yourself to upskill and forge your future career path.

Evaluate Potential Skillset Gaps in Your Workforce

The business landscape evolves quickly, and companies must react to remain competitive. Upskilling is a proactive approach to ensure a balanced workforce. However, it is only effective if you understand where your industry is heading and the current skillset of your workforce. Are there strategic roles that need to be established? What skillsets are workers lacking in their toolsets? Upskilling cannot be approached blindly. While certain skills may be absolute in one industry, it doesn’t mean they translate or are relevant across every sector. Industry knowledge, competitive intelligence, and internal communication are essential to an effective upskilling initiative.

Set a Methodology for an Upskilling Program

When companies decide to initiate an upskilling program, it must be done with purpose and with performance milestones clearly communicated. HBR’s article emphasizes the need for a road map. Employees want to know the objectives and process of an upskilling program. Why is this necessary? How will this training better prepare me for my future with the company? What advancement opportunities does the training provide? Communicating the program milestones and performance metrics are also critical to being transparent about potential promotions and raises. Employees want to know they have a role in their advancement. A well-devised and communicated upskilling program leads to increased company loyalty and employee satisfaction.

Use a Variety of Resources to Upskill

Workers now have a variety of sources to upskill and expand their knowledge. First and foremost, look internally at cross-operational training opportunities. Often, upskilling is learning aspects of the role you want to achieve. There’s no better way than to receive training from those already working in those positions. It also creates a critical backup plan if and when it’s needed.

Other sources to utilize when upskilling are online training and certificate programs, such as LinkedIn Learning. Many are self-directed courses that accommodate work schedules. Also, don’t overlook community college programs for in-person training, particularly for hard skills where exposure to new technologies, software, and equipment are required.

Upskilling reignites the passion in work and provides motivation to strive for the next level while helping companies retain talented employees and prepare strategically for the future.

AI in Talent Acquisition Coming into Its Own

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights HR Solution Providers Talent Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 08/25/2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) is omnipresent, impacting all businesses and industries. However, where AI is showing immense potential is in the greater world of work and talent — specifically, talent acquisition. Few technologies in history can affect everyone, but AI’s capabilities are doing just that whether you’re an HR leader, recruiter, business manager, employee, or job candidate. AI brings revolutionary and transformative change to the Future of Work. A rising tide of enrichment is here and here to stay.

Research from Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange reveals that 80% of businesses expect to begin or increase their utilization of AI tools and technology by 2024. A staggering statistic. Thus, within the next four to six months, the vast majority of enterprises will be utilizing AI technology.

The Rising Tide of AI in Talent Acquisition

The impact of AI on business and its growing influence on talent acquisition was the topic of discussion during a recent Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange webinar featuring special guest Opptly, titled “The Rising Tide of AI in Talent Acquisition.”

Speakers Christopher Dwyer, managing director of Future of Work Exchange; Opptly’s Lori Hock, CEO, and Rebecca Valladares, head of operations, addressed how AI is changing the talent acquisition landscape. Dwyer shared that within the next 18 months, 74% of enterprises plan to leverage AI to improve the candidate experience. This is a sign of how much AI will play a critical role in attracting job candidates in the near future.

The following includes several key points shared during the webinar that show AI is not only here, but here to stay.

Framing AI for TA from Three Perspectives

When thinking about AI for talent acquisition, frame it in three perspectives: the enterprise (the business use case), the recruiter, and the candidate. On the enterprise side, it’s about improving hiring efficiencies through AI as well as improving diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. At the same time, AI can identify current skill sets and where skill gaps exist in the organization to better understand who and where to hire for those roles.

The recruitment side can leverage AI for the identification of various skills and expertise — a skills DNA assessment — to strategically pinpoint the type of candidate who can bring immediate value to the enterprise. More organizations are shifting to skills-based hiring where candidate experience and purposeful work can thrive.

Finally, AI can transform the candidate experience using chatbots to guide candidates more efficiently through the application process, as well as provide customizations and real-time engagement that attracts candidates and educates them about the business.

Transforming the Hiring Manager Experience

Because the hiring manager is making the final candidate decision, enhancing that experience with AI comes with several benefits. First, a qualified and accurate slate of candidates expedites making the decision about who to interview and ultimately hire. This has a positive impact on the experience itself, but also on the production and retention of hired candidates because the match is accurate from the beginning. If the AI on the front end of the process can provide the recruiter with the ability to be more thoughtful and deliberate about conversations with candidates, the hiring manager only benefits from that process.

It is important for recruiters to understand the hiring market, the available roles, and what types of candidates succeed in those roles. AI can sort through that data quicker and provide analytics around those areas for the recruiter and hiring manager in a more meaningful and consumable way. By bringing such business intelligence forward through AI, it bridges the strategic insights for the recruiter on candidate advisement that the hiring manager can leverage in making their final candidate decision.

Delivering Positive Impacts of AI on TA

First and foremost, HR, recruiters, and hiring managers can and should use AI to increase their talent pool and gain the broadest access to talent available. In this age of skills-based hiring, the extended workforce is critical to talent pool expansion, which creates further efficiencies through reduced time-to-fill rates that lead to cost savings.

An artificial intelligence area that should not be overlooked is continuous learning in a systematic way. AI is an enterprise asset that will improve and provide exponential value over time. Unlike past technological advancements where an organization implements the technology and utilizes it for five years before it’s replaced, AI technology grows and improves as the business evolves. As the business needs change, the use cases change. AI has a continuous learning value proposition where its performance for talent acquisition and talent management insights remains high.

At the end of the day, talent acquisition puts people to work and AI plays an essential role in that process. Make AI what you need it to do. Effect positive change by integrating AI into talent and workforce processes.

Optimize Your Workforce with Recession-Proof Strategies, Part Three

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce Diversity and Inclusion General Insights HR Talent Technology and Innovation Uncategorized by John Yuva on 08/17/2023

Today concludes our three-part series exploring several contingent and workforce strategies to achieve a recession-proof enterprise.

We’re now two months into the second half of 2023 and economically speaking, things are looking positive. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that GDP grew 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023. The labor market remains tight with unemployment at 3.6%, a rate not witnessed in decades. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the tight labor market provides the Federal Reserve with the flexibility to continue raising interest rates to fight inflation. Currently, inflation rests at 3%, a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s longer-run goal of 2%.

Does the state of the current U.S. economy equate to a “soft landing” and the evasion of a recession? Maybe, maybe not. Due to the expectation of continued interest rate increases and the potential ramifications, uncertainty remains among executives and their enterprises. Thus, many are considering strategies over the next six to 12 months to recession-proof their critical workforce and their organizations.

Let’s begin part three by exploring employee engagement and how that dovetails into workplace visibility and intelligence and better workforce decision-making.

Prioritize Employee Engagement and Experience

Enterprises successful with total talent management initiatives credit prioritizing employee engagement and experience. Engagement and experience begin at the first touchpoint between job candidates and the organization. Candidates gain an understanding of the workplace culture and workforce priorities. This only carries through as an employee where communication, collaboration, DE&I, flexible scheduling, and wellness programs are emphasized and implemented. When workers understand the criticality of contingent to permanent employee engagement, instituting surveys, focus groups, and other feedback mechanisms for data gathering and workforce improvement are accepted and valued. Those analytics enhance the employee experience and provide strategic insights for enterprise operations.

Enhance Workforce Visibility and Intelligence

Implementing employee surveys and leveraging HR systems and similar technologies are essential to gaining greater workforce visibility and intelligence. The process should begin with three main focal areas. First, define the goals and metrics the organization wants to achieve. Is it attracting more skills-based candidates? Improving workforce productivity? Reducing turnover rates? Optimizing workforce resources? With those metrics defined, KPIs can be established to measure progress and achievement.

Second, ensure that data collection occurs in a centralized system for ease of analysis and interpretation. Data is likely to come from several disparate systems that when analyzed together reveal unknown insights. HR data combined with performance metrics can show correlations between training and productivity, for example.

Third, today’s integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies is integral to sifting through volumes of data for meaningful insights and patterns. Use these analytic tools and similar platforms to streamline data synthesis and transparency.

Utilize Workforce Data and Intelligence for Better Decision-Making

With data residing in a centralized data warehouse, HR and business managers can leverage such data and intelligence to enhance employee engagement programs and optimize enterprise workforce operations. Talent strategies around recruitment, acquisition, and retention are prime areas where optimization can occur. How is the enterprise projecting itself in the marketplace to attract candidates? Is direct sourcing driving a large percentage of the acquisition strategy? If so, what channels are being underutilized? Are there strategies to keep valuable employees engaged?

Most importantly, use workforce intelligence for better planning and resource allocation. Combining historical data with market trends, enterprises can better predict future staffing needs. It provides a proactive approach to addressing skill shortages or overages and optimizes resource allocation to meet business demands efficiently.

While economic uncertainty remains, enterprises can better prepare their workforce for the unexpected with strategies that foster agility, resiliency, and flexibility. Recessions are not a matter of if but when. Strengthen your workforce today for any disruption — economic or otherwise — that may occur tomorrow.

Optimize Your Workforce with Recession-Proof Strategies, Part Two

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights HR Talent Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 08/10/2023

We’re now two months into the second half of 2023 and economically speaking, things are looking positive. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that GDP grew 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023. The labor market remains tight with unemployment at 3.6%, a rate not witnessed in decades. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the tight labor market allows the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates to fight inflation. Currently, inflation rests at 3%, a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s longer-run goal of 2%.

With that in mind, the Future of Work Exchange features part two of a three-part series exploring several contingent and overall workforce strategies to achieve a recession-proof enterprise over the next few weeks. Part two explores the next three strategies.

Enhance Overall Workplace Culture

Enhancing a workplace culture for both contingent and permanent workers means creating opportunities for communication, engagement, and performance. First, it should start with clearly communicating the enterprise’s core values and mission that lead to consistent behaviors and performance goals. The mission and core values should permeate the enterprise and be modeled by leadership. Second, a workplace inclusive of different backgrounds and perspectives, while also promoting employee engagement, fosters a sense of belonging and community. Inclusiveness and engagement can transform workforce communication as well as generate collaboration and strategic problem-solving. And third, institute a reward and recognition system that promotes higher performance, skills development, and innovative thinking. Ultimately, bringing enhancements to the workplace culture not only helps retain talent but attracts it as well.

Holistic Approach to the Workforce Beyond Productivity

The Future of Work has brought greater attention to the workforce beyond just productivity. HR leaders, business managers, and executives who take a holistic workforce approach are placing greater emphasis on employee empowerment, emotional intelligence, and meaningful work. When employees are given more autonomy, they take ownership of their work and experiment with new ideas — a win-win for the employee and the enterprise. Similarly, leading with empathy has been shown to create a more supportive environment where managers and employees are more attuned to the well-being of colleagues. When it comes to purpose, assigning employees to projects where their passions or strengths lie makes the work more meaningful. That alignment will enhance job satisfaction as well.

Reallocate Budgets for Investment in Automation and Technology

When it comes to realigning budgets for greater investment in automation and technology, begin with identifying redundant processes and inefficient workflows. Show stakeholders how automation can eliminate the costs associated with inefficiencies. From a talent perspective, employing automation for talent acquisition and talent management, particularly for the contingent workforce, can bring those processes in-house for more strategic decision-making. Extended workforce platforms expand the power of VMS technology, for example, by offering more talent-oriented solutions that augment how a business manages nuanced, Future of Work-led aspects, such as DE&I, talent communities, services procurement, the candidate experience, the hiring manager experience, etc. With enterprises shifting to skills-based hiring, utilizing automation and technology to attract candidates with specific skills and competencies is now a strategic imperative.

The economy is proving resilient against a recession. However, implementing holistic workforce strategies focused on talent attraction and retention, workplace culture, and automation and technology can be just as impactful against recessionary trends. Next week, we’ll explore three more recession-proof enterprise workforce strategies.