Why Managing Talent Is Now (Finally) a Core Business Function
Workers today have more influence than ever before and have demonstrated a willingness to use it to shape the work their organizations take on, as well as how they do it.
To be successful in this new world of work, organizations must abandon the idea of complete control and co-create with workers to shape the new rules and boundaries that will define how they operate. Workers are more and more interested not just in greater diversity and flexibility in work, but also in being seen by the skills they have so that they can have greater mobility in their career.
Deloitte study also found 40% of Gen Z and Millennial respondents have turned down a job or an assignment because it did not align with their values.
So what do employees want? In the Accenture survey, the four factors cited among those being “net better off” are:
- They are healthy and well.
- They are connected with a strong sense of trust and belonging.
- Their work has purpose.
- They have marketable skills.
As many organizations look to reinvent their business, their focus is often on technology and data. Yet we know the real difference-maker is people. Especially in a constrained labor market, investing in people and their skills is a key source of competitive differentiation.
From my personal perspective- Three things that DO define a good company culture:
Psychological safety. This exists when employees feel they can speak up and be honest about something (anything!) without fear of any negative consequences. It’s a critical element in building a positive culture, and yet so often leadership forgets about it or takes it for granted.
Flexibility. It’s important for companies to embrace the fact that employees can be productive and get work done to a high standard, regardless of where they are working from. Increasing the work-life balance and reducing burn-out will improve employee satisfaction and morale. Those that don’t recognize this will lose top-tier employees as they look for work elsewhere.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. This is about more than just adding a paragraph on your company website, building a committee, or introducing mandatory training. Companies need to have a clear understanding of where they currently are, build a plan to improve it, and commit to actually making meaningful changes. DEI cannot be an afterthought. A good company with a strong company culture prioritizes this.
As an innovative HR Leader you should ask yourself:
- Does our culture enable, recognize and reward leaders to think and act beyond their title to drive growth in new ways?
- Do our leaders possess the right data and technology skills (supported by the right processes and tools) to accelerate change together, in a boundaryless and frictionless way?
- Do we have differentiated strategies to access talent, create talent and unlock people’s potential?
- Are people Net Better Off working at our company, where all leaders take accountability for this commitment?
Investing in people and their skills is a key source of competitive differentiation.
