The Future of Work
This white paper looks at how the world of work will change with the impact of a more flexible working environment. Download a printable version [A4, Letter]
Remote working is not going away, we expect most, if not all companies who are able, will implement remote working policies and practices as a result of the pandemic. The savings in expensive real estate are likely to outweigh the initial inefficiencies of remote working.
Employees have adapted and are appreciating the flexibility that remote working is giving them. As a think-tank, we have looked beyond the here and now to the longer-term implications for those wishing to lead or make change in a distributed environment.
We have highlighted nine themes that predict how we see the future of work changing:
Focus on outcomes: A shift in how we measure our teams and allocate their work
Open to new ideas: Navigating the crisis has removed many of the mental barriers
Leaders set the tone: To be successful, leaders focus will shift to enabling their teams
Our workforces: The shape, skills, basis, and locations of our workforces will change
Who does what: We expect to see greater labour arbitrage, hiring specific skills for a task
Informal vs Formal: The way we work will settle down, new principles will come into play
How we connect: Beyond the technology, the frequency and methods of communication will change
Investing in our teams: The way we assess and invest in our teams will change
Energy management: Our remote teams have different needs
The world of work has changed. Our eyes have been opened to a new reality, opportunities that will transform how, why and where we work.
We expect the next 3-5 years to be a time of continuous change as organisations gain confidence in alternate strategies of what resources they need and the basis for allocating their work.
There will be greater confidence in making bold moves and trying things that are very different to how we have worked in the past. A reminder that flexibility and agility are your sources of competitive advantage.
To survive and thrive through this period of stabilisation you will need different leadership capabilities and focus. Are you ready?
Focus on outcomes
The day-to-day oversight and visibility that we previously had is gone. We predict a shift to output and a focus on outcomes as the units of measures, rather than time spent.
Organisations will need a clear resourcing strategy to meet their business outcomes. These strategies will settle over the next 3-5 years and we expect to see organisations hone their strategic allocations of resources as they learn more about what they need and what they value.
A shift to outcomes and output requires the empowerment of our workforces, in doing so there will be greater role clarity and clearer expectations. We expect less bureaucracy, over time, and increased trust.
Compensation will shift to outcomes, rather than time served as a factor of good performance. Measures will focus on the leading indicators of success for each team, or contributor.
Open to new ideas
Businesses will need to recognise that how they resource their work does not need to follow historical models, models which are often left over from the industrial age.
This is a time to look outside of the box, at how the challenges of resourcing have been solved in other fields, industries or scale of organisations. The scale organisations that have always been distributed have rich learnings to share.
Technology will have a large part to play and many of the advances and changes made over the last year are here to stay.
Leaders set the tone
To enable a distributed model, leaders will need to focus on outcomes and build trust with their teams.
The role of leaders will shift to empowering and enabling their teams to achieve success. Leaders will measure and judge their teams differently.
Empathy, emotional intelligence, and communications skills will become much needed as leaders bridge the virtual divide.
Our workforces
The most significant change we expect is in the make-up of our workforces, and how they work.
We expect work to be democratised; anyone working from anywhere can contribute. Talent will be hired because it is the best talent, not just the best talent in proximity to the organisation. Our employee bases will become more diverse and inclusive. Employees with disabilities are more likely to be included.
With a shift to outcomes, there will be less dependency on full-time staff. Employees will choose how and when they want to work to drive their outcomes. We expect a greater use of contractors and independent suppliers, as work is broken up differently. There will be less ‘making use of existing resources’, more assigning work to those who are best able to deliver the outcome.
With a greater and more competitive talent market, and ease of changing roles, organisations are going to need to tailor their working environments to retain and enthuse their employees.
What has worked in the past is less likely to work in the future. The focus will fall on leaders who can create followership in their teams.
Who does what work
The elephant in the room, but one that is well established through outsourcing models is labour arbitrage; looking at the employee talent pool on a global basis. Hiring lower cost, but qualified offshore labour will be more attractive to companies as their skills in managing a distributed workforce improve.
The skill will be in how tasks are allocated, level of collaboration required, clarity of expectations, and outcomes. The role of a leader will be sourcing and managing their distributed teams, like a conductor of an orchestra.
One piece of advice that we offer to organisations looking at labour arbitrage is ‘Do not outsource a problem, solve the problem first’. If what you are trying to solve for is not working, then it will not work when it is remote, it will simply get worse.
As a unique contributor, you will need to demonstrate your uniqueness, the competitive market that you are in has just become more competitive as the constraints have come down. Know your value to your organisation.
Informal vs Formal
With many of the informal ways that agreement and alignment permeated an organisation now gone, a new approach is needed.
We expect to see greater formality in creating space for decision-makers to discuss, clarify, argue and align as part of decision-making. New rituals and routines will be formed.
With less proximity and oversight, more trust will be needed as remote working becomes the norm. Leaders will need to assess and build trust in the day-to-day judgments that their team are making, sharing a greater sense of the wider context.
Where a physical location still exists, there will need to be a balance set for those that choose to attend in person and those remotely working.
Where teams are split across both physical and remote locations, collaboration as a team is compromised. We would recommend all physical (like a field sales team with a monthly meeting) or all remote to balance the playing field.
There is a risk that where a leader chooses, for their own preference, to be based in the office, that their team will naturally drift back to ensure that they have the advantages that proximity brings. This will reduce the ability for organisations to rethink their Real Estate footprint.
Guidelines will need to be set, taking into account the strategic direction, competitive advantage and opportunities offered to each organisation. We recommend that you look beyond the past to a new normal.
How we connect
Humans like to connect; it helps us feel good.
We like to be a valued part of our tribe, especially our work tribes, it helps us feel safe. When we feel safe, we do good work. Feeling included is a strong sign that we are valued. More time will need to be dedicated to checking in across teams, ensuring that no-one lost or isolated.
The role of leaders will shift to ensuring that their teams feel connected, have clarity of their expectations, and have what they need to achieve their outcomes.
Technology will continue to enable us, as teams settle into what works best for them. We expect more online tools to be developed to solve the emerging problems that teams are having. Unsurprisingly, there will be a greater use of social media channels to build communities and engagement. It will become the norm.
As teams become more distributed in the hunt for the best talent, solutions that allow teams to contribute, without being present will increase. Whether these are idea boards that are summarised after a set time or the use of AI in collaborative decision-making.
There is a risk that our teams are overloaded and make choices of which to follow, or not. Leaders will become skilled at communicating through the channels they have.
How we invest in our teams
With a lower level of proximity and a greater need for our teams to learn and gain new skills and confidence.
There will be a need to formalise the ability to assess capability and provide the training and development our teams need. Feeling valued and that your organisation is investing in you will become a source of retention.
Energy Management
In many cases the physical and emotional impact of long commutes or long workdays has been traded for a feeling of being always-on, making it hard to take a break between work and home.
Organisations will shift the assistance they provide their employees to spot different signs of being overwhelmed, over committed or overworked.
For many, the initial friction of working from home has been solved as they have invested in practical solutions to creating a good working environment.
Organisations will need to consider their responsibilities to, and how they enact good standards of health and safety for their remote workers.
Download a printable version [A4, Letter]
We specialise in delivering your strategic value, especially where innovative strategies and ideas create friction when they interface with mature organisations.
We help you reduce the friction, speeding up your value delivery, from strategy through to action. We create culture and behaviours that enable your team to be adaptable, empowered and resilient, a source of competitive advantage.
For more of our work and thinking, see www.pikesquared.com
These views are the opinions of our changeXchange contributors and are offered to help you think through the implications for your own organisation.
A big thank-you to changeXchange members Tori, Ian, Sanjay, Lisa, Ed, and Arlene for their contributions
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