FIVE AREAS FOR ATTENTION

How was your Q1 2023? Tumultuous, somewhat chaotic, or relatively orderly? Have pre-pandemic re-established processes and arrangements been working smoothly or are many straining and needing updating? Flexibility is essential to allow your company to adjust for the new era of business and work. Integrate flexibility into these five areas and your organization and workforce can adapt to current conditions and be ready for whatever the future holds.

Wherever you are in the process, transformation requires substantial shifts across multiple dimensions. During this period of flux, we need to be regularly assessing strategic changes, what needs most attention next, as well as how, where, and when to benefit holistically from the latest disruptive technologies. It is imperative to keep stepping back to review, realign, reconfigure, or even rethink aspects of what you are doing—how, with and for whom.

Flexibility is Fundamental

Most of us would prefer to be on familiar, solid ground, knowing where we are going, moving at a steady pace. However, that’s not where we are right now, nor will these conditions be over soon. Societal evolution and technological advances and implementations—accelerated, not caused, by the pandemic—have launched us into the Future of Work.

This new era is characterized by highly digitalized, interconnected, fast-paced, and unpredictable marketplace developments. We need to flex to be able to transform and transition so our businesses can compete and achieve sustainable growth. Counterbalancing the digital drivers, this modern era emphasizes talent. The orientation for success is human-centric—understanding and optimizing for your customers and employees.

Why? Humans are the ones:

• you are selling to and serving—whatever the delivery medium or mechanism.
• prompting chatbots and using sophisticated new platforms and applications.
• capable of completing the growing volume of non-routine projects in teams.

Agility to adapt to ongoing changes is an operational necessity for your business. Your employees need the information and responsibility to make timely decisions anticipating or reacting to changing customer demands and behaviors. Every team member must be engaged and ready to respond. For flexibility to be integrated and pervasive--infusing all the business and work arrangements and activities affecting your ecosystem—ensure you are:

1.   Shifting Your Mindset

A flexible mindset is your starting point to enable the open-minded approach that is critical for recognizing and accepting current realities. You can focus on what is important and adjust as necessary to move forward without wasting time, energy, and effort resisting the inevitable. Conventional (fixed) attitudes often rely on methods that cannot morph with sufficient speed or range. Many previously pioneering CEOs and investors are drawing heavily on traditional experiences to try and solve today’s problems and tomorrow’s needs. Instead, engage a student mindset to investigate new ideas. Use first principles to develop viable solutions for current situations and to be able to prepare for whatever is next.

2.   Accommodating Economic Uncertainties

From mental to macro, it is important to assess the potential repercussions of relevant economic environments: global, national, and local. Globally: the impact of war(s), shifting alliances, and international tensions. Nationally: the effect of an impending recession (or not or how much) and the incalculable, unprojectable results of government actions (eg. The Fed (US)). Locally: how entities all along your supply chain are being affected and the consequences for your business of their new choices and possible direction. Explore risk mitigation through diversification and scenario planning. Develop close relationships with valued partners to align strategies and decision-making to be flexible in concert.

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How much has talent immobility been contributing to the Great Resignation at your company? In fact, only 20% of employees “believe they can meet their career goals where they work” or “have their manager and organization’s support to pursue those goals—even in another part of the business” (Employee Wellbeing Report, Glint/LinkedIn from Sept. 2021). This data implies that for many of your employees—including key talent you want to retain—their most accessible or viable growth and career development option is achieved by leaving.

Moreover, an employee is 10 times more likely to leave if they feel their skills are not delivering value (Skills Advantage Report 2022). Therefore, without identifying employees’ skills and orienting their work towards their skills and strengths—which Gallup’s research indicates increases company profits by more than 10%--many are likely exploring alternatives right now where they believe their value will be realized and appreciated.

These reports uncover huge, missed opportunities and outcomes. Not that navigating internal talent mobility is easy since now careers are non-linear, taking horizontal and diagonal—as well as vertical—paths. A first critical step is that every team member (correctly) identifies and logs their current skills to be able to discover and map where they might go next.

As a leader, you need to be willing to pass rising stars on to other departments to support their personal growth and careers. It is also critical to foster good relationships across other groups to have the connections necessary to facilitate their transfers. Why not explore how well any team members who are ready to grow may be matched with compelling openings across your organization? If they need a few more skills to enhance their fit, investing in their training is a great way to engage and empower these employees.

It’s a mindset shift, acknowledging the new career landscapes, so that we can flip the challenge of a tight labor market—whatever the recession might bring. We all need good people, who are engaged in their jobs, for our businesses to thrive and grow.

At the same time, the best next step for one of your team might indeed be to leave your company which is not necessarily a bad thing. If you’re a small company, you can attract great talent by realizing that a mutually beneficial arrangement exists when they develop their skills and experiences serving your business before they take the next step up. Listen to my new podcast episode to hear Colin Field, CEO of Saffron Building Society in the UK, succeeding with this approach. 

Colin Field, CEO of Saffron Building Society in the UK, combines years of customer-focused banking experience with a collaborative, human-centric, and flexible leadership approach. He explains how transformation of the company’s culture and ethos—emphasizing communication and transparency—enabled...

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