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Talent Revolution

No, For Real: We’re Not Going Back

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Last summer, I wrote why the business arena was never going back to “normal,” my arguments owed to the fact that the vast majority of enterprises across the world were now operating in a corporate landscape that encouraged flexibility, innovation, and new and strategic ways of getting work done.

That was in the summer, a time when most of us were just a few weeks removed from being fully-vaccinated and ready for some semblance of normalcy in our personal lives. Could we attend a sporting event in-person? Could our kids finally return to school full-time? Would we be able to have dinner with our older relatives?

We now know that the Delta variant of the coronavirus had much different plans. And, shortly on the heels of that surge, Omicron brought its own playbook.

So now we’re within the end of the winter months. Many of the cities and states that experienced horrible caseloads and hospitalizations around the 2021 holidays and into January are now seeing those waves start to subside. And, inevitably, as things gets better, that question makes its return:

When do things get back to normal?

I was struck by this article in The New York Times by Charles M. Blow this past weekend. Blow writes:

All of us, I believe, were simply waiting to see when our lives would reset, and what the new normal would look like. We still believed that if we did the right things — at least if enough of us did them — that the pandemic would pass and things would snap back to the way they were.

But, as each month passed, and then each year, it became more and more clear that COVID would most likely move from pandemic to endemic.

There are many reasons why our personal lives will never return to normal, given the tremendous change we’ve collectively experienced over the past two years. Blow’s article, “There Is No Post-COVID,” illustrates how “COVID has made us reconsider everything, the meaning of home and work, the value of public space, the magnitude and immediacy of death, what it truly means to be a member of a society. We are still finding the answers to those questions, but the America we knew ended in 2019.”

While business itself doesn’t straddle the line between life and death, a novel virus that has upended the lives of billions of people across the world was always likely to bring permanent change to the way we work, how we work, and, of course, why we work. There should not be a single business leader that could honestly ponder when we would return to the “normal” ways of getting work done.

Societal change has dictated that we invest in and prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion. Technological change has pushed us into new realms of digital transformation and automation. Leadership has transitioned into empathy-led business culture that pushes the “human” side of business into the forefront. Talent has undergone a revolution that has fundamentally altered the relationship between a business and its workforce, resulting in a “Great Resignation” that will forever transform the dynamics of talent engagement and talent acquisition.

We can see, however, how businesses would apply Blow’s quote above to their corporate world. Those early months of the pandemic, well, more like the first year (before the first vaccine campaigns), heavily-dictated just how much we in the business arena yearned for those halcyon days of 2019. No masks, no social distancing, no supply chain disruptions, no economic uncertainty. Instead, we faced layoffs, furloughs, and a veritable rollercoaster ride that seemingly had no end.

But the world has changed tremendously since then, both from personal and professional perspectives. Remote and hybrid workspaces are flourishing, while the power has shifted to the worker in today’s revolutionary war for talent. Businesses now know that the volatility of today’s market can be flipped to become competitive advantages. The economy is thriving. “Adaptation” has become a foundation for the future. Digitization has come full circle and is now driving innovation within the business stratosphere.

And, most important of all: the Future of Work has been realized.

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Remote and Hybrid Work May Have Issues, But They’re Undeniably Powerful Future of Work Attributes

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I’ve long devoured news and analysis related to the concept of remote and hybrid work…and not just during these crazy pandemic times. I’ve been a hybrid worker for the entirety of my career these past 16 years, and, particularly over the past decade, more “remote” than “hybrid.” I’ve stepped into an office only a handful of times since March 2020. Besides my own experiences with the hybrid work, the Future of Work Exchange is committed to helping businesses and workers better understand the implications of such a model, the benefits, how to structure a hybrid infrastructure, and, of course, how the hybrid workplace factors into the digitization of work.

A recent New York Times article by Elizabeth Spiers, former editor in chief of The New York Observer and the founding editor of Gawker, argues that we, as both leaders and workers, have lost some semblance of “work” with it becoming “too casual” over the past two years. “What We Lose When Work Gets Too Casual” highlights that:

“There are trade-offs, though. The loss of workplace formalities like fixed start and stop times, managerial hierarchies with clear pathways for advancement and professional norms that create boundaries between personal and professionally acceptable behavior only hurt workers. Though the pandemic-era transformation of white-collar work seems empowering at first, we should not be deceived: Many of these changes mostly benefit employers.”

Spiers further writes that employers can take advantage of an environment in which the lack of shift formality means that workers will pump extra hours into their work and projects without the extra pay (for salaried employees, of course). This is, in fact, a common drawback to the hybrid model, in which workers cannot seemingly “unplug” from their work and suffer burnout, anxiety, and stress.

It’s often too easy for those work remotely to get caught up in work, to subconsciously allow personal and professional worlds to collide, and to let “casual work culture” become the foundation of a remote working environment. The office becomes home, and the home becomes the offices, Spiers writes. She’s not wrong, as for those white-collar employees that have been working remotely for a lengthy period of time, there is very little crossover between the personal and professional arenas. We stare at our phones checking email, keep our laptops within reach, and spend late nights toiling away. Working at 11pm is just as common as dialing into a video call at 11am.

Spiers’ points are made with good intentions, and she focuses on the fact that this setup mainly benefits the employers. What she is missing, however, is the inherent flexibility that is baked into the hybrid work model. This is what workers crave, it’s what they desire. They want to be able to do the things they want to do without having the pressure of in-person work, long commutes, and endless in-person meetings.

However, there is one idea, above all else, that needs to be taken into consideration. It’s the one driving factor that separates remote work in 2022 vs. remote work in the early months of the pandemic. Businesses must enable their employees with the necessary strategies, solutions, and tools to succeed. Working remotely (or in a hybrid model) does just that, and it’s the most critical argument here. Too much of a “casual” feel to work doesn’t mean that work is being negatively impacted nor does it mean that all remote workers will succumb to burnout (as Spiers writes: “Their personal needs don’t get met because work has so invaded their personal lives that there is no dedicated time for non-work life.”).

Remote work burnout is an issue, for sure. We’ve written about it here on the Future of Work Exchange (rather recently, too!). And I won’t be a hypocrite here: there are many weeks that I’m hitting 70 or 80 hours (or more), as are many of you reading this article. There are times when I sacrifice my personal or family time for work. However, the flexibility will always outweigh whatever imbalances pop up from time-to-time. The fact that I can make breakfast for my kids in the morning or say hi to them in the afternoon instead of being locked in an office? I would gladly take some of those late nights and long weeks for the ability to do these things. It’s a beneficial trade-off, as is the fact that I gain two hours not spending on commutes everyday; I can take the dog for a walk if I have an hour break, or schedule a doctor’s appointment without having to take an entire day off.

The other big point Spiers made in her article is that employers have the ability to “punt” on advancement conversations due to the “informal” environment of remote and hybrid workplaces. She argues that junior and less experienced employees may take on additional work without a clear path to promotions and advancement. While this may be the case in some organizations, I can confidently say that not all business leaders think this way.

The most glaring omission in Spiers’ article is this: she doesn’t mention the “Talent Revolution” happening today, nor the fact that the so-called “Great Resignation” is occurring because of a lack of flexibility within the workplace. Tens of millions of workers have left their roles because of lack of these dynamic benefits, so much so that business leaders are actively trying to configure new ways to find, engage, and source talent based on the overall culture and flexibility of the enterprise itself.

Work may be becoming more casual, but that’s not a bad thing.

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“The Great Resignation” Is a Problem for All Businesses

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I know, I know. We’re all getting sick of the phrase. It’s one of the main reasons why we need to look farther and deeper for why “The Great Resignation” is happening instead of pointing at the big, headline-inducing numbers. While we all wait with bated breath for the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ next report on resignations (the last one, which covered November 2021, showed a then-record 4.5 million quits in the United States), let’s take a moment to remember this:

The “talent revolution” is happening across all sectors and industries. I’ve heard conversations in which point to specific verticals as being more prone to quits than others, particularly areas like hospitality, restaurants, retail, travel, etc., considering that employees within these industries are more likely to desire flexibility, better pay, safer working conditions, better work-life integration, clearer career pathways, etc.

However, this discussion leaves so much more out of the equation. Take, for instance, this now-weeks-old article from The New York Times. It talks of the low-income sector’s turnover rates as a big reason why The Great Resignation was continuing to shatter monthly records consistently. But then we have this piece from my hometown Boston Globe, which finds that a booming local market (biotech, perhaps the “hottest” of industries at the moment) faces the same issues as other industries:

“About 16.5 percent of life sciences employees in Massachusetts voluntarily quit their jobs last year, a recent survey from research firm Radford found, up from 13 percent in 2018. Both figures are high enough to affect a company’s effort to grow.”

Massachusetts has become a hotbed of biotech giants and startups alike. It’s home to one of only two companies that offer an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine (Moderna). And it’s now facing the same staff shortages and turnover rates that other industries have been experiencing for nearly a year.

One critical, yet overlooked, reason why The Great Resignation continues to be an annoying issue is no business leader wants to believe it’ll happen to his or her industry…until it actually does, and by then, the numbers will point to the fact that it’s been happening for quite some time, right under their noses. All the more important, then, that enterprises attack this problem right at its foundation: talent.

Look at the media/relations/advertising industry (or industries): this fantastic article at AdAge is FILLED with quotes from leading ad execs that all state a common refrain. They understand that the market is shifting, that talent acquisition must change (and change quickly), and that Future of Work attributes, especially the extended workforce, are a means to success during these strange times:

“One potential upside that Ad Age reported on last year was that ad industry turnover isn’t a true “brain drain”—employees might not be qualifying for W-2s, but because contract work is thriving again, many are leaving staff jobs for freelance. In fact, an estimated 50% of the ad industry could be freelance within the next decade.

“We see the hybrid workforce as a win/win,” says Brett Channer, founder and CEO of Mass Minority. “As we grow across North America, this gives us access to a wider range of talent representing the market we serve.” For anyone who might see an increase in various state income tax requirements as a deterrent to freelance or location-agnostic hiring, Channer notes that though “it does add cost to our payroll operation, those costs are lower than the overhead to office these people.””

Purpose is a big contributor to the Talent Revolution. Flexibility is a core ideal, as well. Remote and hybrid work are non-negotiable at this point. These are the foundational aspects of what talent wants, what talent needs, and what talent will not sacrifice in 2022 and beyond. The Great Resignation is not just an issue for specific industries or verticals, but rather all enterprises within corporate America. If businesses can welcome the transformation of talent, harness the power of Future of Work strategies and tools, and truly embrace the workforce shifts happening today, there is hope that The Great Resignation will be looked back on as a watershed moment for workers in these progressive times of the past two years.

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The Future of Gig Work

Talent by Featured Contributor on

[Today’s guest contribution was written by Tim Minahan, EVP Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer at Citrix.]

Hybrid work has opened the door to a new kind of “gig with benefits” that may upend the model. And that’s good news for Corporate America.

Workers are leaving jobs like never before, and it’s causing a shortage of talent that has companies around the globe reeling. According to a recent survey conducted by Citrix, 40 percent of 1,000 knowledge workers in the US have left at least one job in the past year or are considering doing so. It’s been dubbed “The Great Resignation.” But it’s really “The Great Transformation.”

Contrary to what’s being reported, workers aren’t bailing for traditional reasons like more money or a better title. The majority are jumping ship for jobs that give them the freedom to do meaningful work from the location of their choice and provide equal opportunities to contribute and advance their careers. As revealed by the Citrix survey:

Money isn’t Everything

Make no mistake: salary and benefits are important. But they aren’t what’s inspiring workers to seek new roles. Among those surveyed who have changed jobs in the last 12 months, more than half took a pay cut. And 60% joined startups and accepted equity in exchange for salary.

Flexibility is Key

Today’s workers want flexible arrangements that allow them to choose where they work best. An overwhelming 80% of respondents to the Citrix survey said it was “very” or “somewhat” important that they be able to “work from anywhere,” and 55% said they would take less money to do so.

Employee Experience has Never Mattered More

Modern employees want to engage in innovative work, be productive and make meaningful contributions to the business that are valued without interference from complex technology and processes. And they’re likely to move on if they can’t:

  • 60% of workers have left jobs for positions that provide more opportunities to innovate and try new things.
  • 38% bolted because they were not engaged in or passionate about their former role.
  • 31% were frustrated by overly complicated technology and processes.
  • 47% believe they can do more meaningful work in their new roles, and;
  • 13% saw it as a way to inject certainty into their future and regain some of the control they’ve lost during the pandemic.

If all of this sounds familiar, it should. In 2009, a similar exit took place as workers across the knowledge economy began pursuing consulting and freelance work, creating the so-called “Gig Economy.” They left for many of the same reasons workers are moving on today. But the stage is set to bring them back.

In addition to why workers leave, the Citrix survey sought to understand what makes them stay. And it found:

  • 41% feel their benefits are competitive and beyond financial security, provide for their physical and mental well being.
  • 40% can work flexibly.
  • 27% are afraid to make a change given the ongoing uncertainty.
  • 12% will lose stock options or a retirement plan if they leave.

All of this bodes well for Corporate America.

In embracing hybrid models for work and digital technologies that empower people to work when, where and how they choose, companies can create a new class of “gigs with benefits” that provide the flexibility and autonomy that freelance, contract and gig workers crave along with the stability that has become increasingly attractive as the pandemic wears on.

And in doing so, they may lure back some valuable talent with the skills to keep business going and growing.

Creating the Space to Succeed

With the right digital workspace solutions, companies can remove the friction from work that frustrates and slows employees down. And this is critical, because when employees feel empowered by the solutions they use rather than hamstrung by them, they can focus, innovate and deliver value.

Narrowing the Digital Divide

They can also narrow the new digital divide that hybrid models threaten to open by creating an equitable environment in which employees can engage and collaborate in a transparent and efficient way regardless of where they are located.

Whether at home, in the office or on the road, digital workspaces provide employees with consistent, secure and reliable access to all of the apps and information they need to perform at their best.

Winning the Battle for Talent

The balance of power has shifted. Employees are no longer demanding flexible jobs that allow them to innovate and move forward, they’re commanding them.

To remain vibrant in one of the tightest labor markets the world has ever seen, companies need to come to grips with this and get on board with the new, flexible work models that will drive the Future of Work and leverage them to cultivate a workforce that is flexible, agile, and empowered to adapt to changing conditions and move their business forward.

Tim Minahan is the executive vice president, business strategy and chief marketing officer at Citrix, a leading provider of digital workspace solutions.

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In 2022, the Future of Work Must Be Driven By “Purpose”

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The Future of Work means very different things to different executive leaders, workers, and business professionals. For some, it’s a focus on technology, innovation, and new forms of automation. For others, it’s about the strategic transformation of how the greater business operates. For those in HR, talent acquisition, or contingent workforce management, it’s an evolving focus on how talent is engaged, sourced, and onboarded. And, historically, the Future of Work simply translated into the achievement of better business outcomes via the utilization of new solutions and strategies.

In 2022, however, the Future of Work must be driven something that affects all levels of the enterprise and its workforce: purpose.

The “Talent Revolution,” which is what “The Great Resignation” is truly driven by, is a deeper representation of this statement. Workers are leaving their jobs because, in an age when work defines who we are as people, there should be some semblance of humanity, emotion, and, most critically, purpose behind what we do. The COVID-19 pandemic thrust all of us into a collective reawakening of sorts; when faced with consistent anxiety, stress, and trauma, workers became more human and began to integrate the emotional and professional sides of their personas.

Work attributes such as flexibility, remote and hybrid work, empathy (and empathy-driven leadership), pre- and mid-pandemic workplace safety standards, and an inclusive culture are crucial ideas for the modern-day worker. Too many business leaders are pushing the wrong agenda in regards to the so-called “Big Quit,” in that workers don’t want to work, don’t want to commute, and are only looking for higher compensation.

The truth is this: workers today want to work, but they want that work to have a purpose that aligns with their beliefs, their goals, their journeys, and their cultural personas. On the surface, it’s the ability to say “I love my job,” and, going much deeper, the ability to state, “This job fulfills my purpose.”

Tens of millions of workers left their positions in 2021, a record year for resignations. In the early days of the pandemic, many professionals were grateful to be working, to telecommute, and to continue providing for themselves and their families during uncertain times and the biggest health crisis of our lifetime. During the pandemic rollercoaster ride, many professionals began to understand what they wanted from their careers and their jobs, owing a newfound sense of purpose within the “how” and “why” of work.

Every business executive should be placing purpose in perspective in how they manage their staff, how they engage and acquire talent, how they lead and mentor their talent, how they operate the overall enterprise, and how they integrate technology and innovation into corporate processes and initiatives. Purpose is a multi-faceted concept that will drive the Future of Work in 2022; it is up to businesses to support and cultivate the symbiotic relationship between purpose-driven thinking and the way the organization addresses how work is done.

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The Four Things that Will Determine the Future of “The Great Resignation”

Business LeadershipTalent by Christopher J. Dwyer on

By now, you’ve heard the phrases. “The Big Quit.” “The Great Resignation.” “The Great Reassessment.” Around these parts, we’ve typically referred to the massive, massive numbers of workers voluntarily leaving their jobs as a “talent revolution” unlike anything businesses have ever experienced before. Calling this a “revolution” rather than attributing the volatile labor market solely to a continuously-raging pandemic is selling short so many aspects of what today’s workforce truly wants, needs, and, most importantly, deserves.

In December alone, 4.5 million workers resigned from their positions. In September of last year, it was 4.4 million. October and November’s stats were just as eye-opening. For nearly the past year, the Department of Labor has constantly been breaking its own records for the “highest number of resignations in a single month,” with May 2021 serving as the first solid month of The Great Resignation.

Halfway through the first month of 2022, the expectation is that January will topple those December 2021 figures, adding to an already-volatile labor market that is consistently disrupted by yet another coronavirus variant, uncertainty regarding vaccine mandates, and other market-shifting dynamics that are proving to turn 2022 into yet another transformational year for the world of talent and work.

While I’m a bigger fan of the phrase “talent revolution” in lieu of “The Great Resignation,” the facts don’t lie: tens of millions of workers have left their roles over the past nine months and there are too many reasons why to list out in a single article on the Future of Work Exchange. The focus should be on solving this, not merely talking about how disruptive it is (although this is certainly a gigantic pain to hiring managers, HR execs, and talent acquisition leaders that are absolutely struggling to fill positions, especially in certain industries).

That being said, here are three things that could determine the future of The Great Resignation:

  • The Omicron variant’s peak hitting rural America, the South, and pieces of both the Midwest and the West Coast. There are optimistic signs that Omicron is peaking in the Northeast (where I call home in Boston), New York, Washington D.C., etc. Many of the jobs quit over the past year have been in industries that have shouldered the brunt of the pandemic’s worst, whether it’s in retail, healthcare, hospitality, etc. These are positions that are not, unfortunately, prone to flexibility, safer worker conditions, and competitive compensation. The constant rollercoaster effect of the pandemic’s surges and waves have meant that workers cannot appropriately support remote learning when it was the only option, cannot work due to a lack of daycare, and are often forced into working conditions that aren’t equipped with the best PPE or vaccine and mask mandates. If Omicron is truly as mild as scientists indicate, and if this is the last stop on the road to endemicity, then the regions that aren’t peaking with Omicron will soon, and that could mean (given the speed at which this variant’s cases cause and respectively fall) that, by the spring months, the country will be in a much, much better place than it is now for public health and safety.
  • Business leaders finally realizing that aspects such as empathy, culture, and flexibility aren’t just “nice-to-have” elements. We’ve covered it here before on the Future of Work Exchange; some well-known business leaders touting their dismissal of remote and hybrid work, and only revealing that they have no clue that, of course, business culture evolves. Major labor market shifts (in pre-pandemic times) were because of economical and financial reasons; although huge increases in unemployment would certainly cause personal distress, the major difference over the past two years is that workers were faced with uncertainty, anxiety, and stress at both the professional and personal levels. Thus, workers require some level of emotional support as well as an optimistic, positive, and inclusive workplace culture. The “flexibility” problem is simple: bake remote and hybrid work into the very fabric of every position that can support it (and make these flexibility-driven changes permanent!).
  • Inflation becoming too much of a financial burden. The inflation problem is real. Everything from cars to diapers to produce are several percentage points more expensive now than there were just a couple of years ago. For some individuals, this may not be an issue, however, for many more, it’s incredibly disruptive. Many workers hit “pause” on their careers in the spirit of finding happiness, satisfaction, and prosperity. Those dreams are squashed very quickly when household necessities cost 5% or 10% more than they did a year or two ago. Look for more workers to find positions that may check several (but not all) of their ideal workplace boxes until the economy is less inflated than it is today.
  • Businesses that lead with innovative talent acquisition models, including direct sourcing and AI-driven talent analytics, will fare better than other organizations. Artificial intelligence-led decision-making. Hiring managers with access to vast data oceans. Automated referral campaigns and digital recruitment marketing. The power of “Direct Sourcing 2.0” strategies. These are all innovative approaches towards finding the best-fit candidates; as businesses begin to harness the power of advanced talent acquisition solutions, combined with the benefits of AI-fueled data and predictive analytics, they will create the ideal environment in which to find, engage, and source the best-fit talent when, where, and how it is needed most. Too, the value of the remote and hybrid work models and their impact on talent acquisition cannot be understated; there is an increase in the availability of remote positions, and with business leaders expanding roles to those across the globe (instead of just their backyard), they are opening new channels of talent that can work from anywhere.
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When Both Leaders and Workers Truly Accept “Change,” the Next Era of the Future of Work Begins

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

I can remember the day clearly. It was an overcast and rainy Saturday afternoon in April 2020. It had been nearly a month since I left my home office; the only person in our household who routinely cycled back and forth was my wife, an essential worker that traversed five or six days to a veterinary hospital just south of Boston. We (my wife, two kids, and I) ran a couple of errands and ate lunch on the road, the four of us masked in stores and other places of businesses. My heart sunk knowing that this, wearing a facial covering to interact, would be the reality for an uncertain amount of time.

Even now, today, I will fully admit: I was not ready to accept the change in front of me. The business side of my mind was firing on all cylinders, since the hybrid and remote work models were second-nature to me. The world around me, though? It was tough to look at pandemic-ravaged world in which facial coverings, social distancing, etc. were the norm. It was heartbreaking to hear my now-five-year-old say in his sleep, “I miss my friends.”

The thing is, though, is that “change” is a constant. The sooner we all accepted that the so-called “Next Normal” was upon us, the sooner we could move on from merely surviving and look ahead to thriving in these evolving times. Today, my kids pop on facial coverings the second they step out of the door every morning. I have a mask in my jacket pocket, the glove compartment, etc. for anytime I need to head into a grocery store or retailer. We’ve all made due to move forward.

The business world and our personal lives are connected, as we’ve learned over the past eighteen months. That same concept of “change” has been a constant no matter where we are; for the corporate world, change and evolution are inevitably linked as attributes that must be embraced to truly move forward. The question is, however: why can’t both business leaders and workers get on the same page regarding change?

The “talent revolution” is upon us, taking the form of “The Big Quit” and “The Great Resignation.” There are literally millions of job openings across the country (and across the world). Many business leaders understand what it takes to build that bridge to the next generation of its workforce; many, however, are not and are not willing to change their thinking.

Hearing JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon say that the remote workforce isn’t sustainable is the opposite of the Future of Work mindset. Hearing Catherine Bessant, Bank of America Vice Chair, Global Strategy, tell CNBC that BofA is a “work-from-office culture” is also the complete opposite of the flexibility that was supposed to be a foundational concept in today’s evolving world of work. Goldman Sachs’ CEO David Solomon called remote and hybrid work an “aberration” just earlier this year.

Many, many other business leaders are aligned in this unfortunate way of thinking. If there’s anything, anything at all, that we should look back on as a business lesson from the pandemic, it’s this: work can be done anywhere, talent can be found anywhere, and the dynamic catalysts of innovation and creativity can be found anywhere…not just in an office. There’s a level of “proximity innovation” and “proximity collaboration” that cannot be fully duplicated when workers are coordinating remotely, however, the core connection between people remains strong, as does the will to work together no matter if team members are six feet or 600 miles away.

While it is true that many roles cannot be performed remotely, the fact is that there are many that can be, and it’s within those positions that businesses should offer flexibility and hybrid workplace options. Better yet, this is yet another fantastic instance when we can say this: the business world has changed forever. In that CNBC article, Dimon was quoted as saying, “Yes, the commute; you know, people don’t like commuting, but so what.”

But so what? This is one of several reasons why we are currently living in a business world in which talented professionals are playing a waiting game with their careers, leaving their existing positions, and/or targeting potential roles based on factors beyond compensation…such as flexibility. While due credit goes to Bessant for confirming that empathy will be a key focal area for her and other leadership within BofA, there’s still a major gap that unfortunately is present in too many organizations around the world.

Workers have, for the most part, become accustomed to change. They know what’s ahead for them personally and for their careers; they know what they want out of their professional lives and they know how they want it structured. While many business leaders have bought into adaptation and offer flexible workplaces, thinking, and cultures, too many have not.

It’s only when both sides can truly accept the change at hand and the evolution of the business world that the next great era of the Future of Work movement can begin.

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