There is no
doubt that the work environment is changing beyond recognition, certainly from
what our parents and grandparents experienced.
There is
evidence that salaries are being distributed out of proportion throughout
companies (‘UK’s top bosses paid 143 times more than their average employee,’
People Management, 18 August 2014) and that bonuses are still being given at an
average annual increase of 5.8 per cent (‘Bonuses reach post-recession high,’
People Management, 29 August 2014).However, there is also evidence that those
workers born in post-millennium have different emphasis, mainly because they do
not expect to be able to purchase houses or to receive their pensions until
they reached their seventies – so their demands for the workplace will be
different from that of previous generations.
It has been
ascertained that workers are now being employed for longer than their
grandparents and will earn less than their parents (‘Job for life ‘thing of the
past,’ says pension firm,’ People Management, 14 November 2014). The average
employee will have nine jobs during their working life of 48 years, according
to a report by the insurance and pension firm LV=. It is anticipated that
current employees will change roles every five years in order to obtain to have
a better salary or to have a promotion, with most people considering each job
as a ‘stop gap’ rather than a significant career move.
It will be
unusual to have one job across a working life (applying to just 1.5 per cent of
new workers) so that the ‘job for life analogy will become redundant.
The average
retirement age for current employees is 59 years, but the new workers entering
the workplace will be expected to work until they are 66 years, with 23 per
cent working until they are over 70 years-old or will never retire.
Richard Rowney,
the Life and Pensions Managing Director of LV=, commented: ‘The job for life is
clearly a thing of the past, as more of us now move roles and even switch
careers. The disappearance of generous workplace pensions that were ‘golden
handcuffs’ for generations of workers is likely to be a key factor. This change
means responsibility for planning for retirement now lies with the individual.’
There will be
revolutionary ways in which employees will adapt to the new work environment
(‘Half of current occupations won’t exist by 2025, finds report,’ People
Management, 11 November 2014). In the report ‘Fast Forward 2030 – The Future of
Work and the Workforce’ by the consulting firm CBRE and China-based property
developer Genesis, it is reckoned that 50 per cent of occupations (including
process work, customer service and middle management roles) will cease to exist
by 2025 whilst people will be seeking more creative professions. A
complementary report by Oxford University and Deloitte suggested that 35 per
cent of jobs (including office and administrative support, sales and services,
transportation and construction) are in the possible zone of being carried out
by robots.
It has already
started to happen (according to the CBRE and Genesis report states) as the new
generation of workers are pursuing happiness, purpose and meaning in the job
role, rather than financial success. As the roles are changing, so will the
physical work environment (regarded by 77 per cent of respondents as being
important) with the removal of desks.
Peter Andrew,
the Director of Workplace Strategy for CBRE Asia Pacific, comments: ‘the
dramatic changes in how people work that we have seen in the past two decades
will continue evolving over the next 15 years, opening up new opportunities for
companies to create value and enhance employee performance through innovative
workplace strategies and designs. Most of those opportunities have in fact
arrived, and by seizing them early, smart companies can gain a competitive
advantage.’
These findings
have been backed by the ‘Careers of the Future’ report by the UK Commission for
Employment and Skills (UKCES) (‘The jobs evolution is already here…’ People
Management, 11 December 2014). It stated that job titles will sound familiar in
2030 (such as care workers, farmers and police officers) but that these roles
will change in the way they are being carried out.
An example was
given of care workers who will be in great demand due to an ageing population.
However, it is envisioned that they will work utilising ‘telecare’ so they will
monitor and support remotely people in their own homes.
The prospect
was given of many workplaces becoming virtual with employees using technology
to connect and interact seamlessly from any location.
The report
states: ‘One major implication of this is that individuals will need to have
far more autonomy and flexibility in their working life. Being capable of
managing projects and workloads is likely to become an essential skill for most
workers.
‘Alongside this
we can see a clear trend towards individuals needing to take greater
responsibility for acquiring and updating their skills. This will be essential
if people are to progress in their work and meet their career aspirations.’
However, in
research commissioned by the financial protection specialist Unum revealed the
impact of workplace wellbeing on staff loyalty in the legal, retail,
accountancy, media & advertising, and IT sectors (http://blog.unum.co.uk). It found that those employees who
feel care for are 27 per cent are more likely to stay with their current
employer compared to employees who feel only adequately or poorly looked after.
Almost a third
(30 per cent) of workers would consider leaving their job if they did not feel
cared for by their employer. A further 26 per cent of respondents stated that
poor workplace wellbeing would make them less likely to stay with an employer
on the long-term and 21 per cent felt that this situation would make them feel
less motivated and productive.
It is not only
the working environment that counts as employees need to be convinced by their
organisations that they will be rewarded for their abilities, according to
research by Penna Plc (a global HR Services Group) (‘One in five employees
leave due to ‘lack of opportunity’,’ Business Matters, 25 July 2014). The
situation is not made better by the fact that career conversations are only
occurring on an annual basis (according to 51 per cent of organisations). When
these conversations do take place, 25 per cent of managers are not suitably
trained to undertake them.
Bev White, the
Managing Director of Career Services at Penna Plc, commented on the report:
‘Having conversations annually is not enough for career development starved
individuals that are keen to get their chosen career path back on track. If the
managers holding those conversations aren’t trained either, it may be a less
than productive meeting. For Generation Y and C as well, we know that frequent
conversations about their career progression are desirable – so businesses need
to consider how to build in more regular informal catch ups with constructive
feedback.
‘There is
recognition that career development initiatives must be tailored to specific
groups such as graduates and women, but it’s important that a culture of
development and opportunity exists organisation wide. Not only keep staff more
engaged, but it also means that businesses see a real return on career
development investment, and that talent pipeline continues to build for their
future.’
Indeed, the way
of engaging with the work force does need to change (‘Lies, Damned Lies and Employee
Engagement Surveys,’ Personnel Today, 29 January 2014). It is not only the keen
or the disaffected that will need to be heard (as these two categories will
probably use the opportunity to gain approval or to rant), but also those who
are disengaged. The questions that are asked and the weighting that are
attached to the answers will assist in the evaluation. It is important that, at
the culmination of any such exercise (whether it is a consultation, an employee
survey, a career development interview or any other engagement process), that
the person giving the responses feels as though their answers matter.
One of the
areas that people want change is the working pattern (‘Organisations urged to
embrace agile working to combat diminished significance of work in people’s
lives,’ CIPD Press Release, 5 November 2014). In a survey by the CIPD and Agile
Future Forum (‘HE: Getting smart about agile working’), just 28 per cent of
respondents thought that work was central to their lives compared to 46 per cent
who agreed to the same answer six years previously. A significant proportion of
the respondents (35 per cent) wanted to change their working arrangement, with
the majority (45 per cent) wanting to change the starting or finishing times.
Ksenia
Zheloukhova, Research Advisor at CIPD, remarked: ‘If organisations want to get
the best out of people they have get smarter about understanding how, when and
where individuals want to work. Our research provides clear evidence that many
businesses are out of step with employee expectations, although by meeting
employee expectations, they stand to have greater employee engagement, a more
productive workforce and stronger organisational performance. To achieve this
though, organisations must question assumptions about people management
practices and processes, and establish working solutions that are of value both
to individuals and to the business.’
At the same
time, it is essential to engage those who have become disengaged (‘Happy
workers don’t always make better ‘agents of change, study finds,’ People
management, 8 August 2014). It is in the failure to make changes in the
workplace that cause many such workers to become frustrated and then
disengaged. The researchers discovered that those who easily adapted to change and
were encouraged to be a catalyst were more likely to remain proactive over the
long term.
Dr Karoline
Struss (one of the report’s authors) explained: ‘If employees do not adapt to
change, they are consequently unlikely to support proactivity. This research
found a significant link between a worker’s adaptability and proactivity.
‘Those who fail
to adapt to change seem less likely to initiate change in the future as they
may see change as threatening and may lose confidence in their own ability to
be proactive.
‘Irrespective
of their past proactivity, we found that employees’ proactivity may decrease if
they fail to adapt and that may impact on a company’s performance and
profitability.’
There may be
disillusionment in the workplace caused by excessive tiredness (‘Two thirds of
HR professionals feel pressurised to work additional hours,’ People Management,
16 December 2014). According to the recruitment specialists Ortus HR, more than
three-quarters of HR professionals spend the equivalent of three and a half
hours a week completing work-related tasks whilst commuting to and from the
office. When questioned, 63 per cent of the respondents felt pressurised to do
this additional work and 21 per cent thought that they could not keep up with
the demands of the job unless they undertook this additional work.
The HR
professionals who were contacted stated that the majority of their employers
were aware of their situation, but 73 per cent of the employees were not
rewarded for their additional work.
Ortus HR made
the suggestion that, with the advance of technology, the boundaries of the
traditional working day had been blurred so that working outside of the working
hours had become the norm, even the expectation of employers.
Simon Bassett,
the Managing Director of Ortus UK, commented: ‘Smart technology and the
widespread availability of Wi-Fi means that the UK’s workforce is now a mobile
one whose ability to work is far less restricted by geography and contracted
hours of work. This is good news for those who need the flexibility to work
remotely, but has also led to an extension of the working day.’
He added: ‘The
research raises important questions about whether this work is in fact
necessary, whether it should be limited to ensure employee wellbeing and if it
ought to be rewarded – and how.’
It is
recognised that the management culture needs to change for the new century
(‘Opportunity Now warns inclusive leadership skills still ‘rare’,’ People
Management, 13 November 2014). The hierarchal structures that have been the
format in the past are being replaced by increasingly flat and modular set-ups.
The Opportunity Now (ON) report ‘Inclusive Leadership: culture change for
business success’ highlights the importance of this type of leadership so that the
best performance can be obtained from employees (as can be seen in 81 per cent
of staff). Indeed, performance and innovation is promoted by the leader’s
skills in adaptability, building relationships and developing talent.
Organisations
with such leaders are 70 per cent more likely to have captured a new market in
the previous year and 45 per cent more likely to increase market share.
However, two-thirds of organisations interviewed stated that less than half of
their managers and leaders were inclusive leaders.
Laura
Swiszcowski, the research manager at ON, stated: ‘We knows that inclusive
leadership benefits organisations by helping them to get the best out of all
their staff – male and female, of all ages and from all backgrounds – and to
succeed in a complex, diverse national and global environment. However, despite
the impact inclusive leadership has on an organisation’s success, its core
competences are still rare. Many current inclusive leaders leaning their skills
through personal experience rather than formal training, but business needs to
make a concerted effort to accelerate this process.’
Part of the
problem lies in the fact that there are not enough people being employed.by
organisations, although only 15 per cent of senior managers recognise this as
being a problem (‘More than half of employees identify ‘inadequate staffing’ as
top cause of stress,’ People Management, 4 September 2014). The effect is that
57 per cent of employees claiming to suffer from high levels of stress also
felt disengaged. By comparison, 10 per cent of employees who had low levels of
stress also felt disengaged.
Rebekah,
wellbeing specialist at Towers Watson (the HR consultancy firm who undertook
the research), stated that the results of the study demonstrated the ‘destructive
link between high levels of stress and reduced productivity.’ She continued: ‘A
third of respondents said they often experience excessive pressure in their
jobs, and this study shows it can lead to higher instances of disengagement and
absenteeism.’
The greatest
cause of stress in the workplace was considered to be inadequate staffing,
according to 53 per cent of employees. By contrast, 15 per cent of senior
managers thought that this was the case whereas they considered technology was
the biggest contributor to stress.
Ms Haymes
commented: ‘Companies could take more responsibility for educating staff about
the benefits of more sleep, physical activity, good nutrition and work-life
balance in order to keep employees healthy, happy and productive.’
According to
research from HR consultancy firm Towers Watson, a quarter of employees do not
have confidence in their senior leaders with only 48 per cent of the
respondents were inspired by their leaders to give of their best (‘Employees
lack confidence in senior leadership,’ People Management, 12 December 2014). There
was a lack of trust which resulted in most people considering leaving their
work environment, and only 49 per cent trust the information disseminated by
the senior leaders.
Less than a
third of the respondents stated that the changes caused by a rapidly evolving
work environment were being implemented in their organisation. This was borne
out by 40 per cent of employees stating that the change programme was well
communicated by their leaders, 49 per cent saying that the reasons for change
were clearly communicated and 49 per cent again saying that the change
management programme itself was well communicated.
However, one in
four employees are currently disengaged, with ‘excessive amounts of change’
being cited as the number 1 cause of work-related stress.
Nick Tatchell,
the Director of Organisational Surveys and Insights at Towers Watson,
commented: ‘Our latest research shows that UK bosses are not as efficient as
they could be in driving strong performance from the workforce. Being a great
leader means creating a culture in which employees can flourish by removing
obstacles and providing inspiration. Having a significant segment of the
working population worrying too much about too much change, without a clear
steer from the top, qualifies as leadership failure.’
One of the
things that are a turn off among all workers is the office politics (‘Office
Politics are ‘biggest drain on employee resilience’,’ People Management, 11
November 2014). A report, ‘Tough at the top? New rules of resilience for
women’s leadership success,’ indicated that 90 per cent of male and female
employers thought that resilience was key to career success. This factor was
important as three-quarters of employees found that difficult relationships at
work and office politics were the biggest drains on their energy. However, just
6 per cent of employees stated that their organisation assisted them in
improving their ability to cope with workplace pressures.
The results of
the study ascertained that more women (71 per cent) than men (64 per cent)
wanted to improve their resilience. Interestingly, the juggling of daily life
and working responsibilities was comparatively low on the list of stress
indicators for both sexes. For women, the main energy drain was managing office
politics (76 per cent) compared to 43 per cent stated that it was organising
working life and non-work responsibilities.
Report authors
Sarah Bond (from For Business Sake Consulting) and Gillian Shapiro (from Shapiro
Consulting) stated: ‘This research confirms what many of us know already – that
you need to be resilient to make it to the top.
‘Our starting
hypothesis was that you needed to be resilient to deal with the volume and pace
of work in the pipeline to the top. This is true, but what really surprised us
is that it’s relationships at work that, in the end, get people down.’
The important
issue is that God is also in the work environment and that He ‘will reward
everyone for whatever good he does.’ (Ephesians 6: 5 – 9, especially verse 8;
see also Colossians 3: 22 – 25) In the midst of the changing circumstances in
the work environment, God is unchanging and constant so we can depend on Him.
It is true that
the workplace will be different in twenty years’ time, so we can look forward
expectantly to the new ways of working.
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