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“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.

When Both Leaders and Workers Truly Accept “Change,” the Next Era of the Future of Work Begins

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 11/02/2021

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.

Leadership Must Change if Businesses Want to Thrive in 2022

Business Leadership by Christopher J. Dwyer on 10/27/2021

Many business leaders across the world were dealt an unfair hand when the COVID-19 pandemic hit nearly 18 months ago. Faced with a massive loss of revenue, customer trust, and enterprise sales, executives were also forced to lay off or furlough chunks of staff during the worst public health crisis of our lifetime. When uncertainty and the unprecedented impact of a pandemic hits your business, your staff, and your personal life, as well, there’s not much room to positively maneuver around it all.

We’ve experienced many Future of Work “accelerants” over the past year-and-a-half that have enabled new discussions on the best ways for enterprises to get work done. Yes, of course, remote and hybrid work have dominated those conversations, however, there’s so much more to the story that has a direct impact on how leaders, well, lead.

Future of Work Exchange research points to several expected shifts in business leadership over the next several months and into 2022:

83% of enterprises expect business leadership to prioritize an inclusive workplace environment. Diversity is just one (very big) piece of the arena known as “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” Business leaders now seemingly understand that inclusion, which extends to how they structure a welcoming and open workplace environment, is the only path forward for both talent acquisition and talent retention. Potential candidates should feel at-ease knowing that they could potentially join an organization that welcomes their background, differences, disabilities, etc., while existing workers are more likely to stay if they know their workplace is safe, welcoming, and prioritizes openness and communication. Inclusion is just as critical for new talent as it is for current talent.
80% of companies anticipate more empathy-led leadership. Empathy is a routine, featured topic here at the Future of Work Exchange, and for good reason: empathy, quite literally, is the only way forward. Empathetic leadership is what is sorely needed for executives to earn required trust from their staff and for workers to feel “connected” to the greater organization and to also feel supported in their current roles. Empathy-led leadership involves organizational leaders asking questions, actively collaborating, and prioritizing communication with their workforce. In 2022, this will make or break the average enterprise, especially as conversations around worker burnout continue to dominate headlines.
77% of organizations believe business leaders will structure workforce management on flexibility. While we just highlighted how the Future of Work is more than “just flexibility,” the agile nature of today’s forward-thinking organizations provides a robust template from which today’s leaders can leverage to effectively plan for the year ahead. Yes, remote and hybrid work plays a valuable role in the greater concept of flexibility, however, it traverses much deeper than whether or not workers are physically in the office or at their kitchen table. Flexible work models, such as shorter work weeks, adjusted hours, or agile task-sharing, also play critical roles in how business leaders rethink the many ways to get work done.
72% of businesses expect business leadership will focus on understanding personal perspectives of workers. This attribute could be the most crucial of all, given where we are in the greater timeline of a public health crisis. When the pandemic hit, no one fully knew what to expect; what followed was tragedy, horror, and unease. From a business leadership perspective, it created a truly emotional toll on the workforce, forcing executives to enact cognitive empathy to fully understand what it was like to juggle a lack of daycare, remote learning for children, sick or dying relatives and family members, and general uncertainty regarding job security. If leaders truly understand “where” workers are mentally and emotionally, it allows them to be more flexible in their management style and how they support that talent. In the months and years ahead, this higher level of understanding will go a long in helping business leaders build a trusting workforce that feel like their leaders want to fully support them during uncertain times.

When Does “The Great Staff Shortage” End?

Business Leadership HR Talent by Christopher J. Dwyer on 09/20/2021

This past weekend, my wife and I traveled over two hours north to meet family for an apple-picking trip (perhaps the best of the fall activities? A debate for another day.). On the way there, my two kids asked for a quick lunch. Our chicken-nugget-obsessed five-year-old insisted we hit the Wendy’s drive-through on the edges of our town.

After waiting in the drive-through lane for around 15 minutes, we ordered our lunch and again waited in line. When we finally made it to the window, I noticed something stunning: the manager of the restaurant was taking orders, filling those orders, passing the orders through the window, and also taking care of the kitchen. That’s one managerial position, with possibly a cook hidden where we could not see, handling what nine or ten employees (or more!) would cover during a typical weekend lunch rush at a popular fast-food spot.

Similar staffing shortages are happening all across industries and sectors, some facing severe coverage crisis issues that threaten to undermine revenue, customer satisfaction, and how internal operations are run. The gaps in today’s workforce are caused by a combination of several factors, including compensation standoffs, a refusal from workers to return to unsafe conditions, uncertainty about career paths, etc. The end of federally-augmented unemployment benefits have frequently been blamed for staff shortages, however, this is only one sliver of many issues that are happening right now in the world of work. The hard truth is that there is no single solution for global shortages, and, considering the complexities of specific verticals, there may be several ways that things ultimately take a better turn in the remaining months of 2021.

And to add to these challenges, there are cascading effects from certain industries that impact others: if daycare facilities have to turn away new registrations (or cut back on existing numbers of children) due to shortages in staff, then that makes it incredibly difficult for large pockets of workers to find roles in traditionally-9-to-5 businesses. Too, many restaurants, retail shops, and similar businesses in accommodations and food service find that the combination of lack of childcare and standoffs regarding wages and working conditions are leading to millions of unfilled jobs.

The pandemic’s continued case impact is also a factor, as well: hospitals and healthcare facilities are certainly strained by overfilled ICUs, but employee burnout has been a major contributor to shortages within those industries. Eighteen straight months of critical care pressure, 60- and 70-hour workweeks, and concerns over falling ill have driven healthcare staff to the brink of complete burnout. Veterinary medicine facilities may not have to deal with human COVID patients, however, the rise in pet adoption in conjunction with severe staff shortages of specially-trained technicians and other roles are leading these units to defer emergency care during overnight hours and asking veteran and trained staff to perform multiple tasks (as well as putting in the same ridiculous hours that nurses are currently supporting in human medicine).

So, when does the deadlock break? When do businesses get back to a steady state of employment? When do these staff shortages end? Well, there is no easy answer, as there are myriad issues that must be addressed, such as:

Worker safety and health concerns. “Hot Vax Summer” turned into a “Delta Variant Summer” pretty quickly and will continue into the fall months, considering that kids are back in school, many states and countries are relaxing guidelines, and one-in-four Americans still haven’t received a single vaccine dose. Workers are hesitant to return to conditions that endanger their health; in addition, public-facing employees do not want to contend with customers that flout mask mandates and put others at risk. This is a perfect public health storm that cascades into the business realm…and if this issue isn’t addressed, these jobs are going to stay open.
Pay disparities. Much like the real estate market traverses between the power of the “seller” versus the power of the “buyer,” employers and workers are in a standoff over wage disparities. Much to the chagrin of businesses, it’s a job candidate’s market at the moment, which many hourly workers fighting for higher living wages and better working conditions. This is essentially what is happening in retail, food service, and similar sectors that survive on the hourly, shift-based workforce. Who “blinks” here? When does one side cave to the other? Well, it’s more than just increasing hourly pay, because workers desire other, non-compensatory benefits, such as…
The flexibility factor. Many industries were thrust into remote and virtual work environments out of necessity and haven’t looked back. Others are beginning to implement rigid workplace structures that are reminiscent of pre-pandemic times and workers want nothing of the sort. Working parents desire flexibility to handle childcare issues and school after-care, while other workers want to be able to mix in remote days with in-office/in-person days. These are items that are just as, if not more, important than wage issues.
The childcare domino effect. If daycare facilities are facing staff shortages and shrink their headcount, that means significant numbers of working parents have to choose between a job and a stay-at-home mom/dad position. The childcare domino effect is a very, very critical piece of the staff shortages occurring today. Pumping more federal dollars into this sector could be helpful (which is why the Biden Administration is allocating so much of its American Families Plan to shoring up these issues), but there is always a fundamental challenge for countless other industries if childcare staffing continues its incredible shortage.
Evolving candidate career paths. The pandemic caused many, many professionals to reevaluate their positions and question their career choices. Millions of workers realized that engagement was a key piece of their careers and will accept nothing less in future positions. Those that are still straddling the sidelines and searching for new opportunities are looking at workplace culture, leadership opportunities, reskilling and upskilling opportunities, and flexibility as equally as important as compensation for open positions. It’s not just a one-size-fits-all game anymore for the labor market; higher wages aren’t going to cut it for talent that wants so much more of their next role.

Much like “The Great Resignation” is still a recurring theme in the world of work, “The Great Staff Shortage” is going to continue making headlines over the next several months. Whether or not there is a true breaking point will be the difference in a 2022 that sees both businesses and its workers on steady ground and engaged with each other, or, a continuation of the continued workforce challenges of the past nine months.

The Permanence of Workplace and Workforce Transformation

Business Leadership General Insights HR Talent Talent Acquisition by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/11/2021

Around this time last year, there was a spirit of optimism that had been missing for over six months. The waning weeks of 2020’s winter brought disruption like never before, with the spring months forever etched into our minds as a period of uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. The summer of 2020 brought a sliver of hope that coronavirus cases would recede in anticipation of a better fall. We unfortunately know how the story goes from there: inching cases from September through the end of November brought one of the globe biggest’s winter surge before millions of COVID vaccines were administered through the late weeks of winter 2021 and through the spring. And yes, now we’re living a Delta variant world, but there’s at least some science-led expectancy that its enhanced transmissibility will result in a shorter surge than the ones earlier in the year.

If we look back to last summer, though, for just a moment, there was an aura of variability that sparked a temporary wave of thinking in how businesses managed their workforce and structured their workplace environments. “At some point, hopefully soon, we’ll get back to normal.” We’ve been saying it for months since then, hoping that there will be some sort of signal that it’s okay to get back to full office, cluttered highways, and crowded meeting rooms. Maybe there’ll be a point in time when those carefree, pre-pandemic days will once again be a steadfast reality, right?

Wrong.

If there’s anything that we should be discussing now, it’s the permanence of transformation. The pandemic left an indelible mark on how we get work done, from the way we engage talent to the means of aligning skillsets with specific roles and projects. In our personal worlds, we think, act, and move differently. Even those of us who are vaccinated routinely wear masks in grocery stores and other crowded areas. While there will absolutely be a day that we can battle COVID as an endemic piece of our seasonal virus gauntlet (much like the flu or the common cold), the truth is that we are all different from the collective experience of the past 18 months, which will soon be “the past two years” and then the “past 36 months.” We’re looking at a future of on-and-off mask mandates, vaccine boosters, and “embers” of hotspots where inoculation is low. We’re standing up against a continued fight against a “goldilocks” of a virus that will be with us forever.

That modicum of permanence, that we’ve been fundamentally changed…why can’t we accept that in how we conduct business? Do we really think that there will be a day sometime soon when we throw out all of the productivity gains we’ve seen from a shift to remote work? What about the realization that businesses can effectively engage top-tier talent no matter the location? And is there a point in time when enterprises suddenly stop relying on the extended workforce?

Well, no, of course not. Which means that the evolution we’ve collectively experienced as business professionals over the past 18 months is permanent, a series of uniform changes to how we think about talent and how we think about how work gets done. Consider that:

Nearly half (47%) of the total workforce is considered “non-employee,” another sharp increase from the year before and likely a result of the workforce agility gained from tapping into this on-demand, top-tier talent.
75% of businesses state that the pandemic forced them to reimagine how they apply skillsets to projects and how they structure their workforce.
70% of enterprises believe that the extended workforce effectively allowed them to be more adaptive during the challenging times of 2020.
82% of businesses expect worker flexibility and related issues (such as empathy) to permanently transform how work is done.

Look at how fast the past year-and-a-half went by and the major talent/work shifts during that time period: remote and hybrid work as fundamental layers of survival, executive leaders managing with empathy and flexibility, the agile workforce becoming even more of a tool for thriving in changing times, etc. Change can be relative in most cases, but today, it is certainly not. We’ve all collectively experienced change in our personal and professional lives, and now the permanence of workforce and workplace transformation needs to be embraced as the current and future state of work. Businesses that don’t adapt and don’t buy into the foundational revolution of change will not only be left behind, but may find themselves never being able to catch up. Everything that’s happened in the greater world of work and talent, be it the viability of hybrid work or the massive shift to worker flexibility, is part of a permanent fixture of change and progression.

Workers understand what’s at stake and it’s the main reason why resignations are at an all-time high in the scope of business history. Worker experience (what we call the “talent experience” here at FOWX) is paramount for career development and work/life balance. Flexibility has cascaded down into the very fabric of the workforce and will forever become a crucial piece of the overall talent experience.

Given the uptick in extended talent utilization, the workforce has changed. Given the uptick in remote and hybrid work, the workplace has changed. Given the requirements and criticality of flexibility and the employee experience, the worker has changed. Permanently.

Contingent Workforce Weekly, Episode 603: “Hot Vax Summer” Meets the Delta Variant

Podcast by Christopher J. Dwyer on 08/05/2021

An all-new edition of the Contingent Workforce Weekly episode, sponsored by DZConneX, a Yoh company, highlights how summer reopenings and return-to-office plans are currently being derailed by the Delta variant of the coronavirus.

The big ideas around the summer being a time of reopening, celebration, and a return to normalcy have all been thrown into a tailspin, especially knowing that this variant results in more frequent breakthrough cases and can possibly be spread by even the vaccinated population. The question, though, remains: what does it mean for business?

Tune into Episode 603 of Contingent Workforce Weekly below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.

Contingent Workforce Weekly, Episode 602: The Link Between the Future of the Workforce and the Future of the Workplace

Podcast by Christopher J. Dwyer on 07/22/2021

An all-new edition of the Contingent Workforce Weekly episode, sponsored by DZConneX, a Yoh company, features a discussion around the “future of the workforce” and its link to the “future of the workplace.” As more and more businesses plan a return to the office, an even larger number of workers are seeking flexibility, empathy, and agility. While a silent labor epidemic rages (the United States has never recorded so many resignations and jobs quit in a single month before this past May), business leaders must leverage the next several months to better understand the proper work model for both productive enterprises outcomes and its workforce.

Tune into Episode 602 of Contingent Workforce Weekly below, or subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio.