John Yuva, Author at The Future of Work Exchange

The Second Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce General Insights HR Talent Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 10/25/2022

The Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) and Ardent Partners recently hosted their complimentary webinar, The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work, which discussed the critical capabilities that enterprises can unlock to truly optimize the way they address talent acquisition, extended workforce management, and, most importantly, work optimization. Over the next five weeks, we’ll be recapping each of the five things discussed during the event.

In our second installment this week, we’ll be diving into the “first-mover advantage” and what that means for innovation and resiliency.

Adoption of Future of Work Accelerants

The number two must-know about the Future of Work is that the first-mover advantage (in this case, early adopters of Future of Work-era strategies and solutions) translates into urgency for innovation. During the scary early days of the pandemic, businesses were either struggling for survival…or were thriving. When we think about where we are today, let’s look at the organizations that adopted some of these Future of Work accelerants: they tapped into remote work, became brought in a broader set of workers and in their workplace, while also improving their workplace culture and overall work optimization strategies.

Businesses also embraced aspects like artificial intelligence and used their technology more expansively. For example, a Vendor Management System (VMS) wasn’t used just for requisitions, but also to build scenarios and leverage predictive analytics to scale the workforce and understand what could happen tomorrow based on today’s numbers. Doing so could lead to smarter and more educated and intelligent-led talent decisions. Thus, there is an urgency for innovation.

This is not simply about thriving, but surviving as well. Those businesses that have adopted some of these accelerants, whether they’re strategic or technology-led, are much more likely to thrive in the months ahead. The first-mover advantage sets these organizations up very nicely for the future.

Thrive Through Understanding and Embracement

The Future of Work Exchange’s architect, Christopher J. Dwyer, highlighted a discussion he had with a director of talent acquisition, who said it was easy for her company to transition to a remote workforce because it was already a hybrid workplace. The company took what it learned in pre-pandemic times over so many years that it was fairly simple to transition to remote work. It already leveraged both HR and contingent workforce technology and had those systems integrated, so it knew where its workers were across the globe — a company with approximately 300 global locations. She said the company had the capability to know who was working on what projects, where they were located, when their assignments ended, and what locations were being hit hard by a COVID-19 surge, which allowed them to react in real time. Speaking with her months later, said Dwyer, the company was thriving because of the lessons learned and its embrace of Future of Work accelerants during the early days of the pandemic.

This is not to say that a business struggling in 2020 couldn’t be thriving today. The first-mover advantage means that enterprises shouldn’t sit back and watch others pass them by in terms of what they’re adopting and embracing from Future of Work, innovation, and progression perspectives. What else is happening out there? What are their peers and competitors adopting from a technology perspective? How are their business leaders managing the workforce? How are they treating their workforce? Why are they losing talent to other organizations? Why are they getting hit harder by The Great Resignation than others?

The next economic recession will be unique because of existing inflation; however, many industries are doing well and thriving because of lessons learned and the collective trauma experienced over the last three years from the pandemic. During the next downturn, companies are likely to weather the storm much better because of the technology they’ve adopted and the new strategies they’ve embraced. The innovative thinking that comes from those decisions makes companies better suited to handle the challenges of today.

Flexibility Cannot be Underestimated

What does this mean for the workplace? In many respects, hybrid is the ideal workplace model because of the flexibility that workers crave. Obviously, many workers are unable to work remotely because of their job description. And, some businesses look at remote and hybrid work models with concerns about productivity and workforce control. However, time and time again, workers have proved that avoiding a 90-minute commute to and from work allows them to be more productive each day.

It also speaks to the flexibility of taking care of life events. The ability to go to the dentist or pick up a sick child from daycare or school can mean a great deal to workers. Workers are humans, not just numbers on a spreadsheet. It doesn’t matter if you’re a contractor that worked 4.5 hours or an employee who has been with the company for 40 years. These are not faceless workers. We are humans and humans crave flexibility. We want the ability to feel connected to the organization.

A famous CEO of the world’s largest search engine said that “the Future of Work is flexibility.” We’ve been saying this for a long time on FOWX and it’s true: the Future of Work is built on flexibility.

Supporting the Future of Work Through Innovative Technology

Direct Sourcing General Insights HR Solution Providers Talent Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 10/20/2022

One of the defining characteristics of the Future of Work is digitization. Enterprises are now operating with more remote and hybrid workplaces. Thus, technology is imperative to a cohesive and efficient workforce. What this means for the individual employee is more daily immersion in various technological platforms and solutions. Upskilling will be a critical aspect for workers as they harness more advanced technologies to communicate, collaborate, and execute their roles.

Digital employee experience (DEX) is a term that describes how effective workers are in using digital tools. DEX is a growing area of interest as companies adopt a plethora of digital tools to augment their dispersed workforces. Companies want to ensure the tools they have integrated into the workplace are intuitive and enhance worker productivity.

Tom Haak, director at the HR Trend Institute, says, “Technology offers enormous opportunities to improve the life of people in and around organizations. In HR, the focus is still too much on control and process improvement, not enough on really improving the employee experience.”

Today, with remote and in-person workers, enterprises must bridge those two environments and focus on technologies that both attract and retain workers regardless of where they work. Technology that supports the Future of Work comes in a variety of forms. Often, artificial intelligence (AI) permeates many digital solutions, providing automated processes and data outputs for better workforce decision-making.

Throughout the remainder of the year, the Future of Work Exchange will be highlighting several technologies from blockchain to e-wallets, and how they impact Future of Work strategies. However, the following are technologies that business leaders and employees are using now and, in the future, to enhance the DEX and drive workplace efficiency and community.

Communication and collaboration. The COVID-19 pandemic put communication and collaboration to the ultimate test. Enterprises and employees experienced first-hand the potential of digital communication as they grew accustomed to using Zoom, Slack, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms proved that remote work could, in fact, be accomplished with the same productive and strategic outcomes as in-person work models. It is one of the major reasons why remote and hybrid workforce options were embraced by enterprises post-pandemic.

There are several communication and collaborative tools to serve the enterprise and its remote and in-person workforce. Basecamp provides both a communication and collaborative platform to keep projects on schedule and lines of communication open. Trello also makes project management run smoothly regardless of where an employee is based.

Beyond these more common collaborative solutions, companies are utilizing chatbots for internal use for collaborative purposes and employee support. ServiceNOW, for example, offers its Virtual Agent solution to bring people to the same collaborative workspace or provide answers to employee questions.

Another evolving collaborative offering is the virtual whiteboard for use during company and team meetings. Companies such as Miro, MURAL, and Stormboard provide effective tools for diagramming and presenting in real time.

Big data (predictive and people analytics). Volumes of data flood enterprises from a variety of sources. For HR and other business leaders, big data is crucial to their Future of Work strategies, generating analytics across the talent acquisition and talent management landscape. Predictive analytics, for example, will grow as a key component of direct sourcing initiatives to curate a pipeline of potential job candidates.

According to a post on the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX), “While predictive analytics are not commonplace today, soon, a majority of enterprises will look to scenario-building as a way to enhance overall talent intelligence. Predictive analytics, in this realm, will augment the organization’s overall knowledge of its in-house skills as well as the expertise available externally (across all talent communities, including talent pools).”

Where predictive analytics will help prepare the enterprise for its future talent needs, people analytics are necessary to understand how employees are embracing digital tools and applications. Are shared applications being utilized by the workforce? Is there participation in virtual workspaces? What are employee sentiments around an enterprise’s digital transformation? People analytics help answer these questions and provide key insights into employee productivity, well-being, and digital adoption.

Virtual reality. In a previous post, FOWX explored the possibilities of the metaverse. Virtual reality will stretch the limits of employee interaction and community. Virtual workspaces where employee avatars can converse and strategize are likely to come to fruition in the coming years. It levels the playing field for remote and in-person employees by creating a setting for everyone regardless of location.

Artificial intelligence is also a major piece of the virtual reality offering. Currently, employees can create an avatar to complete repetitive tasks using AI or communicate with customers to answer product questions. As technology advances, the potential influence of virtual reality on the Future of Work will only increase. Today’s chatbots are just the beginning of how enterprises can leverage the virtual world and bridge humans with AI.

Just as the Future of Work evolves, so too will the technologies that support it. There are dozens of software applications on the horizon to benefit business leaders and their employees. Explore the options and how they align with your workforce strategy.

The First Thing You Must Know About the Future of Work

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce Direct Sourcing Events General Insights Talent Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 10/17/2022

The Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) and Ardent Partners recently hosted their complimentary webinar, The Five Things You MUST KNOW About the Future of Work, which discussed the critical capabilities that enterprises can unlock to truly optimize the way they address talent acquisition, extended workforce management, and, most importantly, work optimization. Over the next five weeks, we’ll be recapping each of the five things discussed during the event. In our first installment this week, we’ll be diving into the evolution of talent and the ever-present phrase, “The Future of Work.”

The Evolution of Talent and Talent Acquisition

When it comes to the Future of Work, one of the first things to know is the evolution of talent and talent acquisition. And this idea of the “evolution of talent” can be ambiguous. Talent is always evolving and has been for a long time. The way that businesses perceive their talent is also evolving. And, the way that those businesses get connected to talent, and vice versa, continues to evolve. It’s also being innovated through technology and new strategies and new programs.

The fact is nearly half of our workforce today is comprised of extended workers or contingent workers. We have aspects like direct sourcing and digital staffing that are making it much easier for businesses to find the talent they need to get work done to address those mission-critical projects and fill the appropriate roles. FOWX and Ardent research has been focused historically on the extended workforce and contingent workforce, but we’re talking about all types of talent.

Thus, talent acquisition as a function and as a series of processes has also progressed. We need to consider aspects like the candidate experience, and the way that our culture and our brand attract new talent into our organization. Many business leaders think of the Future of Work as being centered around technology, revolving around the idea that technology drives the Future of Work. And we wouldn’t necessarily disagree with that; technology is a critical piece. And for some aspects and attributes of the Future of Work, technology and innovation are the nexus of those areas.

Technology is a Future of Work Centerpiece

Talent and the growth of the extended workforce represent the first leg of the stool with such things as diversity and candidate experience, but also digital staffing, direct sourcing, online talent marketplaces, and core workforce management solutions (such as MSPs and VMS platforms) These technologies are helping us to redefine the way we think about work. We’re living in a world where even though we don’t want to hear the word “pandemic” anymore, the pandemic really did shape what we think about the Future of Work.

It’s really critical to think about aspects like remote work and the technologies that support a hybrid workplace and how we leverage digital workspaces, digitization, and the idea of the digital enterprise, all rolling up into this notion of digital transformation. New technology and innovation are not the totality of the Future of Work, but certainly a centerpiece of it. And when we look at the transformation of business leadership, we often juxtapose this with business transformation or business leadership transformation, as well. It is leadership that dictates strategy, it dictates vision, and it dictates culture. And by proxy, we transform the way business leadership manages itself, manages its workforce, and how it expands its power and control over the organization.

Thus, the transparent transformation of business leadership is really critical, and honestly has nothing to do with technology. It all revolves around aspects like conscious leadership, empathetic leadership, empathy at work, and flexibility — thinking about how we lead in very new and different ways. It’s turning on its head the idea that “the boss” is always this very strict person who’s known for rigidity in how he or she perceives and manages the workforce. Business leaders are transitioning to be more flexible in their thinking. When you combine all these aspects together, that’s the future of work and the view of the Future of Work Exchange and Ardent Partners as well.

Ever-Present Future of Work

Thus, the “Future of Work” phrase is ever-present. It’s everywhere. Back when our FOWX architect, Christopher J. Dwyer, started using this phrase in 2013/2014, there weren’t many others using it. Today, we see so many conferences named “The Future of Work” as well as many websites and research studies. But unlike a lot of phrases that are hot today, it’s anything but hype. It really is this idea of permanence. Much of the change that we’ve gone through as people, as leaders, as workers, and as businesses, it’s not hype…nor is it a fad. The Future of Work is permanence. It’s not going to fade from view.

Future of Work “accelerants” that were once seedlings to the world of work and talent are now table stakes. Remote work, for example, is not new. Many of us have been working in a remote or hybrid workplace for most of our careers. And there are many others who have done so, as well. But for some business leaders and workers, it’s a very new aspect of their daily work lives.

The “Future of Work” phrase is ubiquitous. It’s an omnipresent way of looking at the current and future state of work. We are now focused on how we can improve the way we get work done, the way we manage talent, the way we engage talent, and the way that we treat our workforce. But we’re also thinking about tomorrow and the ways we’re going to get work done depending on several factors, including the economy, politics, global markets, and other aspects that could change the business arena.

Upwork’s Work Without Limits: Grand Redesign with Tim Sanders

Business Leadership Events Solution Providers by John Yuva on 10/04/2022

Upwork, a global talent and work platform, recently held its Work Without Limits summit as an in-person and streaming event in Chicago. The main stage was filled with customer and enterprise presenters, including Upwork’s Tim Sanders, vice president of client strategy, who discussed the grand redesign opportunity and what the breakdown of the old rules of work means for companies today. (Check out the Future of Work Exchange‘s coverage of the event.)

Defining Grand Redesign

Sanders began his session with a fascinating story about the rise of Shantanu Narayen to CEO of Adobe Inc. in 2007. Adobe was a behemoth software company known for its innovative products like Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, and many others. In the industry, it was second only to its rival Microsoft.

However, in 2007, the company experienced the ramifications of software piracy, losing $1 billion. A year later, the Great Recession took its toll on the company’s flagship Adobe Creative Suite product offering. At a $1,800 price point, companies closed their wallets and revenue declined 20% within the first eight weeks of the recession.

What was Adobe’s response? Mark Garrett, Adobe’s chief financial officer in 2008, recognized the potential of cloud-based subscription models. Thus, the company embarked on its grand redesign, transforming from a physical product-oriented company to a 100% digital, cloud-based subscription service. In 2012, Adobe released Creative Cloud to the world with an entry-level price point of less than $60 compared to $1,800.

Sanders noted that Adobe’s grand redesign was one of the biggest turnarounds in corporate history, growing its market cap from $15 billion in 2012 to more than $200 billion today. Knowing not to rest and accept the status quo, especially during a recession, the company leveraged the opportunity to combine desktop, mobile, and services into a single customer package — shutting the door to the competition.

Our Present Grand Redesign Opportunity

This brings us to today. Sanders explains that companies are experiencing another period of great disruption — the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts. Now is the time to move beyond the status quo and redesign the workplace. He says there are six workplace design options on the table.

Remote first. Companies that choose this design option fully embrace remote work and use it strategically as part of their operational and talent acquisition models.
Remote-friendly. More organizations are choosing a remote-friendly design that embraces a distributed workforce for certain roles, talents, and situations. It is not a complete remote first transition, but companies are willing to consider it as a possible default. Sanders says that if companies are not remote first, they must accept remote-friendly to be competitive.
Remote for now. This has been the workplace design model for many companies since the beginning of the pandemic. However, this model will disappear as companies commit to a long-term design strategy.
Hybrid by role. Essentially, certain roles (e.g., doctors, nurses, warehouse workers, etc.) must be in-person due to the work type. Other roles can be accomplished remotely.
Hybrid-by-day mix. In many ways, this is simply a compromise for those who want to be remote. It allows remote work for two to three days per week. The drawbacks? There are no savings on real estate costs and there’s a reliance on local talent.
Onsite first. Everyone is required to work on-site with few to no remote work options. For retail organizations, Sanders questions whether it’s necessary for marketing or back-office technology employees to work on-site. There are remote work opportunities that could be leveraged.

*Tim Sanders, VP of Client Strategy at Upwork, discusses “The Grand Redesign.” (Photo credit: Upwork)*

Identify Your Model to Rewire Your Organization for Remote-First

Which workplace design model represents your company? Answer that question first, says Sanders, then pose three additional questions.

Are you satisfied with the talent in your local markets to make you competitive to achieve digital transformation and stand-up artificial intelligence? Are you ready? Are your local markets really that strong?

And as a follow-up question, are there any remote-first companies running recruitment ads in your market? If so, that’s going to change the picture even if you think you’re comfortable with the strength of your local market.

Have your leaders figured out managing based on outcomes or are they still stuck in the past of AAA management — attendance, attitude, and aptitude?

If your leaders have learned how to manage based on outcomes, then they’re completely equipped to manage without seeing people physically every day in the office.

Have you invested in tools and training for people to learn how to collaborate and culture-build at a distance?

Culture is not about your office. Instead, culture is a conversation led by leaders about how we do things here. It’s about storytelling and how we succeeded in the past. If you want to build a better culture, focus on cadence, not location.

Sanders says these are the questions to ask yourself. The good news? As you embrace remote-first (or at the very least, remote-friendly) workplace design, you are going to rewire the organization.

Four-Day Work Week Put to the Test

General Insights HR Talent by John Yuva on 09/22/2022

While remote and hybrid work models are nearly synonymous with the Future of Work, the four-day work week is gaining renewed attention as a characteristic of workplace flexibility. Certainly not a novel concept, the pandemic helped elevate four-day work week discussions as companies sought to bring employees back into the office. Advocates of the four-day work week are encouraging companies to join pilot programs to test the waters and determine its viability.

It is important to differentiate the four-day work week model from a compressed work week. Employees who work a compressed week are still working 40 or more hours over four days. A four-day work week means working 8 hours per day, 32 hours per week with the same pay as a 40-hour week.

However, various studies have shown that a four-day work week can produce higher productivity levels compared to employees working more days with longer hours. A four-day work week can also lead to lower stress levels as well as a happier and more loyal workforce. When employees know that their company values flexibility and work/life balance, there’s a greater commitment toward enterprise goals. It is this insight that led to a drastic change in work hours/days in the early 1900s.

Work Hours and Days Not Etched in Stone

Historically, until the 20th century, the work week spanned six days, averaging 80-to-100 hours per week, with the majority of labor working in factories or heavy manufacturing. In 1926, however, the Ford Motor Company transitioned to five days, 40 hours per week due to productivity insights of its workers. TIME highlighted Henry Ford’s philosophy on this in his company’s Ford News in October, “Just as the eight-hour day opened our way to prosperity in America, so the five-day workweek will open our way to still greater prosperity … It is high time to rid ourselves of the notion that leisure for workmen is either lost time or a class privilege.”

The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in 1938 and amended in 1940 by Congress, made the 40-hour work week standard. Thus, the notion that the work week cannot be anything less than five days, 40 hours per week is not realistic given our current times. As evidenced by the Future of Work movement, today’s workplace landscape shows yet another tectonic shift in workforce productivity and engagement.

Now, more than ever, with remote work becoming a mainstream workforce model, it is relevant to further explore the four-day work week concept. And that’s exactly what hundreds of companies are undertaking across the world from Europe to North America and beyond.

Largest Four-Day Work Week Pilot Launched in the UK

The largest-ever four-day work week pilot is occurring in the United Kingdom from June to December 2022. Led by 4 Day Week Global in partnership with leading think tank Autonomy, the 4 Day Week UK Campaign, and researchers at Cambridge University, Boston College, and Oxford University, there are more than 70 organizations varying in size and sector participating in the six-month trial, including over 3,300 employees who are being paid one day off weekly during the six-month pilot.

According to Joe O’Connor, 4 Day Week Global CEO, “The organizations in the United Kingdom pilot are contributing real-time data and knowledge that are worth their weight in gold. Essentially, they are laying the foundation for the future of work by putting a four-day week into practice, across every size of business and nearly every sector, and telling us exactly what they are finding as they go,” he says.

“We are learning that for many it is a fairly smooth transition and for some there are some understandable hurdles — especially among those which have comparatively fixed or inflexible practices, systems, or cultures that date back well into the last century,” O’Connor adds.

With the pilot now at its halfway point, all participating organizations were sent a series of questions with multi-choice answers on a scale of 1 to 5. According to 4 Day Week Global, of those that responded (41 out of the 70 companies), here are some insights on the four-day work week at this juncture in the trial:

88% of respondents stated that the four-day week is working “well” for their business at this stage in the trial.
46% of respondents say their business productivity has “maintained around the same level,” while 34% report that it has “improved slightly,” and 15% say it has “improved significantly.”
On how smooth the transition to a four-day week has been (with ‘5’ being “extremely smooth” and ‘1’ being “extremely challenging”), 29% of respondents selected ‘5’, 49% selected ‘4’ and 20% selected ‘3’.
86% of respondents stated that at this juncture in the trial, they would be “extremely likely” and or “likely” to consider retaining the four-day week policy after the trial period.

A Bright Future for Workplace Flexibility

The outlook is encouraging for four-day work week adoption for some of the companies involved in the pilot. The fact that 49% of the company respondents are seeing an improvement in business productivity is something to note as well. The Future of Work Exchange will follow up once the pilot concludes in December.

In the meantime, if your company is interested in a 4 Day Week Global pilot in the United States or Canada, information can be found here.

Ultimately, companies will need to determine how a four-day work week impacts their business and workforce model. Flexibility of any kind within today’s enterprises is critical to talent acquisition and retention. Companies that tested but decided against adopting a four-day work week have still realized the importance of flexibility and implemented other measures from no-meeting Thursdays to seasonal half-day Fridays. Determine what is meaningful from a stress and work/life balance perspective and use that as a starting point for a flexible workplace program.

Unretired but not Irrelevant

Contingent Workforce General Insights Talent by John Yuva on 09/14/2022

Since the beginning of the Great Resignation in 2021, millions of workers have left the workforce — many retiring from the job market altogether. However, some of those retirees have now unretired and reentered the workforce. According to Nick Bunker, economic research director for North America at the Indeed Hiring Lab, as of March 2022, 3.2% of workers who retired a year earlier are now employed. What does this mean for companies and the Future of Work? Essentially, there remains a large talent pool of unretired seniors who bring varied skillsets and interest in remote work — a perfect combination for a pipeline of contingent labor.

The Pandemic Spurs Mass Retirement

Most of the planet can relate to how COVID-19 affected our work lives. Throughout the first two years of the pandemic, many senior workers decided to retire from the workforce. However, it occurred in unprecedented numbers.

During a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis podcast titled “Retirements Increased During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Who Retired and Why?,” Miguel Faria-E-Castro, a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, remarked on the number and the reasons for retirements beyond what was expected as the baby boomer generation exits the workforce.

“… And actually, I find that there were about 2.6 million excess retirees on top of what those trends would predict. And there are many reasons why people are retiring during COVID-19. There’s the fact that older people tend to be more susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19,” he says.

“There’s the fact that many of these older workers had to care for loved ones who used to be in daycare institutions that were now subject to lockdowns, and there’s also the fact that asset values were rising very rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic, which might have influenced the value of pension and retirement accounts,” Faria-E-Castro adds.

Despite the reasons behind retirements, 2022 witnessed the return of many retired workers to the workforce.

A Generational Return

While retirement numbers reached unprecedented levels, the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, along with simpler and more obvious reasons like boredom and a sense of purpose, prompted retired workers to find employment.

Other reasons to return include:

Inflation. According to the latest U.S. Department of Labor data, the inflation rate for the United States is 8.3% for the 12 months ended August 2022 — an increase of 8.5% previously. Higher prices throughout a variety of industry sectors including food and beverage and consumer products are causing financial hardships for retired workers. Returning to the workforce is helping to ease that burden as well as pay for rising healthcare expenses

Tight labor market. A tight labor market means available jobs. Prior to the pandemic, employment opportunities for older workers were less plentiful and even scarce. However, with the enticement of flexible hours and remote work to fill open positions, enterprises are opening their doors to unretired employees — and they’re taking those opportunities.

Higher wages. Companies understand that the lack of talent requires a higher wage to lure candidates. Unretiring to supplement pension and Social Security payments is helping to offset inflationary pressures on monthly expenses.

Leverage Senior Talent for Greater Value

Now that senior workers are returning to the workplace, how can companies best utilize this unique talent pool? In her Forbes article, “Is the ‘Great Resignation’ Actually a Mass Retirement,” Avivah Wittenberg-Cox, CEO of 20-first, a global balance consultancy based in London, highlighted three critical areas for how companies can retain older workers.

Build senior talent into your hiring strategy. When examining the makeup of your workforce, how many are older employees? It is critical to know the age distribution of your workplace for a variety of reasons. First, it may be a sign that the enterprise lacks variability in its senior talent. There is much to be said about a multi-generational workplace and the advantages of pairing younger workers with more seasoned employees. Second, tribal knowledge is rarely written down for the benefit of others. Whether it’s processes, procedures, or shortcut efficiencies, companies rarely capture that knowledge before employees retire and it’s gone forever. Third, transparency in your age distribution can lead to a strategic outlook on potential succession plans. It should also serve as a significant part of your knowledge management process.

Invest in professional development. As humans, we’re always learning. And in today’s enterprises, change is a constant. With that in mind, professional development should not be an investment for only younger talent. Despite many multi-generational workforces, ageism is still present within companies. Today’s hiring initiatives should focus on removing that practice and the barriers it creates for senior employees. Having purposeful work is just as important to the older workforce as any other segment. Unretired employees often want to learn new skillsets to broaden their experiences and provide meaningful outcomes to the enterprise.

Flex the workplace model. As retired workers return to the workforce, they’re looking for remote and work/life balance opportunities — which complements the Future of Work paradigm. Understanding the purpose of why an employee is unretiring can help shape how best to utilize their skills. It also opens a dialog about the potential tenure of a senior employee. Rather than a sudden departure that often occurs with traditional retirement, companies can plan eventual exits and ensure knowledge capture and a succession strategy.

The Future of Work is not generation-specific. It encompasses all generations within the workforce from Gen Z to Baby Boomers. In fact, it is Baby Boomers who can serve as a valuable source for continent labor. Those coming out of retirement to find a second calling or support a former company or industry in a new and beneficial way have much to offer. And leveraged strategically, the knowledge of this generation of workers can spark innovation and provide a unique dynamic within multi-generational teams. At the end of the day, age is just a number.

Expand Your Enterprise and Workforce in the Metaverse

Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 08/26/2022

Last week, part one of this two-part series on the metaverse, explored the technologies behind the metaverse curtain and what the possibilities are for the remote and in-office workforce. This week, we’ll examine how companies can leverage the metaverse for greater workforce and operational efficiencies.

The Enterprise in the Metaverse

When it comes to the future of the internet, it is the metaverse that often comes to mind. Integrated technologies working together to form a virtual interactive world. While its current existence offers cutting-edge interactivity, much of the grand potential of the metaverse is yet to come. What lies on the horizon will most certainly influence the future of work and what it means to collaborate and exist as an enterprise.

Currently, enterprises that want to enhance their production processes, for example, can now replicate their facility using digital twin technology. By simulating production lines or other assets, organizations can determine potential failures before they occur and develop mitigation strategies.

Within the metaverse, this same concept can exist but with remote workers’ avatars in a virtual space, viewing a 3D replica of a facility, machine, product, or other asset. The virtual meeting space could be an auditorium or other large venue with global participants representing a cross-section of the product development team and supplier base. It would no longer require expensive travel and accommodate any number of people.

The differentiator between digital twins today and those in the metaverse is the use of technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things to provide photorealistic representations of the asset. Better still is the power of data analytics for real-time feedback to simulate real-world conditions in a virtual setting.

Developing a new product? Simulate a stress test to ensure the expected tolerance levels hold true under real-world conditions using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Working with an architectural firm for a new facility? Not only can you review the blueprints but tour the completed building in its entirety within the metaverse. These are just a couple of examples of how enterprises can leverage the metaverse for operational efficiencies.

Digital Image and the Future of Work

Want to take digital twin technology and apply it to the future of work in the metaverse? Those possibilities are growing. Our appearance can be replicated in virtual worlds — a critical part of our digital identity — in the metaverse. Union Avatars, for example, has a creator tool to construct full-body avatars based on scanned selfies and photographs to transplant into the virtual universe. Thus, it allows an avatar, with our physical representation, to converse with colleagues and customers as we appear in real life.

Taking it a step further, imagine your avatar on its own attending virtual business meetings and taking notes, or completing lower-value tasks, while you focus on strategic projects and execution. Two versions of yourself — physical and digital — accomplishing two different types of work simultaneously. Those possibilities are evolving and could be game-changing for Future of Work strategies.

Born and Operated in the Virtual

For the remote workforce, it can often feel as if the company has no physical existence. The primary use of Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams for communication and collaboration only enhances that sense of the virtual. However, the future is coming where companies are born and operated exclusively in the metaverse, relying on virtual currency for transactions.

Looking for an attractive plot to build your enterprise? A CNET article detailed how millions are being paid for virtual real estate. It is entirely conceivable to build and operate a corporation within a vast virtual economy — populated with avatars working and living their best digital life. Blockchain will be critical to the stability of metaverse financial systems. As the foundational technology for cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to exist, blockchain security is a significant focus.

The possibilities seem endless in the metaverse. There is little doubt that the Future of Work will find its place in this virtual realm. How transformative will the metaverse be for the remote and contingency workforce? Considering the vast amount of data analytics and Industry 4.0 technology involved, entire industries devoted exclusively to the metaverse will emerge. Now is the time to explore what the metaverse could mean for enterprises and their remote workforces. The potential is there for the metaverse to become the next disruptive business force.

The Impact of the Metaverse on the Business Arena

Technology and Innovation by John Yuva on 08/18/2022

The metaverse. It is widely accepted that science fiction novelist Neal Stephenson first coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel Snow Crash, where characters access a 3D world through VR goggles. More recently, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Ready Player One provided a visual interpretation of the metaverse (The Oasis) with multiple worlds populated by avatars in every describable form. While we’re still years away from realizing the depictions of the metaverse in novels and film, today’s metaverse provides an exciting glimpse of what’s on the horizon for virtual engagement and the future of work.

Metaverse Defined

What is the metaverse? Simply stated, it is a virtual world(s) where people interact as 3D avatars, gaming, socializing, and working. That immersive experience is made possible by several technologies. Virtual reality and head-mounted displays, coupled with spatial technology and augmented reality bring the immersion to life. Other technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning act as the brains for the metaverse, enriching the virtual environment through automated transactions, decision-making, and world-building.

The metaverse ecosystem is a vast network of hundreds of companies from a variety of industries all working toward developing specific metaverse attributes — infrastructure, economy, user experience, etc. And there are many metaverse platforms (e.g., Decentraland, The Sandbox, etc.) to put your virtual stake in the ground as no one owns the metaverse (yet).

Transition from Gaming to Business

Much of the metaverse is rooted in gaming. Unsurprisingly, children (and adults) are well-versed with virtual worlds through Minecraft (140 million monthly players), Fortnite (250 million-plus active users), and Roblox (30 million daily players). This bodes well for future generations adapting to the virtual world of work. As consumers take several steps into the virtual realm with products like Meta’s Oculus and HTC’s VIVE, corporations are now moving closer to their own metaverse offerings. McDonald’s, Nike, Amazon, and companies in sectors like healthcare, finance, and hospitality are taking the plunge into the virtual expanse.

The culmination of virtual worlds leads to a vast decentralized multiverse of metaverses. The Meta metaverse, the Microsoft metaverse, the Nike metaverse, and so on. Does the future hold a centralized, singular metaverse where users can interact with other virtual platforms outside their metaverse sandbox? Whether it’s attending a virtual conference, reviewing specifications with a global supplier, or brainstorming at a virtual corporate retreat, the ability to engage other metaverses or link them together could forever alter business and the future of work as we know it.

A Virtual Work Future

The pandemic itself propelled the world’s workforce into remote work, ushering in a new normal where video conferencing replaced in-person interaction and collaboration. Today, as many companies recalibrate, there’s an urge to bring remote workers back into the office. Instead, now is the time to embrace hybrid and remote work as the future that it is. The timing for the metaverse could not have been better. It has the potential to offer not only enhanced remote workforce experiences but entirely new business models. Here are just a few examples of how the metaverse could impact and revolutionize the future of work.

Talent recruitment. Recruiting talent can become a more immersive experience for candidates through virtual and augmented reality. Application submittals could launch a link to a virtual environment that allows virtual interaction with human resources or company recruiters. Using augmented reality, candidates might be asked to complete certain virtual tasks related to the job. Results of those exercises can provide greater insight into viable candidates and narrow the talent pool to gold and silver applicants.
Employee onboarding. Company onboarding can be hit or miss. Some enterprises have a specific onboarding process, complete with presentations and meet and greets. What some companies fail to realize is that onboarding is the first official interaction with a new hire. If that process is disorganized or nonexistent, retention rates could suffer. The metaverse can automate the onboarding experience, bringing to life virtually how the company operates, its mission, and how a new hire’s work is purposeful in achieving enterprise objectives.
New Zealand-based UneeQ, for example, specializes in the development of digital humans who serve as AI-powered customer experience ambassadors. With this technology, a company can create a virtual onboarding experience using digital humans to automate the process of introducing new hires to all that the company has to offer.
Team collaboration. Much of the metaverse is about social interaction. Critics of remote work and the ability to collaborate effectively are missing the bigger picture. Virtual collaborative technologies are now available from dozens of providers (e.g., Gather and NOWHERE) that are innovating the space. Whether it’s creating a virtual workroom or lounge, gathering our digital selves (avatars) together for brainstorming and deep learning can bring a sense of immersive that can’t be replicated in a 2D Zoom session. One could argue that utilizing cutting-edge virtual technology to collaborate may result in even more out-of-the-box thinking.
Training and development. Using virtual and augmented reality, coupled with gamification, training and development can be redefined. Enter a 3D space to learn how to operate a new machine or medical device using haptic gloves to replicate the feeling of a physical object. Or attend a virtual training session followed by activities that test what was learned. All of these examples can be enhanced with gamification elements to build excitement and participation around T&D. Earning virtual badges for completed training modules or high scores on virtual tasks, for example, are ways that companies are flipping the script on learning and development and increasing employee engagement with the process.

The metaverse holds incredible promise for enterprises and the future of work. Part Two on the metaverse will explore how organizations can use virtual reality for product development and operational efficiencies, as well as the emergence of virtual enterprises and economies.

Can We Measure Empathy at Work?

Business Leadership by John Yuva on 08/10/2022

As part of the Future of Work Exchange (FOWX), we host a regular podcast featuring coverage of industry news, software developments, Future of Work happenings, and, most importantly, conversations with industry thought leaders. Recently, our own Christopher J. Dwyer, architect of the Exchange and host of the Future of Work Exchange Podcast, had the tables turned on him: Afterhours, sponsored by Utmost and hosted by Neha Goel, the company’s vice president of marketing, featured Christopher as part of its Contingent Workforce Radio series.

Neha and Christopher discussed a variety of issues related to the state of talent and the future of work (click to listen to the full interview). This is an excerpt from that conversation. (Note that this excerpt has been edited for readability.)

Neha Goel: As we explore the human element in the workplace, let’s talk about another tenant of the Future of Work — empathetic leadership. Is this something you are seeing put into action? And can empathetic leadership be measured in a meaningful way?

Christopher J. Dwyer: Yes and no. I feel like there is an appointed effort. There is a very focused effort for leaders to be more deliberate in leading with empathy and leveraging conscious leadership tactics. But, I do not think many organizations have a handle on how to measure it.

That is where we need to go as business leaders. It is tough to measure something like that, however, because it is so qualitative. How do we know that we are doing the right things as leaders? Or how do we know that we are leading in the right way? How do we know that our employees are having a positive experience and that they feel safe and comfortable? Do they feel that they are part of an positive culture?

It circles back to the question of how to measure those things. NPS scores are not going to help. Informal surveys may give you some type of picture. This is the next big leadership challenge going into the second half of the year and into 2023. It can be difficult measuring not just empathy, but how cognizant you are of your leadership and its impact.

It is encouraging to see that more leaders are very conscious of their styles of leadership. But you still see many leaders who are not flexible and still rigid — the Elon Musk-type celebrity CEO who does not care about flexibility or employee feelings, and insists we need you in the office and you need to be part of the team. (Editor’s note: check out yesterday’s article on Malcolm Gladwell’s horrible take on remote work.)

We are so far past that. I have been saying for over two years that there is no way you can put a positive spin on a worldwide pandemic that has killed so many people. It has disrupted life so much. But if you were to take the positives of the fallout from the pandemic, there are many accelerants from the Future of Work angle that came to light.

You have remote work, the reliance on automation and tech, and the desire to be more data-led to gain a better understanding of where we are going as a business and how we are going to survive. But there is the other piece where leaders need to realize that they need to change their leadership style or risk losing workers.

“I am going to lose the talent that exists in my business, and I do not want that to happen.” I do see leaders doing it, but measuring it continues to be a challenge. I do not think many organizations have that figured out yet.

NG: That is fair. It would be fascinating to have you back in a few months and see potential progress.

CJD: Absolutely. I look at some of the most read articles on the Future of Work Exchange since we launched, and one of the top three articles is a piece on why empathy is the only way forward.

A reason it is one of the most popular pieces is that business leaders are interested in trying to hone their style to be more flexible, more empathetic, and more conscious in thinking about their workforce and their staff.

I remember the early days of the pandemic quite clearly. Memories of COVID-19 close contacts and quarantining, 14-day isolations, and kids unable to go to school. Neha, you have young kids, as I do. How disruptive was it to have kids at home for weeks and months at a time? And remote learning was not exactly a conducive way to learn for them (even though it’s a great way to work, haha).

Truly conscious leaders understood how difficult that was for their staff. And they were the ones who were offering flexible options or realizing that, “Hey, this person needs to sit with his or her daughter as she does second grade remotely. Yes, he or she is going to be offline for a couple of hours, but will be back in the afternoon.”

It is leaders who truly step into their workforce’s shoes and acknowledge what everyone is going through and recognizes the need to support them through this. Those are the leaders who are realizing their workforce is happier. They are more engaged. They know that we are here to support them.

I would love to come back in four or five months and say we have a couple of real-life cases we can share of how a business was able to measure its effectiveness. Did our profits go up? Did we have less turnover? I think those could be some of the early metrics to use.

Procurement’s View of Direct Sourcing

Direct Sourcing by John Yuva on 06/13/2022

The role of procurement is ever-evolving. Chief Procurement Officers are executing strategies in a world wrought with immense volatility and unpredictability. While the scale of disruption is unlike anything witnessed in a century, procurement serves as the rudder for many enterprises, helping navigate this uncharted territory.

It is a position that CPOs are accustomed to — think back to The Great Recession from the not-too-distant past. Times of change and uncertainty are when procurement takes center stage. Amid current supply shortages and extended lead times, procurement’s sphere of influence has expanded to talent acquisition and the Future of Work.

What kind of scene did procurement walk into? It’s well-documented how the pandemic forever-altered workplace dynamics when tens of millions of workers shifted from on-premise to remote working. And as the pandemic abated, The Great Resignation took hold with millions leaving their jobs or the workforce entirely. It’s also important to mention that the workforce itself is transitioning from what was mostly full-time employees to nearly 50% contingent workers. The Future of Work Exchange (FOWX) cited in its recent article, Where Does the Extended Workforce Go From Here?, that “FOWX research pegs contingent labor at 47% of the average company’s total workforce, a statistic that is only expected to grow in the months and years ahead.”

Enterprises are now waging a war for talent amidst a highly competitive recruiting environment where traditional recruitment methods alone are no longer viable. It requires a several-pronged approach and internal ownership using direct sourcing to plan, execute, and manage a talent pipeline for the future success of the organization. It’s nearly table stakes to operate with agility and resiliency. The competitive differentiator is attracting talent that brings new outlooks and outcomes to your global market and envisions markets and lines of business yet to be explored. Procurement should be right at home in this environment, adjusting to the intricacies of talent acquisition and the concept of direct sourcing for recruitment.

According to Ardent Partners’ The Direct Sourcing Toolkit, “talent pool creation and development” was the leading priority for talent and workforce management in 2020. And, in 2021, Ardent and FOWX research pointed to talent and skills access as a core priority heading into 2022. The question remains, then: How can procurement approach talent acquisition and a direct sourcing strategy?

First and foremost, it requires collaboration with HR to understand the talent needs of the enterprise. Where are there gaps in specific departments? Are there major initiatives with vacancies in key roles? Does the organization need additional support for promotional or seasonal purposes?

Procurement complements HR in this effort because of its cross-functional relationships and deep understanding of operations and ongoing product development. Leverage those relationships to glean insight into talent issues and where the organization could use support. It may be necessary to form a talent committee with representation from various business units. Communicate the new direction for talent recruiting and the shift to direct sourcing. Since the enterprise is curating and managing its own talent pipeline, leaders should be encouraged to recommend prospective candidates — both passive and active — from their own networks.

As the talent pool(s) builds with new and on-demand candidates, such as alumni, silver medalists, and former freelancers and contractors, they can be segmented based on their skillsets and competencies for various types of roles. Procurement can collaborate with IT to ensure recruitment and talent management applications and platforms [e.g., applicant tracking systems (ATS) and vendor management systems (VMS)] integrate well with the larger enterprise network.

Many enterprises utilize external partners to meet their contingent workforce management objectives. Monitoring various talent channels is resource-intensive and requires a dedicated team. Procurement can lead the search and selection of a Managed Service Provider (MSP), for example, which has access to supplier networks for talent needs across the enterprise and supply chain. Expertise with supplier selection and relationship management pays dividends when procurement leads this effort — cost awareness, contract management, and relationship building with the MSP. It also ensures procurement’s continued involvement with the direct sourcing program and the opportunity to influence its future direction.

Technology is critical to a direct sourcing program. An ATS and VMS are core to attracting and managing a contingent workforce. However, Industry 4.0 solutions (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI) and predictive analytics) are now being utilized with direct sourcing initiatives to fine-tune potential candidate placement and predict talent needs. These technologies are integrated into many manufacturing operations, so it’s no surprise that talent management is now benefiting from a human perspective as well. Here again, procurement is well-versed in the use and potential of AI and predictive analytics. Where are there opportunities to further leverage AI to achieve talent management objectives? How far can predictive analytics provide mitigation against critical talent shortages or succession dilemmas? Imagine using a digital twin to simulate the workforce needs in the next decade?

Procurement has a vital role in today’s talent management initiatives. Leading direct sourcing programs alongside HR is not only good for business, but a necessity in today’s frenetic labor market.