The Expectations Conundrum

We are living through a lot of change and sometimes in our busy schedules, we tend to miss the bigness of the emerging trends. Taking a few days break during Dusshera time, gave me an opportunity, to reflect on what we have been witnessing in the area of changing priorities and expectations that employees / managers have from their bosses / employer firms. Being in the head hunting / search business, gives us an opportunity to understand the “expectation perspective” independently from employees and equally from employers. My key points:

1. Work – the key priority?

Post covid times, have seen a dramatic shift in the priorities of the younger generation, specially at the work front (I am referring to people working in the private sector, across multiple industries, MNC or Indian companies and below the age of 35 or people with under 15year work experience.)

?2. What mattered at Work.

In 2010-2020, and more so before that, company & job ranked very high in people’s priorities. By and large the aspiration was for a professional and stable company, a well-paying job and a company which could give learning opportunities and a career, at least for the next 5-10 years. The emphasis, hence was on “career, learning opportunity, stability, professionalism” and as long as the work / job was offering these, people had a sense of achievement and by and large did not feel the need to look outside, except if there was an important personal or family reason or where a change of location was required.

?3. The New Paradigm

(a) Job and career are no longer the fulcrum in a lot of young people’s life. Thanks to factors like the entrepreneurial boom, the impact of covid, the increased information on health and wellness (including mental health) and people being more open, in this social media world. The aspirations in life do not start from the job or company anymore. Job is still one of the important things, but life need not necessarily revolve around job and career.

(b) This new axis is defining a purpose or a set of priorities for life – which involve around interests, passions, experiences and what matters individually to each person. For some, it is still excelling at work in one’s chosen field but for a large majority it is far more holistic and involves fulfilling passions, gaining knowledge, living a far more balanced life which has multiple priorities say pursuing a sport, following passions like travel, photography, modelling etc, well-being (health and fitness) and work (sometimes only as a means to earn money to be able to support oneself and one’s family). Somewhere in all this, experiences and enjoyment has also come in the forefront, with a clear assertion to live life the way each individual would want to. Gone are the days where one’s work, job, title - more or less defined your being and what you stood for.

?(c) As a result, the stereo-types are all gone and there is a new found confidence to decide, what I like to wear, where and how I celebrate / party, how I experience life, what I choose to spend my money on and what are my expectations from my company. In the work context, the confidence of saying, I will take a break from work, give personal / family needs or pursuit of my passion higher priority and in the process may choose to give up my high paying job, without a second thought.

(d) There is a new found ability to embrace risk in taking above decisions, and a confidence that this is the right decision for me.

?4.?Implications for the Corporates / Employers

The more I reflect on available data and feedback and the more I join the dots, I see that the above trends have substantial implications for Corporates as employers. While some of the employee centric MNCs and Indian corporates have picked up this paradigm shift and are transforming themselves, not sure whether the enormity of the change has been realized, especially in terms of how their organizations needs to change, to be attractive to this generation of talent and keep the attrition rates in check. Listing down some of the new parameters in deciding whether someone (in the age group of 21-35) takes up an offer or continue to work in his or her organization:

?a)???Overwhelming need for flexibility in where and how I work. Work from Home (WFH), Work from Anywhere (WFA), New work models allowing me to focus on my personal priorities alongside my work, allowing me to do gigs or moonlight, rather than clearly define office and personal time.

?b)??Respecting the individual is not only in the company values but is lived everyday in terms of giving me a voice, creating a culture where I can challenge anyone, giving me flexibility that I need in relation to place and time of work, be genuinely concerned about my holistic well-being including mental and physical health and support me in following my passions and dreams, even though these are not in the context of work or professional achievement.

?5.?The New Normal

A large proportion of employer organizations that I have had the opportunity to engage with in the last 3-4 years, are still to fathom the magnitude of this change and are hence way behind in adapting to this reality. They have not realized that in not transforming themselves, they may be weakening their Employee Value Propositions (EVP) and are seeing a gradual increase in their attrition rates. Some of the new realities, many employers need to come to terms with (from an employee perspective):

?-?Having worked in 4-5 companies in a career of 15 years does not make me a job hopper.

-??Leaving my job (without having another job in hand) is neither an irresponsible act nor does it necessarily imply non-performance or a code of conduct violation or a financial irregularity. Please do not judge me on this, unless you have facts to confirm your apprehension.

-???In fact, my company is more responsible, if I leave my organization.

-???I expect my company to be genuinely keen in my overall wellness and what I want to do - not only do lip service in the context of respecting me or trusting me.

-???Giving me learning and developing opportunities and a career with commensurate compensation in a professional environment are not sufficient conditions to be a great place to work or to give me happiness in the professional context.

-???Loyalty is a rather archaic phenomena, please do not expect this in today’s times.

-???While work is important, my boss needs to respect boundaries of work and personal time.

-???The word “toxic culture” has gone through a substantial change. It has multiple yardsticks today.

In summary, the young talent today is more demanding with new perspectives and wider definitions of employee engagement and satisfaction. Professional employers need to come to terms with the enormity of this change – or risk losing their “Employer of Choice” status.

Vikesh Chandna | Business Partner | Sterling Search | Gurgaon | October 14, 2024