Parent Post
Many senior executives are
Many senior executives are struggling with an urgent talent crisis: the Great Resignation.
But there’s an upside to this upheaval. The steps companies take now to stop the bleeding can also stand them in good stead for an even bigger shift.
Call it the Great Reimagination: a fundamental reexamination of workplace systems that can help businesses weather the future shocks sure to arise.
Here are four key shifts to consider.
From flex work to
From flex work to flex everything
The big shift
Companies should move from a focus on engaging employees for the benefit of the company to creating value for workers as whole human beings and key stakeholders.
Getting started:
- Conduct a pay audit and adjust pay to ensure compensation is fair in a rapidly evolving market.
- Offer to flex the “where” of work—e.g., with hybrid work models—and the “why” of work—e.g., offering options to perform work aligned with people’s personal motivations.
- Flex the “what” of work.
From Prediction to Rapid
From Prediction to Rapid Experimentation
The Big Shift
In an increasingly complex and unpredictable world, companies should stop trying to predict the future and instead develop an ongoing culture of experimentation, testing, learning, and iteration.
Getting started:
- Use the data you have now to develop insights into the root causes of attrition.
- Engage in predictive modeling and scenario planning; for instance, analyze various employee-employer relationship scenarios.
- Focus on launching experiments to learn rapidly and build organizational momentum, communicating success and failures along the way.
From Jobs to SkillsThe
From Jobs to Skills
The big shift
Companies should shift from thinking that the best way to connect people with work is through static jobs to reimagining work as a landscape of tasks and skills that dynamically evolves with business priorities.
Getting started:
- To expand the candidate pool, look at skills and adjacent skills instead of academic degrees or previous experience.
- Leverage AI to enable recruiters to find candidates with the skills for specific needs.
- Seek out untapped capabilities.
From Employees to Workforce
From Employees to Workforce Ecosystems
The big shift
Larger, more diverse, and dynamic workforce ecosystems can be pivotal to an organization’s ability to thrive but likely require revising management and talent practices.
Getting started:
- Tap a broader talent pool. To fill urgent business needs, reach out beyond your employees to contractors, gig workers, etc.
- Rearchitect critical workstreams. Identify the outcomes to be achieved—then get creative about the resources needed to produce them.
- Explore untapped talent segments. When hiring, consider such segments as alumni, people who can work remotely, etc.
