Job shares, part time work,
compressed work weeks, partial benefits, work from home and contract services
are set to become the norm rather than the exception.
To compete effectively for skilled
knowledgeable workers, organizations need to embrace this new more fluid world
of work and become more effective at recruiting talent on more flexible
terms and providing them with long term
career “building blocks”.
Contracting on steroids
Gone are the days where you will
have a single employer for life. Estimates
are that kids graduating today will on average, work for up to 28 companies
during their careers. In this type of employment
environment, individuals will need to take even more responsibility for their
own careers than ever before. The
analogy of a “gun for hire” will apply across the board even for permanent employees
within large organizations. Building
your resume based on successful achievements will be the only guarantee to get
the next gig, whether it is a two month project or a three year stint in a role. While some companies may face internal
culture challenges based on how they have previously viewed contract workers vs
permanent employees, the line will continue to blur. As companies continue to fight for the best
talent and individuals come to terms with the reality that everyone really is replaceable,
organizations will need to “modularize” their work to provide individuals with
tighter results driven “success deliverables” that can be viewed as long term portable
career “building blocks” acceptable both within the organization itself for the
next role or outside at the next job.
Yes – reality check – It’s time for
individuals to take control of their own destiny, but corporations will need to
step up to the plate here too. While
leading organizations continue to focus on traditional benefits as a way to
maintain a happy committed workforce, the recent recession has shown that even
the best (and often most highly paid) employees are not exempt from downsizing.
In a world where individuals will continually
be changing their positions employers will still have benefit contributions (such
as healthcare, financial services and life insurance) as a lever to attract
staff, but companies along with their group benefit providers will need to
offer more flexible and transportable offerings along with the ability to contribute directly to individuals existing
plans.
In this “New World of Work” individuals
will need to embrace the more flexible work environment for the upside that it
provides – better work life balance, new challenges and more freedom. For many it means “accepting” less security but
in reality this is just accepting that previously they had an illusion of
security since there employment was never guaranteed. In this “New World of Work” there will be an
increasing need for individual networking and community connections, both to
foster the longer term, purpose and social components that many people receive
from their work environment as well as identifying the next role or work
opportunity, and forming the basis for large scale collective bargaining associations
that in the past have come through employers or unions.
These changes will not occur
overnight, they are long term trends which will continue to morph and evolve on
a global scale.
