Economic uncertainty clouds plans for the future of work

With economic uncertainty following the pandemic, it’s unclear what jobs will look like in the months and years ahead. Many believe that ‘the genie is out of the bottle’ and that office-based workers (who make up a larger and larger proportion of the total) will never return to their old ways, but it will get worse. The economy and environment have already stiffened employers’ attitudes, and workers will return to the way they used to work for fear of losing their jobs.

Brad Harris, Professor of Administration and HR at HEC Paris, learns and works with HR leaders in fast-growing companies. He said the trend to halt or cut jobs is likely to become more widespread, noting recent layoffs by big tech companies. Related to this, if a recession is on the horizon, employers are feeling more pressure and will “back off of employee-friendly policies and add teeth to get back to work,” he said. I am predicting. As a result, he says he’s “really, really skeptical” that new ways of working will continue to work.

There are still those who refuse to take one side or the other, emphasizing that it’s too early to tell how things will turn out and pointing out that there are many complexities and nuances. And, of course, “hybrid work” — where employees work remotely from home or elsewhere most of the time, leaving the workplace for tasks that are better done face-to-face, such as certain types of meetings and collaboration. The idea of ​​going to work — a compromise in itself.

To understand how complicated that is, consider for a moment the impact of inflation that has been raging in the UK, US and elsewhere in recent months. On the one hand, there is an argument that the rising cost of going to work (higher fuel costs, more expensive food, etc.) will make people more likely to continue working from home. On the other hand, there is the view that rising energy costs, which are part of that inflation, will win out and force workers to go where their employers are paying for their utilities.

However, practical considerations such as these will continue to emerge as employers continue to seek ways to maximize the possibilities opened up by the combination of technology and changing attitudes to how and where work is done. It’s just one aspect of soul searching.

Linda Gratton, a professor at the London Business School and author of many books on the future of work, is one of the people who seems most enthusiastic about how things are developing. . Her HSM her advisory consultancy firm hosts a variety of webinars exploring office roles for managers around the world, and she said: [in the workplace] Since Taylorism in the 1860s. “The role of the office is the hottest topic in the world,” she affirms, noting her four key insights that she and her colleagues gained from extensive discussions with practitioners. increase. they are:

1. Reimagine your office as a tool in your workplace ecosystem. As hybrid work becomes more prevalent, there is an opportunity to make the office a desirable destination rather than a place employees must go.
2. Consider the purpose of the office. Recognizing that the purpose of an office depends on individual circumstances, Gratton’s team mostly focuses on promoting sustainable high performance, enhancing culture by demonstrating how organizational and personal purpose aligns. visible, building social capital, or positive outcomes of ‘human moments at work’, and promoting well-being.
3. Design your office with people in mind. By providing opportunities for employees to connect, employers can move from focusing on the physical aspects of the office to focusing on the actions, emotions and feelings they want their office to evoke.
4. Think about cognition, behavior, and emotion. Achieving set outcomes depends on how people experience work, how they interact with each other at work and with others, including by using the right tools for a seamless hybrid experience. You need to interact with others and think about how you feel at work.

Some of these address the concerns most frequently expressed by those concerned about moving to remote or hybrid work. This is a lack of community and less opportunities to learn and grow early in your career. But even for those who see changes in labor practices as a positive effect of technological advances, there is still much work to be done to ensure that employers are able to meet worker expectations and business goals. One thing is clear. .

Mike Morini is CEO of Workforce Management, a software company that helps organizations manage their workforce wherever they are. He points to the much-discussed job expectations of younger employees and how their employers demand that management pay attention to their employees’ conflicting demands on their time. increase. Even with a worsening economic outlook, companies are still determined to retain top talent, so they need to proactively ensure talent engagement, he argued. This is a challenge for a growing number of workers who rarely visit their workplaces. One of the ways he finds software such as this provided by his company helpful is in alerting his managers in line to the workload of their subordinates. For example, if a single mother is assigned an extra shift, you can see if she is happy with it because she needs the money or because it is a burden and she would prefer another arrangement. The benefit of this is that it provides an opportunity for managers to generally check on their employees and provide feedback and appreciation which is considered very important today.

But Morini also stresses that it’s not just management that will have to adapt to new approaches in the wake of what he calls the rapid escalation of digitalization post-pandemic. Employees at all levels have to take on more responsibility when working from home. “We need a self-starter,” he says.