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Workplace Culture

The Fluidity of the Future of Work

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

For well over a decade, the “Future of Work” phrase has elicited both excitement and confusion. There is an inherent joy associated with the pathways of progression around the concepts of “work,” yet, complexities remain from defining exactly what is the “future state” of how we work. As the phrase, and its subsequent movement, caught fire in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic while the rules of work changed, the “Future of Work” became a foundational piece of business lexicon and we bore witness to an ever-evolving landscape of revolution, innovation, and technology.

Four years ago at this time, many of us (well, let’s be honest: all of us) were focused on the most critical of all Future of Work accelerants: remote and hybrid work. Who could know back then that this would open the floodgates into new and exciting ways of structuring workplace environments?

The Future of Work Exchange has oft-discussed this concept of “acceleration” in that pandemic-era restrictions, and, by consequence, the forced changes of how we work, pushed enterprises across the globe into a new era of work optimization.

With our backs against the proverbial wall, we responded by innovating. And by innovating, we continued to transform how we work, when we work, and where we work.

With nearly a quarter of 2024 in the books (time flies, doesn’t it?), the landscape of Future of Work-led shifts within the workplace (and how we work) represents the true fluidity of this movement; as technology continues to progress and as businesses seek to innovate around the areas of proficiency, efficiency, and productivity, we can anticipate a continuous evolution in the workplace dynamics, such as:

  • The much-vaunted four-day workweek. The Exchange’s John Yuva wrote about this strategy in 2023, finding that four-day workweeks “lead to lower stress levels as well as a happier and more loyal workforce,” as well as a major increase in productivity. The issue keeping the strategy from adoption, though? The vertical-to-vertical adherence to four days instead of five means that there’s a gap in customer- and client-facing servicing, leaving managers to struggle over another staffing issue in an era when the labor market is already volatile.
  • “Chronoworking” as a potential workplace disruptor. Chronoworking is innovative as it aligns work schedules with individuals’ peak productivity times, optimizing performance and creativity. However, its adoption can be challenging due to the need for a shift in traditional work paradigms, potential resistance from established routines, and the necessity for effective communication and coordination among team members following varied schedules
  • The convergence of new workforce generations and the importance of workplace culture. With Boomers mostly out of the workforce and Gen Xers approaching the last decade or so of their careers, it means that millennials and Gen Z workers represent the majority of today’s talent. Although this shift has been happening in some capacity over the past few years, the newer blend of workers means that there’s the utmost pressure on leaders to shore up workplace culture and ensure that the “work experience” meets the evolving requirements and desires of the younger generation.
  • The impact of AI on the workplace. Artificial intelligence is the next great level of innovation, with generative AI as its calling card. Generative AI is poised to revolutionize the future workplace by automating complex tasks, fostering creativity, and enhancing overall efficiency. Through its ability to autonomously generate content, solutions, and insights, generative AI will free up human resources to focus on higher-level decision-making and innovation. This transformative technology holds the potential to reshape workflows, streamline processes, and create a more dynamic and adaptive work environment, ultimately driving increased productivity and competitiveness in the evolving landscape of the modern workplace.

 

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When a Return to the Office and Workplace Culture Collide

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Although it’s hard to believe, it’s been four years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And in that time, several key Future of Work “accelerants” took the business arena by storm. The extended workforce, long a viable source of talent, saw a remarkable increase in utilization as businesses sought true workforce scalability in the face of uncertain times.

Direct sourcing began to take off as a means of nurturing talent communities and developing a near-self-sustaining source of on-demand expertise. Skills-based hiring emerged as a way to look “beyond” costs and pay rates to revolutionize how enterprises innovative and leverage next-generation skillsets.

Empathy-led leadership and emotional intelligence became crucial endeavors to separate the successful leaders from those that would eventually lose their staff to the Great Resignation. And, of course, the most famous Future of Work accelerant of all, remote and hybrid work, drew most of the spotlight and headlines.

In the wake of social distancing and quarantines and general fear of spreading a once-in-a-lifetime virus, many businesses (that could do so) quickly transitioned to a remote-first infrastructure. This, of course, raised numerous challenges, from issues with trust to concerns over worker productivity. As we know by now, the move to a hybrid workplace resulted in more benefits than drawbacks: in addition to staff having more control over their schedules, they also found that work-life integration vastly improved, as did overall wellness and satisfaction with their leadership, teams, and general everyday business lives. (And, of course, we covered all things remote work here on the Future of Work Exchange.)

While there were very early opponents of the remote work model (hi, Elon) and others that continued to rebel against the thought of workers being at their home offices (James Gorman, we see you), there was a clear and resounding outcome: remote and hybrid work would forever be a foundational element of the world of work.

Four years now removed from the beginning of the pandemic and three years since the arrival of highly-effective vaccines (not to mention two-plus years since the first inklings of “normalcy”), businesses have spent the past 18 or so months dabbling in “return-to-office” mandates that have essentially divided enterprise leaders, with some calling for extreme, pre-pandemic office structures and others sticking to pandemic-era hybrid formats.

While the benefits of both remote and hybrid workplaces are proven and abundantly clear at this stage, the hard truth is that, at some point, companies were bound to slowly increase the number of required days in office, regardless of their stance on RTO mandates.

The business arena of 2024 is the closest we know that resembles pre-pandemic life, and, as such, represents an opportunity for enterprise executives to harken back to those days when offices were bustling and proximity collaboration was an everyday occurrence. However, as stated here on the Exchange in the past, there’s no shoving that genie back into the bottle; workers and professionals not only desire the benefits of remote work, but have also learned the best ways to balance work-life integrational attributes within this model over the past few years.

Today, business leaders are engaged in a tug-of-war with their staff over RTO mandates and the best possible means of balancing “required in-office days” with ensuring workers want to come back to the office. And there’s a major aspect here that is critical to the future of in-office and traditional workplace structures: culture.

“Why would people abandon the comfort of their routine for a commute to the office? Culture is the answer. It’s the way they are treated upon arrival, the atmosphere of the building, and the motivation they feel from leaders and their fellow team members. Culture is empowering and dictates success, fueled by the everyday people who create it,” says Jim Love, Director, Strategic Client Solutions at Talent Solutions TAPFIN.

The very essence of an organization’s identity, values, and camaraderie is intricately tied to its culture, and this moment in time, when RTO mandates are becoming a norm, demands a deliberate and strategic approach. A thriving workplace culture is not merely a byproduct but a catalyst for productivity, innovation, and employee well-being. As employees transition back to shared physical spaces and traditional workplace environments, the culture sets the tone for collaboration, engagement, and a sense of purpose.

As RTO mandates become a part of the fabric of 2024, workplace culture will be the key to convincing workers to come back to the office.

“Culture isn’t one thing. It’s all the small things. And it doesn’t start at the top down. It starts when you smile at the front desk associate. Or when you thank the maintenance staff for the great work they do. Those compounding and small-but-mighty actions are what make people want to feel part of something bigger. Give them a reason to come back – make it ingrained in who you are as an organization,” says Love.

Neglecting the critical role of workplace culture in return-to-office mandates risks creating a sterile environment void of inspiration, hindering the potential for collective achievement and sustained success. In this pivotal juncture, organizations must not only welcome employees back to their desks but reinvigorate them with a vibrant, inclusive, and empowering culture that fuels the journey ahead.

Adds Love, “Don’t just acknowledge and appreciate culture…create and sustain it. Preach your culture, and when necessary, use words. It is the foundation we build to bring people together. When it’s created and sustained, people will come back. Authenticity is what matters…and your culture should shout that!”

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The Next Great Era of the Hybrid Workplace

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

“We’re not putting that genie back in the bottle” is a phrase I’ve used at least two or three dozen times over the past few months whenever I’m asked about the realm of remote and hybrid work and how return-to-office (RTO) mandates are impacting these attributes. No matter how the economy shifts and no matter how far the pendulum swings back in favor of the employer, the phrase will always be true.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a watershed moment for humanity. And it was also a turning point in the business world.

There was much talk about “The Great Recession” and the veritable “talent revolution” happening within the workforce; the idea that workers (finally) would have more control over not only their workstyles but also their destinies sparked an innovative movement, buoyed by Future of Work accelerants like empathy-led leadership, more inclusive workplaces, and, yes, flexibility.

The Great Recession wasn’t going to last forever, though, especially as the economy tumbled and life in general began to revert back to pre-pandemic ways. It was inevitable that many of the strategic gains of the pandemic, specifically the power shifting to the worker, would fade as the world emerged from the emergency phase of the pandemic. This is, of course, all part of a “Great Resettling” as organizations around the globe configure the future of workforce and workplace operations in a post-pandemic landscape.

But back to the genie and its bottle…

RTO mandates are part of the enterprise fabric of 2023, an unfortunate parallel to uncertain economic times and a corporate universe that sadly eschews culture for profits (something seen in some organizations, not all). However, as much as we read about brand-name CEOs and executives demanding that workers return to the confines of the office, there is still a harsh reality at hand for the leaders that want to turn back the clock:

The hybrid workplace wasn’t meant to be temporary solution…it was designed to be the very future of how we work.

It makes sense, no matter how we slice it, that the large-scale remote work “experiments” are over. That’s one thing that I’m sure we can all agree on; the idea of “fully-remote” is still a crucial element to many businesses but not a foundational layer (anymore) of the workplace for others. This is where the acceptance and embrace of flexibility, even in a changing business world, forms the next great era of the hybrid workplace.

Tell someone that they can no longer walk their children to the bus stop two or three mornings per week. Tell someone that early evening baseball games will have to be missed because of long commutes from the city. Tell someone that doctor’s appointments can no longer be prioritized ahead of work commitments. Tell someone that the flexibility that finally became an accepted aspect of the workplace is suddenly going to vanish.

Discuss these concepts with a highly-skilled worker who epitomizes Best-in-Class expertise, and you’ll observe a swift decline in talent retention—all in pursuit of regaining a semblance of control. The evolution of the hybrid workplace extends beyond physical location; it involves acknowledging that the workforce has integrated flexibility and autonomy into how they work, transforming these into non-negotiable expectations.

What does the next great era of the hybrid workplace entail? It’s so simple: infuse flexibility into how workers style their work preference and communicate the importance of “balance” within in-office vs. remote structures. It shouldn’t be an all-or-nothing approach, as this will not only alienate valued members of the workforce but also leave the enterprise with a negative workplace culture that will taint talent acquisition and candidate engagement efforts. While not a perfect example, companies like Penguin Random House seemed to have adopted this approach, with the company’s CEO, Nihar Malaviya, recently stating, “The needs of the various departments around the company are distinct, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Therefore, each division and department will discuss how we will work together; different managers may make different decisions for their teams based on their job functions and business priorities.”

Again, not perfect, but not so hard-line that workers and potential candidates will be disengaged from the organization. Expect to see more and more enterprises, especially in the Fortune 1000, “resettle” into a mode of working that balances both traditional and new ways of thinking. Flexibility became non-negotiable for the workforce, given just how much it allowed professionals to achieve a better work-life integration. For the sake of both talent retention and talent acquisition, businesses must develop a model that works for the company brand, its culture, its workforce, and its workplace.

As we navigate the post-pandemic landscape, businesses that grasp and adapt to this new reality, where flexibility is a bedrock of the workforce, will flourish. The genie may not return to its bottle, but this doesn’t signify chaos; instead, it heralds the emergence of a more adaptable, empowered, and productive era in the world of work.

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Optimize Your Workforce with Recession-Proof Strategies, Part Two

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceGeneral InsightsHRTalentTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

We’re now two months into the second half of 2023 and economically speaking, things are looking positive. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that GDP grew 2.4% in the second quarter of 2023. The labor market remains tight with unemployment at 3.6%, a rate not witnessed in decades. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the tight labor market allows the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates to fight inflation. Currently, inflation rests at 3%, a percentage point higher than the Federal Reserve’s longer-run goal of 2%.

Does the state of the current U.S. economy equate to a “soft landing” and the evasion of a recession? Maybe, maybe not. Due to the expectation of continued interest rate increases and the potential ramifications, uncertainty remains among executives and their enterprises. Thus, many are considering strategies over the next six to 12 months to recession-proof their critical workforce and their organizations.

With that in mind, the Future of Work Exchange features part two of a three-part series exploring several contingent and overall workforce strategies to achieve a recession-proof enterprise over the next few weeks. Part two explores the next three strategies.

Enhance Overall Workplace Culture

Enhancing a workplace culture for both contingent and permanent workers means creating opportunities for communication, engagement, and performance. First, it should start with clearly communicating the enterprise’s core values and mission that lead to consistent behaviors and performance goals. The mission and core values should permeate the enterprise and be modeled by leadership. Second, a workplace inclusive of different backgrounds and perspectives, while also promoting employee engagement, fosters a sense of belonging and community. Inclusiveness and engagement can transform workforce communication as well as generate collaboration and strategic problem-solving. And third, institute a reward and recognition system that promotes higher performance, skills development, and innovative thinking. Ultimately, bringing enhancements to the workplace culture not only helps retain talent but attracts it as well.

Holistic Approach to the Workforce Beyond Productivity

The Future of Work has brought greater attention to the workforce beyond just productivity. HR leaders, business managers, and executives who take a holistic workforce approach are placing greater emphasis on employee empowerment, emotional intelligence, and meaningful work. When employees are given more autonomy, they take ownership of their work and experiment with new ideas — a win-win for the employee and the enterprise. Similarly, leading with empathy has been shown to create a more supportive environment where managers and employees are more attuned to the well-being of colleagues. When it comes to purpose, assigning employees to projects where their passions or strengths lie makes the work more meaningful. That alignment will enhance job satisfaction as well.

Reallocate Budgets for Investment in Automation and Technology

When it comes to realigning budgets for greater investment in automation and technology, begin with identifying redundant processes and inefficient workflows. Show stakeholders how automation can eliminate the costs associated with inefficiencies. From a talent perspective, employing automation for talent acquisition and talent management, particularly for the contingent workforce, can bring those processes in-house for more strategic decision-making. Extended workforce platforms expand the power of VMS technology, for example, by offering more talent-oriented solutions that augment how a business manages nuanced, Future of Work-led aspects, such as DE&I, talent communities, services procurement, the candidate experience, the hiring manager experience, etc. With enterprises shifting to skills-based hiring, utilizing automation and technology to attract candidates with specific skills and competencies is now a strategic imperative.

The economy is proving resilient against a recession. However, implementing holistic workforce strategies focused on talent attraction and retention, workplace culture, and automation and technology can be just as impactful against recessionary trends. Next week, we’ll explore three more recession-proof enterprise workforce strategies.

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What Happens When Return-to-Office Mandates Impact Recruitment, Talent Retention, and the Employee Experience?

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

As I’ve said dozens of times on video, on the Future of Work Exchange Podcast, and during numerous webinars: there is/was no silver lining to a global health crisis that killed millions of people and permanently disabled millions more. Many of us were sick ourselves, and many of us lost people close to use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a dark time in our lifetimes, a period in which everyday routines were altered as lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing became a frustrating (and frightening) norm. While we are three-and-a-half years removed from those scary early days of the pandemic, the ramifications will always be apparent…especially in the business arena. In fact, Future of Work acceleration is now perceived as one aspect that was a positive result of the incredible change brought about by the crisis.

Remote and hybrid work models became the calling cards of the pandemic’s impact on corporate culture, as many organizations swapped to fully-remote infrastructures (in the earliest days of the pandemic) and to more hybrid-oriented workplaces when vaccines became omnipresent. Less than two years after the pandemic began, many threads of “normalcy” were apparent in both personal and business life.

And, of course, when the word “normalcy” came back into rotation, it meant one significant thing for some business leaders: getting workers back to the office. These corporate executives craved one major attribute in the face of The Great Resignation and many months of uncertainty, particularly control, better visibility, and, of course, more regulation around worker productivity.

But, there was no putting the “genie” back into the bottle, so to speak. The pandemic was an opportunity for workers (both traditional and contingent) to broadly and loudly speak for their rights; they craved flexibility, better working conditions, clearer career paths, and, perhaps most importantly, purpose. The pandemic took an emotional, “human” tool on the professional world; workers desired fulfillment beyond their salaries.

So, today, we sit in an interesting position. The economy could be heading for a “soft” recession, or, it may not. The labor market remains volatile. Unemployment remains historically low. Life, for the most part, is as back to “normal” as it could possibly be.

However, the lessons learned from the pandemic, which, by now, should be standard practice moving forward (see: empathy, agility, flexibility, etc.) aren’t sticking for many business leaders, some of which expect their workers to now flock back to the office as if remote and hybrid work were just a fad. This sense of, essentially, “flipping a switch” and return to the bustling office days is not only ignorant, it flies in the face of the many progressions we’ve made since the pandemic began.

Last week, Yahoo published an eye-opening article that detailed survey results from three separate studies on remote work, hybrid workplaces, talent retention, and recruitment. What did they all have in common? Take a guess.

“Unispace found that nearly half (42%) of companies with return-to-office mandates witnessed a higher level of employee attrition than they had anticipated. And almost a third (29%) of companies enforcing office returns are struggling with recruitment. In other words, employers knew the mandates would cause some attrition, but they weren’t ready for the serious problems that would result.

Meanwhile, a staggering 76% of employees stand ready to jump ship if their companies decide to pull the plug on flexible work schedules, according to the Greenhouse report. Moreover, employees from historically underrepresented groups are 22% more likely to consider other options if flexibility comes to an end.

In the SHED survey, the gravity of this situation becomes more evident. The survey equates the displeasure of shifting from a flexible work model to a traditional one to that of experiencing a 2-3% pay cut.”

In 2021 and 2022, remote work was not just a workforce model, but rather a representation of the real flexibility that professionals desired in the wake of the pandemic’s overarching impact. The new world of work dictates that businesses optimize their innerworkings based on the principles of agility, a concept that cascades down into how they find talent, how they align that talent with work, and, of course, how that work is done.

In 2023, remote work should not be considered a “perk” or a “nice to have,” but rather an accepted, hardline work model that promotes the talent experience, improves morale, enhances worker satisfaction, and contributes to greater productivity. Abolishing remote and hybrid work policies for an archaic modicum of control is a foolhardy exercise in how to lose talent and demolish recruitment. Yes, folks, there is still a “war for talent” raging, no matter the economic conditions around us. The businesses that adapt, that have adapted, are the ones that understand the proper balance between flexibility and traditional modes of working.

Talent is an enterprise’s top competitive differentiator, today and always. Retention was a problem even before the pandemic and The Great Resignation; in 2023, losing even a handful of highly-skilled workers can be a death knell for a business that struggles to compete in a globalized market. Remote and hybrid work models aren’t just means of organizational flexibility, but rather:

  • An effective way to enhance the worker experience through flexible schedules and the “freedom” to make their days more dynamic.
  • A robust means to improve mental health and worker wellness.
  • A way of expanding talent pools and talent pipelines to include highly-skilled candidates that reside in other regions.
  • A powerful workforce productivity concept that promotes quiet spaces, personalized methods of getting work done, etc., and;
  • The best possible way for keeping and retaining top talent while boosting morale, improving culture, and enhancing overall employee engagement.

The workforce revolution is still happening today, even in post-pandemic times. Remote and hybrid work stand as Future of Work cornerstones, seamlessly blending flexibility and innovation to sculpt a dynamic and interconnected global workforce.

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The Five Major Shifts Transforming Businesses Today

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

The world of work and talent continues to evolve, especially in the face of global uncertainty. Over the past few years, enterprises have experienced a variety of “Future of Work accelerants” that have forever altered the ways they address how work is done. In the next edition of the Future of Work Exchange‘s exclusive infographic series, we present The Five Major Shifts Transforming Businesses today.

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Employee Engagement Still Lacks Execution

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceGeneral InsightsHRTechnology and Innovation by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Today’s enterprises can be characterized as fast-paced, ever-evolving to effectively respond to a more dynamic marketplace. Within the hustle and bustle lies a critical workforce need that is often overlooked: employee engagement. The concept can be confused with simply offering employees certain monthly perks identified from a quick survey. However, it goes much deeper than that and reaches beyond permanent, full-time employees to those in the extended workforce, as well.

A well-rounded definition of employee engagement comes from Engage For Success: “Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organization to give of their best each day, committed to their organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.”

Powerful, Yet Underutilized

It is that commitment toward oneself and the enterprise that makes employee engagement such a powerful workforce approach. Yet, as a Gallup survey indicates, only 36% of U.S. employees are engaged in their work and workplace. The number is even lower on a global scale, with only 20% of employees engaged at work.

However, for those enterprises with a fully entrenched employee engagement system, the results speak for themselves. According to Gallup, those leading organizations are experiencing the following benefits:

  • An increase of 18% in productivity (sales)
  • An increase of 23% in profitability
  • A decline of 40% in quality issues (defects)

Achieving these results requires engagement with every worker. With nearly half (nearly 48%) of today’s enterprises comprised of contingent workers (per Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research), employee engagement must include this critical workforce segment. When faced with the possibility of losing extended talent following a project or other initiative, employee engagement could be the competitive differentiator to retain them.

Engagement Strategies

Remote and hybrid work models can pose some challenges to employee engagement strategies. However, Gallop says “…highly skilled managers who set clear expectations, are in touch with each person through meaningful weekly conversations and have high accountability” will be necessary to execute employee engagement in a remote/hybrid work model.

A hybrid model is the most conducive to employee engagement because “…it can provide flexibility that considers several factors simultaneously — the individual’s life situation and strengths, the needs of the team they work on, health concerns, and the organization’s culture and business objectives,” Gallop says.

The following are various employee engagement strategies that can lead to a more motivated and productive workforce.

  • Invest in the candidate/employee experience. From the moment an enterprise engages with a candidate through that individual’s employment with the organization, the candidate/employee experience should be part of that journey. Communication and illustration of the company’s core values, for example, should be front and center to provide a sense of belonging and set the tone of the culture. Those values are then reinforced by managers and team leaders to create an open and positive work environment.
  • Integrate technology into the employee engagement process. Digital solutions permeate the workforce landscape. Apps to streamline the onboarding of contingent workers, collaboration tools for in-person and remote teams, and others all play a role in employee engagement. Research by Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange says that 73% of businesses plan to utilize AI to measure and track and enhance employee engagement and the candidate experience. According to HR Cloud, “With the use of AI and collaboration tools, employees can become highly engaged since these technologies simplify tasks. Technology today allows efficiency, increases flexibility, and allows employees to work within the allocated time.”
  • Conduct regular workplace assessments. As the enterprise workforce evolves, it’s essential to measure the pulse of the workplace through assessments. Gauge overall feelings about workplace culture, leadership effectiveness, and work/life balance to name a few. Nearly 80% of businesses plan to conduct formal workplace culture assessments by the end of 2023, according to research from Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange. Results will serve as a foundation for any changes to employee engagement initiatives.
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate. Motivate employees by encouraging them to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. One-on-one meetings with managers each week creates an emotional connection to the organization. Contingent workers must also be part of these weekly one-on-ones. Gaining their input can lead to productivity insights and improvements, as well as enhance their connection with their team members and colleagues.
  • Promote transparency with the contingent workforce. When it comes to the inner workings of the enterprise, the extended workforce should be part of those discussions. Whether they’re company meetings, employee retreats, or other communication and bonding activities, transparency with contingent workers can lead to greater trust, loyalty, and commitment. The more extended workers know about the organization and what goes on behind the scenes, the more they identify with its objectives and successes.

In his updated Gallup article, Jim Harter, Ph.D., chief scientist for Gallup, succinctly lays out the importance of an engaging workplace coupled with great managers — regardless of the economic climate. “Amid changes in workplaces and the economy, building an engaging workplace with great managers remains centrally important. During tough times, it predicts the resiliency of the workforce,” Harter says. “During recovery times, with lower unemployment, it predicts the retention of star employees. During all times, engaging workplaces with great managers build an organizational reputation and employment brand.”

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An Ode to the Future of Work

Business LeadershipHRTalentTechnology and Innovation by Andrew Bartolini on

The Future of Work is a topic that has been discussed for by Ardent Partners for many years, particularly with technology rapidly evolving and transforming industries. Today, we offer a poem that takes a creative and fun approach to imagining what the future of how we work might look like.

With rhyming couplets and vivid imagery, we’ve tried to paint a picture of a world where AI machines take on mundane tasks, leaving more time for worker creativity and exploration. The idea of virtual offices and collaboration without borders adds a sense of excitement and wonder to the future of work as we envision a world where the limitations of physical space and language barriers no longer exist. Ultimately, the poem encourages us to embrace the future with open arms, as it holds endless possibilities for growth and innovation.

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Employee Engagement Still Lacks Execution

Business LeadershipContingent WorkforceGeneral InsightsHRTechnology and Innovation by John Yuva on

Today’s enterprises can be characterized as fast-paced, ever-evolving to effectively respond to a more dynamic marketplace. Within the hustle and bustle lies a critical workforce need that is often overlooked: employee engagement. The concept can be confused with simply offering employees certain monthly perks identified from a quick survey. However, it goes much deeper than that and reaches beyond permanent, full-time employees to those in the extended workforce, as well.

A well-rounded definition of employee engagement comes from Engage For Success: “Employee engagement is a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organization to give of their best each day, committed to their organization’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organizational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.”

Powerful, Yet Underutilized

It is that commitment toward oneself and the enterprise that makes employee engagement such a powerful workforce approach. Yet, as a Gallup survey indicates, only 36% of U.S. employees are engaged in their work and workplace. The number is even lower on a global scale, with only 20% of employees engaged at work.

However, for those enterprises with a fully entrenched employee engagement system, the results speak for themselves. According to Gallup, those leading organizations are experiencing the following benefits:

  • An increase of 18% in productivity (sales)
  • An increase of 23% in profitability
  • A decline of 40% in quality issues (defects)

Achieving these results requires engagement with every worker. With nearly half (nearly 48%) of today’s enterprises comprised of contingent workers (per Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research), employee engagement must include this critical workforce segment. When faced with the possibility of losing extended talent following a project or other initiative, employee engagement could be the competitive differentiator to retain them.

Engagement Strategies

Remote and hybrid work models can pose some challenges to employee engagement strategies. However, Gallop says “…highly skilled managers who set clear expectations, are in touch with each person through meaningful weekly conversations and have high accountability” will be necessary to execute employee engagement in a remote/hybrid work model.

A hybrid model is the most conducive to employee engagement because “…it can provide flexibility that considers several factors simultaneously — the individual’s life situation and strengths, the needs of the team they work on, health concerns, and the organization’s culture and business objectives,” Gallop says.

The following are various employee engagement strategies that can lead to a more motivated and productive workforce.

  • Invest in the candidate/employee experience. From the moment an enterprise engages with a candidate through that individual’s employment with the organization, the candidate/employee experience should be part of that journey. Communication and illustration of the company’s core values, for example, should be front and center to provide a sense of belonging and set the tone of the culture. Those values are then reinforced by managers and team leaders to create an open and positive work environment.
  • Integrate technology into the employee engagement process. Digital solutions permeate the workforce landscape. Apps to streamline the onboarding of contingent workers, collaboration tools for in-person and remote teams, and others all play a role in employee engagement. Research by Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange says that 73% of businesses plan to utilize AI to measure and track and enhance employee engagement and the candidate experience. According to HR Cloud, “With the use of AI and collaboration tools, employees can become highly engaged since these technologies simplify tasks. Technology today allows efficiency, increases flexibility, and allows employees to work within the allocated time.”
  • Conduct regular workplace assessments. As the enterprise workforce evolves, it’s essential to measure the pulse of the workplace through assessments. Gauge overall feelings about workplace culture, leadership effectiveness, and work/life balance to name a few. Nearly 80% of businesses plan to conduct formal workplace culture assessments by the end of 2023, according to research from Ardent Partners and the Future of Work Exchange. Results will serve as a foundation for any changes to employee engagement initiatives.
  • Communicate, communicate, communicate. Motivate employees by encouraging them to share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas. One-on-one meetings with managers each week creates an emotional connection to the organization. Contingent workers must also be part of these weekly one-on-ones. Gaining their input can lead to productivity insights and improvements, as well as enhance their connection with their team members and colleagues.
  • Promote transparency with the contingent workforce. When it comes to the inner workings of the enterprise, the extended workforce should be part of those discussions. Whether they’re company meetings, employee retreats, or other communication and bonding activities, transparency with contingent workers can lead to greater trust, loyalty, and commitment. The more extended workers know about the organization and what goes on behind the scenes, the more they identify with its objectives and successes.

In his updated Gallup article, Jim Harter, Ph.D., chief scientist for Gallup, succinctly lays out the importance of an engaging workplace coupled with great managers — regardless of the economic climate. “Amid changes in workplaces and the economy, building an engaging workplace with great managers remains centrally important. During tough times, it predicts the resiliency of the workforce,” Harter says. “During recovery times, with lower unemployment, it predicts the retention of star employees. During all times, engaging workplaces with great managers build an organizational reputation and employment brand.”

read more

Corporate Mental Health and the Future of Work

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on

Mental health and wellness have unfortunately long been neglected attributes of the corporate world. However, in a business climate that places the utmost emphasis on talent retention and a focus on becoming “destination of choice” workplaces, this concept is changing quickly. As awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing grows (and employee burnout continues to rage), enterprises are beginning to realize that managing employees’ mental health is not just a moral imperative, but it also benefits the greater business in multiple ways.

The World Health Organization has found that one in four people globally will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives; and, the cost of untreated mental health issues to the global economy is estimated to be in the trillions of dollars. Poor mental health, from a workplace perspective, often results in disengagement, increased absenteeism, a lack of productivity, and more frequent turnover.

The movement towards focusing on corporate mental health and wellness seems to be evolving, though. Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research has discovered that 93% of business leaders are actively prioritizing mental health (and mental health awareness) as part of their 2023 leadership styles, a far cry from years past when this critical issue was near nowhere to be found.

Recognizing the challenges of poor mental health in the workplace, an increasing number of companies are taking steps to address these issues, such as offering mental health resources, such as counseling services and support groups. Other organizations are also promoting wellness initiatives (such as meditation classes on-site yoga, etc.) to help employees manage their stress and anxiety and transform the workplace into a more comfortable place to work.

Workplace culture has become a top conduit for revamping mental health initiatives, as it has become crucial to create a culture that promotes inclusivity and openness. By fostering a workplace environment in which workers feel comfortable discussing their mental health and, consequently, seeking support when they need it, businesses can ensure that their most critical asset (their talent) views the organization and its workplace as place that cares about them as people.

Business leaders can extend this progressive idea of workplace culture by developing and communicating policies that back employees who may be dealing with mental health issues; simply offering paid time off for treatment or providing flexible work arrangements can prove to be a major difference in truly supporting the workforce.

What this all boils down to, of course, is the role of leadership in reimagining workplace culture into an environment that promotes positive mental health. Senior leadership must be committed to these ideals of wellness and model the behaviors that map to supportive policies. The Future of Work has long been founded on the depth of talent, and, if businesses desire to thrive in 2023 and beyond, they must address corporate mental health, view these initiatives as both ways to humanize the workplace and retain talent, and, most importantly, creating a more resilient, productive, and healthy workforce.

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