Adapting to Today’s Workforce -One Size Fits All?
The past three years have certainly provided a shift in paradigm for most employers. The way we work has changed and we are seeing that organizations are also changing to adapt to this need.
The Pandemic changed the way we think and what we value. In just talking to workers over the last few months it is apparent that people, in general, have begun to rethink their lives and how they want to spend their time. Companies have focused on a customer centric approach and have been investing in automation and dealing with supply chain challenges. These same companies are now realizing they need to turn more of a focus on their people.
But want are workers wanting? McKinsey’s most recent American Opportunity Survey (2022) indicates Americans are embracing remote and hybrid working and want more. The survey of 25,000 Americans indicated that 58% have the opportunity to work from home one day a week. 35% reported having the option to work from home 5 days a week. And check this out.
Some cities such as Tulsa, Oklahoma (through the George Kaiser Family Foundation) are offering $10,000 for professionals working virtually to move to their community. I personally know a professional from Pennsylvania who is going to a Tulsa “preview” next month and the program is paying for her airfare. She was seriously vetted through an interview and application process and chosen to consider a move. The grant and city officials are betting that remote work can shift an economy and it seems to be working.
Packaged deliveries is a sure sign of an economic indicator and since early 2020 volumes have ballooned topping 21.5 billion deliveries in US according to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. With a tight labor market for workers FedEx has had to rethink the “how” of their work. According to VP of Human Resources at FedEx Services, Mike Lauderdale, FedEx has drastically reduced physical locations and office space allowing workers more freedom to work and fewer requirements to check in at a physical location on a daily basis. They now have more coworking space and spaces designed for collaboration.
Source: HBS Managing the Future of Work
On the flip side of this younger workers are feeling increasingly disconnected and less committed to their jobs. So, 100% remote working may not be the answer. Other companies are rethinking office design and worker flexibility “Before 2020 people worked and fit life into that. Now, people live- and work needs to fit into their life” Paula Erickson CHRO for Beam Suntory. Beam Suntory has totally redesigned their office space to accommodate the hybrid worker. Source: HR Magazine Many of the employers we (TQC) work with need a good amount of their workforce on site so this becomes very challenging. Remote working is not the only area where companies are adapting to the needs of their workforce.
The St. Louis Business Journal interviewed this year’s Best Places To Work Awardees on how they are adapting to the needs of their people. Here are a few highlighted with their focus areas:
1. Commerce Bank * Career Progression and Retirement
2. Hoffman Brothers * Time with Family
3. Bethesda Health Group * Work Flexibility
4. McCarthy Holdings Inc. * Redefining Time Off
Source: STlBJ March 24-30
Congratulations to this year's Best Places to Work Award Winners.
Retention not recruitment will be the big focus in 2023 and 2024. So how do we find out what our employees want? We ask them.
Adapting, shifting, and rethinking are not always easy and there is not a one size fit all answer. But one thing is for sure, and that is our world is changing. As leaders we must work at finding out what our workers need and how we can adapt.