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Welcome to the Future of Work in 2023

Business Leadership Contingent Workforce Technology and Innovation by Andrew Bartolini on 01/06/2023

Happy New Year!

At the behest of our rock star analyst, Christopher Dwyer (also our SVP of Research), Ardent Partners launched this site in the summer of 2021 to help HR, talent acquisition, procurement, IT, and finance executives understand the critical convergence of talent and innovation and the impact that the extended workforce has had and will have on business operations and bottom-line performance. I would argue that as we kick off the new year, nothing is more important to a business than understanding the Future of Work in 2023 and having the right strategies, tools, and approaches to manage it well.

The Future of Work in 2023 already looks very different from just a few years ago, driven by a few large trends that are discussed below.

AUTOMATION

One of the biggest drivers of change in the Future of Work is automation and the tools used to perform tasks that were previously done by humans. This can include everything from manufacturing and assembly line work to data entry and customer service. As automation is adopted and becomes more prevalent within the enterprise, efficiencies and perhaps more importantly, effectiveness, increase as staffers can spend more time on deeper strategic elements of their work.

With today’s growing extended workforce, enterprises need flexibility and scalability. Automation can bridge the various data points related to recruitment, onboarding, and payroll, allowing HR to focus on strategic workforce development and management planning. Through direct sourcing initiatives and automation, an enterprise can flex its extended workforce requirements quickly and efficiently, providing the necessary support before ramping down.

AI

Another significant trend in the Future of Work is the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI). AI refers to the development of computer systems that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. AI is already being used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, and retail. We are in the early stages of an AI revolution, but this technology is almost certainly going to play an even larger role in the way we work, potentially leading to the creation of new job roles and a better understanding of how to staff the most successful teams and projects.

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.

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 Future of Work 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.

THE HYBRID WORKFORCE

In addition to automation and AI, the Future of Work is also likely to be influenced by the increasing popularity of remote work and flexible scheduling. With the advancement of communication technologies such as video conferencing and project management software, it is becoming easier for employees to work from anywhere in the world. This trend is being driven by a variety of factors, including the desire for work-life balance, the need for companies to access a global talent pool, and the cost savings associated with remote work.

Progressive companies realize the importance of hybrid work options for employees. While compensation remains a major factor when accepting a job offer, it is benefits such as hybrid work that are attracting more job candidates. Hybrid work models are also contributing to healthy employee well-being and mental health — both of which can have a significant impact on the bottom line. A hybrid workforce makes healthy sense to workers and fiscal sense to the enterprise.

SUMMARY

As technology continues to advance at an unprecedented pace, Ardent Partners expects to see significant changes to the way we will work in the coming years. Whether it is through upskilling and retraining or embracing new technologies, the key to success in the Future of Work will be adaptability and a willingness to embrace change — namely automation, artificial intelligence, remote work, and flexible scheduling.

And, as the Future of Work continues to evolve, it is important for both individuals and companies to stay abreast of these trends and to be proactive in preparing for the changes that are likely to come. That’s where THE FUTURE OF WORK EXCHANGE site comes into the picture — if you haven’t already, bookmark this site and make it a regular stop as you pursue your workforce goals and objectives in 2023 and drive to become a Best-in-Class operation.

Why “The Human Factor” Should Be the Top Future of Work Focus for 2023

Business Leadership Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 01/03/2023

The concept of “humanity in the workplace” is not entirely new. While there are plenty of leaders that merely view their workforce as numbers and faceless drivers of productivity, there are also many leaders that prioritize the physical and mental wellbeing of their talent. So, what sets aside 2023 as an outlier for focusing on these attributes more so than in months past?

As the COVID-19 pandemic expanded and ultimately disrupted billions of lives, many workers used this time as an opportunity for personal introspection, reevaluating their goals in life and at work (and their career journeys to date). Workers newly entrusted within their organizations also felt empowered to take ownership of their careers. Many discovered renewed passions for social causes, a need for work-life integration, and career journeys that defined their sense of self. Those pursuits began playing out at the end of 2021 — referred to as “The Great Resignation” — and continued throughout most of 2022. The millions of workers who left their jobs during this period sent a message to their employers that a new set of workplace criteria was being considered. Issues like empathy, diversity, equity, inclusion, and other business culture considerations were identified as critical needs of the new-normal enterprise. Suddenly the need for a strategy to develop, communicate, and realize corporate values became an important way to retain current talent and attract new workers.

This sets the stage for 2023 as a critical year for “the human factor,” as businesses now have to contend with managing through economic uncertainty, an increasingly-tightening labor market, and a delicate balance between hanging onto pandemic-era reliance on remote and hybrid workplace models and desiring workers to return to in-person collaboration. Simply put: leading with a human edge might be the only way for enterprises to truly enhance talent retention while improving the ways they get work done in a challenging business environment.

Throughout the past 18 or so months, many business leaders were anxious to call their workforce back to the office out of fear of waning productivity and a loss of visibility and control over their teams. What they discovered, however, was a sense of empowerment that had been missing from the ranks of professionals for far too long; while compensation and benefits will always, always be critical factors in selecting (or staying at) a job, aspects such as flexibility, better working conditions, transparency into career journeys, etc. became top-of-mind and non-negotiable attributes of their roles. While we know this as “The Great Resignation,” this was, in fact, a true “talent revolution” that signaled a new era of work and labor.

Throw all of these concepts into a blender marked “2023” and what we get is a workplace environment that requires so much more than just appreciation and empathy. Leadership in the year ahead does not just need to implement more humanity, it requires it to truly be effective in what would be (yet another) watershed year for the business arena.

While not all industries fear the specter of a recession, there are many workers are shifting their mindsets from “revolution” to “survival,” a sharp turn from the months past when, on average, over four million professionals voluntarily resigned from their positions for a 16-month period. This type of thinking can wreak havoc on already-stressed professionals who are facing burnout and wellness issues, leaving leaders with only one option: infuse humanity into core leaderships strategies in order to develop a stable workplace that is supportive of its talent.

“The human factor” has been oft-discussed since the pandemic began. Many of us faced personal reawakening in the face of mortality and sickness, watching as the world faced a public health crisis unlike anything we had experienced before. People reevaluated their lives and the role of their careers as part of their identities, meaning that there was much more at stake than just “work.” Workers desired purpose, craved flexibility, and wanted an overall sense of alignment between their human personas and workplace characters. This translated into the need for business leaders to be more human in their management approaches.

Which, of course, leads us to a new year and new vision. Upcoming Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research found that nearly 70% of businesses see worker burnout as a core challenge, in addition to another 74% who perceive recession risks as a driver for worker anxiety. This all means that leaders have to strike a balance between managing costs and driving productivity and ensuring that they emotionally support their talent in a more deliberate and meaningful way. Empathy-infused management, flexible workplace options, more appreciation, and enhancing worker wellness and wellbeing (especially mental health) are all critical attributes in this regard.

However, there is one overarching strategy that leaders can adopt to ensure that their workforce is engaged, productive, rested, and stable in 2023: place humanity in the center of all business strategies. By doing so, enterprises will create a workplace environment in which talent feels trusted and valued. In the wake of uncertainty, this is the most powerful approach of all.

BEST OF 2022: Flexibility Is a Catalyst for the Next Great Iteration of the Workplace

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/27/2022

[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.]

There’s enough discussion around the technological components of the Future of Work movement: artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, digital staffing, etc. While “innovation” in and of itself is one of the three major foundational legs of the Future of Work (the other two being “the evolution of talent” and “the transformation of business thinking”), there’s so much more to the very notion of work optimization than just automation and new technology.

As we’ve learned over the past two-plus years, the workplace itself has become a living, breathing entity that has the power to determine the overall productivity of a business, and, more importantly, how emotionally tethered the workforce is to the greater organization. For the record, it’s not just a matter if or when a business offers remote or hybrid work options, but rather how deeply rooted flexibility truly is within all facets of how work is done and how the workforce is ultimately managed.

Now would be the best time to bring up the annoying factor in every business-related conversation: “The Great Resignation” continues unabated, sparked by a veritable “Talent Revolution” that has restructured the way workers perceive their jobs, roles, and career paths. The very concept of flexibility is not just a “perk” for talent; it’s become a determining factor in whether or not a professional chooses to remain with an enterprise or search for greener pastures.

From here, flexibility is catalyst for the next great iteration of the workplace. There are undeniable roots from the larger idea of flexibility, including empathy-led leadership (more flexibility in how leaders lead), leveraging new models to get work done (distributed teams, new functional collaboration, etc.), more humanity within the fabric of the workplace, and, of course, more malleability in where workers work (remote work, hybrid workplace, etc.).

And, when we bring up this idea of “flexibility,” it doesn’t just translate into specific aspects of the workplace, but rather all of them. That’s right: the next iteration of the workplace centers on how work is done rather than on archaic principles of control and authority, including:

Promoting an inclusive workplace that welcomes and values all voices, no matter their differences, disabilities, etc.
Relying on empathy-led and conscious leadership that takes into account worker emotions and perceptions.
Offering various outlets of paid leave (maternity, paternity, wellness, etc.).
Embracing flexible work models, including fresh takes on shift-based work, four-day work-weeks, collaborative-led schedules, etc.
Supporting remote and hybrid work options (including offering proper hardware, software, leadership support, etc.).
Augmenting these remote and hybrid models with digital workspaces.
Measuring both employee engagement and productivity, and;
Detailing flexible work options within new job requisitions (to attract talent).

Flexibility Shouldn’t Go Backwards

Business Leadership HR Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/28/2022

Take a trip back to a moment in time with me. It’s around this time last year, and you may be in the grocery store, at the mall, or catching the last few hours of Black Friday sales. Facial coverings aren’t as prevalent as they were a year prior, an era before COVID vaccines, treatments, etc., however, many people still feel more comfortable wearing masks in any public setting.

It’s sometimes hard to believe that we’re well over two-and-a-half years removed from the first days of the COVID-19 pandemic. For many of us, we can still close our eyes and recall the anxiety, the worry, and just how uneasy everything felt.

Of course, in late 2022 now, we can look back on the scariest of those times and point to them as a dawn of a new era of work, talent, and business. Future of Work accelerants were already well in play when the country (and world, for that matter) began to “shut down,” however, it was the pandemic’s quick impact that kicked many of those concepts into high gear.

Perhaps the biggest Future of Work accelerant to arise was the global notion of flexibility. With newfound measures to keep in-person contact to an absolutely minimum, those businesses that once eschewed remote work were now forced to allow their employees and contractors to telecommute and work virtually. Those enterprises that had long embraced these work models, on the other hand, found it easier to survive in chaotic times.

The first rumblings of “return to office” planning occurred at the beginning of 2021 when the United States government rolled out the biggest vaccine campaign in medical history. Many executive leaders were eager to “get back to normal” and began the process of shifting from remote-heavy environments to hybrid workplaces.

While these blended models were ideal for balancing proximity collaboration and in-person coordination with the many advantages of the remote work environment, some leaders took encouraging virus occurrences (such as lower case rates, enhanced uptake of vaccines, etc.) as a sign that the global workforce was ready to the office full-time.

As we discussed here on the Future of Work Exchange oh so many months ago, that very notion of flexibility wasn’t a fad, nor was it a temporary state of workplace thinking. The move towards enterprise flexibility was a permanent one that could not be reneged, renegotiated, or scaled back in any profound way. One of the positive outcomes regarding the workforce over the past two years was hidden under the guise of The Great Resignation; people weren’t just quitting their jobs…they were sparking a talent revolution.

In 2022, and certainly even more so in 2023, workers demand better working conditions, enhanced benefits, empathy-led mentorship and leadership, and, most importantly, flexibility. This concept of flexibility doesn’t just translate into allowing professionals to sometimes work from home or build in specific remote days around in-person office days. No, flexibility is so much more than that, and, until executive leaders understand that flexibility is a path forward that cannot be reversed, there will continue to be staffing shortages, dearths of expertise, a lack of effective skillsets, etc.

Those leaders that are clamoring for a full return-to-office plan in January (or even sooner, if you’ve purchased a social media giant and want to destroy its culture) are banking on economic uncertainty to re-balance the scales with the workforce-at-large. However, with nearly two job openings for every available candidate in today’s market (a fluctuating number based on fluid conditions), there won’t be a labor market crunch anytime soon. So, in essence, flexibility is an attribute that every worker will want now and forever, leaving business leaders in a position in which the culture of its workplace becomes ever-so-critical when engaging the top-tier talent they need to thrive.

Workplace culture cannot be forced. And this is why the realm of flexibility is so critical to enterprise success today and in the future. Enterprises that preach and practice flexible workplace conditions have embraced the transformation of work; the idea of flexibility, then, can’t be jammed back into its bottle. Workers have realized that flexibility is what they want, desire, and require…and there’s no turning back from that.

“Being Thankful” Means Something Different This Year

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/22/2022

We hear the phrase so many times at this point in the year, with Thanksgiving only a couple of days away: “I’m thankful for [something, someone, etc.].” We all have specific things in our lives that we are thankful for: our families, our friends, our loved ones. This year is no different: entering Year Four of a disruptive pandemic, that, while no longer in its “emergency phase,” still causes concern, we are all certainly thankful for our health and the wellbeing of those in our families, our social networks, and within our network of peers and colleagues.

In 2022, however, being thankful means something different…or, at least, should mean something different.

It’s sometimes incredibly difficult to separate “work” from “personal” life, with so many of us experiencing our career paths intertwining with the everyday routines at home. However, there is an aura to our lives today that is not only different from just a few years ago, but significantly different than it has been in decades.

We’re living in a new world of work, and, the keyword there (“living”) means that work in and of itself isn’t just a place we go for eight hours a day, but rather something that defines us as people. At the core, we are humans. And, many of us express ourselves in terms of the work we do and the skills that we have attained.

While it isn’t always healthy, there are many, many professionals that entwine their careers and personal lives in such a way that there is sometimes a vast difficulty in separating the two. This, however, is the nature of how we work today. We are always “on.” We are very frequently consumed by the content in our fields, craving information, news, and insights through social networks and communication with those within our industries.

Thus, this year, “being thankful” takes on a much different meaning, one that revolves around the concept of flexibility and the notion that we are living in a world of innovation and evolution.

Let’s be thankful that we have firmly moved into an era when remote work and hybrid workplaces are an accepted and widely-adopted means of getting work done. Let’s be thankful for those business leaders that have cultivated flexible workplace environments that rely on remote work as a viable option for their workforce.

Let’s be thankful that worker empowerment is perhaps the strongest it has ever been, with The Great Resignation giving us so much more than unhappy professionals by providing workers with the strength to stand up for themselves and each other for better working conditions, more flexibility in the workplace, and so much more.

Let’s be thankful for those business leaders preaching and practicing the art of conscious leadership. Let’s be thankful for executives and managers that lead with empathy, compassion, and understanding. Let’s be thankful to leaders that show appreciation and mentor those that they manage and work with on a daily basis.

Let’s be thankful for the technology that has helped us transform the ways we leverage talent, engage workers, and ultimately get work done. Let’s be thankful for the solution providers that consistently innovate and provide enterprises with agile automation, next-generation analytics, workforce intelligence, and progressive functionality. Let’s be thankful for the platforms that have pushed direct sourcing into new and exciting territory, and let’s be thankful for the providers that are actively embracing the Future of Work movement.

And, finally, let’s be thankful for those that think outside of the box and desire to push the envelope. Let’s be thankful for those that helped transform the ways we work. Let’s be thankful for those individuals that regard “work” as needing to be more human-centric. And let’s be thankful for everyone that believes that the Future of Work movement is how we move forward into the next great era of business history.

Contribute to the Most Definitive Future of Work Research in the Industry

Business Leadership Direct Sourcing HR Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/14/2022

Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange are excited to announce the launch of its annual Future of Work research survey. This comprehensive, online survey will fuel the Exchange’s research calendar for 2023 and aims to tackle progressive topics, such as:

The impact of innovation and new technology on work optimization, particularly the applications of artificial intelligence, blockchain, machine learning, chatbots, and digital wallets on the realm of talent engagement and talent acquisition.
The growth of the extended workforce and how businesses can harness the power of the contingent workforce to thrive during challenging times. (Ardent Partners and FOWX plan to publish several exciting new reports on Best-in-Class contingent workforce/extended workforce management programs, including deep-dive insights into the required capabilities, competencies, and strategies for maximizing the value of this talent.)
The evolution of talent acquisition, including how businesses can revolutionize the candidate experience while also enhancing the hiring manager experience through new technology, omni-channel talent engagement strategies, and advanced total talent intelligence.
How remote and hybrid work models will impact business operations and the total workforce in 2023.
The reality of total talent management and how organizations are getting closer to successfully implementing these programs.
The transformation of business leadership, including how today’s executives are weaving in conscious leadership styles, empathy-led directives, and enhanced worker appreciation into their greater management strategies.
How direct sourcing programs will evolve in the year ahead to include “Direct Sourcing 2.0” capabilities, such as digital recruitment, deeper marketing input, reflection of workplace culture and company brand, chatbots and AI, and more, and;

Click here to participate in the new Future of Work Exchange research survey. If you are an executive leader that works in the HR, procurement, finance, talent acquisition, or IT function of your organization, or if you’re a Chief People Officer, this survey has been designed to capture your specific experiences in addressing how work and talent are managed at your enterprise. As a thank you for participating in this crucial research effort, all research study participants will receive access to all of the Future of Work Exchange’s market research studies in 2023.

How To Destroy Workplace Culture In Less Than One Week: An Elon Musk MasterClass

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/08/2022

If you’ve been following the news recently, erratic billionaire Elon Musk, he of Tesla and SpaceX fame, finally completed his quest to purchase social media giant Twitter for over $40B just last week. And, in typical Musk fashion, simply buying one of the most storied social media cornerstones of the past decade-plus just wasn’t enough for him: whether with intent or not, he’s already created havoc at an organization that was once lauded for its workforce flexibility.

The Future of Work Exchange, since its inception, has been a source of insights regarding the criticality of workplace culture and ramification of toxicity within corporate boundaries. In an age when resignations are rampant, uncertainty over the economy looms over businesses like a financial specter, and Year Four (yes, Year Four!) of pandemic could create massive disruptions yet again, businesses need to lean on several key factors to not only attract talent, but retain the top-tier expertise it already has.

Workplace flexibility, empathy-led leadership, attention to mental wellness, and robust wellbeing strategies, as well as a strong corporate brand that is associated with these facets, are all crucial elements in creating a positive environment that drives talent retention and boosts both talent engagement and talent acquisition initiatives. Economic downturn aside, the jobs market is still quite hot; United States employers added 261,000 jobs in October, according to The New York Times, a figure that shows that “the economy is resilient.” Furthermore, the Times also reported that:

There have been other recent signs that the labor market remains exceedingly tight. Job openings, after falling significantly in August, rose again in September to 10.7 million. That increase meant there were roughly 1.9 job openings for every unemployed worker. The number of people who quit their jobs — typically a sign that workers are confident they will find better ones — ticked down to 4.1 million but remained high. Layoffs overall have stayed low.

However, that aforementioned specter of a recession cannot be ignored. While “layoffs have stayed low,” none of us can scroll through LinkedIn without hearing news of peers’ and colleagues’ troubles with mass cuts. What does this have to do with Elon Musk and Twitter and workplace culture? Just keep the Times information in the back of your mind.

Musk has made public his desire to buy Twitter for a very, very long time and that dream was realized when the purchase went through last week. Immediately, Twitter, a company known for aspects like its company-wide mental health “holidays,” was immediately turned on its head from a workplace culture perspective. Let’s forget for a second (since the Exchange is not a political site) the “free speech” attributes of Musk’s gunning for the social media giant and instead focus on how much damage he’s done…in just a week’s time.

Musk and Twitter leadership laid off 50% of its staff late last week, with many employees receiving the news indirectly; some were denied access to critical systems, while others could not even log onto their laptops. Some heard of peers being laid off on social media and most others received emails informing them of their newfound, involuntary exits. And, this is only a peek at the culture Musk has already fostered, as beyond the layoffs, some employees found themselves literally sleeping in their offices to meet erratic deadlines:

A Twitter employee who shared a photo appearing to show his boss sleeping on the office floor has caused a stir on the platform. The image, which was tweeted by Evan Jones, a product manager at Twitter Spaces, on November 2, was captioned, “When you need something from your boss at elon twitter.” It shows a woman who has been identified as Esther Crawford, a director of product management at Twitter, wearing an eye mask and lying in a sleeping bag on the floor of what appears to be an office.

Yes, we’ve all had to pull all-nighters before. We’ve all had to burn some midnight oil to get a particular project or two done in our career history. It’s just that these things are adding up and it does not look good for a global organization that is a household brand…especially one that has a career page that says this:

We put people first. Be you, really. That’s how we build trust. Together we’re creating a culture that’s supportive, respectful, and a pretty cool vibe. Sure, we’re not perfect, we’re people. But we’re open and honest about who we are and what we do.

We’re all about flexibility and equity. At Twitter, we do our work where it makes the most sense. Most roles can be done from home. But some positions take place in the office. Either way, we believe in giving all Tweeps maximum flexibility whenever we can.

There’s no doubt that there is a barrage of negativity surrounding Musk’s Twitter takeover. As reported by Vox:

In the days after Musk took over, he booted top executives, slashed rank-and-file headcount, pushed engineers to work harder, and began fast-tracking a hodgepodge of potentially revenue-generating features, including charging users to get or keep a verification check mark.

It’s not new for a new business owner and executive leader to catalyze immediate change. Again, it’s 1) the pace at which these changes are happening, 2) the disregard of existing positive culture across the workplace, and 3) the abhorrent attitude in which Musk is displaying while transforming the social media giant. Here are more nuggets from the Vox piece:

One Twitter employee described the morale at the company after the layoffs as low, and said that many colleagues who survived this round of cuts wish they had gotten laid off and gotten severance instead. Twitter is giving many laid-off employees full pay and benefits through at least January, although it’s not clear if this applied to all employees, particularly those outside the US, sources said.

Twitter staff have received little official communication, such as emails or corporate-wide Slack messages, so far from Twitter’s executive leadership since Musk officially took over. One employee who spoke with Recode on the condition of anonymity called it an “information vacuum.” That’s been an adjustment for many Twitter employees who are used to a more measured, communicative, and structured work culture. One anonymous Twitter employee told the Washington Post that the work atmosphere under Elon was like “working in Trump’s White House.”

And, to top it all off, Musk eliminated the “work-from-anywhere” policy that Twitter developed earlier this year, and terminated its beloved “days of rest” monthly holidays, two attributes that were solid pieces of the workplace culture at Twitter.

Musk has been seen a brash innovator who leads in a differentiated way. He wants to implement at “24/7” work culture that, unfortunately, does not align with where workers are right now mentally and physically. The fear here is that business leaders who look up to Musk as an example of how to lead will mimic his policies and strategies, most of which will introduce toxicity into workplace culture in a time when it’d be the absolutely last thing an enterprise needs in this volatile market.

Over the weekend, news broke that Twitter asked some of its laid off employees to return to the company, realizing that some of their layoffs were mistakes. According to Fortune:

After laying off roughly half the company on Friday following Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition, is now reaching out to dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to return. Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake, according to two people familiar with the moves. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information…The requests for employees to return demonstrate how rushed and chaotic the process was.

In less than a week, Musk’s takeover of Twitter included the elimination of flexible work policies, termination of monthly wellness days, a mass layoff in which nearly 50% of the company’s staff was cut, and a reachout to some of those let go because the process was rushed and chaotic. A once-lauded organization for its incredible workplace culture, Twitter will now reflect the very toxic nature of a new owner who destroyed this foundation in less than a week.

Is Waning Productivity a Worker Problem…or a Leadership Problem?

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/02/2022

What do tech CEOs such as Google’s Sundar Pichail, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsft’s Satya Nadella all have in common? These three, amongst many other high-profile executive leaders, are calling into question whether their workers are working hard enough. Nadella has even coined a term, “productivity paranoia,” that translates into heightened corporate anxiety over whether or not their teams are producing as much as they should.

In a feature published in The Washington Post yesterday (and posted by Boston.com), news of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ work on tracking productivity has businesses rightfully worried about their teams:

Employers across the country are worried that workers are getting less done – and there’s evidence they’re right to be spooked. In the first half of 2022, productivity – the measure of how much output in goods and services an employee can produce in an hour – plunged by the sharpest rate on record going back to 1947, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What’s incredibly interesting about this turn of events is that, just last year, these productivity figures sparked to their highest level in decades. The Post, in the August 2021 article, attributed these gains to better working conditions, enhanced access to remote and hybrid work models, and other factors. So…what changed?

A return to “normalcy,” even if it can be considered that (more like “semi-normalcy”?), is most likely a culprit after two-plus years of living in pandemic-led conditions. After all of the discussions in 2020 and 2021 (and into this year) regarding the permanent shifts in how we work, it is shocking to see figures like the ones the BLS revealed this week.

The one thing that we are missing here, apparently, is just how permanent the shifts in how we lead truly are. Were the transformations towards empathy, compassion, emotional wellbeing, and better working conditions just a mirage? Or were they for real?

Conscious leadership isn’t just a mindset; it’s a state of being that cascades into how our workforce is treated, how we value them, how we support them, and how we show appreciation. There’s an incredible gap today between the way business leaders are leading and the way they should lead, and that’s reflected in how we are more likely to hear about enterprises failing to provide sick leave, proper maternity or paternity leave, or dynamic support for emotional and physical wellbeing.

Leadership is often broken. And so are some of the ways we work.

Employee engagement is a real and powerful attribute of the modern-day enterprise. The concept at its core is so very, very simple: ensure your workers are engaged, and, in return, they will dedicated to the organization, which, of course…results in increased productivity. Unfortunately, however, we are not fully living in that world today. Worker burnout is all-too common in nearly every company. Emotional wellbeing is not being prioritized at the scale that it should be. Extended vacation and sick leave benefits only exist in a small percentage of organizations.

If a business puts more stock in a free company lunch than it does its overall workplace culture, it’s a serious problem. The issues with productivity, as found by the BLS, can be attributed to a seismic failure at the leadership level of businesses across the country. Does this mean that 100% of the blame falls at the feet of executive leaders? Well, no. Those employees and workers that have engaged in “quiet quitting” are certainly guilty of waning productivity due to taking their collective foot off the gas and producing the bare minimum.

However, there’s a reason for the vast majority of quiet quitting instances that does, indeed, link back to failures at the leadership level. Are leaders being unreasonable with productivity requests? Are there putting more and more pressure on already-stressed workers? Although not many organizations are the same size (or bigger) as Twitter is, the recent takeover by Elon Musk has reportedly resulted in the controversial billionaire asking engineers to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week to meet deadlines. Musk already created a firestorm during the process leading up to his ownership of the social media platform, and seems intent on bringing that attitude into its day-to-day operations.

Over the past two years, we’ve seen (and heard) high-profile CEOs and executives eschew remote work as “aberrations” and being wholly unsustainable. There’s been a major tug-of-war between workers and leaders over return-to-office plans. And, to top it all off, some leaders even believe that flexibility isn’t a foundation of their workplace culture.

There are certainly many workers out there that aren’t pulling their weight. However, there are many, many more workers that are burnt out, disengaged, and disconnected from their workplace’s culture and vision. This is a signal that the problem of waning productivity starts at the top, with business leadership needing even more transformation than it ever has before. Lost in all of this dialogue is the fact that workers are humans, and humans experience feelings, emotions, and desires that can be affected by toxic attributes of their roles.

While economists have no clear answers on why productivity may be tumbling, looking at the rollercoaster transformation of business leadership may be the first clue. It doesn’t matter if an employee works from home, works in a hybrid model, or is in the office full-time; having leaders that lead with empathy and consciousness is the linchpin to sparking real engagement…and avoiding dips in productivity.

The Second Thing You Must Know About The Future of Work

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

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

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

Adoption of Future of Work Accelerants

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

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

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

Thrive Through Understanding and Embracement

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

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

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

Flexibility Cannot be Underestimated

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

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

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

Supporting the Future of Work Through Innovative Technology

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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