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Corporate Mental Health and the Future of Work

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 02/08/2023

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.

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: The “Heart” of Workplace Culture

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 12/29/2022

[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.]

Earlier this year, the Future of Work Exchange featured a piece that discussed why the Future of Work movement required more humanity:

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

Today’s business leaders have been bombarded with recommendations from both sides of the Future of Work coin, feeling they must improve their technology utilization and acumen and enhance they way they manage and lead. It’s the type of pressure that can be too much to bear, especially considering that 1) we’re still in the midst of a pandemic, 2) there’s a war raging on the other side of the world that is both a humanitarian and economic crisis, 3) supply chain disruptions are still the norm, and, of course, 4) a tight and competitive labor market is one giant staffing nightmare (hello, Great Resettling!).

But, the truth is this: no matter how much like it feels we’ve returned to “normal” in some aspects of our lives (back to concerts? Movies? Restaurants?), the business arena is one that will forever be altered by the many Future of Work accelerants that transformed it over the past near-26 months. And it cannot be said loudly enough: the workplace itself has changed and must continue to change in the months ahead.

There’s a “heart” in the center of every organization, one that beats in tune with the way the enterprise treats its workforce, partners, suppliers, and customers. A once-in-a-lifetime pandemic forced us, as people, to give more heart to ourselves and each other. We’ve seen this in parallel with many businesses around the world…but there are too many out there that haven’t bought into this concept. The Future of Work, in 2022, is about empathy. It’s about emotional intelligence. It’s about the humanity within ourselves, our leadership, and our workforce. It’s about the way we treat each other when things are great…and when things aren’t so great.

That beating heart at the center is reflected in workplace culture. It’s reinforced by the way leaders allow staff the flexibility they need to get work done and be normal, functioning humans, parents, caregivers. We’ve talked about conscious leadership, empathy-led leadership, and other non-technological shifts that have welcomed the Future of Work into businesses across the world. The best workplace cultures are ones that prioritize enterprise values and support “beyond-perk” attributes for their staff, such as hybrid work models, true flexibility, and behaviors that reflect corporate, ethical, and social responsibility.

The heart of workplace culture must pump with purpose, fueling both leaders and workers alike with a sense of inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing. These non-technological attributes, when combined, form the foundation of a corporate culture that is appealing to new and existing workers, helping to redefine talent retention. And, critically, in a business arena in which approximately 43%-to-47% of talent operates remotely (according to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research), the permeation of a positive and human workplace culture means that even staff that aren’t in the physical location will benefit from this major shift in business leadership and corporate transformation.

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.

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.

We’ve Changed As People, So Shouldn’t The Way We Work Change, As Well?

Uncategorized by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/06/2022

If we look back to those earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we could almost feel the anxiety and dread dripping from those memories. From being cut off from family and friends and learning how to cope without school and daycare to understanding what it was like to live though a global health crisis, the first few months of the pandemic forever altered the way we think, live, laugh, and learn. Two-plus years later, we can confidently say that it may be the watershed moment for this era of human history.

Many of us grew a newfound appreciation for the nuances of live, while others had the opportunity to truly focus on how they should shape their futures based on the struggles of those early days. There was profound societal change in the air, as well, which shifted the way we as humans think about culture, race, gender, and other core aspects of what makes us, well, us.

The role of empathy was in front view, too, in the many ways the country showed appreciation and support for those on the frontlines of the pandemic. We grew more connected in an age when physical, in-person unions were paused for months on end.

We have fundamentally changed as people and it’s incredibly difficult to think of our pre-pandemic personas and wonder if we could ever go back and recapture those frameworks of thinking. Our lives were altered and nearly every facet of life was transformed…including the way we work.

There’s more to the changing world of work than the increase in remote work and a volatile labor market, however. The very concepts and ideas behind the Future of Work movement dictate that we continuously innovate not just within the realm of technology, but within the way we address work as the humans who power the enterprise. If we can take that same ideology behind mankind’s transformation over the past two years and apply it to the way we work, then professionals, people, and enterprises all win.

We need more of a focus on the fact that humanity and empathy are the foundation of the workforce, not just skillsets and expertise. We’ve altered the way we think about ourselves and each other, and maybe that’s what the world of work needs to evolve during these interesting times: a reimagined workplace that prioritizes its people and the flexibility they require to effectively get work done. It’s not a far-fetched theory by any measure: we’ve seen business leadership shift to an empathy-led structure, with more and more executives understanding that their staff needs the utmost support from both emotional and operational perspectives.

When we compare the 2022 editions of ourselves to the 2019 versions, there are many, many differences that have made us better people and better humans. We can certainly apply these progressions to the way we work, too. It may be the best way to thrive in the months and years ahead.

Elon Musk’s Calculated Gamble on Eliminating Remote Work is “Anti-Future of Work”

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 06/03/2022

As reported by Bloomberg, Elon Musk sent an internal memo to his workforce on Tuesday with this fireball of a quote:

“Everyone at Tesla is required to spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week,” Musk wrote in an email titled “To be super clear.” “Moreover, the office must be where your actual colleagues are located, not some remote pseudo-office. If you don’t show up, we will assume you have resigned.”

And, oh, it gets better:

In recent weeks, Musk has praised Tesla China employees for “burning the 3am oil” while saying that Americans are “trying to avoid going to work at all.”

What a way to instill confidence in your staff, Elon. Musk has been both lauded and criticized for his business approaches over the years, and, in recent months, has been on a tear in his quest to acquire social media giant Twitter. As the CEO of Tesla (and founder/CEO of SpaceX), he has transcended the limits of what it is be a well-known (and incredibly wealthy) technology executive; Musk is more celebrity than hardline CEO at this point.

Upcoming FOWX Live keynote speaker John Healy sparked an interesting discussion on LinkedIn this week about the fallout and ramifications of Musk’s mandate. The phrase “challenger brand” was brought up in the comments, and this is surely one of the many reasons why he is going large with his proclamations: it’s in his nature to be like this, and, it’s something he intends on sticking to no matter the criticism he receives from the business world. Musk has made it part of his public persona to challenge things in a rough-edged manner.

Here’s the thing, though: we’re not talking about Musk’s unprofessional criticisms of stay-at-home orders or his public ventures for control of Twitter. Musk is actively shaking up the Future of Work movement is a very negative manner for the sake of valorization of burnout and rigidity. Simply lauding the poor working conditions of Tesla’s overseas factory staff is bad enough (there are numerous reports of illnesses, injuries, and less-than-ideal conditions at these facilities over the past few years); to say that Americans, who have embraced flexible working models in the wake of a global health crisis and consequently reaped the many rewards of doing so, are “trying to avoid work” is even worse (and incredibly, incredibly untrue).

White-collar workers, who are typically enabled with the ability to work from home or inject hybrid days into their work-week, have been revolting against return-to-office plans that wreak of the pre-pandemic world. The Future of Work Exchange, since its launched last year, has been a progressive proponent of flexibility in the workplace, evangelizing the benefits of hybrid workplaces during an era in which a “Talent Revolution” is occurring because workers crave that flexibility.

The other aspect here that needs to be discussed is the calculated risk Musk is taking in proclaiming that remote work isn’t viable. Tesla is sure to lose staff in the wake of his new mandate, and, more critically, it will lose its status as a hotbed of talent in the eyes of candidates now and in the future. Working at Tesla surely has some panache, however, if the environment and culture reflect Musk’s ignorant vision, workers are risking burnout and an extreme lack of flexibility.

The Future of Work revolves around the notions of worker empowerment, flexibility, empathy, and a better alignment between workplace and worker. Elon Musk and Tesla’s approach to remote work is a backwards move that erases the progress the business world has made over the past two years.

Once Again, Businesses Have an Opportunity to Experiment with Workplace Strategy

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 05/02/2022

Although it seems as if many regions (and individuals) around the world are acting as if the pandemic is over, the hard truth is that we’re still not close to the finish line. Last week, when pandemic expert and longtime virologist Dr. Anthony Fauci clarified previous remarks and stated that the United States was out of the “acute phase” of the pandemic, it meant that businesses, professionals, and us as people were in an odd gray zone; case counts are rising, but hospitalizations are falling. We’re returning to many of the events and situations that weren’t possible last year, however, we’re still remaining cautious in specific instances.

We know what this means for us as individuals; we can make calculated risks based on our comfort levels, where we are physically within the country (local transmission levels), and our personal networks (i.e., opportunities for infect at-risk family members or friends). However, what does this mean for the typical enterprise?

Well, the Future of Work Exchange believes that this is another opportunity to experiment with how they want to operate from a workplace structure perspective. Although we’ve heard (over and over and over again) that return-to-office plans were in place, there are still tens of thousands of organizations that have still not finalized their strategy regarding how they want their work. And, those that have opened their doors to workers should hopefully be viewing the past several months as the greatest opportunity to see what works, and what doesn’t, in regards to hybrid models.

The remote vs. hybrid vs. all in-person debates have been raging since the summer of 2020, a time when both professionals and people tired of four or five months’ worth of stress, anxiety, loneliness, fear, and frustration. While there was a political storm brewing over when to ease lockdowns, business leaders faced yet another critical quandary in how they were continuing to operate in evolving, previously-unknown conditions.

Last year, I suggested that enterprise utilize their time to experiment with various workplace structures, management methods, and technology-led collaboration to see what made the most sense for when the business world ultimately called for a return to workers getting back to “normal.” While we now know that there is no normal, nor should there be, some organizations tooled with hybrid schedules, fully-remote options for specific functions, and core in-person work for roles that demanded it. There was a massive payoff to this: business leaders were able to glean the productivity benefits, flexibility, and overall worker engagement that resulted from these endeavors. Too, these organizations were also able to determine how to move forward during those uncertain times, all in preparation for when the pandemic would be at a more controllable phase.

While it’s way too early to say that the COVID-19 crisis is nearing its resolution, it is safe to assume that we have entered a more controllable state, one in which vaccines are aplenty, there are antiviral options that can have a tremendous effect on high-risk individuals, and the fact that immunity may be at its highest point. While the specter of another immunity-dodging variant looms, as does a fall and early winter surge, now is the perfect time for those organizations that haven’t experimented with new work models to do so.

What does that entail?

Determine which functional groups require in-person collaboration and the frequency of such coordination, then build a hybrid schedule around these meetings. Workers that crave a hybrid workplace model will be much more productive if they know that their in-office days are centered around the meetings they require, rather than wasting time at desks and cubicles on tasks and projects that can be effectively supported remotely.
Gauge the overall culture of the workplace and consider what needs to be done to positively engage workers. Culture is a foundational element of the Future of Work, as well as one of several crucial attributes that play vital roles in talent attraction and talent retainment. Does the organization’s culture reflect rigidity and an unwillingness to be flexible? Is this depleting morale? If so, now is the ideal time to experiment with hybrid and remote models, and, measure their effectiveness on the overall mood of the workplace.
Create a “beyond perks” program that is attractive to both in-office and remote workers. Some businesses are offering meal plans to those who commute to the workplace everyday, while supporting fully-remote workers with financial support for home office hardware. These small tokens may seem trivial in the greater vacuum of business, however, they can go a long way in helping workers feel like they are appreciated.
Understand that “safety-first” plans may still be required for at-risk individuals. While many of us have been enjoying some pre-pandemic activities, such as restaurants and concerts, there are many of us who are at-risk for severe virus outcomes (immunocomprised persons, for example). Forcing workers to appear in-person when they are at this risk of severe illness is not only irresponsible, it’s one way to lose an employee’s engagement with the workplace. Smaller and mid-sized organizations can handle these situations with specific remote or hybrid plans, while enterprise-sized companies can put together blanket guidelines that work for all at-risk workers.
Use this time to harness the power of digital workspace technology. Digital workspaces have become a necessity in today’s flexible working world. As remote workers continue to require access to systems, data, and intelligence, businesses will need to enhance their workspace technology to ensure that professionals can tap into the power of a more secure, more flexible, and, most importantly, a more agile, hybrid cloud infrastructure no matter where they are located.

These are just a handful of recommendations for experimenting with new workplace models. If businesses can take advantage of these next few months, they will be better equipped to pivot if required in the event of a fall or winter surge. In addition, experimenting with flexible arrangements will result in several fantastic by-products, such as an improved workplace culture and better worker engagement.

The “Heart” of Workplace Culture

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 04/26/2022

Earlier this year, the Future of Work Exchange featured a piece that discussed why the Future of Work movement required more humanity:

The heart of workplace culture must pump with purpose, fueling both leaders and workers alike with a sense of inclusion, diversity, and wellbeing. These non-technological attributes, when combined, form the foundation of a corporate culture that is appealing to new and existing workers, helping to redefine talent retention. And, critically, in a business arena in which approximately 43%-to-47% of talent operates remotely (according to Ardent Partners and Future of Work Exchange research), the permeation of a positive and human workplace culture means that even staff that aren’t in the physical location will benefit from this major shift in business leadership and corporate transformation.

“Culture” is a Foundational Element of the Future of Work

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 02/21/2022

Around a decade ago, a firm I worked for brought in a foosball table to adorn an open space on one side of the office. On my infrequent trips to the company’s HQ (I spent the majority of my time working remotely), I was always encouraged by the hollers, laughs, and general positive vibes from the sales execs and research personnel engaged in competitive foosball tourneys.

I firmly remember interviewing a potential editorial candidate while one such tournament was occurring. “Seems like a fun place to work,” she noted as she looked past the conference room window at the smiles and laughs of my team members. “Sure is,” I said, before moving onto the next stage of the interview.

Ten years ago, a foosball table was enough to reflect a positive work culture to a potential employee. Today, it wouldn’t even come close to cutting it.

“Culture” must be considered a foundational element of the Future of Work movement, with business leaders doing all that they can to ensure that the enterprise comes across as being inclusive, positive, engaging, and a “destination workplace” that is alluring to candidates. “The Great Resignation,” as much as we may loathe the phrase, is a real and viable force that is actively pushing organizations to reimagine their talent acquisition strategies.

Even though culture was important before and during the pandemic, it takes on a different meaning today, considering that: 1) with the Omicron surge beginning to subside, business leaders are finally going to structure more in-office days for its workforce, 2) millions of workers, part of the “Talent Revolution,” are seeking more than just better compensation if they are going to return to work in 2022, and, 3) the harsh reality of talent retention today is this: it’s going to take a lot more for businesses to hang onto its top-tier talent throughout the coming months.

The following elements of culture prove why it’s such a critical piece of the Future of Work puzzle:

A company’s business culture is inevitably linked to the company’s brand. Company brand has often been more associated with finding and engaging talent, however, what many leaders forget is that “culture” and “brand” are symbiotically linked in a very profound manner. Is the company culture known for advancement opportunities, an inclusive attitude, and consistent engagement between leaders and workers? These are incredibly crucial aspects that traverse from culture into brand, with workers understand that if these attributes don’t line up, it won’t be worth their time and energy to apply for an open position. Poor business culture can weigh down how the enterprise “looks” from an external perspective; today, that can be crippling in the wake of The Great Resignation.
The proliferation of remote and hybrid work means workplace culture is more important, not less. Business leaders have to understand that it’s not March 2020 anymore. Remote and hybrid work are not reactive strategies, but rather foundational approaches for optimizing how work is done. Therefore, these leaders must translate in-office culture and its benefits to those working tens or hundreds of miles away. Remote workers don’t require annoying oversight, but rather empathetic and role-based support in order to thrive in digital working conditions. There’s a major difference between a robotic, “going-through-the-motions” 1:1 video call and a discussion on how a professional can grow, thrive, and succeed. If all business leaders adopted this approach, there would be less of a hesitancy to adopt fully-remote or heavy-hybrid models.
Overall enterprise vision is a pure reflection of its overall culture. This doesn’t just mean “make lots of money,” but rather the purpose of the overall organization and what it wants to prove, provide, and produce for the global market. Business leaders that truly want to change their industries begin that journey within, choosing to formulate management styles that are inclusive, empathetic, and promote innovation within the workforce ranks. Want to change the world? It starts with internal business culture.
The old adage of “experience first” is still quite applicable. The talent experience is still paramount in today’s hyper-competitive labor market. Everything from the tactical aspects of talent acquisition, such as interviewing, onboarding, etc., and the more strategic elements, like communication and collaboration, goes a long in fostering a workplace culture that is positive and engaging for candidates as they embark on their journeys.
Culture is now naturally aligned with the way(s) work gets done. This is perhaps the most powerful attribute of “culture” in today’s business landscape. Workers crave an environment that aligns with their purpose, their goals, their energy, their attitude, their believes, their values, and their journeys. They are going to give as much as they can if an employer can meet most or all of those elements. Business culture permeates across functions, units, leaders, and its workforce; if enterprises are keen on thriving in 2022, they will understand that the very ways they get work done are directly aligned with the overall culture of its workplace.