Have you noticed the amount of people who have decided to pack up the family and travel around Australia caravan in tow?
Or the number of highly skilled employees who are thinking about retiring early?
Perhaps you’ve noticed the number of employees who want to take more frequent breaks or continue to work from home as it supports their work/life balance?
You haven’t noticed?
You need to because this movement in what people are prioritising to do to suit their lifestyle is fast going to become a huge issue for business leaders to contend with.
There has been a lot of research done post covid from McKinsey’s and McCrindle as examples. As part of the McCrindle Post Covid report, 76% of people surveyed said that 2020 was a good time to reprioritise what was important to them. 63% said they expected a more flexible and hybrid working environment.
These statistics are ones for all business leaders to have high on their leadership radar because it will shape how they need to lead in the very near future and beyond.
The increasing number of people taking breaks and exiting the workforce for periods of time is incredibly disruptive not to mention the experience and skills walking out the door and how this will impact culture and results. Research has also found that replacing an employee can cost anywhere between ten and forty thousand dollars depending on seniority and then you have the time cost to induct and train them. This has a significant impact to the bottom line of any organisation.
With all of this happening under our noses, it’s going to be an ‘early bird catches the worm’ scenario. The leaders who respond early will reap the benefits. Those that don’t risk playing and irrelevant are losing game.
Last year proved how good we were at adapting to change when we needed to. The changes keep on coming so we need to retain that mindset and start thinking differently about how our workforce might operate and how our business models might further need to change.
Some key questions to consider:
- How can you empower your employees to work from anywhere at any time?
- How can you keep people connected to the workplace whilst also allowing them greater flexibility?
- How can you think about how you deliver your outcomes differently?
The key for organisations of any size moving forward will be ensuring there is alignment of priorities with their employees. Just assuming isn’t going to cut it. Involving your team in this conversation will be important to you and something I would highly recommend.
The future of work is exiting and the success of it will be determined by how leaders respond to the trends that are shaping how our people want to experience their lives. If you do it well, it will be a fantastic draw card to attract new talent whilst retaining your good people. It’s definitely worth taking the time out to think about.