Use The Force: Tapping Into The Power Of The Emerging Workforce

It’s time to rethink your workforce dynamics

Work from the office or you lose your job.  

We need you back in the office on Monday and Wednesday.  

We think you can be more productive if we split the days that we are needed in the office.  

I even heard the linkage of the importance of the water cooler, of all places. Had to laugh at that one.
 

We all have heard variations of these directives. The messaging says that we can not be productive, innovative, or efficient unless we try as hard as we can to move back into the cocoon of that post-industrial comfort zone known as the office.

The 3 Ws: Work, Workplace & Workforce

There are so many dynamics at play as we gingerly try and readjust to a new and emerging workforce, work, and workplace.  My phrase for this is the 3 Ws.  We are entering into an age of major disruptions, and this has nothing to do with strategy, business models, etc.  

This era is based on trying to create the next model of work.  We have no playbook to reference.  We are all trodding along and trying to figure out this post-industrial age model of work.
When I read these directives, I think about our “parents’ workforce”, who would have “blindly” abided by the new work model.  Would they be happy? Probably not. Would they rebel? Probably not.

A New and Dynamic Workforce

The new and emerging workforce is going to be a force to be reckoned with.  I was in Hong Kong pre-covid during the demonstrations.  While we watched from the window and how these young people were challenging authority, letting their voices be heard, not afraid to speak up.  For the most part a peaceful yet boisterous demonstration.  They were not afraid.
As things calmed down and we moved back to our PPT, whiteboards, etc., I posed a question to the group of senior-level HR executives.  How are we going to manage this type of workforce?  This is the new emerging workforce.  They are vocal, they are willing to share their thoughts, and don’t buy into long-term tenure.  
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your new workforce.
The new emerging workforce, made up of mostly young people between the ages of 20 and 35, is shifting work environments across the globe. Thanks to technology we no longer communicate solely via email or need to have in-person meetings every day.

The Pendulum has Swung

The facts are in and they can not be disputed.  There is an unprecedented shift in the way we work, and it is NOT going back to the starting gate.  This is a new era, and we should all be excited.  We have a blank slate, create like you do not have a reference point.  Every organization will have to find a workable solution.  Forget about best practices because their best practice is not your solution.  Every organization has a DNA, and your DNA may not coincide with the best practice.
The pendulum has swung and for the first time in the world of work, the organization can no longer dictate.  The power dynamic has swung in another direction and your employees as a group will have to be involved in this new model of decision-making.  You have always said in the past that they were your most “valuable asset”.  Well, now that most valuable asset is in the driver’s seat.

C Suite Mindset: Carved in Stone?

My advice to the C-Suite is what are you afraid of?  Your mindset is your greatest impediment.  You must let go. You must connect to your workforce.  You were successful in another environment.  Your career trajectory worked in that model.  Your younger executive team is not anchored into that zone and may want change.  Let it go and LISTEN.  They are hankering to give you their insight.  
The new work decision model for workforce dynamic is bottoms up and not top-down the way that it used to be.
So, going forward, there are two things that an organization needs to work on.  

1.    Listening Strategy.

Get away from the conference room while making decisions, especially if it involves your workforce.  If you look around in the decision room and it only has your peers…cancel it and bring more voices into the decision-making process.  Have all your managers develop listening skills.  Brand the organization as a listener.  However, the catch is to listen and then respond.  Remember they are watching.

2.    Communication Strategy.  

The email announcement is a thing of the past. Imagine your marketing department designing a strategy where it is one size communication fits all.  Not a successful strategy. Understand the segments of your workforce. Define and understand the DNA of your workforce and the segments.  Design a structured approach with the flexibility to communicate whether it is all hands-on meetings, smaller group interactions…I call it ‘connect first, collaborate second’.
We are all struggling whether it is virtual, loneliness, overwhelmed, etc.  This is exactly why we must rethink the workforce dynamics.  We might as well because that long-ago model is a thing of the past and it is not coming back.

Author Bio

Ron Thomas is the Managing Director of Strategy Focused Group, an international consulting firm based in Dubai and Singapore. Ron has been most recently named in leadersHum Power List of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership list to watch for in 2022. His podcast, “The CEO Series”, is named one among the ‘Top 9 HR Podcasts You Need To Follow In 2022’. He is a visiting executive faculty member at the Global Human Resources Leadership Institute at Howard University School of Business in Washington, DC.  Visit www.strategyfocusedhr.com  Connect Ron Thomas