Workforce
Workforce 2.0
The Great Resignation was the wrong name for it. Read the same shift from the other side and it is the Great Re-Connection, which asks something different of the people who run things.
Hello again, folks – are you ready to talk about everyone’s favorite subject?
>>>WORK!<<<
Yep, that gentile little arrangement through which we all donate our time, energy, brainpower, and talent in exchange for that which makes the world go round. (ABBA knows what I’m talking about.)
But what’s this? The game has changed?
That’s right – a whole country of workers just upskilled the bejeezes out of themselves and now we can all work wherever we want. As my Dad would say when I was growing up, “It’s PANDELIERIUM out there!”
At least that is how our societal communications are positioning this shift.
But it’s a mistake.
The “crisis mode” approach to the so-called “Great Resignation,” “Great Walk-Out,” “Great F-you, American Workforce Model,” is only one way to look at it.
From the other perspective, it’s “The Great Re-Connection.”
People are changing their lives in pursuit of a higher purpose. Today’s workforce wants to believe in what they do, and in who they are doing it for.
This new generation of workers is creating a fresh approach to how they deliver their best selves across their work, community, and family.
This is not a problem, it’s a major win. We need to celebrate this “Flight to Purpose.”
Sure, the transition en masse is a bit jarring, but business is born of innovation, first and foremost.
If we believe in what we do as business leaders, we’ll approach this new era with a grin that says, “Bring it on, world! A team of people who really believes in what we do? Oh yeah, I’m ready to tune in to these people’s needs and carve out a new way to harness their passion into powerful ideas for our clients.”
A Client of mine, who is brilliant, said to me at some point during 2020 – 2021, “We’re not going to know what the new office/workforce trends will look like until about 12 months after everyone is back inside.”
So true. And yet we’re in such a rush. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about the “Return to Office.” Are you also tired of reading that phrase? It’s because there is no return to where we were as a society before we all went home.
I prefer to think of it as an evolution of office and the American workforce.
When something evolves, it outgrows what it was before. A toddler doesn’t “return” to his 6-month clothing. He’s outgrown it. We as a society have outgrown the old standards that were held.
And that is okay. More than okay – it makes for an opportune time for empathetic leaders to shine.
The Great Re-Connection can be a golden age for innovative business leaders who are willing to listen to their workforce and press forward into a whole new way of thinking.
We don’t have to measure by the same metrics we did before. We can zoom out and look at the playing field in a whole new way.
Those who listen carefully, practice empathy, and have the courage to innovate will end up with “workforce 2.0” – a passionate, purpose-driven group of individuals who know their worth and are ready to change the world for your company.
That is mission-driven work I’m proud to do right there.
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