What can You do about the impeding #RemoteWorkRevolution for Your business? #MPABigDebate
It is always nice to be asked to talk with other peers around the future of work and remote working. Last week – I was on the MPA panel discussion provocatively titled…
Are you fit for work?
Which I discuss here. As not sure the question is right for now. As LOTS of people HAVE been working. And working harder than ever.
Thanks very much.
But what came from that discussion was also a thought about WHAT.
What can you do? What can we do now as businesses. And as business leaders. Especially in these post pandemic times.
To strengthen our company cultures and increase employee engagement.
And perhaps rather selfishly to recruit and retain the best new remote work talent out there…
What can YOU do?
One thing you can DO is investigate and discover your company culture. From a true data driven feedback lead pov. Not just a hunch. Not just about what you think it is.
Not just a feeling.
As in the end – its data. It’s something you CAN investigate and discover. Sign up to YourFLOCK and our waiting list and make sure your team discovers its values before its too late. And people start to leave…
Other keys things to DO.
Increase Your Diversity. #TheBigIDEA.
Another thing you can do is increase the amount of diversity in your team.
Have more people that aren’t like you. That aren’t the same sex, or race, or age or whatever as the main group are.
This helps your innovation with diversity boards out performing non diverse by 21%.
But Bruce Daisley proves there IS a direct proven link. Between lack of diversity in the company and a wish to “return to the office.”
This whole thing IS political and social. But we never saw it as that because we never had any other option. We presumed you went to an office to some kinds of work.
Now we know you don’t HAVE to.
That’s like saying you don’t HAVE to get married.
Or you don’t HAVE to go to war.
Or you don’t HAVE to believe in GOD.
Or any “certain” thing.
These are MASSIVE changes – that will affect your people DEEPLY.
You as the boss or the team leader. You have to reconnect with them and get to know them more. The bosses that don’t. People will leave. And with them the business goes too.
Change Your Office – the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
From the discussion with the MPA – property owners believe in the sanctity of the office space. But I think it’s deeper than that. Offices won’t survive like churches have. They are not religious.
Can you have a religion without a building? Can you have company culture without an office. You bet you can.
But for the office to survive it’s going to have to become more than an office. It’s the hotelifaction of the office space which is going to be so interesting. Offices will need to be more than offices in the future. They will have to give people a compelling reason to come to them more than the paycheck.
When the employees ask WHY should we come back to the office. We had better have a good reason. As this is the time of….
The remote work revolution.
Remember, only 4% of people worked remotely two years ago. Now it’s only 4% that want to go back to the office full time
(See Chris Herd’s work here)
Even if like with all hype curves – this becomes a hybrid approach and a middle ground. The middle ground is 10 times bigger for working from home than ever.
For this to work. You will need autonomous employees – but how do you know you have those?
Do you know?
Sign up to YourFLOCK and find out your employees values and your company culture map.
Especially for young people.
As the key thing that came from Seb Randle and The Social Chain.
Was the understanding that young people are finding lock down harder than ANYONE.
With huge potential mental health issues on the horizon due to loneliness. About 20% of people feel lonely whilst remote working but this goes up to doubles for the under 25.
One of the key things for us all to think about is how we are on-boarding these young people to our businesses.
How are we looking to look after them?
How do we know if they are feeling down?
Who’s job is it to know?
Help Your HR with TECHNOLOGY and people too.
As otherwise HR will probably find out key problems far too late. i.e. when the “problem” becomes a problem and shows itself. Do you as a business leader or a team leader do you have a way of knowing BEFORE this happens?
Do you know your team well enough to become your people person?
Do you need to recruit more staff to help?
As Tracey Vell – Clinical Director – Health Innovation Manchester
From the great online Digital City Festival last week brilliantly pointed out:
“With all digital transformation the piece that is often missing is the people. To make a technological change happen. You need to invest THREE TIMES the resources on the people power than on the technology.”
Worth remembering.
As technology can only give us part of the answer. It can only enable human beings to do more and to be more. Technology and data can give us insights into things we have never believed or seen before.
Perhaps we need to look into this?
Perhaps you do too.
Believe You me the change is already here.
It’s whether in the coming remote work revolution your business thrives or survives?
As Chris Herd said BEFORE the pandemic accelerated the reformation of remote work …
Working in an office is a remnant of the industrial revolution that understands none of the technological trends that have driven the rise of our current reality.
Worth thinking about – as well – Chris Herd who’s Scottish based start up Firstbase has just has raised a $13m Series A led by @a16z to help people transition into remote working and working from home.
In the last year alone, 11,000+ companies with 20m+ employees signed up to learn how first based can help them set up, support, and scale their remote team globally.
The future seems to be already here.
Were are just happy that YourFLOCK might be on the right side of history.
