Preparing For The Future Of Work: Secret Holland of Gas South On The Top Five Trends To Watch In The Future Of Work

An Interview with Phil La Duke

How do we define work-life balance with remote work? I didn’t have a work-life balance before there was remote work. Seriously, I think this rests with the individual. We know our lives and we set our priorities based on what we value. If we value work more than our personal time, we give more to work than we do to ourselves. I think it’s important to build a strong relationship with your leader and team, producing good work to build your credibility. This puts you in a position of being comfortable to quit work at a reasonable time most days and not feel pressured to work more hours on a regular basis. Of course, most of us go through cycles where extra is required, but if it becomes routine, that’s our fault, not our employer’s fault.

There have been major disruptions in recent years that promise to change the very nature of work. From the ongoing shifts caused by the COVID19 pandemic, the impacts caused by automation, and other possible disruptions to the status quo, many wonder what the future holds in terms of employment. For example, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute that estimated automation will eliminate 73 million jobs by 2030.

To address this open question, we reached out to successful leaders in business, government, and labor, as well as thought leaders about the future of work to glean their insights and predictions on the future of work and the workplace.

As a part of this interview series called “Preparing For The Future Of Work”, we had the pleasure to interview Secret Holland.

Secret Holland is the vice president of human resources and community affairs for Atlanta-based Gas South, the largest retail natural gas provider in the Southeast. Prior to her time at Gas South, Holland earned a BBA in accounting and an MS in management from Georgia State University and spent over 30 years working for Southern Company.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers like to get an idea of who you are and where you came from. Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where do you come from? What are the life experiences that most shaped your current self?

I’m a Georgia native and began my career at Southern Company (subsidiaries Georgia Power, Southern Co. Services, SouthernLINC Wireless), where I stayed for 31 years! The first half of that tenure was spent working in procurement and materials, then the second half in human resources. While that kept me very busy, I wanted to further my education, so I completed a BBA in Accounting and an MS in Management at Georgia State University — all in night school! I retired from that role in 2012 but decided to get back into the workforce in the fall of 2013, which is when I joined Gas South and began my current role as VP of human resources and community affairs.

What do you expect to be the major disruptions for employers in the next 10–15 years? How should employers pivot to adapt to these disruptions?

1. Recruiting — There are more jobs than people as generations change. Younger generations won’t work 50–60 hours per week, week after week, as they value their personal time much more than Baby Boomers did. Plus, the hybrid and/or work-from-home environments will broaden the candidate base for any company that doesn’t insist on in-office work. Companies who do insist are likely to have trouble securing talent, especially with niche skills. Organizations must be creative, generous with compensation/benefits and flexible to support family needs.
2. Culture opportunities — People want to enjoy where they work, especially younger generations, and they will leave a company — whether they have another job or whether they make less money elsewhere — if they are unhappy or uncomfortable at work. Leadership at all levels needs to be more focused on guiding teams than producing work — the era of technical skills being more important than leadership skills in leaders is quickly coming to an end. At Gas South, we have a strong DEI team and a “Great Place to Work” committee. Additionally, we do annual check-ins on employee engagement, complete with action planning to address concerns and/or opportunities.
3. External social happenings/issues — There is no longer a clear divide between “work” and “outside work.” Companies can’t expect employees to take work home or be available or on call at all times, yet have employees “leave their feelings at the door” when they start working. Companies must acknowledge what’s going on in the world and in our communities and recognize how that impacts workers. At Gas South, we quickly acknowledge key events in the world like the DACA legislation proposal and the George Floyd murder by reaching out to our employee base as quickly as possible and taking a stance as a company at appropriate opportunities.

The choice as to whether a young person should pursue a college degree was once a “no-brainer”. But with the existence of many high-profile millionaires (and billionaires) who did not earn degrees, as well as the fact that many graduates are saddled with crushing student loan debt and unable to find jobs, it has become a much more complex question. What advice would you give to young adults considering whether to go to college?

I would say to follow your passion. If you need a degree to do it, get one, but try to do it as inexpensively as possible. If you don’t need a degree, don’t bother. Figure out what you think you want to do, research it, talk to people doing it, then take a leap. If it doesn’t work, leap again. If you can support yourself the way you want to live, you should spend your workdays enjoying your craft and making a difference.

I will also offer some advice to parents — don’t push your priorities on your children. Being a member of the Baby Boomer/Gen X age group, I knew I needed a college education to differentiate myself from the millions of people in the workforce, so I pushed my children to college thinking it would help them be more successful, support themselves and “always have something to fall back on.” As it turned out, one of them — after 4 ½ years in engineering school and $200,000 of student debt — only wants to work in a warehouse and then hang out with his friends in the evenings, living a simpler life. Since all we ultimately want is for them to be happy and healthy, it’s important to let THEM choose their future — they might do better than we would by choosing for them.

Despite the doom and gloom predictions, there are, and likely still will be, jobs available. How do you see job seekers having to change their approaches to finding not only employment, but employment that fits their talents and interests?

It’s not a matter of changing the approach, but rather adding to the tried-and-true methods. Applicants must continue to follow the traditional paths — updated resumes, professional LinkedIn profiles, cleaned-up social media accounts (I can’t emphasize this one enough — my recruiters stalk Facebook and Instagram!) and so forth. But you also need to do some networking to meet people and get your name out there. The old phrase, “It’s not what you know, but who you know,” has evolved to, “It’s not who you know but who knows YOU.” Pick a cause you’re passionate about and volunteer where you can meet other influential people from the community, many of whom are well-connected at their companies, sometimes even the CEO or COO or Head of HR. Join young professional groups or organizations, attend local chamber events, maybe even work at the local sports stadium where you will meet people. You might get a job sitting in your home applying on the computer — many people do. However, I believe you’re more likely, in most cases, to get your dream job by talking to people out in the world.

The statistics of artificial intelligence and automation eliminating millions of jobs, appear frightening to some. For example, Walmart aims to eliminate cashiers altogether and Dominos is instituting pizza delivery via driverless vehicles. How should people plan their careers such that they can hedge their bets against being replaced by automation or robots?

First and foremost, pick an industry that is not likely to go away. My mom always told me to go to work for the electric company or the gas company, because we will always need both, and it’s been great advice! Beyond the industry, pick roles that can only be performed by humans — those that require discretion, judgment and quick decision-making based on experience. Equip yourself with transferable skills so if your job becomes obsolete, you can shift to another role. Don’t get in a routine and let the years go by thinking everything is fine. Keep up with news, technology advancement, new trends — basically, think and plan ahead.

Technological advances and pandemic restrictions hastened the move to working from home. Do you see this trend continuing? Why or why not?

Working from home is here to stay in some capacity, but both employers and employees are trying to figure out the balance. There are many articles and discussions about how C-Suites and many entrepreneurs want the world to “return to normal,” meaning life before the pandemic, where most employees were in the office every day. If we had only been out of the office a few weeks or a couple of months, that return might have been inevitable. But, with 18 months behind us and most corporations continuing to function — or even thrive — it’s hard to make the argument that in-person work is necessary, or even best. Here in Atlanta, where the commute is brutal on most days and many employees are dependent upon public transportation, it isn’t particularly logical to incur the time and expense of travel. At Gas South, we found that our Customer Care service center (calls, emails, chats, etc.) not only had consistent performance, but improved attendance when we went home, so much so we have converted those 100 jobs to 100% remote and are hiring those roles as fully remote in the future. This will enable us to recruit individuals who don’t live in Atlanta or in Gainesville, Fla., where our second office is located. With the technology available today, there is also less need for traveling to meetings, conferences, etc. While there are special intangibles to being together in-person, I believe most work in the future will be done in a hybrid fashion — some people in person and some joining through technology. We just need to figure out how to do that effectively and efficiently.

What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support the fundamental changes to work?

I honestly haven’t had a lot of time to think about this. I foresee an impact on school calendars/schedules of all ages and after-school programs for elementary school students who can now leave on the bus because a parent is home. Daycare services may be impacted as parents try to work and care for children at the same time. I think we must equalize access to high-speed internet and computers to ensure all adults and children can be connected to the world. Socializing will take on new forms — both at work, with more common areas and less cubicles set up for the rare times people are in-person together, and in public, as people get together more often socially with work colleagues because they don’t see each other in the office. Parents will get to more evening events like ball games, dance practice and recitals. Many people, at least in Atlanta, will gain 1–2 hours a day in their lives — I hope we use it wisely.

What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employers to accept? What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employees to accept?

For employers, it will likely be less face-to-face interaction with people at work, more hybrid meetings, more decentralization of some decision-making, dealing with a feeling of loss of control and fear of missing out on being in the know.

For employees, I imagine it will be adjusting to less social interaction, trusting their leaders to assess performance correctly and fearing not being onsite may impact career progression.

The COVID-19 pandemic helped highlight the inadequate social safety net that many workers at all pay levels have. In your opinion, how should this be addressed?

Employers need to be sure they are paying a fair wage. I saw a report in 2015 that an individual needed to make at least $12.38 per hour to have a decent standard of living in Georgia, yet our minimum wage is nowhere near that amount. While all companies can’t afford to pay that much, they should revisit pay and do the best they can. As I mentioned previously, there are going to be MANY more jobs than people in the next 10 years, so employers are going to have to compete for talent at all levels, not just for degreed individuals. Employers could provide more information on financial planning, encourage savings accounts where possible and even put an employee assistance program in place (both mental and financial assistance). Community leaders who have the power and money to make a change need to acknowledge the situation and put programs in place to achieve equality and a reasonable standard of living for all members of the community. We must eliminate the “us” and “them” in the world, and we need to start where we live, work and play.

Despite all that we have said earlier, what is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?

I believe people inherently want to work, contribute and make a difference. They want to support themselves and their families in a comfortable lifestyle. I don’t believe that the majority of people want a handout or don’t want to work. I believe there is a circle of life and people want to engage in it, in whatever form it takes in the future.

Historically, major disruptions to the status quo in employment, particularly disruptions that result in fewer jobs, are temporary, with new jobs replacing the jobs lost. Unfortunately, there has often been a gap between the job losses and the growth of new jobs. What do you think we can do to reduce the length of this gap?

I’m not sure, because the gap is so different depending on the industry. For example, a hurricane wiping out cities or buildings isn’t something you can predict, prevent, or plan for recovery — it takes whatever time it takes. Within a particular industry or business, I believe there should be time spent watching the world, anticipating, and planning for potential impacts, closely monitoring change and then acting swiftly, without hesitation, when you have that feeling the time is right.

I will never forget Friday, February 7, 2020, when I was watching the national news and heard that Japan had closed their schools because of the pandemic. I called our CFO that evening and told him Japan had closed its schools, the pandemic was coming, and we need to be prepared by ordering and setting up laptops for every employee that didn’t already have one. It was also critical we ensured our infrastructure could support 100% remote work as quickly as possible. I anticipated we had 4–6 weeks at most to be ready. It may have seemed far-fetched, but he trusted me and my instincts, so he directed IT to order laptops immediately and prepare for a WFH test as soon as possible. On March 13th, our schools closed and we went home, with 100% of our employees equipped with laptops and a redundant infrastructure in place to support remote work. Most of us are still there today. “Watch, listen, think, plan, act” tends to be my recommended approach to most things.

Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Top 5 Trends to Watch in the Future of Work?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. How will work from home/hybrid work impact recruiting and hiring? Prior to the pandemic and our acquisition of Infinite Energy, Gas South was largely an in-office workforce, other than some members of our sales team. Infinite, however, had a broadly distributed workforce across Florida, in Texas, Ohio, etc. We are now recruiting and hiring in many states — especially for niche skills — and will likely never meet some of our co-workers in person.
2. How will we address the competition for talent with fewer individuals in the newer generations? We are finding our benefits structure will likely continue to evolve, with less emphasis on retirement planning and saving and more emphasis on real-time benefits, like increased PTO, sabbatical programs, parental leave, etc. I don’t believe future generations will work somewhere for 30+ years like I did at Southern Company. They will take their future into their own hands rather than relying on their employer for jobs and personal security.
3. How will work environments/cultures evolve in the future? For a smaller, regional company like ours, this is something we are trying to figure out. But the larger, worldwide companies manage to have a company culture without meeting or seeing the individual employees. I think the difference, obviously, is the KIND of culture that is possible is different — not bad, just different. This will be something to watch and learn more about, taking the parts and pieces that work for us.
4. How do we define work-life balance with remote work? I didn’t have a work-life balance before there was remote work. Seriously, I think this rests with the individual. We know our lives and we set our priorities based on what we value. If we value work more than our personal time, we give more to work than we do to ourselves. I think it’s important to build a strong relationship with your leader and team, producing good work to build your credibility. This puts you in a position of being comfortable to quit work at a reasonable time most days and not feel pressured to work more hours on a regular basis. Of course, most of us go through cycles where extra is required, but if it becomes routine, that’s our fault, not our employer’s fault.
5. How will home/apartment designs and decisions be impacted with more individuals needing permanent workspace at home?. I think this one will become particularly interesting, as many of us have had our “offices” set up with a table in our living room or bedroom, or we took over the family dining room table to work. Even those little nooks in the kitchen aren’t enough for real remote work on a regular basis. I think architects need to think and plan ahead to be at the forefront of designing and building economically feasible housing with attractive work-at-home office spaces.

Can you please give us your favorite quote? And how has this quote has shaped your perspective?

My favorite quote is, “There go my people, I must hurry to catch up with them, for I am their leader.”

– Mahatma Gandhi

I believe a great leader is one who paints a vision, gets input to develop a strategy, clearly defines roles and responsibilities, hires great people, treats them well and gets out of their way. I tell my team I lead from the rear, providing support while they do amazing things. When they reach back for something they need, I’m there with a solution. My idea of success is my team flying like a flock of birds, but in reverse formation, with the V opening forward, and I’m at the back. If a reverse-V formation of birds all end up in the same place, it was clear where we were going. My best moments are when I think of something and it’s already done. They hear me say often, “there go my people,” and they know what that means. It makes them proud when I say it, and it feels pretty great to me, too.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.