Future of Work by Committee

As the ‘return to the office’ plans appear in the rearview mirror and we begin to accept the reality that the expectations of work have changed and we won’t be returning to the same world we knew before, the question is what are we returning to? It’s currently an advantage labor, so it would be natural for the workers to have a disproportionate say in the matter, but that doesn’t always seem to happen. I don’t need to beat the dead horse of the great resignation (reshuffle, whatever…) because every media outlet is going to offer a daily reminder, but it’s a real thing.

For most companies, the work experience (when, where, and how work got done) was an accumulation of years of practices, policies, technology, and good and bad habits. Depending on when the company was formed, the acquisitions and mergers, or the mood of the CEO any flavor of experience and assets have been assembled to create a work experience. In today’s reality, many functional areas of work like Human Resources, IT, Corporate Real Estate, and others have a role in making sure their functional area is operating well, but rarely is there a single KPI that would thread these together to indicate that the system of the experience is working. Previously this wasn’t a problem because the functional work experience hadn’t radically changed in 25 years. Let’s not count workout centers, snack bars, and unassigned seating as any revolution in the experience, employees picked up that most of these were ploys to keep them at work.

The Committee Emerges

The pandemic revealed the siloed functional approach wasn’t providing answers to design the new model. CEOs are demanding answers to retention and productivity. Queue the emergence of the Future of Work Committee (pick your adjectives of work experience). The committee is a reflection of the areas of change business leaders have recognized. It’s being put on this group to figure out what work will look and feel like. We’ve been listening to these groups for a few months and here are some key things we are noticing is on their minds.

·  Human Resources (the people)

o   What does the workforce need to be successful?

o   Who are we trying to attract and retain and how do we win?

o   How do we create equity and inclusion in an experience that has so many options and preferences?

·  Corporate Real Estate (the place(s))

o   What is the purpose of the office?

o   Who is going to come back and use the office?

o   Do we need what we have or don’t have?

·  IT (the connections)

o   What tech will help our people collaborate and produce?

o   Does the infrastructure today support an omnichannel system?

o   What are the security implications of this new experience?

·  Operations (the game plan)

o   How do we support managers to operate and personalize this experience?

o   Can the business keep and maintain its standards and obligations going forward?

o   How do we deploy and train for this new work experience?

There isn’t an easy way to predict the answer to these questions. A move by one area will inevitably have an impact on the other functional areas. Most companies don’t have data or a history of experiences that will help predict the impact of the decisions on the work experience.

The sign of a committee may seem like a high predictor of nothing getting done. To the outsiders of this committee, it’s a source of both envy and frustration to be left out of the mix. For those on the committee, it’s another responsibility on top of an already full plate and often doesn’t have an obvious career payoff. It’s safe to assume that no one is really enthused by the committee. We have a more optimistic view of the possibilities of the committee. It’s a sign of awareness and future progress for a company and its people. The work experience is going to require a thoughtful, careful, and continuous inspection to fulfill the promise of a more interesting future of work. Who wouldn’t want to take a swing at that?

Get Early Momentum

This committee is going to need wins early and often. Unlike special committees that may have a narrow impact, everyone in the company will recognize that the decisions coming from this committee will impact them. There are a few early tactics that can be used to help gain momentum for this group and initiative.

1. Tell everyone it’s happening. Don’t assume everyone knows that the leadership is thinking about the work experience. There is a way to show the awareness of the necessity of change without enlisting anxiety of the unknown future state. An example message might read out like, “We understand that after two years of upheaval our work experience has changed and needs to be carefully analyzed. We are assembling a team of your peers to look at all aspects of the experience, enlist your feedback on preferences and needs and begin the process of modernizing our approach to work. This won’t be a quick process, but we will be regularly sharing our learnings and recommendations.”

2. Build the Work Style Profile. The feedback enlisted during the pandemic is a band-aid of responses to help you answer an immediate question but is inadequate for a comprehensive overhaul of the work experience. The traditional survey and even employee engagement feedback are equivalent to unsophisticated marketing analysis of a customer. The omnichannel worker psychographic profile is as complex as your customer profile. It’s all the same people :)  Just as we would expect our marketers to build personas of the customers we need to do the same for our team members. Having a comprehensive profile will allow the committee to consider who’s needs they are serving versus focusing on singling out any one solution.

3. Overshare your findings and changes. You may feel your team is fatigued with notifications, surveys, and messages, but they will be more suspicious not knowing and seeing change happen without notice. Recent national polls show that most employees feel there isn’t a strategy for the work experience and that they have no involvement in the process. Creating a sense of involvement and transparency will earn the right to ask for more feedback and ask for participation in the solution.

We’re all in this thing together. Take it slow, have empathy and laugh at the things that don’t work. You can only guarantee one thing. In 25 years the new cats in the world of work will look at us like we were nuts.