Maximize your Return on Assets (ROA) in a Knowledge Economy

A perfect storm of workforce change is brewing, and many organizations remain yet unprepared for the impact. As organizations consider their 2023 strategy, carefully considering the inputs below (and making plans to deal with each) is imperative for future success.

The Inputs: ?

1)???An aging workforce population at a time when job openings outnumber the unemployment rate;

2)???The lowest job tenure in history , with higher-than-average job turnover; and

3)???A critical “skills gap,” particularly in high-growth areas, with workers and enterprises alike feeling less prepared than ever before .

Add to this a generous descriptor of an “uncertain” economy, and organizations without a firm plan are in for a wild ride in 2023 – and not the good kind.

As CEO Miles Everson put it in his recent Fast Company story , it’s never a good idea to confuse an up market for a great strategy. In effect, it’s easier to be a leader during good times than bad.

Still, even in a down market, returns can be achieved when a strategy properly accounts for the risks and returns involved.

The Solution:

Pivoting to a workforce that strategically invests in independent or fractionalized assets is a critical way to maintain both control and Return on Assets (ROA). If leaders consider skills (the core of most knowledge-based organizations) as a critical asset, it becomes more important than ever to ensure that one has the right resources, and thus, the right skills, in place.

Building an at-the-ready pool of deployable high-skill talent is a critical way organizations can maximize ROA while attracting top talent (many of whom no longer wish to be controlled as full-time employees) and simultaneously ensuring skills are leveraged in a way that maximizes assets while minimizing corporate overhead.

A fractional workforce – when properly allocated into organizational strategy – allows modern business models to thrive.

As the year draws to a close, it has become increasingly clear that the labor market isn’t going to settle anytime soon. Are you feeling prepared for 2023? We’d love to hear your thoughts in a comment or reply.

Trending Topics:

●?????The Great Resignation continues, and some people may just never come back to work . Welcome to the new normal. Millions continue to quit, and while the U.S. did add 261,000 jobs in October, the number of unemployed also increased. Cyclical and structural changes to the way we work today means this “new normal” is significantly more volatile than pre-pandemic norms.

●?????Of course, it’s not just who is working, but where. Companies still have too much office space, and they can’t sell it . According to CoStar, a commercial real estate information, and analytics company, there are 232 million square feet of surplus commercial real estate up for sub-leasing, the equivalent of 8 unused Amazon HQ2 towers, but instead of selling, organizations plan to wait it out rather than jump ship and sell, both in response to not knowing if they plan to return to the office and also the current state of real estate.

●?????Gallup found that employees who aren’t required to work on-site are less likely to leave their organization. In addition, 56% of hybrid workers are willing to change jobs that offer more flexibility but aren’t open to taking less pay .

●?????Executives, however, remain uncertain that long-term remote work is the right strategy. According to a PwC Pulse Survey, 64% of executives believe that the resumption of on-site work is needed to achieve their companies’ strategic goals.

Of course, we’d love to talk virtually as well. Share your thoughts with us at MBO Partners on Twitter , Facebook , Instagram , and LinkedIn , and we’ll see you again next week!