What we talk about when we talk about “Future of Work”
“Future of Work” has become a buzz phrase in the world of business over the past year. Driven by the pandemic, the acceleration of work from home, dispersed work forces, and interest in enterprise automation technologies had companies thinking about a “Future of Work” strategy and rethinking their operating models.
However, the phrase has become overused, losing its meaning over that same period. The term “Future of Work” evolved into a euphemism for “cut Selling, General & Administration (SG&A) expenses” which in reality means implement automation technology that will reduce employee headcounts or move jobs offshore.
Rather than looking at your company’s Future of Work strategy as a way to reduce SG&A or employee headcount to save on the bottom line, firms should focus their Future of Work strategy in a way that empowers their current employees to produce greater top line results.
It’s not that automation will make employees obsolete, but rather their roles and functions have changed to more external facing ones.
Here are three key areas that are critical to a “Future of Work” strategy:
Branding: Traditionally brand strategy has been for consumer facing companies. In the future, it is paramount for B2B to establish recognizable brands and put resources behind promoting that brand. WeWork is one example of a company who did this extraordinarily well. The average person probably cannot name five commercial real estate companies off the top of his/her head, but most certainly know WeWork. Despite all the chaos around their valuation in early 2020, they will come out of the pandemic positioned to win. WeWork is typically the first company on the top of mind of leadership when they need to figure out a real estate strategy for a hybrid working model. Regardless of your industry, building brand equity now will make your organization top of mind in a future of scattered workforces and temporary office spaces.
Social Media: Digital media, especially social media, has taken up an increasing amount of time each day for employees, managers, and executives. No one likes to admit it but many are now on 3–6 different social media sites and check their social channels a handful of times a day. There will only be more social media sites in the future to capture your employees attention. If your employees are active on social channels during the day, so are your customers. Now is the time to develop your organization’s social strategy to allow employees to post content that is 1) Authentic 2) Respectful and 3) Promotes the brand. Future of Work will require social media policies to not be so restrictive and instead become the best marketing strategy the firm has ever launched.
Training & Patience: Learning a new role and organization is difficult, learning a new role and organization completely remote is even more difficult (especially for younger employees). It is paramount for senior leaders and middle level management to develop the training and educational tools that ensure success of new employees. Furthermore, key milestones should be presented at onboarding to make sure the employee stays on track. It is the responsibility of the tenured employees and leadership to carve out time to make sure new hires are on track even if its outside of the typical 9–5 working hours. Work days may even evolve to break up into two, three, or even four blocks out of the day rather than the traditional 8 hour day. If top talent is joining your firm, an exercise in patience and dedicating resources to training will be critical to their and your organization’s success. Make the time, it will be worth it.
When setting a Future of Work strategy it is far too easy to look for ways that saves your organization on operating expenses, but when doing so, do not forget to invest in your employees as well. Otherwise, you may find your entire company becoming automated away.
