Month: January 2020

An increasing number of younger managers choose temporary managerial assignments. What are they powered by? And what does this mean for the employer and the organization?

Suddenly we read about the gig economy everywhere. That more and more young people choose flexibility and freedom over permanent employment. We read about their driving forces, lifestyle and values. About the emergence of networks for digital nomads. But also, about how employers need to think about how to attract gig workers, and to give them reasonable conditions regarding insurance and pensions.

How should we think about recruiting managers? Are gig managers just a new word for interim managers, an arrangement for time-limited jobs that have been around and worked for decades? It was one of the areas of our recent conference in the INAC network. It became clear that we, across offices in the different parts of the world, share the same picture; now more and more young managers are choosing to form their own company and take temporary managerial assignments – and the development is fast.

From mainly being about senior executives bridging a vacancy or running a specific change project, and not always being completely self-elected but an opportunity towards the end of a long managerial career, we now meet more and more young executives who refuse to accept permanent employment. “If your client is looking to drive this change with full force for a year, I am interested in taking it as a limited time assignment. If they want to hire someone, I’m not the right person”.

Who are the gig managers?

Those we meet are driven by a clear mission where they can use their skills and power to deliver visible results in a short time. They get the energy out of working with change. They are curious and interested in working in different organizations and cultures. They want to feel free, engage in their own or others’ projects for periods of time, or have simply found their way to create a balance between work, family and home time.

What do they add?

After discussing with clients who have tried young gig managers, we get mixed conclusions. Several says that “they come in with energy and power and start their change mission without starting distance”. They bring new perspectives and other experiences of everything from technical solutions to work procedures and methods.

Some say that “they become like a management consultant on the inside, they are part of the organization the time they are here”. Since they do not already have relationships and loyalties in the organization, they experience great freedom of movement internally; they can tear apart invisible structures and bridge old barriers. We also hear that “they make clear demands on their employees and they make people talk to each other and move forward”.

And the downside?

Lack of continuity and long-term view is – not surprisingly – what first comes up in our conversations. They do not have the time to create an overall picture of the business and the organization and they do not have the prerequisites to foresee the consequences of their actions. A common reflection is that “what gives a positive effect in the short term may have downsides that need to be taken care of later – when they are long gone”.

Our clients also agree on the downside from the employees’ perspective. They are energized and challenged by their gig manager, but they lack a manager with longer perspectives on their development and they lack the sense of security and belonging that comes with a longer working relationship with their manager.

“Certainly a gig manager, but not several in a row!”

Anna Persson – INAC Sweden

We know that the workforce of the future will be different. Weʼre already experiencing dramatic changes in the composition of workers. Baby boomers are retiring in record numbers, and beyond millennials, weʼre seeing generation z enter the workforce. As we move towards the majority of workers being digital natives, these tech savvy employees have different expectations about working. Below weʼll look at three top HR trends for 2020 and beyond.

Remote Working

Whether you embrace or fight the idea of employing remote workers, the shift toward remote working is gaining more and more momentum. In fact, some companies in the technology space are fully remote by design. By using cloud resources, they can eliminate the overhead cost of facilities yet provide full access to systems regardless of employee location.

Remote working has also become a perk that many job seekers request. Be it full-time remote, or a couple of days a week, the perk has benefits for both the employee and the company. For example, employees that arenʼt tied to specific hours can work when they are most productive, regardless of the time of day. And companies in rural areas have a better chance of attracting more top-notch talent since the employees donʼt have to relocate.

Technology has made it easy to manage distributed workforces. With tools like Slack, Trello, Google Hangouts, etc… itʼs as easy to connect with someone halfway around the world as it is someone down the hall. This also applies to HR. You can now access larger candidate pools as well as SaaS solutions that make it easier to manage the process.

Employee Satisfaction

According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), the key to happy customers is happy employees. Per the article, “Becoming a customer-centric business is a worthwhile goal. But our research reminds business leaders that becoming more customer-oriented while allowing workplace morale to suffer is a poor and short-sighted strategy. Instead, customer and employee satisfaction should be seen as two sides of the same coin.”

If you havenʼt already, setting up programs that provide honest, two-way lines of communication is imperative to improving the employee experience. Providing a voice to employees invests them in the company. When people are heard and acknowledged, you can reduce turnover rates, increase productivity, and improve financial results.

Another area that can improve employee satisfaction is wellness. We are just now realizing the impact on the entire company that wellness can have. From sick days to retention rates, wellness encompasses both physical and mental wellbeing. Encouraging physical wellness can be achieved through programs such as gym memberships or reimbursement, providing healthy snacks, and related initiatives.

Encouraging mental wellness is a newer issue for HR teams, even though burnout and anxiety are not new issues in the workplace. These often undiscussed issues are the first things that will undermine your corporate culture. A great first step is simply acknowledging that mental health is important to the company. By bringing the issue into the open, you destigmatize it. In addition to encouraging people to use their EAP benefits, make sure you set up an open door policy, encourage work-life balance, and be flexible when discussing mental wellbeing issues with employees.

Retraining

Technology has forever changed how we work. This has opened up an entirely new world of opportunities for people. Jobs that could be automated, have been creating new, more fulfilling jobs. However, these roles require new skills. And many of these new roles have job shortages because there simply arenʼt enough people with the requisite skills.

The area of retraining is, for the most part, new to HR. Never before have we seen this kind of workplace transformation happen this quickly. Ongoing learning has been a requirement in certain fields, but in todayʼs landscape, itʼs becoming a given, for every industry. And HR must lead the charge in identifying skill sets in employees who are interested in learning a new role.

According to Heide Abelli, Senior Vice President, Content Product Management at Skillsoft, “The growing sense of urgency to address gaps in the readiness of the workforce to execute on the digital agenda. With the introduction of new roles, the elimination of outdated roles, the increased scope of responsibility in key roles and the removal of management layers, the challenge around talent readiness is enormous.”

In assessing both the hard and soft skills of employees, HR can set up individual learning programs using online and or classroom learning. Programs like LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com), or Bootcamps like AppAcademy can provide intensive training programs in a short amount of time. We expect to see continued evolution and growth of retraining programs in 2020.

If you have questions or wish to explore further please send us a note. Our global team of executive recruiters can help you build out your leadership team, address culture needs, and provide guidance on how these and other HR trends and how they may be affecting your business.

Jon Gordon – INAC USA

Dear reader,

who does not know the phrase: the customer is king. A bold and delightful idea that never had the potential to become a reality. Nobody wants to serve the king, instead everyone wants to be the king. This may be one out of numerous reasons why this marketing sentence was never more than lip service.

In the meantime, (marketing-wise) the king has become a hero. The customer is no longer the passive regent to whom the gifts are offered, but is given the opportunity to be a hero himself with the support and experience of a mentor (supplier) to receive individual support, “a hero allowed to do some good things”.

The concept of a hero has an excellent chance to survive in the long term. It highlights the fact that it is up to the customer whether he makes something out of the “offer” (product or service) for himself or not. He is not the passive recipient, but rather the active co-designer. This concept, which is becoming increasingly common in advertising, becomes apparent using the example of construction markets. The DIY store-concept create heroes who do their own thing by turning complex projects into reality.

From psychological point of view a brilliant move to make the customer a hero, because it is an appeal to him to dream and make his wishes come true. He has the choice: become a hero or remain a squire.

Lothar Grünewald – INAC Germany

The New Challenge 

A core challenge over the next decade will be to attract and retain a skilled workforce as the labor market continues to tighten, technology continues to evolve, and fewer foreign students immigrate to Britain in the wake of a politically challenging environment.

This situation is exacerbated as companies find themselves managing four generations of workers:

• Baby Boomers (Born between 1946 and 1964) 
• Generation Xers (Born between 1965 and 1980) 
• Generation Ys or Millennials (born after 1980) 
• Generation Z (and were born between 1995 and 2015) 

The number of Millennial and Gen Z employees is expected to surpass Baby Boomers (individuals in their late 50s and older) by the end of 2019 and they will comprise nearly half of the total working population by 2020. 

Today, you never know what generations will be represented in any room you step into—every meeting with clients, new customers or colleagues; every networking event; every recruiting or interview conversation—could include people up to six decades apart in age and work experience. 

Each group has its own distinct characteristics, values, and attitudes toward work, based on its generation’s life experiences. To successfully integrate these diverse generations into the workplace, companies will need to embrace radical changes in recruitment, benefits, and creating a corporate culture that actively demonstrates respect and inclusion for its multigenerational work force. 

The Modern Workforce 

Let’s take a look at each generation individually: 

Baby Boomers. Boomers are the first generation to actively declare a higher priority for work over personal life. They generally distrust authority and large systems. Their values were shaped primarily by a rise in civil rights activism. They are more optimistic and open to change than the prior generation, but they are also responsible for the “Me Generation,” with its pursuit of personal gratification, which often shows up as a sense of entitlement in today’s workforce.

The term “baby boomers” emerged in the US to describe the group of the population born between the end of the second world war and the early 1960s, there has been less consensus in the UK as to who the baby boomers are. # 

Generation Xers. Generation Xers are often considered the “slacker” generation. They naturally question authority figures and are responsible for creating the work/life balance concept. Born in a time of declining population growth, this generation of workers possesses strong technical skills and is more independent than the prior generations. Because Gen Xers place a lower priority on work, many company leaders from the Baby Boomer generation assume these workers are not as dedicated; however, Gen Xers are willing to develop their skill sets and take on challenges and are perceived as very adaptive to job instability in the post-downsizing environment. 

Millennials or Generation Ys. This group is the first global-centric generation, having come of age during the rapid growth of the Internet and an increase in global terrorism. They are among the most resilient in navigating change while deepening their appreciation for diversity and inclusion. With significant gains in technology and an increase in educational programming during the 1990s, the Millennials are also the most educated generation of workers today. Additionally, they represent the most team-centric generation as they have grown up at a time where parents programmed much of their lives with sports, music, and recreational activities to keep them occupied while their Boomer parents focused on work. Gen Z: This generation are true digital natives: from their youth, they have been exposed to the internet, social networks, and mobile systems. The newest generation on the block has grown up in a hyper-connected world making them globally connected but politically anxious. Unlike millennials, they’re characterized as very resourceful but they both share the same goal of wanting to have an impact on the world.

How to approach the multi-generational challenge 

As these four generations continue to interact, companies can no longer assume that high pay will secure the top talent. As more Baby Boomers seek “post-retirement careers,” Gen Xers demand challenging but balanced work assignments, Millennials expect high perks in exchange for loyalty therefore, leaders must find creative ways to recruit and retain talent. 

Reenergize your compensation and benefits. Companies must approach compensation, benefits, and incentives to satisfy the needs of each generation’s unique perspectives, attitudes, and values about work. For example, as more people retire later in life, many will want a different approach to working as opposed to increased compensation. Younger people may value more flexibility in their careers, like assignments that foster new skill sets they can apply in later years. Older workers may want research assignments and paid sabbaticals during which they can engage in learning programs. Don’t assume that everyone loves your current benefits plan. Many companies now offer flexible hours, alternate work schedules, and telecommuting. Findings from IWG’s Global Business Survey found that each week, 70% of employees are working somewhere other than the office for at least one day. 

Expand your communication strategies. Most companies rely too heavily on one strategy for corporate communication. By making the same message available in multiple formats (thus increasing the number of times you communicate a message), you’ll ensure that you reach all workers. Baby Boomers may appreciate verbal communication about changes in policy or procedures, while Generation Xers and Millennials may prefer the use of e-mail, instant messages, or corporate broadcasts. 

Conduct generational information awareness/sharing sessions. A great way to get people to work together across the generations is to provide them with an opportunity to educate each other about each generation’s own history, characteristics, milestone events, culture, language, and norms. Rather than talking at your people, have representatives from each age-based generation put together programming to educate people and facilitate dialogue. 

Fostering engagement across generational lines 

Take note of new approaches to employee engagement. There has been a rise in the development of employees mobilising and creating working groups on topics that are important to them. Self-directed groups focused on diversity, including gender, race and sexuality are some of the most common ones present in organisations today. Businesses must take the time to understand the reasons these groups are forming and find ways to support them through integrating them into existing corporate structures without alienating the participants. It’s essential to create an environment where employees can bring their whole selves to work without feeling as if they must hide important parts of their identity to feel comfortable in the workplace. 

There has been a rise in the development of employees mobilising and creating working groups on topics that are important to them. Self-directed groups focused on diversity, including gender, race and sexuality are some of the most common ones present in organisations today. Businesses must take the time to understand the reasons these groups are forming and find ways to support them through integrating them into existing corporate structures without alienating the participants. It’s essential to create an environment where employees can bring their whole selves to work without feeling as if they must hide important parts of their identity to feel comfortable in the workplace.

Make mentoring a constant. As your more established and experienced workers head toward retirement, develop strategies to ensure knowledge transfer and capture organisational memory. The more structure you can lend to your mentoring program to create knowledge transfer the better. First determine younger employees’ goals and developmental needs, and then pair them with older, more experienced employees to create cross-organisational dialogue among generations. Consider various mentoring models—one-on-one sessions, group programs, senior leadership discussion panels, and a “speed mentoring” program where employees sit across from company experts to ask questions. No matter what method you choose, making mentoring a part of the employment life cycle will ensure that the company’s history and knowledge continues from one generation to the next. 

Conclusion

With the variety of multigenerational employees in today’s workplace, companies can no longer abide by traditional rules of leadership and management. Organisations can achieve real strategic advantage by embracing the diversity among generations to create a flexible work environment that values all people and keeps them productive, regardless of age. 

Train yourself and your managers to develop strong interpersonal skills to foster relationships with employees and each other. A leader’s primary responsibility is to ensure that everyone in the organisation understands that “working together” is not negotiable. Create a respectful, open and inclusive environment where workers of all ages and cultural backgrounds can share who they are without fear of being judged, “fixed,” or changed. Leaders must remain open to new ideas and provide constant feedback, working with managers and staff to shape the company’s strategic vision. They must avoid projecting their own expectations about work and remain open to different perspectives based on generational attitudes. 

Michelle Carson-Williams – INAC United Kingdom

Amy Speake  – INAC United Kingdom