Changing Landscape of Workplace Dynamics - An eye opener for every working professional!

Part ONE - Paradigm Shift in the Landscape of Hiring

I met a friend who works for a Top MNC recently. It was rather surprising to know that her company paid her almost 40% higher than a competing postgraduate with her kind of experience, with a small difference. She is a graduate of Christ University, Bengaluru with a humble academic scoreline, no MBA/MCA, etc. but you can bet on her numbers. Her performance in the last two companies was phenomenally applauded due to the big-ticket size customers she built a network following revenue of $50 million dollars in a span of 3 years.

What added to her performance was the amazing seniors who supported her through thick and thin...she accredits her career trajectory to them and can go out of her way to please them.

So what is changing in our World of Work?

With the growing need for innovative strategies to curb Brain Drain and provide for an employee-friendly work environment, every organization has to radically bring about a change in their Workplace Dynamics.

Traditional hiring methods have been so far largely based on degrees and cater to conventional experience types but the current business dynamics demand Skill-based hiring that measures a professional's capability basis the skills and competencies that the desired role requires.

A shift in Skill-based strategy hiring helps the HR fraternity work on the exact abilities that the role calls for.

This methodology increases the chances of high-caliber hiring hence resulting in an efficient and effective workforce that helps organizations compete globally in attracting and retaining as relevant talent as possible.

Secondly, this avenue leads to continuous learning improvements in the workforce keeping them motivated and remaining charged up to take on new challenges and bring about disruptions in working patterns. Further helps in fostering a work atmosphere where learning and development are aligned with career progression.

While degrees and conventional experiences lead one to miss the opportunity of having a diversified perspective within their organization, Skill-based hiring, on the other hand, allows access to a broader and much richer talent base as it recognizes the potential non-conventional graduates bring across the table coming from no-Top tier B-schools but self-taught professionals coming from humble educational paths.

Nonetheless, the above move helps encourage inclusivity and equal opportunity. Skill-based hiring helps reward professionals who break down the barriers defined by socio-economic backgrounds and access to a solid education. With India heading to becoming a $5 Trillion Economy, Skills-based education and hiring practices can be an enabling force for the marginalized sections of society to drive greater inclusion in economic growth and societal advancement.

Reduces Subjectivity involved in the Hiring Process

The best part about Skill-based hiring is the best-fit employer-employee fitment is encouraged.

Objective-oriented hiring gives a more realistic idea of the candidate's skill while mitigating the risk of wrong hiring or skills mismatch leading to a reduction in turnover rates due to employee dissatisfaction.

Technological Innovations are Faster than We Thought

Fostering lifelong learning amongst employees with skill-based hiring processes followed brings about a competitive eco-system for employers and employees, suggesting employers remain upbeat on talent acquisition that would be future-proof evolving with the industry while employees stay relevant and employable throughout their career trajectory irrespective of the role they are in.

Reduction of Cost per Hire and maximizing it's ROI

Skill-based assessments fast-track the hiring process by focusing on candidates with targeted skill sets. Enables a company to wisely invest its money in attraction and retention programs so that businesses are left to focus on recruiting the best available minds. This maximizes ROI and gives an edge over competitors in the global landscape for the respective industry.

?To sum up, Skill-based Hiring is an extremely powerful tool for organizations to gain a competitive edge by creating a workforce that is adaptive, resilient and up-to-date with the relevant skills over and above their qualifications. This paradigm shift of skills over qualifications is a call for the future leaving a foundation of sustained growth and competitiveness.

PART TWO - Are we bidding Goodbye to the Traditional 9 - 5 Work culture in Full-time Employment?

As businesses spearhead towards accommodating AI and Gen AI techniques in dealing with data, the traditional jobs that had a 9-5 kind of culture are soon being replaced by Gig employment. We aren't far from a time when every second professional working as a Gig-employee on a contract defines his timelines of work demanding pay per hour.

COVID-19 for most of us is reminisced as a misfortune due to the mammoth havoc it brought in each of our lives, however post-COVID era has seen its share of benefits too.

The flexible work arrangements and gig economy driven by hybrid work environments have transformed traditional 9 - 5 jobs in unimaginable ways.

With Work, Workplace, and Work Culture going through an evolution, GenZ’s and Millenials are embracing challenging and intellectually stimulating work environments that are not only monetarily satisfactory but also ensure the convenience of working from anywhere to propel productivity.

The Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace 2013 has also extended its definition of Workplace to Virtual workspaces and Homes where an employee interacts with their colleagues and carries on his work from there.

The Work Culture is also becoming more adaptive to accommodate more employees - centricity fostering a growth-oriented and supportive environment.

The growing Gig-Economy according to reports from the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India, it is expected that India will have 350 million gig jobs by mid-2025 clearly indicating a growing preference for freelance and contract-based work, especially in the Technology space.

The need for upskilling and reskilling has become more pronounced as digitalization and automation become evident to reshape India’s young labor market.

Unlike traditional Full-time employment, gig workers are more like entrepreneurs who need skills in financial management, networking, and developing partnerships along with human psychology skills to be able to “walk the talk”.

I am eager to hear about your experience -

• Your perspective of Workplace dynamics!
• What is your idea about a Future Work Environment?
• Do you think Employers have become tolerant of your personal commitments during work hours without hesitation giving you a TIME-OUT?

At the end note, I leave you with a thought-provoking article that has somewhat shaken up the LinkedIn communities.

https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/workplace/employee-fired-linkedin-post-toxic-workplaces-online-surveillance-9565485/