Back to the future maybe

There's lots of chat at the moment about lights and tunnels in connection with the pandemic.

Is this cause for cautious celebration? Maybe not.

It might be our future is more like our past than we want it to be.

Leadership priorities

In a post published in Quartz at the end of 2021 Nicolás Rivero highlighted research from the management consultancy AlixPartners around the priorities of CEOs in 2022. He shared input from 3000 leaders of companies with annual revenues of over $100 million. They were located in the?US, Canada,?UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland,?China, and?Japan. So a sound, global survey, not a LinkedIn poll followed by a social media announcement heralding a new "truth" with the authenticity of a Kardashian.

Rivero focused on the lack of attention paid to COVID which came in at a disturbingly low 3%. But for me it had greater significance and generated another question.

Where are all the people?

See below the disruptive forces which CEOs planned to prioritize in the next 12 months. None of them involve people, except for a tiny after thought piece at the end.

But at a time when everyone is still calling for workplaces to become more human and people centred, the three of the top four priorities are around AI.

What does this mean for the the future of our workplaces? Will we see the fundamental shift we were hoping for at the start of the pandemic in the structure of the way we work? In the early days of COVID, many organisations responded positively to support their staff. There are now some reports that many leaders would like to revert to pre-pandemic conditions including working arrangements and overall benefits.

It really is as clear as blancmange.

Hybrid or remote

One area where we still lack clarity is on the issue of remote and hybrid work. In his podcast with Peter Cappelli of Wharton Business School, leadership coach Mark Crowley focuses directly on that topic echoing my observations.

Capelli suggests that many organisations are treading water, holding off making firm decisions, possibly waiting to see what happens on the market. He also indicates that some employers are even dialing back on previous commitments, with an increasing number heading back to the office.

Embracing change allows organisations to act, not react, to any situation with a planned strategy. Employees expect that now and if organisations don't offer it, they will find one that does, maybe with a competitor. Everyone has worked successfully remotely since the start of the pandemic, but many managers still worry about loss of control even though remote work options shouldn't mean a drop in productivity. Promoting the well being of employees by helping them achieve a better balance, was found to improve efficiency and productivity.

Lack of training

Studies from earlier in the pandemic indicated that when?organisations seriously committed to flexible working provide practical support (e.g., training) there were tangible positive outcomes.

One of the core issues is around trust. Research from Vyopta Wakefield mentions that managers who are micro-managed themselves, find it harder to change their management style. This suggests that barriers can be rooted in wider cultural issues related to openness and willingness to change.

Experience vacuum

Set against this we have the trend of people leaving their jobs in large numbers. But it's not just the young, bright and bold who are calling it a day to give their careers a boost. There is also an increase in resignation rates in older, more measured demographics. They are not sitting in fields contemplating the meaning of life but are going to other organisations.

The one demographic where this is still uncertain, is women who are leading the way in the workplace exodus at 55.4% compared to 47.2% (men.) Many of whom are still not in the workforce.

This is movement is leaving not only an experience vacuum in many business, but creating a gender balance gap.

New skills

We also know that people leave bosses not organisations, but now it seems that it's the bosses who are leaving. For most people in this age group, the pandemic was a source of stress and anxiety . Many were dealing with child and elder care, plus home schooling, in addition to working in pandemic conditions. On top of this they were frequently themselves in middle management roles.

Running hybrid and remote teams takes a different set of skills, especially with a general spike in mental health issues. In the Forrester report on the Changing Attitudes About Mental Health Care and the Workplace 71% of managers say that in the past year, "they have been asked to do more than ever to support their employees. But most felt ill-equipped to manage newly remote workers while supporting the mental health of their direct reports."

Buyer and seller remorse

My anecdotal experience is that in the "great reshuffling" or whatever you want to call it, is not going as smoothly as anticipated. I am starting to see both buyer and seller remorse. According to research from BambooHR, even pre-pandemic in 2018, 31% of new hires typically leave a job within six months.

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence, as many are already finding out. It can be difficult to get a handle on jobs and people you only ever met through Zoom and you onboard and work remotely. For some it works fine, but for others less so. Many are hoping for a wonderful opportunity or new recruit, but sometimes they don't meet expectations. I'm looking forward to seeing some data on this, although Lisa Rangel Recruiter and Executive Resume writer confirms a similar experience in the U.S..

Revolving doors

This situation may also require a mindset shift, and opens up the discussion about what we should be doing differently to deal with this constantly revolving door of talent and candidates. Not forgetting that organisations still have the unsolved problem of chronic talent deficits, with no clear policy about their workplace structure in place as yet. Offering flexible working should not only help attract the best talent to improve the quality of the candidate pipeline and widen the reach. Once hired it should encourage them to stay.

Should we be making it easier for candidates, especially women, who have left an organisation to return to the fold by expanding alumni programmes? This will definitely mean hiring managers and recruiters overcoming their longevity bias, that is penalising candidates who don't stay in jobs very long. Job hoppers in the vernacular.

Flight risks

If managers can see that they have a flight risk on their team, they could try to find out what that person needs change their mind . Jess Von Bank, Head of Marketing for Leapgen suggests "If you have red flags on the team, address it. Bald-faced. Ask what would make them stay." ?

And if there is no possibility to forward, and we know that counter offers don't work, Jess says "Better yet, if you have a red flag on the team and they’re not a save, ask them to help back fill their own position and pay them double the referral bonus. So worth it, especially if you can create overlap."

How optimistic are you? Is our future really our past?

Let me know.

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