Exploring the future of work: From Employee Engagement to Hybrid work and AI and more...

In our quest to navigate the future of work, we constantly grapple with the change that technology and AI bring alongside the need to keep employee engagement at the front and center. This is an era of transition, and it's imperative that we reevaluate our understanding of work through the lens of remote work and AI.

That's why, in June, Your FLOCK hosted an insightful online event, featuring renowned speakers who shared illuminating perspectives on the future of work.

OUR ONLINE EVENT (THE FULL RECORDING IS HERE.)

Helen Simpson , the Performance and Development Director at the Hatch Group, spoke about the importance of people management, leadership development, and brand culture in the new normal. Her success in helping clients traverse various sectors, and innovating award-winning strategies were key discussion points for the ongoing shift in work models.

Felix Zoot Billson , the Chief Marketing Officer of MOOT, shared his insights into harnessing data-driven marketing strategies to create business impact. Felix’s masterclass on maximizing customer value through innovation and leadership provided an interesting viewpoint on the scope for organizational growth in a rapidly digitizing world.

Dan Sodergren , a tech futurist and keynote speaker, (and co founder of Your flock - standing in for the poorly Leon Calverley) brought to the table his unique perspectives on the role of remote work, AI, data, and tech startups in shaping the future of work. Arguably one of the most critical and transformative aspects of this future revolves around platforms like YourFLOCK.co.uk that provide intuitive feedback to employees.

Sadly Leon couldn't make it as he was struck down with an illness and so Dan Sodergren stepped in with Michal founder of YourFLOCK becoming the host. The discussions build upon our co-founder, Dan Sodergren's love for discussing technology and its impact on the future of work. He believes deeply in the evolving work culture, employee engagement mechanisms, and the role of technology in facilitating this shift.

Our interactive engagement platform, YourFLOCK , can be an essential tool for navigating this future landscape. It fosters employee engagement and productivity by catering to individual employee values, and aligning them to the overall company culture. This alignment is what helps drive engagement, retention, and overall productivity. This framework allows organisations to thrive in a hybrid workplace era, blending the right mix of human touch and technology.

In this context, these expert insights from the event are incredibly valuable. The knowledge that these leaders from various sectors shared bridges theoretical vision with practical strategies, further enhancing our understanding of the future of work.

All in all, as we continue to navigate this new maze, it's essential to harness the power of technology like AI, all while keeping a keen eye on maintaining lively employee engagement. Who knows? As we further delve into this era, there might yet be unprecedented, astonishing discoveries on the horizon!

ONE OF THESE THINGS WILL BE AI.

As the future of work is a multifaceted dialogue that integrates traditional workplace aspects such as employee motivational needs, optimal attendance, retention, and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in work processes. As we navigate these conversations, various concepts and initiatives are surfacing, shaping our perspective on the ever-evolving world of work.

In an intriguing piece from?www.YourFLOCK.co.uk , the focus rests on understanding individual motivations, particularly within small businesses accommodating hybrid ways of working. The co-founders insist that motivation, feedback, and employee engagement are integral to fostering a positive workplace culture.

However, the road to enhanced engagement isn’t without its bumps, as indicated by data from Raconteur that highlights the surprisingly low employee engagement across the UK workforce.

Google’s plans to integrate in-office attendance into performance reviews in pursuit of higher engagement levels brought forth considerable resistance, as reported by Raconteur. Could this hint at a greater desire for flexibility in the workplace?

Portugal seems to think so, as CNBC reports on a government-funded 4-day workweek experiment spearheaded by 4 Day Week Global. The trial aims to exemplify the potential benefits of a shortened workweek, reflecting our evolving attitudes towards work-life balance.

As the UK explores the root causes of its disengaged workforce and Google grapples with pushback for enforcing office attendance, Portugal’s experiment may well elicit critical insights into how work-life balance impacts employee engagement.

But the evolution of the workplace is not solely defined by organizational policies or efforts to improve work-life balance.

The integration of technology, specifically AI, is also playing a pivotal role. Renowned Professor Ethan Mollick from One Useful Thing discussed how AI is transforming traditional work processes through the concept of ‘secret cyborgs.’ Described as the integration of AI technologies to automate processes, secret cyborgs present an incremental shift in work structures that necessitate new strategies for optimal utilization.

Elsewhere, Bruce Daisley takes a deep dive into the Gallup Workforce Survey on his Substack page, Make Work Better. Daisley examines how increasing stress levels and widespread dissatisfaction are leading to a growing readiness among employees to quit their jobs. His eye-opening analysis raises questions about the present state of the work environment and the urgent need for effective solutions.

All these discussions are testament to the rapid transformation the working world is experiencing. From identifying motivation as a key driver of growth for small businesses, to uncovering the heart of the UK’s disengagement problem, challenging traditional notions of office attendance, exploring the impacts of shorter work weeks, unveiling the undercurrents of AI running through our work processes, and finally unraveling the layers of employee stress and readiness to quit.

The common thread that binds these elements together is the undeniable reality of change. Which was also a core theme in our online event. That the future of work is here, not one size will fit all, it will an amalgamation of traditional practices and modern disruptions, and it demands our attention, innovation, and adaptability.

And what is key is to get the feedback of your employees.

In conclusion, in these transformative times when the lines between work and life are continually getting blurred, the onus is on organizations worldwide to proactively design, shift, or redesign how, where, and when work is performed, keeping the employee at the heart of the equation. Irrespective of the tools or strategies chosen, the ultimate intent should be to contribute positively to employee well-being and productivity, pushing boundaries to make work, in essence, better.

References for the blog:

From?www.YourFLOCK.co.uk :

1. The platform is based on individual motivations and is particularly useful for small businesses with hybrid working employees.
2. Co-founder Dan Sodergren, is on a mission to help one million people be happier at work.
3. YourFLOCK emphasizes the power of motivation and feedback in the workplace and aims to enhance employee engagement.

From?www.raconteur.net/future-of-work/google-office-attendance-performance-review/ :

1. Google planned to incorporate in-office attendance into performance reviews, but this move sparked backlash among staff.
2. Despite opposition, office attendance was deemed important for Google.
3. The company aimed to force staff to come into the office at least three times a week.

From?www.raconteur.net/talent-culture/why-low-employee-engagement-uk/ :

1. The UK has one of the world’s least engaged workforces.
2. The low engagement can be partly attributed to deep-rooted industrial revolution attitudes.
3. Employee autonomy and building good hybrid work cultures could potentially boost engagement.

From?www.cnbc.com/2023/06/06/portugal-just-launched-a-government-funded-4-day-workweek-trial.html :

1. The Portuguese government led a 4 Day Week Global experiment to study the benefits of shortened workweeks.
2. The trial was government-funded.
3. The initiative is part of a global trend exploring different work arrangements for improving work-life balance.

From?www.oneusefulthing.org/p/on-giving-ai-eyes-and-ears :

(Unfortunately, I couldn’t find specific details on this source.)

From makeworkbetter.substack.com/p/the-upside-down-world-of-flexibility:

1. The article discusses the role and implications of flexibility in work.
2. The author, Bruce Daisley, is known for examining and offering insights into workplace culture.
3. The piece is part of the ‘Make Work Better’ publication on Substack, which focuses on improving workplace culture and practices.

From?www.oneusefulthing.org/p/detecting-the-secret-cyborgs :

1. The piece discusses the concept of ‘secret cyborgs’ – the human-AI collaboration in the workplace.
2. It emphasizes the need for new strategies to harness the potential of these cyborgs effectively.
3. The piece is written by Ethan Mollick, a Professor who focuses on translating academic research into useful insights.