A More Flexible Work Environment

The expanding need for highly skilled workers and the commitments and cost model of FTE’s are driving changes in the Employer : Employee relationship.

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.