Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi, Bill Schaninger and Kartik Sharma* say that to succeed in the future of work, the time for change is now.
The COVID-19 crisis forced organisations around the world to re-evaluate many aspects of their work, workforce, and workplace, while also presenting new risks and opportunities.
For instance, new business start-ups nearly doubled in the United States compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Additionally, larger organisations experienced an “unfreezing” moment in which the status quo of how things were done was disrupted.
In turn, this created conditions ripe for large-scale change by investing financial and human capital in new or reimagined initiatives that improve employee experience, increase productivity, and reduce voluntary attrition to competitors.
These initiatives fall within three broad areas of opportunity across work, workforce, and workplace:
1. Find deeper meaning in your work.
Employee expectations arising from the pandemic show that organisations should rethink work to be done.
Employees from the C-suite to the frontline are craving deeper meaning in their work.
Nearly two-thirds of surveyed U.S.-based employees said that COVID-19 has caused them to reflect on their purpose in life.
Nearly half said that they are reconsidering the kind of work they do because of the pandemic.
Organisations should evaluate the link between their purpose and how that manifests on a day-to-day basis.
Further clarity around why the organisation exists should serve as a north star to guide or reinforce critical business decisions, like the allocation of capital, employee experience, and workforce choices (e.g., DE&I initiatives, hiring, reskilling/upskilling programs).
Organisations that establish a clear link between what they do and why they exist are likely to gain a competitive advantage in both employee and customer retention.
2. Put your workforce first.
In the current labour market, organisations are finding human capital to be scarcer than financial capital.
The talent marketplace has not only recovered but is now intensely hot as organisations compete for top talent.
Employees now expect much more from their employers and will engage, or disengage, depending on how their needs are met.
They want a better employee experience and they want to do meaningful work that resonates with their values.
For example, in a recent survey, we found that organisations can achieve a 55 per cent improvement in employee engagement by addressing their need for work recognition through nonfinancial means.
We also saw a 49 per cent improvement in employee engagement by aligning organisational values with individual purpose.
Organisations should rethink the knowledge, skills, abilities, and experiences (KSAEs) required for jobs.
They should consider moving away from hiring based on educational credentials, and instead embrace a skills-based hiring approach that allows the expansion and diversification of their talent pool without compromising on talent quality.
3. Make the workplace a vehicle for your people and values.
After reimagining the work to be done and putting people first, organisations should close the loop by supporting their employees’ needs.
A clear vision for the working model—whether hybrid, in-person, or remote—is essential, but employers should also recognise that clarity alone isn’t enough.
After a live experiment in remote work, employees are craving more flexibility, and many will require a convincing explanation to return to in-person work.
Organisations that address these questions open the door to better employee experience, increased loyalty, and access to larger talent pools.
The new workplace, whatever form it takes, can bring out the best in employees by providing them with what is best for them.
In turn, this pays dividends with increased productivity and customer satisfaction.
The pandemic disrupted life, but it also created an inflection point for organisations to redefine what they want to be and where they want to go.
Organisations must seize this moment to transform ambiguity into opportunity across their work, workforce, and workplace.
To succeed in the future of work, the time for change is now.
*Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi partners with organisations to provide research-backed expertise on leadership. Bill Schaninger designs and manages large-scale organisational transformations. Kartik Sharma partners with clients across a variety of sectors on topics regarding analytics-led organisational transformations.
This article first appeared at mckinsey.com.
