STORY C OVER 38
Clarity of deliverables, technology to support collaboration, and platforms to unleash creativity can make a job into a real dream job ments - e.g. working parents could manage their children and aging parents at home. This fundamental change has now left many believing that they do not want to go back to the earlier regimented way of working. Backed by knowledge and flexibility, employees now have the ball in their court. In other words, COVID19 has shifted the power dynamics, finally placing the worker in the driver’s seat of their career, replacing the traditional ways of working which had remained unchallenged till now. Now that remote work and flexibility demands are a reality, organisations mandating work from office as they did in pre-COVID | may 2022
days are facing backlash, challenges, and imminent threats to their talent pool. With businesses expanding and the evident shortage of required skill sets, employees know that they can easily find a job that offers flexibility and would choose a job that offers what they need over one that does not. They are more likely to quit to find a better job or speak up to seek improvements in their working conditions at the current job. Certainly, workers now have more power than ever in deciding and designing their careers and can choose to work with corporations that offer the desired value proposition. Well, it’s not only a question of flexibility. An equally
important aspect to many is the heightened autonomy and effectiveness in meeting life and work demands, pursuing hobbies, devoting time to other critical aspects like self-learning, and so on. In some cases, people have realised that they don’t want to return to one employer at all. Armed with skill sets and aspiring to achieve effectiveness, many are out to tap the opportunities which the evolving gig economy has to offer. The future of the workforce, work, and workers has changed for sure! From the employer’s perspective, this shift is going to be massive and with many ramifications. The need of the hour is to evolve a hybrid remote-office model of working which is likely to balance the flexibility offered by remote work, coupled with the benefits of social interactions which is needed for creativity and innovation to happen. We present this figure to depict how the employee is at the centre of action now. The key shifts required by the organisations being – Career, Connect, and Organisational Culture, underpinned by leadership mindsets. These in turn will enable the much needed trust, flexibility and autonomy for the employees. Career growth is an important consideration for employees and is playing a critical role in both attraction and retention. The defi-
