The New Talent Equation: Purpose, Principles and Parity

As spring turns to summer, resignation rates are on the rise and labor market experts predict a post-pandemic resignation boom .?

More people are quitting their jobs now than at any other time in the last two decades adding to?the challenges companies face ?on the road to recovery.?But why are people reassessing their relationship with work now? Is it burnout or new opportunities? What can companies do to halt a looming talent exodus? Three key variables are emerging as critical in the new talent equation: purpose, principles and parity.

Change Disrupts Our Sense of Self

The pandemic has caused individuals to examine all aspects of their lives, including work. Millions of people have spent the past year re-evaluating their priorities. How much time do they want to spend in an office? Do they want to spend hours commuting? Should they move cities if they plan to work remotely? Should they switch careers? For many, this has become a moment to redefine what?work means in their lives.

Working from home has also meant juggling personal and professional commitments. A year of burning the candle at both ends has left people mentally exhausted. Not surprisingly, nearly half of all employees reported symptoms of burnout in a recent McKinsey & Company report. The jolt of the pandemic has caused many more of us to ask fundamental questions about our life choices and whether or not these align with our core values, our purpose. The pandemic disrupted more than our businesses, it may have disrupted our sense of self .

It is therefore increasingly clear that the return to work will not be a flip of a switch. It will take time for people to think through this next transition. As they do, how can organizations support the workforce in meaningful ways? Can organizations take this moment to ignite collective ambition?

Ignite collective ambition with a shared sense of purpose

Through the 2008 financial crisis and the global financial recession that followed, many businesses suffered serious damage. But against all odds, some companies came out stronger than ever. What differentiated the winners from the rest? A shared sense of purpose .

Purpose is the company's reason for being –?the core mission of the enterprise. In the post-pandemic world of work, purpose will be at the center of every conversation. But, a recent MIT Sloan survey revealed a significant purpose-gap. While respondents stated they value working for an organization with a purpose they believe in, only a quarter agreed that their organizations were as purpose-driven as their leaders believed. The purpose-gap becomes even more critical in the context of next-generation talent. Millennials and Gen Z, talent often make career choices based upon purpose . How can organizations close this significant gap? Should leadership establish the organization's purpose or should it be the workforce?

Successful organizations sidestep the trap of pursuing a single ambition or those of a single individual. Instead, they work with their employees to shape collective ambition, and this shared purpose supersedes individual goals. This collective ambition helps energize the workforce and enables the organization to achieve and sustain excellence. The shared sense of purpose drives decision-making, innovation, crisis response, engagement, growth and opportunities.

Can a shared sense of purpose ignite collective ambition for the workforce? While purpose alone does not guarantee results, several research studies outline impressive results. For example, the Gartenberg study , which included 500,000 people across 429 firms suggests a positive impact on financial performance when the purpose is communicated with clarity.

Purpose will be at the core of every organization adapting to a post-COVID world, taking into account the new reality of employees. Organizations that shape collective ambition with a shared sense of purpose will deepen employee engagement and will be sustainably profitable . What makes purpose real is following through on its implications on programs and policies. How can organizations connect purpose with the choices they make?

Demonstrate trust through a principle-based approach

How can organizations channel collective ambition and a shared purpose to energize the workforce? The answer is simple: demonstrate trust. Organizations and leaders can demonstrate trust through a principle-based approach. This is immediately relevant as organizations chart their return of office and hybrid work arrangements.

For example, GM is taking a simple approach to its return to office strategy: 'work appropriately'. For GM, this could mean conducting remote training for its?87,000 factory workers ?whose jobs typically requires them to be at manufacturing facilities. Or it could mean allowing office employees to permanently work from home or run a hybrid schedule of in-office and remote work.

The two words, 'work appropriately', hold a lot of weight. They embody trust, inclusivity, flexibility and empowerment. They also convey an integrated vision across the different facets of the organization. They are emblematic of culture. Another example is Siemens' remote work policy. The policy underscores two critical aspects. Firstly, Siemens will focus on outcomes rather than on time spent at the office. And secondly, the company trusts its employees to shape their work themselves to achieve the best possible results. With this new strategy, Siemens is not only empowering its people, but it is also sharpening its profile as a flexible and attractive employer.

As the future of work unfolds a principle-based approach, such as the one GM and Siemens have outlined, will allow organizations to be flexible and adapt to change. A principles-based approach comes to life when organizations offer an eco-system of choices and enabling features to workforce. Importantly, organizations will need to consider how they create parity across the in-office, remote and hybrid worker.

Deliver experience parity to enable the workforce

One of the biggest challenges facing the hybrid worker is the notion of ‘experience parity’. Let us examine this through the example of a 'hybrid meeting'. In the new hybrid world, you might have a mix of remote workers and in-office workers in a meeting. Will those in the meeting room have better interpersonal connection and will those working remotely feel excluded? If you’re out of sight, are you also out of mind? A study of 1,100 remote workers highlighted that remote employees are more likely to feel left out.

This is where enabling technology can play a big role in enabling the hybrid workforce. If we build on the meeting example, every meeting space may require collaborative tech upgrade and remote workers may need better technology to collaborate effectively. In fact, companies are already making concrete investments in Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) collaborative platforms to bring experience parity to life.

For example, Fidelity Investments Inc., has been exploring how virtual reality could be used to build workplace relationships among new employees working remotely, design teams at Mattel use Spatial to review 3-D designs of new toys, Pfizer uses VR to orient and train new employees at manufacturing sites and Accenture employees can go to the “Nth Floor” in AltspaceVR to meet up with colleagues in a virtual cafeteria or attend an all-hands meeting.

While technology can play an enabling role, the key to success will remain leadership behavior. What if the HR policy allows for flexibility but leaders show up at the office everyday? Will those in the office have greater access to leaders? Will they have better career progression? Leaders must role-model the right behaviors to empower people, drive transformation and sustain success.

People are the engines for transformation and sustained success

Change is no longer episodic, it is continuous. And with continuous change comes uncertainty. What impact will this have on our people? Can we sustain success if the engines of transformation, our people, have doubt, are burnt out or disengaged? As leaders, we have the responsibility to create?psychological safety ?for our people. We must ignite collective ambition, create an environment of trust and empower our people to do their best work.

As architects of the future we have the opportunity to shape it. As we do, our approach must embody the key variables of the new talent equation: purpose, principles and parity.

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About the author: Ram Srinivasan has worked with Fortune 500 companies, real estate developers, and the public sector across the Americas and emerging markets in Asia Pacific. He was previously a Vice President with Deloitte Canada’s Real Estate and Infrastructure Advisory Practice and is currently Managing Director with JLL’s Consulting practice.

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