Purpose Archives - The Future of Work Exchange

How Are Businesses Enhancing the Employee Experience?

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/19/2023

It’s all about the “experience” today. All aspects of the modern-day workforce, including both FTEs and contingent workers, revolve around the day-to-day (and long-term) experience within a workplace setting. Business leaders cannot rely on archaic modalities of management any longer if they want their workers to be happy, satisfied, and, most importantly, productive. In the latest edition of the Future of Work Exchange‘s exclusive infographic series, How Are Businesses Enhancing the Employee Experience?, we unveil some new research findings on how business leaders plan to improve their employee engagement and employee experience initiatives.

The “Why” We Work is Just as Important as the “How”

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 03/08/2023

Over the past several years, and especially since early 2020, there has been an incredible focus on the many, many facets of how enterprises address how work is done from various perspectives: workplace, workforce, operations, finance, etc. After all, it made (and still makes) sense: in the midst of the frightening early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the very aspects that supported how work was done needed to be reimagined in the wake of lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing. And while the emergency phase of the pandemic is over, these transformations are still required to truly optimize the many ways work can be done.

As time passed, however, something incredibly interesting brewed below this layer of pandemic-specific responses: the so-called “Great Resignation” quickly became an outlet for workers and professionals to prove that the workforce needed the power, control, and better conditions to perform productively and effectively.

The undercurrent of the Great Resignation had nothing to do with entitlement, generational differences, or a lack of work ethic (as some executives would suggest), but was rather a result of a “talent revolution” in which non-compensatory attributes became more critical for professionals in the wake of the deadliest public health crisis of our lifetime.

Flexibility became a critical element of this greater idea, as more and more workers had to contend with daycare and schooling issues. Diversity and inclusion became even more important in the wake of the pandemic, as professionals required workplace environments that supported mental health issues, respected burnout, and reimagined the workplace to be inclusive of diverse voices.

This all converges into one key notion: the why of work becoming a crucial aspect of the business arena.

Business leaders that focus on the “why” are the ones that will have deep, talented teams of dedicated workers who value their roles, respect the overall vision of the greater enterprise, and work towards productive outcomes that benefit both themselves and the organization. Getting to this idyllic culture hinges on one key aspect: purpose. Purposeful work was the great, hidden element responsible for so much of the movement during those 18 or so months of the Great Resignation; the mental and emotional fallout of the pandemic resulted in the human side of the workforce seeking purpose in their work, their roles, and within their careers.

While now, in 2023, it’s no secret that humanity has become a more powerful attribute of the world of work, there is something bigger and more expansive at hand. The reasons people rise out of bed in the morning and dedicate a large chunk of their days (and, of course, their lives) to work is facilitated on purpose and a greater understanding of the impact of their roles on themselves as humans. It’s about the cultivation of interests, skills, and aspirations. The “why” revolves around the parallels between “work” and “careers,” and how goals are transformed into lifelong efforts to create, innovate, and make a difference.

The Future of Work movement may often be associated with how work is done, given the focus on workplace models, workforce management, the evolution of talent acquisition, and other aspects that fuel the contemporary enterprise. However, the why has become just as critical for a deeper and dynamic reason: humans are meant to strive for more, align their inner selves with career interests, and desire purpose in what they do, and this should be the foundation of how we think about the ways work is done given the incredible impact of talent in today’s hyper-competitive market.

BEST OF 2022: “Perceptive Hiring” is the Future of Work

Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/28/2022

[The Future of Work Exchange will be back next week with all-new content and insights to kick off the new year. Until then, enjoy our “Best Of” series that revisits some of our most-read articles from 2022.]

The world of talent will never be the same. Entering Year Three of a pandemic that has transformed the way we all think about both business and our personal lives, the average enterprise cannot leverage what are now archaic means of hiring to find the necessary skillsets and expertise to thrive in an increasingly globalized corporate arena.

The Great Resignation continues unabated. The Talent Revolution is at hand, with workers across the world becoming more aware of their desire for flexibility, empathy, and purpose. Although unemployment is at a near-53-year low, businesses are finding it harder than ever to fill both tactical and strategic roles.

The hard truth we face as business leaders is this: it doesn’t matter how much we increase compensation or how many additional perks are bult into job offers. Workers today need more than “smart hiring” strategies for reachout, engagement, and negotiations. Those attributes that were mentioned above (flexibility, empathy, and purpose) are not going to be streamlined within what we call smart hiring.

We need more…so much more.

Enterprises today are flush with data and information. This is a critical, “table stakes” aspect of the new world of work, as the ability to harness powerful data from VMS, ATS, CRM, HRIS, direct sourcing, and other platform sources enable hiring managers and other business leaders with “smarter” talent engagement and talent acquisition capabilities. Advanced technology today provides executives with the necessary intelligence to understand who the best candidate may be for a particular role and project (by analyzing work history, expertise, skillsets, certifications, etc.), augmenting with additional data (such as diversity information) to present an ideal professional that should be hired.

In essence, this has always been a goal of “total talent management,” in which the very realm of total talent intelligence (gleaned from both contingent and FTE workforce management systems) assists hiring managers to make quicker decisions based on the knowledge of the company’s overall talent pool.

The above aspects (total talent, diversity, skillsets, expertise, etc.) are all complementary pieces to the new era of workforce engagement. Businesses frankly cannot survive in a truly disruptive labor market without these modes of talent intelligence, given that staffing shortages have become an unfortunate norm.

However, back to the point above about “needing more”: if we think about how far we’ve come in regards to splicing data into talent engagement, how innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning have come, and just how advanced our workforce management software systems are, it’s pretty incredible to think that we don’t have to spend days analyzing resumes and pontificating about the qualities of dozens of candidates for a single job. All of that work has been automated and augmented (the Future of Work, right?). If we could just take that a step further, take those processes and embed even more data and insights…what would happen?

We’d transform “smart hiring” into “perceptive hiring,” in which more than just workforce history, skillsets, and expertise factor into a candidate being matched to a job or position. There are so many factors that play into the human elements of today’s business professionals, including their soft skills, workplace preferences, culture, and other elements of candidates as people and not just profiles on a screen.

How can we ensure that 1) the candidate will adapt and/or evolve to the enterprise’s culture, or, 2) that the business is a great cultural fit for the candidate? It’s not a one-way street anymore; we’re in the middle of a Talent Revolution that has resulted in workers becoming the gatekeepers to their own professional futures. We’d perceive more from the candidates and their personas beyond the traditional measures of hiring. We need to continue thinking about the best possible ways to find and retain key talent, especially in the face of The Great Resignation, however, we should also want our workforce to be a product of, well, more.

Four-plus million people have been voluntarily leaving their jobs since October of last year…and it’s not just a compensation issue. Workers are humans, and humans can suffer from burnout, anxiety, and a lack of engagement with positions that don’t satisfy a larger purpose. The pandemic and its fallout changed many of us, changed the way we think, operate, and, most importantly, speculate about the future. Candidates want more than a well-paying gig…they want work with a purpose that satisfies something deeper.

If we could leverage AI, next-gen analytics, and new innovations to spark a deeper perception of candidates, we would have the ability to solve talent retention issues and ensure that the workforce was tethered to a workplace culture (as well as the work itself) that met these necessities. This profound perception of candidates, linked to the smart hiring strategies and technology we have today, will become a way to develop and foster a strong, engaged workforce in the face of evolving times.

In essence, perceptive hiring is not “this worker is the ideal fit for this role,” but rather “this person is the ideal fit for this role.”

BEST OF 2022: The Future of Work Needs More Humanity

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/26/2022

I remember speaking with a Fortune 500 executive sometime around April 2020 during those scary, early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We chatted about her staff, the quick move to getting more of the workforce into remote environments, and the uncertain future ahead. What struck me most about the conversation, however, wasn’t the strategic approaches towards managing during uncertain times…it was her attitude.

“All I want my team to know is that I am here for them. The rest of the leadership team is also ready to support them as we go through this period together. Whatever they need from us, be it time with family, more flexibility…whatever struggles they may encounter, we will help them get through that.”

Some leaders are naturally gifted with empathy; those executives were the ones that successfully led their teams through the most tumultuous business period since The Great Recession of 2008-2009. Effective leadership over the past two years has involved shouldering a mental health load of numerous colleagues, when execs played the role of counselor and confidante to those workers that needed support. As times became better and as businesses moved more towards a “living with the virus” mentality, business leaders found that long-term empathy could be emotionally draining, considering that there were hundreds of other tasks and responsibilities that required their energy in an increasingly-globalized and complex enterprise landscape.

That doesn’t mean that empathy goes out the window, though. We’ve come too far to see a natural and beneficial by-product of the past two years lost in the newfound optimism that declining COVID caseloads and fewer restrictions brought about as of late. It does mean this, though: the Future of Work not only needs more humanity, it requires human-led tenets to underpin how work gets done.

The downside to empathetic leadership is that executives feel what their workers feel, and when too many instances of on-demand support pop up, these leaders risk burnout. A psychologist I spoke with told me this: “Experiencing empathy in the workplace is by far a positive development, however, just as we as ordinary people can become overwhelmed with a range of emotions by supporting others, this too can occur in the business arena. As leaders start to see their operations shift a little bit with encouraging conditions, they can still offer “modes” of empathetic support without it becoming a central focus of their overall leadership strategy.”

This is where the “human element” enters the picture. Today’s business leaders don’t have to wrap every one of their approaches in a sheen of empathy, they just need to integrate more humanity into how they manage and structure their workforce, as well as how the overall enterprise gets work done. This transformative strategy towards leadership requires a bit of “reimagination” and a dedication to emotions and being purposeful with those emotions.

The backdrop to The Great Resignation is a “Talent Revolution” in which millions of workers are voluntarily quitting their jobs due to the multi-faceted desire for more: more purpose, more career advancement, more work-life integration, and yes, more empathy and compassion. Leaders sit in an interesting position at this point in 2022; they have been drained of that empathy and are facing burnout along with their short-staffed workforce. The best strategy, after two years of balancing emotions and operations, is to understand that the wide spectrum of next-generation leadership begins with understanding the perspectives of workers, feeling what they feel, and using that knowledge to guide decisions and support.

What is needed now is an integration of humanity and work optimization, bringing together the emotional elements that define great leadership and an inclusive, positive workplace culture. Compassion and empathy are the cornerstones of the human-led elements of the Future of Work movement, and, if leaders can adapt to changing times and shift their thinking to include these attributes in how they manage, they will not only curb the negative ramifications of The Great Resignation, but will also ensure that their workforce remains engaged.

The Third Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

Business Leadership Direct Sourcing General Insights Talent Talent Acquisition by John Yuva on 11/01/2022

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 third installment this week, we’ll be exploring the evolution of talent as a Future of Work centerpiece.

Talent and Talent Acquisition Transformed

To begin, the number three must-know about the Future of Work is the evolution of talent as a Future of Work centerpiece. When talking about the evolution of talent as part of the greater definition of the Future of Work, it goes back to how talent and talent acquisition are changing for the better. Major transformations are occurring, but talent helps make the world go round and helps businesses run. It provides a competitive advantage. Talent is the number one competitive differentiator from one organization to another. With the right talent in place, enterprises can do remarkable things.

The fact that talent engagement and talent acquisition have been evolving for some time, speaks volumes for how it has become the centerpiece for the Future of Work. Let’s look at digital staffing, which enables accelerated hiring. Enterprises can find the workers they need very quickly without making a phone call or sending an email to a staffing supplier.

The other link to this evolution is direct sourcing, which has come a long way over the past few years. Direct sourcing is a talent acquisition revolution, but is not a brand-new strategy (the idea of becoming one’s own recruitment agency was spearheaded 10 or 15 years ago). It’s certainly not a new concept, but according to the Future of Work Exchange and Ardent Partners research, it has become one of the number one priorities for businesses today.

Businesses have woken up to the value of direct sourcing. Business leaders enabled with a direct sourcing program and associated technologies have the ability to curate talent into a talent pool or talent community and then segment those workers into tiers by geography, skillset, and compensation, and quickly tap into that community when needed, resulting in true workforce scalability.

Grow the Candidate Experience

Thus, talent communities need to be fostered and nurtured. Businesses need to keep their talent engaged. So much is about the candidate experience, and enterprises should never get away from that. Always touch candidates with value, whether through emails or text messages. Use talent intelligence to know when the best time is to reach out to those in the talent community. This type of end-to-end program helps boost the quality of talent, speeds up talent acquisition and hiring, and improves the way talent is brought into the organization and redeployed in the future.

Again, regardless of the business function, the candidate experience is paramount when sourcing and hiring talent. There needs to be a level of culture-building that extends to clients and candidates and how they perceive the business. Consider how the brand is perceived, down to the colors of the company logo. Are those colors present on the career page and job portal? Do candidates know who the company is and what it stands for? Recognizing and knowing those things goes a long way in building rapport with candidates.

In addition, what is the overall talent experience when applying for a job? Is it easy to apply for a job and is there an assessment? What type of assessment is it? Can it be completed via a mobile app or laptop? Is the assessment aligned with the candidate’s skillsets and the job itself? Does a candidate know if the organization aligns with them from an individual perspective? All those aspects help build up an amazing candidate experience.

Purposeful Work Is Fundamental to the FOW

The other aspect pertaining to the evolution of talent is purposeful work, which will shape the future of the workforce. It is a non-technological component of the Future of Work.

For many, work is a paycheck that puts food on the table for their family, helps pay for their children’s college, and funds vacations and other extra expenses. The concept of purposeful work fits into the idea of what we are doing with our lives. Is there a purpose behind the work that we’re doing? If we’re spending 10 to 12 hours (including commuting) at our places of employment, are we doing something that satisfies us as humans?

Purposeful work has become a crucial way to think about talent and the workforce. People want their work to be purposeful, which causes many to reevaluate where they are in life. They question what they’re doing with their lives. How are they working? Whom are they working for? How do they fit into the Great Resignation, or more appropriately, the Great Resettling? Many workers were either displaced or left voluntarily but will eventually resettle in some way. They may be doing more purposeful work by starting their own business or becoming an entrepreneur. Some become freelancers or contractors to suit a more flexible lifestyle.

Whatever the reason, purposeful work is going to shape the future of the workforce. This is an area that the Future of Work Exchange will always remain incredibly bullish on because it is a fundamental piece as humans to want to have a purpose in how we work.

The Business World of 2019 is Extinct

Business Leadership General Insights HR Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/16/2022

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.

Malcolm Gladwell and the Very Bad Remote Work Take

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/09/2022

Quick question for you: if you’re working on something critical for organization from your home office, do you think it matters if you’re wearing pajamas or loungewear rather than traditional office attire?

Well, of course not. But Malcolm Gladwell does. Here’s some of his commentary on the Diary of a CEO podcast (and as transcribed by The New York Post):

“It’s not in your best interest to work at home,” he said. “I know it’s a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live?”

“Don’t you want to feel part of something?” I’m really getting very frustrated with the inability of people in positions of leadership to explain this effectively to their employees.”

“If we don’t feel like we’re part of something important, what’s the point?” he said. “If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?”

Let’s get this out of the way first: Gladwell has been a huge success in the world of innovative business thinking. He’s a trendsetter, a unique thinker, and a talented writer. To be very clear, he also has multiple known and proven conflicts that show his many of opinions may be less genuine than his writing suggests.

When it comes to the viability of remote work, he’s also a hypocrite who has spent 10,000 hours working from home (from a 2005 feature at The Guardian):

By leaving his desk behind, Malcolm says that he’s been able to disassociate writing from work. “It seems like a fun activity now. Kind of casual. It’s been more seamlessly integrated into my life and that’s made it much more pleasurable. I never want to be at a desk again.”

And, also from that feature:

Malcolm says: “I hate desks. Desks are now banished.” He starts the day writing at home, but this is always done from his sofa, using his laptop. “I work better when I’m comfortable,” he says. After a stint on the sofa, it’s out into the world.

I’ve been an admirer of most of Malcolm Gladwell’s work over the past 20 years. He has long been considered a visionary, someone who can look beyond the limitations of business thinking and provide value and innovation to leaders who want their organizations to thrive.

Last week’s take on remote work, to be brutally honest, is Gladwell being a contrarian (or propagandist – see below). By saying “It’s not in your best interest to work from home,” he is literally telling his millions of followers that a critical attribute of their work-life integration over the past two-and-a-half years is not the ideal way to work and operate. And, on top of that, as the workforce continues to traverse even more into the realm of humanity, Gladwell is opposed to talented professionals working in an environment that has proven to improve productivity, enhance talent retention, and increase company revenue. (Note: he says he works better when he’s comfortable,, but just re-read his recent quotes from last week at the top of this article.)

Gladwell says that he believes that not working in an office means we’re not “part of something important.” How can anyone, let alone someone that was once a business visionary, publicly state that working from a home office, no matter the rigor or the hours or the effort or the productivity or the late nights or the weekends spent on a laptop, means there’s nothing important that they’re linked to?

The stubborn frame of mind spouted by Gladwell is the literal antithesis of the Future of Work movement. The Future of Work is based on agility, humanity, flexibility, and purpose. Remote work (and hybrid workspaces) promote every one of those aspects.

Gladwell links home office attire (particularly pajamas) to “work life.” How many of you reading this right now have put together tremendously successful projects while in leggings or sweatpants? How many of you have developed innovative solutions, services, or products late at night while wearing a hoodie and shorts? Is there a cat on your lap when you take a video call?

I wrote most of the recent VMS Technology Advisor, a highly-complex project with thousands of data points and insights, in Under Armor shorts and various mono-colored t-shirts from the Gap. Many of the articles on this site were written in that type of attire. I’ve delivered many presentations on video and no one would know that, while I seemed to be wearing a dress shirt, there were athletic shorts below the camera. Even over video conferences, we can see each other’s faces and feel emotion. We can smile and laugh along with jokes together even if we’re hundreds of miles away from each other.

And, finally, regarding the notion of “being part of something”: I and so many others are already part of something. I’m part of a team of individuals whose talent is outstanding (hi, Ardent Partners family!). I’m part of an industry with so many individuals that I can call friends…most of which I haven’t seen in years in-person yet the distance doesn’t affect our fondness and connections. I am a part of a family with an amazing wife and two kids under 10 years old, who I have the ability to walk to the bus stop, cook dinner, help with homework, and read books.

Honestly, it is no surprise that Gladwell, the well-known author (and lesser known tobacco industry propagandist and longtime cigarette apologist) is pandering to the anti-remote work community. One question worth asking is whether or not he is being compensated (by, say, pension funds and other investors in corporate real estate?) for his contrarian’s take on a core Future of Work attribute? (After all, no less than Adweek once asked, “Was Malcolm Gladwell in the Pocket of Big Tobacco?“) It is absurd to think that Gladwell is being genuine here. He’s been wrong on tobacco, and now, he’s wrong on remote work.

Either way, he is criticizing an accelerant that has literally transformed the way we work, connect, collaborate, etc. And, clearly, the analysis behind his take does not account for the millions of workers across the globe that have experienced a newfound sense of flexibility within their lives that they have never felt before, allowing them to spend more time with family and friends, attend important events that they would have otherwise missed because of awful commutes, and, of course, the malleable schedules that have enabled them to optimize they way they work and live.

It’s in their best interests to work from home, after all.

The Future of Flexibility

Business Leadership General Insights Talent Acquisition Technology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/28/2022

“Flexibility” has become the de-facto, hot-button phrase to describe how the Future of Work should operate. However, if we dig deeper, the very notion of flexibility transcends the confines of remote and hybrid work.

Take a deep breath for a moment. Think about your current role before the pandemic. Now think about it in the throes of 2020 and 2021. Now think about your role today and how you’re working. Chances are there are some very stark differences between these three moments in time.

For one, the very modes of work have shifted tremendously over the past two-plus years. Those that worked remotely found the transition was easy: just stay the course. Those that already had a hybrid schedule understood how to change their mindsets while also transforming their leadership and collaborative styles. And for those in which remote work was a new concept, there were some growing pains.

As we sit more than halfway through 2022, there are more questions than answers in regard to the concepts of flexibility in the workforce, the workplace, and the work itself. While flexibility has become a core piece of our pandemic-era business lexicon, the truth is that there is so much more to the idea of flexibility than what we’ve experienced thus far:

Flexibility also translates into agile thinking regarding the makeup of our workforce. This doesn’t just mean that businesses should increase their utilization of non-employee talent (which, of course, has become a value-driver during these uncertain times), but rather dig deep into all available talent sources and develop a truly agile workforce. Talent marketplaces, digital staffing outlets, and direct sourcing strategies can all enhance the depth of current talent communities and ensure that businesses can be flexible when needed (market conditions, business issues, etc.).
Flexibility should cascade down into attributes such as purpose, work-life integration, etc. For far too long, being a “dedicated worker” meant a gold watch at the end of a very, very long tunnel. Now, in the wake of the biggest health crisis of our lifetime, talented professionals seek more from their jobs; the realm of “purpose” and “work-life integration” both translate into workers craving meaningful work that enables them with flexible hours, flexible projects, and a flexible model that allows for unplugged time, more task-oriented collaboration (rather than open-ended coordination), and the ability to reevaluate career paths more frequently.
Flexibility means reviewing workplace structures to provide a malleable foundation rather than a rigid “return-to-office” setup. If there’s anything we learned about the coronavirus behind COVID-19, it’s that it’s become an unpredictable harbinger of disease and disruption. Fall and winter surges fill hospitals over capacity, shutter public attractions, and force governments to reevaluate social safety and public health regulations. This all means that hardline, return-to-office planning should not only be canceled, but outright replaced by a flexible foundation that is based on science, the overall productivity of the organization, and what works best for the workforce. Too many business leaders believed that this far into the pandemic was the ideal time to bring workers back to physical locations, when they should have been experimenting with new models and assessing what was best for the business and the mental wellness of its talent.
Flexibility should apply to workforce technology and process automation, as well as data science and artificial intelligence. AI and data don’t need to be at the center of every single facet of the contemporary business, but it needs to be at the forefront of how businesses shape talent acquisition and address how work is done. Enterprises must understand the flexibility inherent in today’s crucial workforce and talent tools, like VMS, MSP, direct sourcing, and digital staffing, and tap into the modules that they may have ignored in months and years past. Requisition management and financial/administrative tools are table stakes, however, leveraging “deeper” functionality such as AI-led analytics, expansive candidate matching, candidate experience tools, talent community development, total talent intelligence, and digital recruitment are all incredible doorways into making workforce technology more flexible for an evolving business.

The Future of Work Always Comes Back to One Thing: People

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/21/2022

The Future of Work means many things to many people. Some may position technology as the front-and-center nexus of all things related to the Future of Work movement, while others will point to the evolution of robotics and artificial intelligence as a harbinger of how work will be done in a nebulous future state of business.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the way we now get work done is dependent on access to the tools and technology necessary for total interconnectivity and on-demand collaboration. There should be no more silos of innovation, but rather a free-flow of ideas and insights that permeate a “open” and automated realm from which to strategize the way projects, operations, product development, manufacturing, etc. are executed.

No matter how far we traverse into the ether of technology, however, the Future of Work always comes back to one thing: the people. The workers. The professionals. The leaders. The expertise. The skillsets. The humans.

If we just take a step back, the answers are vividly clear. Why did the Future of Work and its accelerants sweep through the world over the past two years? Because of the human elements of work and the workforce, of course. Consider that:

The so-called “Great Resignation” happened (and is continuing to happen in some form) because of a human-led desire for flexibility and better working conditions.
That need for flexibility is a driven by a human-level need for a better balance between personal life and professional life.
The concepts of remote work and the hybrid workplace reside firmly in the greater need for businesses to support the human elements of the workforce while boosting productivity and attempting to curb burnout.
The very idea of “open talent” was catalyzed by the need to address skills deficiencies with agile talent…especially extended labor that is tethered to socially “open” concepts of working and collaborating.
The value of an empathy-led, inclusive workplace culture has sparked business leaders to lead with a nurturing touch that, of course, takes into context the fact that workers are human.
The role of purpose (and purposeful work) are perhaps the most critical drivers of the Future of Work today, with enterprises focusing on passionate and talented individuals who prioritize the ways their work contributes to something greater in their lives and aligns with their overall human journey.

The great revolution of talent and work is upon us. Technology, artificial intelligence, and innovative tools with surely lead and direct us, but is is the people, the humans, that spark the real Future of Work.