impact of innovation on employment
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The Regal team recently worked with b2b leaders, addressing how to be competitive moving beyond 2015. Quite a bit of the strategy portion was addressing how technological innovations will impact acquiring, retaining and restructuring their workforce.
I use the term “economic Darwinism” to explain the shifts that impact employer-employee relations. It’s apropos to talk about survival when all parties are negotiating around factors that change the status quo. When we throw the recession, high unemployment rate, the impact of the National Healthcare Act on American businesses and workers, then throw in mobile and cloud technology, the widespread use of social media, online communities and platforms and sprinkle budget cuts in to a pot…survival really does come down to those who are nimble enough to turn a murky stew into a thriving opportunity. So let’s explore what’s going on, and what is on the horizon.
smart companies will embrace cloud commuting
Moving forward winning companies will hire smarter, not closer. Employees will be compensated by performance, not time spent at their desk. During the economic downturn, many talented individuals were let go. In this situation, top talent naturally rose to the challenge, and created their own opportunities. They developed personal brands, launched websites, became consultants, and took to social media. Through networking they secured work until the economy turned around. For some, it was the start of a thriving business. For many companies, it was an ah-ha moment. Why not leverage expertise short term, or part time without the expense of on-boarding, training, or benefits?
212.1 million workers now commute to the cloud. That’s up 140% since 2005. NY Times
You’ll see a growth of consultant and cloud based employees, as best in class companies snap up top talent unencumbered by physicality. Employers let go of the need to “watch” employees work, as tools for clocking in, collaboration and reporting online become integrated in the workplace. Online reputation and reference checking make it easy to eliminate poor performers prior to hire. Rising costs of fuel, urban housing, office space, healthcare and other benefits, make cloud commuting a win-win for employees and their employers.
top candidates turn to MOOCs and e-learning to stay viable
In today’s fast paced environment, it isn’t enough to graduate with a degree and secure a job in your desired field. Enter MOOCs and e-learning platforms. MOOCs or Massive Open Online Courses provide unlimited participation via the web. Check out the MOOCs available in the US. A passion for lifelong learning will become an important characteristic for employers to identify as change environments become the norm. Employees who abhor change will be disruptive within organizations. If those employees happen to hold leadership positions, you’ll loose your competitive edge.
For employees, your willingness to learn and grow will be an asset to employers, as new technology changes the way we behave as consumers, how we streamline work environments, and adopt new technology in the workplace. Demonstrate how you can lead as a change agent, and be sensitive to those who don’t eagerly embrace change, and you’ll be invaluable to any organization. For employees who don’t keep pace with change environments, unfortunately will be replaced, or pivoted to less important roles.
1:1 relationships will replace standard b2b relationships
b2b relationships used to be quite different than b2c. Technology has changed all of that. Joe Smith doesn’t stop being who he is when he clocks in at 9am and starts being your customer. He has the same expectation when he visits “b2b” websites as he does when he shops on Amazon. But wait, it doesn’t stop there. Not only does Joe have high expectations when it comes to doing business with you as a customer, his loyalty to the company he works is changing as well. Moving forward, brand choices move away from personal validation, and toward personal evolution.
“Ask not what your brand will do for my company, ask what you’ll do for me.”
According to Forbes, employees who stay at their companies longer than two years get paid 50% less. Now that both job hopping and personal branding are the new normal, brands should be aware that the best course of action is to establish 1:1 relationships through value add services. Loyalty now becomes about how you make Joe indispensable. Now when Joe switches jobs, he’ll take you with him, because the value of maintaining your relationship is too valuable to walk away from.
For you, Mr. Company, you have just doubled your customer base by keeping Joe’s old account, and winning a new one (provided Joe’s new company wasn’t already in your fold). As an organization, KPI’s will shift towards loyalty measures. Your initiatives for keeping Joe engaged with your value add initiatives will center around online collaboration, networking communities, video conferencing, e-learning platforms and social sharing.
For many companies, you’ll also engage your customers for collaboration in product development. In doing so, you’ll be faster to market with successful products and marketing strategies, and already have your customer base waiting to purchase from you.
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
- John F. Kennedy
Change is inevitable. Understanding where we are headed, and leveraging what the future holds for us as individuals, and as organizations is what separates those who survive and those who thrive.