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The Fourth Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

Contingent WorkforceDiversity and InclusionGeneral InsightsHRTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

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 fourth installment this week, we’ll be exploring artificial intelligence as a Future of Work centerpiece.

AI and the Rise of Total Talent Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the fourth thing to know about the Future of Work. If there was an informal poll asking to name the leading Future of Work technology, about 90% would say artificial intelligence (a not-so-surprising answer). Of all the technologies available to enterprises that help automate key workforce processes, AI is the pure representation of the Future of Work.

However, there are different shades of artificial intelligence helping organizations optimize the way they get work done and how they think about talent. It’s more than having an artificial persona to help figure things out and make decisions — instead, it’s enabling smarter decisions.

Consider the rise of total talent intelligence. Today, an enterprise’s workforce may consist of 35%, 40%, or 45% non-employees and extended talent. For some, those numbers may be lower, but for others, they’re also higher. Earlier this year, Future of Work Exchange research found that 47.5% of the average company’s total workforce was considered extended, non-employee, contingent, or contract (this figure also includes freelancers, contractors, temporary workers, gig workers, consultants, etc.).

Total talent intelligence is a gateway to understanding the totality of the workforce; a gateway stimulant, so to speak, for total talent management. It’s the idea that enterprises have enough information and data on the entirety of their workforce – including skills, performance, and productivity levels. All of this information allows business leaders and hiring managers to make near-instantaneous, real-time decisions about the talent they need for a new role, project, or initiative.

Total talent intelligence enables smarter, more perceptive hiring. And AI is the way to get there.

AI as a Conduit for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Assessments in Recruited Marketing

If bias can be removed from decision-making and technology, and AI is set up in such a way that there is no unconscious bias, then it is possible to understand how diverse the workforce truly is. The Exchange has long said (including many years ago) that a diverse workforce is the deepest workforce. Being able to bring in different voices from different cultures allows businesses to be more innovative and think outside the box. And AI is a perfect conduit for that.

With regard to candidate assessments, there is wonderful technology out there that helps organizations better understand how efficient and effective a worker can be. It helps the business that went through an AI-fueled candidate assessment tool to source the best talent.There are similar solutions for recruitment marketing that have robust AI capabilities. These solutions are more than chatbots; they’re ubiquitous in how they help a candidate feel more comfortable and engaged. A candidate can use a mobile app and understand how to apply for a job. Likewise, the process for onboarding is clear, especially as it relates to healthcare benefits, time off, and open shifts. It’s these solutions that benefit the recruitment and onboarding side of extended workforce management.

On the workforce management side, AI helps with recruitment marketing. The idea that enterprises can program a bot to fill their talent pipeline overnight is quite amazing. Beyond just providing data, artificial intelligence can spark some of these processes that are beneficial to the business.

Turning to the volatile economy and its potential impact on the workforce, predictive analytics and scenario building are about managing these uncertain times. If enterprises are preparing for a recession, it is important to understand where they’ll be in six months. Data can be fed into a solution to help enterprises build a scenario and predict their financial picture or the state of global markets. The same type of data can model where the workforce is headed based on rates of resignations and retirements. Will there need to be cuts based on finances? Artificial intelligence is the perfect fighter against volatility by providing a clearer understanding of the future and how the workforce may look.

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The Role of Blockchain in Candidates’ Digital Identities

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

A more digital Future of Work environment also means an increase in data volume. Information about potential job candidates collected through direct sourcing efforts, as well as more process digitization puts an abundance of sensitive data at HR’s and business leaders’ fingertips. Concurrently, cybersecurity risks continue to grow as threat actors attempt to thwart individuals’ and corporate efforts to defend against them. Enter blockchain, a technology that holds the potential for capturing and securing sensitive personal and workforce data.

What Is Blockchain?

At its core, Synopsis defines blockchain as “a decentralized, distributed, and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively without the alteration of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.” For each ordered record (i.e., transaction) a block with a timestamp and transaction data is created and linked to subsequent blocks forming a blockchain. Whether it’s financial records, supply chain transactions, or personal information, blockchain guarantees a record of integrity and trust for all parties — without requiring a third party for verification.

Blockchain is most associated with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin to secure a record of transactions. However, it is gaining more attention in industries outside of banking, including pharmaceuticals, aerospace and defense, and food and beverage, with several companies piloting blockchain technology for track-and-trace initiatives. For example, in the food supply chain, a supplier is unable to alter transaction data such as batch numbers, ensuring the ability to appropriately track and trace specific food shipments in the event of a recall.

The technology is now making its way into the HR function. This week, we’ll look at blockchain from the individual level (digital identity), followed by part two, exploring areas where HR can leverage blockchain to benefit the enterprise.

Defining Our Digital Identity

Our digital footprint includes basic information such as name, address, nationality, and social security number, as well as data related to our banking activities, professional history, and online interactions and behaviors. Much of this information resides on websites and is accessible with a username and password. Unfortunately, security breaches can threaten our information and digital identities — with implications affecting HR and employment databases.

Blockchain and Digital Identity Control

Blockchain is capable of revolutionizing what it means to have a digital identity through digital identity management and a decentralized identifier (DID). Digital identity management solutions can help provide greater control over our own digital identities and who has access to them.

Digital identity management. According to 101 Blockchains, the following are advantages of using blockchain for digital identity management:

  • Blockchain features the elements of maintaining data in an immutable and encrypted manner. Thus, it ensures that the digital identity is secure and easily traceable.
  • The efficiency of blockchain encryption alongside the facility of digital signatures ensures effective “Privacy and Design.”
  • Maintain records of every identity throughout all the nodes across the network and thus make it trustworthy.
  • Maintain the communication metadata in a distributed ledger, and consensus mechanisms help in verifying data authenticity across multiple nodes which improves trust.
  • Set clear roles for identity issuers, identity owners, and identity verifiers by simplifying the processes associated with each stakeholder.

Decentralized identifier. Coupled with digital identity management, a DID provides a holistic approach to digital identity protection through blockchain. Georgia Weston, a prolific subject matter expert in the blockchain space, says the DID is an important concept within digital blockchain solutions.

“It is actually a pseudo-anonymous identifier for a specific object, person, or company, and a private key secures the DID. Individuals who own the private key can prove ownership or control over a specific identity. One person could have multiple DIDs, which can restrict the extent of tracking throughout multiple activities in everyday life.

“…Decentralized identifiers also feature a collection of attestations or verifiable credentials which verify the specific traits of the DID. Generally, the issuers of the verifiable credentials sign the credentials cryptographically. Owners of DIDs could store the credentials on their own without depending on a single service provider.”

DIDs and digital identity management can be critical pieces for maintaining and verifying information about one’s educational background and professional history. Enterprise recruiters and HR can verify and authenticate a person’s identity — but with consent while ensuring their privacy and data control.

Pam Baker, a technology subject matter expert, shared insights and results of a blockchain report by the American Productivity and Quality Center in an article for Tech Target, describing the potential for personal blockchains and the workplace. “Employers would need permission to access and add to an individual’s private blockchain. Employees could provide access keys to employers and then rescind the keys when they leave the organization to maintain control over their personal records.

“Blockchain HR technology used in this way would effectively function as ‘value passports’ that employees could take anywhere and continue to build throughout their careers, according to the report’s authors.”

Future of Work and Mainstream Digital Identification

Blockchain is an evolving technology that requires cooperation and adoption by several entities before it becomes a mainstream solution. Governments, industry, vendors, and users themselves must agree on the foundation and potential regulations for how to leverage digital identifiers. It is a complex but important discussion due to the growth of data through Industry 4.0 and other technologies.

The possibility of having a university issue a college degree or an enterprise award a training certificate via a digital certificate on a personal blockchain is not far-reaching. It represents the purest and most authentic form of our personal and professional histories.

Enterprise recruiters and HR will have confidence that the candidates they select (using blockchain technology to verify and authenticate) truly possess the experience and skills for the position. Digital identity could become the preferred method for applying through a job portal or engaging with a recruiter.

In part two, we’ll explore blockchain from an HR and enterprise perspective. There are several use cases to consider in such areas as contract management, payroll, and recruitment.

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The Second Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceDiversity and InclusionGeneral InsightsHRTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

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 more diverse and inclusive with their workforce 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.

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Supporting the Future of Work Through Innovative Technology

Direct SourcingGeneral InsightsHRSolution ProvidersTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

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.

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Upskilling Is a Workforce Imperative

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRTalent by John Yuva on

There is little doubt about the impact technology will have on the Future of Work. Technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning are now utilized in nearly every industry. What does this mean for the workforce? Undoubtedly, many workers are concerned about the viability of their roles amid an increase in automation. Most experts agree that automation will transform how some jobs are performed, leading to a greater focus on upskilling as workers strive to remain relevant and competitive in their career fields.

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. Both are important Future of Work strategies, but upskilling is the subject of this piece. This leads to an important question: 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.

Company and Employee Incentives to Upskill

Companies have too much to lose by not offering upskilling opportunities and programs. According to statistics from the Society for Human Resource Management, the cost to replace an employee can be six-to-nine months of that employee’s salary — a conservative number depending on the role and salary level. Thus, employee retention is critical at a time when talent is scarce and recruitment and training costs are exorbitant. The need to retain, coupled with employees’ desire to upskill, is likely to generate positive outcomes.

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.”

The results of upskilling are just as positive for employees who make the investment. Gallup’s report, The American Upskilling Study: Empowering Workers for the Jobs of Tomorrow (commissioned by Amazon), cites several promising employee statistics.

  • U.S. workers who recently participated in an upskilling program have, on average, annual incomes $8,000 higher than those who did not — the equivalent of an 8.6% salary increase.
  • A majority of those who participated in upskilling programs report improvement in three areas of their lives. More than seven in ten (71%) report greater satisfaction with their jobs. Nearly as many (69%) say their quality of life has improved, and 65% report their standard of living has increased.
  • Among workers who have participated in an upskilling program, the vast majority (75%) report some type of advancement in their careers.

Upskilling Takeaways to Maximize 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.

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Develop Your Soft Skills for the Future

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRProcurementTalent by John Yuva on

When I think about the Future of Work, communication, collaboration, and innovation immediately come to mind. There is an elicited sense of interconnectedness between companies and their suppliers, leaders and their workforce, and among employees themselves. What is the success enabler of the Future of Work? If you tear back the curtain, it’s soft skills that are driving business outcomes and workforce interactions.

Think this is a new revelation? Not quite. In 1918, the Carnegie Foundation published Charles Riborg Mann’s A Study of Engineering Education, which cited that 85% of a person’s job success is a product of soft skills and that only 15% of success is based on technical knowledge. Even more than 100 years ago, the criticality of workplace soft skills was being emphasized. However, the pandemic helped bring soft skills into sharper focus as other Future of Work elements (e.g., flexibility, remote work, empathetic leadership) became mainstream concepts and areas of importance.

Soft Skills in the Age of COVID-19

Our new normal is a volatile, fast-moving business environment. Companies must adopt a more proactive approach toward market change and customer demand. As such, the silos that exist within the four walls of many enterprises must come down. Workplace silos are the barriers to soft skill execution.

Even leading up to the pandemic, LinkedIn’s 2019 Global Talent Trends report revealed that soft skills (91%) were the top trend transforming the workplace as cited by talent professionals. Soft skills, such as creativity, adaptability, and time management, are critical to the future of recruiting and HR. In the same LinkedIn report, several vital statistics emerged:

  • Eighty percent of survey respondents said soft skills are increasingly important to company success.
  • When hiring talent, 91% of respondents said soft skills were as important or more so than hard skills.
  • In the case of a bad hire, 89% agreed that the employee typically lacked soft skills.

Since the pandemic, the need for soft skills has only amplified. The remote workforce environment during the previous two years brought soft skills into the spotlight as employees adjusted to communicating and collaborating virtually with colleagues and partners. Learning to work together on a project as a remote team or understanding the emotional needs of your team members amid a pandemic reinforced why soft skills are essential. For some, it brought attention to further invest in their soft skills toolset.

Essential Soft Skills for the Future of Work

Navigating today’s workplace with both a remote and in-person workforce requires a host of soft skills to operate efficiently and productively. The following are several soft skills and how they affect the Future of Work.

Emotional intelligence. At its core, emotional intelligence is the ability to make human connections and understand the perspectives of others. This soft skill is essential from the highest levels of the enterprise downward. Empathetic leadership is now a desired trait for senior leaders and people managers. However, without possessing emotional intelligence, it will be difficult for those managers to grasp how their actions affect the team dynamic or to sense the feelings of others. It is crucial that employees at every level continually develop their emotional intelligence skill set. How you react to challenging situations or adapt to change speaks volumes about your level of EI. Do not underestimate the consequences of hiring candidates who lack emotional intelligence.

Creativity. Some may consider creativity a soft skill reserved for the marketing department or other content/design-oriented functions. Not so. Creativity refers to assessing a situation or challenge and developing a solution that’s unique or outside the box. Consider procurement and its ability to devise alternative sourcing channels in the face of adversity. Often, those solutions are outside what companies have considered in the past. Automation continues to replace certain job tasks; however, technology lacks the ability to “think” creatively like humans. Thus, creativity is a soft skill that will always trump the “0”s and “1”s of a machine. Seldom does a situation not benefit by asking: Have you thought about doing it another way?

Critical thinking and analysis. Data is all around us. How we gather data and interpret it to make decisions is a valuable soft skill. Procurement and HR receive an abundance of data on workforce output and operational needs. Critical thinking and analysis can lead to the discovery of significant productivity trends the company can then address. The ability to use data to evaluate situations and offer solutions is a soft skill that will always be in demand. You want those people who can find an outlier among a sea of data and propose innovative solutions.

Adaptability and learnability. Technology is evolving quickly and processes are redesigned frequently. The ability to roll with changes and adapt is a vital soft skill. There’s no longer room for the excuse “we’ve always done it this way.” In some cases, companies must reinvent themselves to survive a market or industry transition. Adjusting successfully to change of any magnitude can help put employees on the path to leadership roles.

Learning what needs to be known is also a soft skill imperative. When companies seemingly overnight went remote operationally, it forced those who are uncomfortable with change and learning new skills to make that transition. Going forward, companies should use the pandemic as an example to motivate employees about their ability to adapt and learn.

Assess Candidate Soft Skills

With just a few soft skills described previously, how can companies assess the soft skills of job candidates? In the 2019 LinkedIn report, 57% percent of respondents said their company lacked a formal process for soft skill assessment. While it can be challenging to assess, there are methods to evaluate a job candidate’s soft skills.

First and foremost, companies should identify what soft skills are most pertinent to their workforce. Company surveys and interviews can help HR determine those specific skill sets to then build questions into talent screening and interviewing processes. LinkedIn identified online tools, such as Koru and Pymetrics, that screen candidates for soft skills.

During the interview process, not only ask candidates what soft skills they think will benefit the role but prepare an exercise to put those skills into action. It may be a project that requires working alongside potential team members to gauge collaborative and teamwork effectiveness. Introduce problem-solving challenges that are specific to the role to ascertain candidates’ critical thinking and cognitive flexibility soft skills.

Technical skills and knowledge (hard skills) remain important workforce attributes. However, soft skills enable employees to learn hard skills if they don’t already exist. A workforce with strong soft skills can weather the storms with adaptability, critical and creative thinking, collaboration and coordination, and compassion.

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Four-Day Work Week Put to the Test

General InsightsHRTalent by John Yuva on

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.

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Is It Time to Reintroduce Ourselves to Total Talent Management?

Contingent WorkforceHRTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

For the past decade, the very concept of total talent management has been akin to the Bigfoot or Loch Ness Monster of the business arena: a mythical idea that has only seen slivers of reality across global organizations. Sure, we’ve seen dribbles of total talent programs in some enterprises, as well as specific elements of these initiatives (i.e., total talent acquisition, total talent intelligence, etc.) offered by some of the industry’s more progressive workforce management solutions.

However, on the whole, total talent management itself has still not yet experienced its true arrival as we all would have anticipated. Back in 2011, I wrote perhaps the industry’s first full research study on total talent management, which found that there was extreme desire for such a program; the caveat, however, was that the tools weren’t quite there yet…and neither were the foundational elements required to make such a program successful.

So, here were are in 2022, with a toxic workplace environment (due to so-called “quiet quitting” and “quiet firing”), a volatile labor market, and a Great Resettling that represents a continued revolution of talent. There may or may not be a recession swirling around us like a dooming specter. And, above all else, enterprises realize that they require the right talent at the right time at the right cost to get work done in an efficient and optimal way.

Dare I say that we should reintroduce ourselves to the idea of total talent management? Should we truly flip this concept from theory into reality? Here a few reasons why:

  • The technology is finally there to support TTM. A decade ago, the phrase “extended workforce” didn’t exist…nor did the proper technology to make total talent management a reality. Contingent workforce management (CWM) was just beginning its ascent to true strategic imperative, while less than a quarter of the total workforce was considered “non-employee.” Today, the story has evolved: extended workforce systems are innovative offshoots of Vendor Management System (VMS) platforms that can easily integrate with the core human capital systems (ATS, HRIS, etc.) for true visibility, management, and oversight of both contingent and FTE labor. Point-of-entry automation for new requisitions and talent requests can access various forms of talent, including the ever-important talent communities developed by direct sourcing solutions. And, most importantly, today’s workforce management technology can easily help businesses understand their total workforce, an attribute which allows them to pinpoint the best-aligned talent (be it contingent or an FTE already on staff) for a given project or role.
  • Functional collaboration today is a must-have capability. Unlike in years past, it is much more common for businesses to experience core cross-functional coordination; procurement and finance tackle their problems together, for instance, for the sake of the bottom-line. HR, talent acquisition, and procurement have all experienced challenges and pressures over the past two-and-a-half years, each unit emerging from the acute pandemic phase stronger than ever before. As such, the idea of collaborative strategies is much easier to maintain in today’s business environment: in the quest for survival during those scary days of 2020, enterprise functions learned that they needed each other to thrive. And, today, these three distinct groups now understand that, in a world where talent is an incredible competitive differentiator, they must work together to bridge the gaps between extended workforce management and traditional hiring. By combining efficiencies and blending strengths, the triumvirate of HR, procurement, and talent acquisition can form a formidable backbone of total talent management.
  • Aspects such as purpose, flexibility, and empathy boost the importance of the candidate experience, with the notion of “engagement” playing a critical role in total talent acquisition. No longer does a great hourly rate set the tone for freelancers, contractors, and other types of non-employee talent when choosing their next destination. Workplace culture (and leadership style) are more crucial now than ever for hiring managers to hook new talent; as such, the idea behind total talent acquisition (a key phase within TTM that involves a centralized, standardized set of guidelines and processes for engaging and sourcing all types of talent) becomes one of engagement, as well. True total talent management programs harness the power of employee engagement and candidate experience tools and tactics to ensure a steady approach towards talent acquisition for both contingent and FTE talent populations.
  • The need for business agility, combined with the volatility of the labor market, translates into the perfect gateway for total talent management. Simply put: total talent management is needed today, now more than ever. Businesses must execute lightning-fast talent decisions to thrive in an uncertain economy; the “total talent intelligence” enabled by total talent management programs and associated platforms allow hiring managers and other leaders to understand 1) the current makeup of talent across the organization, 2) the best-fit resources (whether it’s someone in house, a current contractor, etc.) for a new project or role, and 3) provide a dynamic entryway into a truly agile workforce.

Total talent management has been an oft-maligned strategy that has bordered on the hypothetical for over a decade. However, the platforms available today and the transformation of work and talent, combined with the need for such a program, positions total talent management as an innovative strategy for the months and years ahead.

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Mental Health Central to Workforce Strategy

Contingent WorkforceDiversity and InclusionHR by John Yuva on

The topic of mental health in the workplace is one that companies have struggled to address in the past. A stigma around mental health issues has plagued employees from seeking appropriate help. According to a report from Mental Health America (MHA), 2022 Mind the Workplace: Employer Responsibility to Employee Mental Health, “47% of employees know what mental health services they can use when struggling with a mental health concern, but only 38% would be comfortable using their company’s services for a mental health concern.” Fearful of being judged or even losing their jobs, employees chose to suffer in silence. And then a global pandemic occurred.

Suddenly, this unprecedented global event brought mental health out of the shadows and into the mainstream light. The abrupt transition moving to remote work, coupled with the natural stress, fear, and anxiety of living through a pandemic made mental health applicable to nearly everyone. Employees expressed their fears and stress in Zoom sessions with colleagues. And companies realized the importance of supporting employees through these difficult times with employee assistance programs (EAPs) and wellness promotion in corporate communications.

Mental Health Issues are Ever-Present

Now, 2.5 years into the pandemic, COVID-19 is considered a part of our daily existence — unlikely to be fully eradicated. However, this doesn’t mean employees simply accept that reality and life goes on. Quite the contrary. COVID-19 represents only one of the myriad reasons why dialogue around employee mental health must progress and evolve.

We live in a volatile world with inflation, wars, and climate issues that contribute to stress, anxiety, and depression. According to its report, 2022 State of Workforce Mental Health, Lyra states that “84 percent of workers surveyed experienced at least one mental health challenge over the past year, from issues such as stress and burnout to diagnosable conditions including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and PTSD.” The pandemic served as the catalyst for a wider discussion on mental health in the workplace — one that must continue long term.

Approaching Mental Health Strategically

As companies recalibrate from operating remotely, the workforce must also adjust. There are many remote workers who prefer to remain remote. Companies cannot ignore those preferences. Mental health awareness and support should complement the priority of rebalancing the workforce model.

What can that look like for companies to ensure remote and in-person employee mental health needs are acknowledged and supported? Below are several enterprise approaches identified by Lyra and MHA that bring mental health to the forefront with intent and compassion.

  • Invest in employee mental health strategically and with purpose. While an EAP program is a suitable start to offering an outlet for employees, it falls well short of strategic investment. Instead, commitment from the highest levels of the organization that mental health is a priority should occur. Training is essential for leadership, human resources, and managers to recognize and address mental health issues with their employees. Not only does training help remove existing stigma, but it also encourages open communication and enables early detection of stress, burnout, and other mental health conditions. Equally important, a training and communication initiative fosters a sense of inclusiveness.
  • Provide a workplace structure conducive to positive mental health. Working remotely provided flexibility and work/life balance for many employees. As more companies require workers to return to the office, it’s critical to recognize those who thrive in a remote or hybrid structure. Higher productivity and positive mental health are two outcomes that accompany a flexible workforce model.
  • Encourage an open dialog and feedback for mental health needs and concerns. Company surveys and programs that gauge how the enterprise is following through on its mental health pledge opens honest lines of communication and feedback that only strengthen those efforts. And don’t wait until a high attrition rate occurs before initiating a survey. Commit to a quarterly or bi-annual questionnaire to allow progress for any changes instituted.
  • Remove barriers to quality mental health care. An employer health plan may include mental health coverage but lack the proper resources and treatment options that a separate mental health plan can provide. An employee survey can help determine if the current health plan is adequate for mental health needs.

Are companies seeing success with these efforts? In an op-ed for the Milken Institute titled, “The Future of Work Depends on Investing in Mental Health,” Christopher Swift, Chairman and CEO for The Hartford, writes, “Within our organization, we have created digital platforms and in-person programs to allow for open dialogues, trained leaders on mental health essentials, and provided guidance on inclusive language to help dispel stigma and lead with empathy,” he says.

“Over the years, we have continually expanded mental health education and evidence-based resources for our employees and their families. In turn, employees have leveraged these benefits, joined in courageous conversations, shared their mental health journey, and expressed appreciation via company communication platforms,” Swift adds.

The positive mental health of our workforce is critical to employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity — all factors that lead to a healthy bottom line. Make mental health a strategic imperative for your workforce strategy.

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The Business World of 2019 is Extinct

Business LeadershipGeneral InsightsHRTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I’m sure many of the Future of Work Exchange’s readers remember the fantastic television series LOST. Sure, it floundered for a bit during the middle seasons, but in the long run, it was one of the most memorable TV shows of the past 20 years.

In the infamous Season Three finale, the directors of the show tossed in a “rattlesnake in the mailbox” twist ending: the famous flashbacks that were routine during every episode were, in fact, during this season finale, flashforwards to moments several members of the cast were off the island and back home. Remember when Jack met Kate in a dark parking lot and screamed, “We have to go back!”?

Well, that’s what it sounds like every time a business leader, writer, pundit, etc. insists that pandemic-era organizational attributes are either going to fade or lose their steam in the months ahead. There was the “very bad take” on remote work from Malcolm Gladwell last week. CNN recently featured a piece from SHRM CEO Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. that featured a take on why remote work will dissipate:

Though seen as a necessity during the pandemic, some business leaders doubt the current level of remote work is sustainable. And they’re right. A fully virtual workplace misses some of the key drivers for performance, productivity and growth, which are top of mind right now for businesses facing the prospect of a potential recession. Understandably, they want workers back in the office because they’re preparing for an ultra-competitive environment, which calls for maximizing efficiency. Fully remote work doesn’t cultivate the level of interpersonal relationships that business leaders see as vital to workplace synergy, collaboration and innovation. It can’t replicate the rich, robust, direct two-way, in-person communication that is critical to complex and creative work.

When companies are responding to market shifts and economic stresses, new ideas, problem solving and brainstorming all become essential. And brainstorming sessions are much easier to conduct in person, where workers can hash out their ideas on collaboration boards in conference rooms or shared workspaces. Remote workers, meanwhile, are more prone to distractions at home that can inhibit their concentration and participation.

Taylor, like many others, speaks from a pro-business perspective. And…that’s okay. It really is. This is a discerning time for the corporate world: still in the throes of a pandemic, inflation still rampant, and the specter of recession lingering overhead. Some businesses have already ignited layoffs in fear of the recession’s impact. Others have tightened budgets and have begun forecasting what their revenue, finances, and expenses will look like in the months to come if a recession truly hits. So, it’s no wonder that many executives point to the coming months as some sort of gateway to the past, particularly those fond days before a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic brought unrivaled havoc to the world at large.

It’s become a common refrain for professionals to say the phrase “getting back to normal” when it comes to the way businesses operate. However, as we’ve learned time and time again, we’re not going back. Never. While many executive leaders have realized that the transformative shifts we’ve experienced are permanent, there are unfortunately many others who have not. One aspect that Taylor, Jr. evokes in his piece for CNN revolves around the concept of flexibility: “The flexibility we embraced during the pandemic should go both ways. Workers will need to bend a bit, especially when the viability of the workplace is in jeopardy.”

The viability of the workplace is not in jeopardy. The workforce itself is in jeopardy. We can all agree that The Great Resignation wasn’t going to last forever, however the millions of quits happening so frequently (even if they slow during these late summer weeks) prove that workers will never go back to a business arena that lacked remote work, better working conditions, and access to the flexibility that has allowed them to balance their work-life integration in such a way that both their personal and professional lives are purposeful.

The great war for talent will still rage on no matter the economic conditions of our business world. In 2019, remote work was a piece of corporate life. In 2022, it’s a permanent and foundational fixture. When we hear someone say “we have to go back!” in regards to dining at restaurants or attending concerts, yes, by all means, it would be great to get to that point as COVID becomes endemic. However, when we hear that same phrase in regards to business life, it’s an unfortunate desire to go back to a world that no longer exists (for many good reasons).

No, we don’t have to go back. We need to keep progressing forward. It’s the Future of Work, after all.

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