Special Feature

The Future of The Future of Work is Here: Work is Here:

ARE YOU AHEAD OF THE CURVE OR BEHIND IT?

By Kash Haroon

So here we are... it’s May 2022. Things are starting to feel normal again and the attraction of going into the office to be with our colleagues is contradicted by our newly established behaviour of working at home. It’s been a joy not having to deal with traffic, paying for things like parking, lunch, turning up to an office where the work we do is near enough what we can now do at home and even walking the dog has become a part of the new working day for many too.

It’s also been a challenge not being around the people we work with, for those ‘informal’ moments of connection, weekend plans, participating in the office tea club and going for after-work drinks. The informal parts of our organisational life, the bit we didn’t know we took for granted, is largely missing.

This ‘new world of work’ isn’t actually something happening in the future, but it’s here. For many of us, it arrived as long ago as March 2020. Lynda Gratton called it out in her conversation with Bruce Daisley and later in her book on the subject. In describing this ‘great evaluation’ taking place in organisations all across the world.

We have all had to re-evaluate the life we want to live and the work we can or want to do.

For many of us, in the new world, just earning more and more money is no longer acceptable or fulfilling. Neither is having status. We also have choices in whether we still want to be part of an assumed hierarchy. For many, this is no longer viable or necessary. All of our people are having this conversation with themselves, their loved ones and their networks. If you’re a boss – are they having this conversation with you?

Another set of industry commentators referred to COVID as the ‘closing ceremony’ to the industrial revolution. It also acted as an accelerator of innovation especially in working practices, work design and, by definition: organisations. We found ourselves having conversations about the very things that make work, work.

We were forced to live our full lives with those in close proximity to us, face regular battles through home schooling, reinventing our organisations to remain current and in many cases, watching them slowly collapse. It was interesting for me to reflect on just how fragile a foundation some of this was based on.

The COVID crisis was particularly interesting for leaders and managers. Those who were naturally able to empathise, cross boundaries, coach, connect and motivate their staff found the switch to digital gave them more time and deeper access to their people.

For leaders who relied on more traditional methods, it became an existential crisis in that they could no longer control their people, manage processes and work in a predicable, certain way. We saw the resurgence of outcomes-based leadership, coaching, and the simple act of having a good quality conversation. Conversations became key in helping people not only navigate their work lives, but remain connected and navigate their overall mental health.

As things started return to normal, established organisations and several public service employers asked what the best idea was to get staff back into the workplace. One council decided to mandate all staff came back to the office at least 3 days a week. This was done under the guise of - they wanted to see the place and town full of people. No discussions were had with the workforce. Guess how that went?

Significantly this period of time has challenged the paradigms upon which our current organisations are built. This ‘Victorian’ paradigm has stood the test of time in organising ‘people as resources’ and remained the mainstay of thinking for our oldest institutions.

Our HR departments are charged as being custodians of the rules that govern people at work. Often, we are asked to work within this way of thinking and find ourselves created ever more intricate rules to meet the ever-changing needs of our diverse people. We are so afraid of ‘setting precedents’ in policies, we often miss opportunities and follow common sense.

When a leadership team is trying to make collective sense of what is happening in the environment, they may typically use a business analysis tool such as SWOT or PESTEL and arrange several meetings to work through the different questions.

This can create a number of issues.

Firstly the main issue is about who is having this conversation. This scenario assumes that leaders do all the thinking when clearly there is a diverse world of lived experience and wisdom in the people that they lead. How do they tap into that?

Secondly as soon as the pen is put down, things will change. How does a team stay on top of, or better still, ahead of the curve?

Missing crucial environment signals can lead to catastrophic failure. We have already had one or two high profile examples.

Let’s consider the once well-known video rental chain Blockbuster Video. Blockbuster famously rejected the purchase of Netflix and tried, in vain, to remain relevant in a market that was increasingly moving to online streaming.

Blockbuster had time to adapt and change, but they resolutely stood by their model and refused to acknowledge Netflix.

Where are Blockbuster now? Where are Netflix?

In the high street retail sector, a similar pattern has seen several “big names” wiped off the high street thanks to the advent of online clothing retailers such as boohoo (who now own Burton, Debenhams. com, Dorothy Perkins, Warehouse, Oasis, Karen Millen Coast and Wallis).

Being aware of the external environment is one thing, finding new ways of solving problems is another. We need to be able to make timely and informed decisions about strategy and tactics.

We are facing equally complex challenges today, yet we are still using linear (Victorian) paradigms to come up with solutions.

We need a different approach. How do we do the right thing Vs get better at processes? We need a mindset that puts people and the dynamics between people at the heart of the conversation. I would argue that this is a key moment for HR to reinvent its purpose as the function of the organisation that not only cares for people, but works with its people to optimise and improve organisational performance. What is very clear is that we are the practitioners. We now need to be the change. There are no rules for right now, well actually, there are some rules that could apply here.

Here are a few suggestions:

• be courageous and brave

• be credible and challenging

• balance the unconventional with conventional

• be connected to like-minded people,

• tap into the ‘wisdom of the crowd’

We need to find ways of having these trickier conversations. It is down to us to support people to trust each and work through their differences. This is the challenge if we are to move ahead of the curve.

Are you ready for the challenge?