Author: Rui Borges

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