​U.S. President Abraham Lincoln once famously said, "If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first six of them sharpening my axe." Almost 200 years later, there has never been a more apt phrase to describe the need for individuals to continually sharpen their skills, especially considering today’s rapidly transforming digital economy. IBM estimates that up to 120 million workers in the world’s 12 biggest economies may need to be retrained or reskilled due to the rise of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. This is not surprising, as 76% of global workers say they are not prepared to implement the technologies of the future.1   For companies looking to empower innovation, improve retention and meet evolving business demands, those are issues that upskilling and reskilling can help address.Here's how to future-proof your team with skills needed to meet the digital age.Balance hard and soft skillsFrom radiologists using technology to read and analyze MRI scans to welders controlling robots and repairing pipes, there’s no doubt that tech skills are in-demand. But C-suite leaders fall short if they put all their eggs in the tech basket while ignoring vital soft skills such as communication, critical thinking and creativity. Companies today find that making the right investments in soft skills training can deliver an incredible 256% Return on Learning (RoL).2One of the nation’s largest financial institutions, Bank of America, recently launched a virtual reality soft skills training pilot program for 50,000 employees in nearly 4,300 financial centers across North America. There workers practice routine and complex tasks and engage in client interactions that they are likely to encounter daily. Through this training, branch managers identify skill gaps and provide personalized feedback to team members, improving their individual performance and collaboration skills. 3 According to John Jordan, Head of the Academy at Bank of America, the training is “helping teammates build and retain new skills and it’s one of many ways the company is using technology to provide best-in-class learning opportunities.”Assess talent for future-fitHow can a company know where to start with training when it doesn’t know where its employee competencies are or are uncertain about what technology will be needed in the next five years. That’s where skills-mapping comes in to help organizations determine where skills gaps exist and identify potential solutions including the creation of new roles or training that focuses on specific areas of need.4That exercise, aligned with today’s acute talent shortage, will lead most companies to reimagine a blend of outsourcing, permanent, remote and hybrid roles that fit today’s reality. According to Allison Kerska, Vice President - Global Client Consulting at Talent Solutions, leaders will also need to examine other factors from budgets to regulatory constraints and geography to determine how best to fill these skills gaps most efficiently and productively. For example, outsourcing may be the ideal way to temporarily fill gaps in a department but may eventually increase attrition among employees looking for growth opportunities.5Offer continuous and flexible learningWith over 4 million workers quitting each month, employers are looking for solutions to stem the tide. In fact, 58 percent of workers say they are likely to leave their company without professional development—or continuing education and career training to help develop new skills and drive career advancement. This especially holds true for women, people of color and millennials.6Global consumer products company Coca Cola has taken this to heart by setting up a digital academy to upskill employees including managers and team leaders. From go-and-see visits to immersive boot camps and e-learning modules, Coca Cola’s skills training impacts over 4,000 employees to help them build core digital, analytics and soft skills.According to Gigly Philip, Transformation Director with The Coca Cola Company, reskilling “contributes to the learning culture we’re trying to build in the organization which can pay dividends on the employee front. And reskilling also makes financial sense because it’s obviously cheaper to reskill current employees than to hire new ones.”7Providing flexible on-demand training is also essential to adapt to today’s remote and hybrid work environment. One-size-fits-all learning approaches are outdated and limited in their potential positive impact. Companies should customize a structure that works around their employee’s schedules, location and specific learning styles.Rethink Your KPIsIf company training programs need a makeover, then it’s clear that leaders also need to look at news ways to measure performance that better reflect the transformative shifts in today’s workforce. Almost 62% of leaders today say there’s a need to revisit traditional productivity and achievement metrics. 8 Instead of focusing only on whether employees are retaining skills and using them to improve the bottom line, employers need to understand how training aligns with career progression, employee satisfaction and rate of internal hires.Learn more about how ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions can help organizations prepare employees for next generation roles. Read The Future of Work III: How Work is Done.

​Flexibility is today’s workplace watchword with 32% of global companies leveraging contingent workers to fill the labor shortage gap and save on costs. In fact, 73% of organizations expect to increase their hiring of contingent workers within the next 12 to 18 months.1 This is especially good news for companies in markets with aging populations, as more Gen Zers and Millennials are choosing these types of flexible work arrangements.2 Organizations that want to create a more agile and flexible workforce should focus on strengthening their DEIB programs to be more competitive. That’s especially important with younger talent who want to work for organizations with similar values to their own.3 Here are four ways to create a diverse and inclusive flexible work environment. Analyze data to set benchmarks “What matters is measured, and what is prioritized and communicated gets done,” says Jonas Prising, Chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup. That’s certainly true when it comes to workplace diversity. It is vital for organizations to review both qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate their contingent workforce diversity metrics as well as to identify potential gaps and opportunities. Human resources and finance departments can share real-time numbers on diversity representation but talking to people face-to-face can unveil actual experiences—both good and bad—and identify processes that need to be improved. For example, through these conversations, companies may learn that human resources must update onboarding materials to ensure key contingent worker data is captured accurately. To do this properly, it’s important that organizations design all of their processes with belonging in mind from the beginning, according to Syneathia LaGrant, VP, Global Learning & Development at ManpowerGroup. For example, don’t limit people to a single checkbox when self-identifying information like their gender, race, and ethnicity. Qualitative input, such as career goals, interests, and experiences can also communicate to leaders why people apply for roles—and why others don’t—as well as why contingent workers’ tenures tend to be shorter than other positions.4 Engage diverse recruiting and onboarding One silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has provided a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine the workplace. And the hiring process is a key place to start. Recruitment, retention, engagement, and performance are all closely linked – so improving diversity in any of these areas will naturally improve performance in all of them. Combining diversity with flexibility makes an organization even more competitive as it creates an attractive employer brand that appeals to today’s top talent.5 Qualified contingent workers should be carefully considered during the hiring process as they offer unique, diverse talent pools. For example, many moms who are returning to the workforce after a hiatus to raise children or care for loved ones are choosing remote and contingent work because of the flexibility these options offer. Recruiting contingent workers can help improve gender, age, and racial diversity within a company. It also brings a high level of experience, maturity, and commitment to organizations.6 Global firm Dow Chemical has discovered that retirees are another source of contingent talent, according to Mark Bachman, global director of Dow’s HR Center of Expertise. The company recently launched Dow Network, a social networking site on which all employees, including retirees, can post their profiles and communicate with each other. Retirees who are interested in short-term work are funneled through the company’s temporary employment vendor to find opportunities that best suit their skill sets and needs.7 Organizations that work with diversity-focused staffing partners can build a more DEIB-friendly recruiting and onboarding process to reduce decision-making biases, provide training with increased awareness around potential language and cultural barriers, and support coaching that strengthens inclusive leadership. Ensure access to career development It may seem counterintuitive to provide career development opportunities for workers who are not part of an organization’s full-time team, but in fact, it’s a smart move. Competition for contingent talent is intensifying, and organizations need to look at providing resources for these contract workers to stand out in the marketplace, according to Lori Chowanec, Managing Director of Client Engagement at Talent Solutions TAPFIN. This is especially true with a growing segment of contingent Gen Z workers who are using freelance opportunities to expand their experiences and strengthen their skillsets in a variety of areas. By 2030, workers under 35 will make up 75% of the global workforce and will drive the gig boom across generational lines.8 Understanding their motivations will be key and one of the top workplace desires of Gen Z workers, in addition to a fair work-life balance, Chowanec notes, is for companies to care about their well-being including career development. By providing coaching and technologies that enable people to confidently accomplish their jobs, organizations will positively stand out in contingent workers’ minds and even convert some to full-time employees over time. Give contingent workers a voice Tapping into the ideas and experiences of the contingent workforce doesn’t just enhance corporate culture, but it can also positively impact business performance. Contractors value two-way communication just like their full-time counterparts, so it is important to provide them with a sense of ownership by engaging them in feedback and decision-making within the organization.9 Organizations can accomplish this by leveraging managed service providers, which, in addition to recruiting and hiring contingent team members, also help companies train and communicate with them during their time at the firm. There are several major benefits of a flexible and diverse workforce. With a strong commitment to recruit, engage, and train contingent workers, organizations can reap long-term rewards of increased performance and profitability. To learn more about how to create an agile contingent workforce, read the Future of Work Report II: Who Will Do the Work?

​​For companies to gain and retain talent today, they must shift their focus on how to ensure comfort and productivity among their staff, regardless of where and when they work.COVID-19 has shifted the state of the workplace – perhaps for good in some cases. Over the past year and a half, organizations and employees have learned that, in many situations, jobs can be done efficiently regardless of one’s physical location. This has led a number of companies to adopt a hybrid or remote work setup as their new normal, especially after observing impressive productivity rates and high employee satisfaction. According to ManpowerGroup’s 2021 Employment Outlook Survey, over half (59%) of employers are planning to offer flexible work options for the long-term, with 20% offering the option to work remotely 100% of the time and 39% planning to support remote work some of the time. [1]How can companies continue to evolve in this new normal to attract and retain workers in both the short and long term? One of the most important factors is for organizations to understand the unique motivations of employees and ensure that they feel seen and heard when it comes to how, when and where they want to work.  From Roamers to Homers – new work personalities emerge Seven new workforce personas are emerging post-pandemic, each with different needs that range across a spectrum of management, physical space, technology and socialization issues, [2] according to Grantley Morgan, Global Practice Lead and Vice President of Talent Solutions Consulting at ManpowerGroup. Understanding more about these personas can help organizations better adapt to create a more collaborative and productive work environment. The RoamersThe Roamers are typically in leadership or field-based roles that require frequent travel. Hence their name, many Roamers split their time drifting between the office, various client locations and third spaces (e.g., coffee shops). Balancing work with health, well-being and family is important to them and especially so post-pandemic. What they want: Companies can help Roamers feel a sense of security as they constantly settle into new locations to get their jobs done efficiently. This can be done by helping them manage traveling between workplaces by providing club-based access to flexible workspaces as well as creative options like Marriott’s work-from-anywhere day pass that enables employees to find quiet workspaces in destinations around the world. [3]The NomadsThe Nomads have a goal of balancing their life and work goals while having fulfilling experiences and meeting new people. Nomads tend to thrive in environments that help fuel their extroverted personalities, and they feel more productive simply by being in the presence of others. What they want: Nomads prefer a more flexible, work-from-anywhere set-up such as hubs and third spaces akin to Spotify's new model which allows workers to first choose a remote, hybrid or office-based model, then select which country and region they want as their base with support available for relocation and paid co-working members. The InventorsThe Inventors appreciate in-person collaboration done safely. While technology has proven itself to be a useful workaround for client communication and team collaboration, especially during these times, Inventors are more likely to miss the office as a creative social hub. They would rather stick to the traditional methods of work rather than solely rely on their digital devices. They also appreciate spaces that encourage serendipitous innovation, learning and team-building in a way that technology can’t replicate for the majority of us. What they want: Companies can cater to Inventors by offering a “hoteling” approach, a reservation-based seating where employees reserve a workspace before they come to work in an office. This enables small group meetings to occur safely. The First-TimersThe First-Timers are those who have very recently entered the workforce or feel like they have missed out on important parts of the onboarding process due to remote working. They believe that real, person-to-person connection is vital to kicking off a successful career. What they want: To make First-Timers feel more at ease and confident in their careers, even for the time being, companies can designate physical spaces for in-person training and other learning opportunities. The CommutersThe Commuters, previously committed to a traditional five-day work week, now expect greater flexibility in the workplace from their companies – particularly upper management and key decision makers.  What they want: Satisfy Commuters by adding satellite office spaces close to where your employees live, i.e., decreasing the amount of time they need to commute to and from work each day. Another solution is to adopt a more versatile model that allows workers to travel to the office only a few days a week instead of every day. Telecommunications company Vodafone created a zonal approach to workspace design that features dedicated spaces for different types of work.[4]The Front-linersThe Front-liners, considered “pandemic heroes” by many, include those who work in supply chain, manufacturing, healthcare and other essential services. While their lines of work may involve advanced technologies, people in these industries must still perform their jobs in-person rather than solely behind a screen. What they want: Since they’ve been on the frontlines throughout the pandemic, Front-liners desire technologies such as bespoke apps like Beekeeper which enable workers to give and receive information without needing direct access to corporate systems. These tools improve the workplace experience and help alleviate health concerns as workers reacclimate to public transit and crowded places. The HomersThe Homers are masters of routine who prefer a fixed work location that provides them with better control of their schedules, productivity levels and deliverables – like a static home office. Homer's keen focus is a result of minimal disruption and having the ability to remain in the same place.  What they want: Companies can consider offering workplace benefits packages to Homers with state-of-the-art equipment and tools to make the at-home workspace comfortable and efficient. No matter where one falls on the employee persona spectrum, it’s the responsibility of businesses to respond to their workers’ needs. Small companies and large corporations alike can benefit from embracing a more fluid workplace structure, as it helps provide an even balance and greater satisfaction among workers without negatively affecting the bottom line – especially in today's fluctuating economy. Read Working Anywhere, Anytime during the Big Resurgenceby Grantley Morgan for additional insights on these workplace personas. To learn more about how ManpowerGroup can help your organization adapt to the remodeled global work environment and to read more on this topic, visit the Future of Work.​References[1] https://go.manpowergroup.com/meos#%20[2] https://preview.shorthand.com/nHPktdq8cpI1z6WQ[3] https://workanywhere.marriott.com/?scid=96b2ed49-30d6-4226-8f75-bf5c04343308&dclid=CKOK44nNhfACFVQAiwodOioJ8A[4] https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/future-ready-reimagining-our-office-spaces-leanne-wood/

​Structure, boldness, lack of boundaries, and a win-win mentality are all signs of a robust, sustainable career culture that will help businesses attract and engage talent. In the changing world of work, the only job security lies in professional mobility. A new “contract” is needed in which career development is embedded in culture, so organizations can enhance competitive capabilities at the same time individuals can enhance their professional skills and employability. Here are the key characteristics of a culture of career development.  Structure and accountability A career development culture has a management framework designed to facilitate an individual’s career growth. It is not just a loose collection of resources. A career culture provides a structure to align career goals to business needs to competencies valued by the organization and to available opportunities. This requires clear paths for advancement, growth for specialists who want to advance but not necessarily to leadership, talent assessment to identify workforce skills and focus career development, processes to create connections between career aspirations and specific business needs and leadership accountability to achieve team members’ career aspirations.  Win-win opportunities Leaders need to learn how to identify intersections where business objectives meet individual career aspirations in order to create win-win opportunities for growth. The skills acquired in a project should be well-aligned to the needs of the organization while enabling the individual to advance toward career goals. Given an opportunity to take on more career projects, employees are more likely to be engaged in work and loyalty to the organization will increase.   Understanding that talent doesn’t belong to a department or an organization In a seeming paradox, to keep a valued employee longer, managers may need to talk about where an employee sees herself working next. When a manager is open to discussing career development, the discussion moves to a deeper, more meaningful level. This is a foreign idea for managers who don’t even want to let a talented team member work outside their own department, much less outside the organization. This mindset needs to change to one in which leaders actively support career growth for the employee no matter where it leads.  Allowing employees to fail In a developmental culture, employees are given assignments that test their strengths and skills. They are allowed to fail and to learn from that experience without retribution. This is particularly critical for high-potential talent who need stretch assignments. Cycling people through different roles and exposing them to a variety of challenges will accelerate their growth and flexibility. This approach involves risk and some leaders may fail, but an agile organization makes quick adjustments. A culture in which vulnerability is accepted is a sign of maturity. It enables people to perform to a level that may even surprise them.

​​How can employers attract and retain talent by helping workers to thrive?What does it mean to thrive at work? The answer will vary, but since the pandemic, many have re-evaluated their work and life priorities. The conclusion? Today’s workers want more. They want to be empowered to grow, nurture their mental fitness and physical well-being, find meaning and purpose in their work, and define success on their own terms. After two years of surviving, people want to thrive. Amid the highest talent shortage in 16 years, employers must listen, rethink and act to attract and retain the very best talent. We asked over 5,000 workers from around the world (Australia, France, Italy, United Kingdom and United States) what they need to thrive at work. We then took it a step further by partnering with leading behavior change technology company Thrive to help employers turn insights into action to ensure both organizations and individuals alike are resilient and primed to succeed:1. Pushing the Flexibility Frontier: Understand What Flexibility Means for All.The recent rapid adoption of hybrid and remote working paved the way for many workers to redefine work with more control, choice and flexibility. It’s this flexibility, in many different forms, that will be the lasting legacy of the pandemic, with almost all workers (93%) now saying that they need flexibility to thrive at work. But what does flexibility at work mean? We’re not just talking about knowledge workers being able to work remotely and flex their schedule around other priorities; workers across all sectors and job roles are asking for more flexibility. What we heard is that workers want more control:  45% would like to choose start and end times, while 35% want to choose where they work based on their daily needs and 18% would work a four-day work week for less pay to achieve better balance. There is no one-size-fits-all solution but by offering choice and flexibility employers will succeed in attracting and retaining talent.2. Rewriting The Rules of Leadership: Prioritize Trust and SupportWorkers are looking for more when it comes to their relationship with work and their employers. Mutual trust, a supportive environment and meaningful work are essentials for workers to thrive, and they are willing to vote with their feet to get it. Leaders today need to combine meaningful, purpose-driven work (important to 70% of workers) with a strong culture of trust right across the organization as workers say both trusted colleagues (79%) and leaders (71%) are central to thriving at work. To achieve this, organizations must equip managers and leaders with the right skills to manage empathetically and effectively, providing guidance, support and coaching to nurture potential and enhance the employee experience.3. Thriving – The How To… : Respond to Women and Men’s Differing NeedsIn the wake of the pandemic, women and men have differing priorities and flexibility needs. Overall, flexibility at the start and end of the day (49% women; 42% men) is more important than extra vacation time (33% women; 39% men). Working for organizations with shared values (69% women; 65% men) that provide mental fitness support (60% women; 54% men) are also key factors. Employers who take steps now to offer both women and men the flexibility they need to thrive will have the greatest chance of attracting and retaining the best talent from the widest pool.4. Forging A Family Friendly Future: Support Parents’ PrioritiesThe collision of home, work, and school life over the past two years has led parents to reassess and reprioritize their lives. Flexibility tops the bill when it comes to what parents want, particularly choosing when they start and finish work, but that’s not all. Parents have tuned in to the importance of balance, well-being and belonging at work, and they are willing to walk to get it; in recent months parents have left their jobs in greater numbers than non-parents. It’s critical that employers listen to working parents and offer the flexibility they need to thrive, including opportunities for career progression (75%); and to learn new skills (73%); with help to stay healthy (56% want fitness resources; 54% want healthy food options).5. Fighting Burnout, Building Mental Fitness: Move From Awareness to ActionMental well-being is no longer a ‘nice to have;’ an effective strategy to promote mental fitness is increasingly critical to business success. One in four (25%) workers now actively want more mental health support from employers to protect against burnout. However, despite growing awareness of the importance of managing mental wellbeing, 38% of workers have not used mental health resources at work or are unaware that these exist. A powerful step employers can take is to destigmatize conversations around mental health, raising awareness and putting support in place. ​Mental health concerns won’t be solved overnight but it’s important for employers to create work environments where mental health is better understood, acknowledged and protected for the long-term well-being of their employees.The future of work is far from certain, but a resilient and thriving workforce is critical for organizations to successfully navigate intensifying talent shortages and the ongoing repercussions of the pandemic. Workers are asking for more flexibility and, ultimately, more choice. The employers who are willing to stop, listen and take action to provide what workers need to thrive will reap the rewards. 

According to ManpowerGroup research, the most in-demand skills in the world currently include sales representatives, project managers, information technology professionals, office support and financial analysts, among others. Yet these roles are different to how they looked a decade ago and continue to change, requiring new skills and training. Here’s how to find – and stay relevant – in these roles and fill the in-demand skills of today and tomorrow. Test the market According to a survey of employers, the single biggest driver of the talent shortage is simply a lack of applicants. For employees, this is a signal to test the market and apply for jobs even if you are content in your current role. Given the demand for talent, employers are more willing to a pay a premium to hire. But first you have to apply. Acquire necessary training Nearly a fifth (19%) of those employers surveyed said that those who apply lack the hard skills they need to fill a role. The reality in today’s fast moving economy is that employees need ongoing training, which could be online tutorials, short courses or other certification programs. Learnability is a key differentiator to keep hard skills relevant. Don’t neglect soft skills Hard skills are currently in higher demand, but soft skills will pay off in the long run. About 1 in 10 of employers surveyed blamed a lack of soft skills for driving their talent shortage. The ability to project manage, relate to colleagues, speak in public and other human skills will be consistently relevant over time. Remember to nurture and develop these soft skills. Look in-house Employers may not need to look very far to find training. In response to shortages, employers are responding to the talent shortage by providing training to employees. This year, more than half (54%) of employers are investing in learning platforms and development tools to build their talent pipeline, up from just 20% in 2014. ​In the digital age, employment will rely on skills development as even the most traditional roles are augmented with new technology. Savvy employees will continue to observe what roles are in high demand, and then make plans to target them.

​​Co-authors:Ruth Harper, ManpowerGroup, Chief Communications & Sustainability Officer Dr. Aaliya Yaqub, Thrive, Chief Medical Officer​In recent years we’ve seen a shift in people’s attitudes toward work. Where work was once thought to define who we are and how we fit in the world, work now needs to “work” for our whole lives. So, what do we really want from work? Increasingly we want to be empowered to grow, nurture our physical and mental well-being, connect to our sense of meaning and purpose, and define success for ourselves.  When we asked workers what would help them thrive, 93% said flexibility was important - with 45% saying they would like to choose start and end times to thier working day.  Workers across different sectors and professions today want more choice over when, where and how they work. Andpilotprograms have shown that giving people more flexibility leads to a happier and more productive workforce. Getting this right makes sense for individuals and for businesses. With talent shortages at a 16-year high and 75% of employers struggling to fill roles, the pressure is on to meet workers’ needs. So, What Do Employers Need To Do? Creating the right environment for people to thrive requires both empathy and trust. Shaping the culture of an organization has traditionally been a “top down” responsibility, led by People/HR teams, but in reality managers are at the forefront of workplace culture. Over half of employees who quit their jobs during the pandemic didn’t feel valued by their organization or their manager, or felt they didn’t belong. Managers are having daily conversations with workers about balancing their responsibilities, managing their days around childcare or elderly care, and ensuring they feel fulfilled and rewarded. One of the most effective ways managers can help workers (and themselves) to feel more in control of their lives is by introducing Microsteps: small, science-backed steps that build sustainable healthy habits. These actions can help managers to support a thriving workforce. Here Are Four Ways to Help Managers and Employees Thrive: 1. Shift from a workplace-centric to a human-centric culture Work needs to be a place of psychological safety, where employees feel they can be honest without being judged. Equipping leaders and managers with the right skills to manage empathetically will enhance the employee experience. More than ever, it’s important for managers to create an environment where authentic connections are possible, and where people feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work — whether they’re in an office, working remotely, or in a hybrid workplace. Listening to people and showing that their views are of value builds trust and enhances connections with colleagues. One Microstep for managers to try is opening your next meeting with a personal question rather than a work-related one. Asking simple, direct questions about the other person shows respect and forges a deeper connection. 2. Redefine management It’s rare for people to have the innate ability to manage, but these skills can be learned. Helping managers develop their skills will enable them to better support people’s mental well-being and individual work needs.  Workers most impacted by the pandemic are those on the front lines – in retail, factories, and hospitals. With high levels of burnout across the board, managers have a role to play in encouraging positive behaviors to support well-being. Finding moments throughout the day to recharge and connect can have a big impact. Managers need to encourage these moments; it can be as simple as encouraging employees to take a walk outside during a break, take an actual lunch break, or focus on their breathing during a moment of stress instead of reaching for their phone.  3. Measure performance by output, not hours As Adam Grant, Professor of Management and Psychology at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Thrive Board Member recently pointed out, “We should think of tasks that need completion ... rather than hours.” To help workers thrive, greater flexibility must lead to a focus on what is achieved, rather than how, where or when it’s done. For managers, acknowledging that presenteeism is not a measure of business success lends greater trust to individuals. Giving people flexibility enables them to maintain focus at work, helping to enhance productivity. Managers can support this by encouraging employees to set “focus time” for deep work (and let others know by putting it on their calendars). They can encourage ending meetings 5 or 10 minutes early to allow everyone the time back to recharge and avoid virtual fatigue. And they can lead by example, by letting team members know when they step away from work — to be with family, to attend an appointment, or to sign off for the day. This shows that recharging isn’t a reward for working hard and burning out — it’s a part of work that allows us to avoid burnout and achieve our best performance.   4. Emphasize purpose-driven, meaningful work The connection between purpose-driven work and thriving at work is clear. Nine out of ten employees would accept a pay cut to do more meaningful work. How can managers help? They can bring an organization’s purpose to life by encouraging workers to look after themselves and the world around them; it starts with small steps that build connections between organizations and employees. Starting meetings by asking workers how they’re feeling and what they’re grateful for acknowledges people’s purpose and what matters to them. Offering time out for volunteering demonstrates a commitment to doing good and having a positive impact on society. Organizations have a responsibility for workers’ well-being and ultimately their ability to thrive. Leaders and managers have a huge impact on those around them. Role-modeling their own healthy behaviors and acting as champions for others’ well-being gives employees permission to take care of themselves and those around them, and in doing so helps to sustain a thriving workforce. To learn more about what workers want and what employers need to do now to ensure both organizations and individuals alike are primed to succeed, visit: https://go.manpowergroup.com/whatworkerswant

​ManpowerGroup's research reveals what flexibility means for workers and partners with Thrive to explore how they can thrive at work. ​

​In 2020, the workforce jumped forward with large-scale shifts to remote working and e-commerce. What was expected to take years suddenly transformed seemingly overnight -- with continued shifts expected in 2021. An average of 44% of workers have been able to work remotely during the COVID-19 crisis, according to the World Economic Forum. Findings from the World Economic Forum Future of Jobs 2020 Report and ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions' Total Workforce Index put a spotlight on the remote and hybrid workforce opportunities as well as some of the related challenges for businesses. Prime sectors for remote workInsights from Glassdoor show that access to working from home has nearly doubled since 2011, from 28% to 54% of workers indicating that they have had the opportunity to work from home. The industries with the largest opportunity to work from home are the information technology and insurance industries, with 74% of workers in those industries reporting having access to remote working. But there are also industries such as finance, legal work and business services that are also ripe for more remote work.Country readiness mattersOrganizations today are less limited by geographic constraints, which opens a wider pool of available talent and can significantly increase the diversity of talent. To better understand remote workforce potential by country, organizations can leverage resources such as The Total Workforce Index, a one-of-a-kind tool that assesses workforce potential based on over 200 factors across 76 global markets to provide a comprehensive view of four key areas: workforce availability, cost efficiency, productivity and regulation. The latest TWI Index uses new remote readiness indicators (e.g., childcare gap, technical reliability, cybersecurity risk) to help companies evaluate the best markets for remote capable or remote optimal workforces.Hybrid on the rise According to ManpowerGroup’s Q4 2020 Employment Outlook Survey, over half (59%) of employers are planning to offer flexible work options for the long-term, with 20% offering the option to work remotely 100% of the time, and 39% planning to support remote work some of the time.Challenges for mental well-being Remote work also carries challenges that businesses should address. Remote workers are faced with potential well-being and mental health challenges brought on by new changes to work-life circumstances, including access to digital connectivity, living situations and the additional care responsibilities faced by parents or those looking after elderly relatives. In response, 34% of leaders report that they are taking steps to create a sense of community among employees online and looking for other ways to tackle the well-being challenges posed by the shift to remote work.The new normal of remote work will also necessitate leadership to step up in 2021 and provide leadership through change for their organizations to help employees navigate an ever-changing environment.

The ability to learn how to learn is especially crucial for the generation of young people growing up with the digital revolution and changing economy. For the next generation, the future of work is not a far-off horizon where machines, algorithms and artificial intelligence take their jobs. Instead, the age of automation means those entering the workforce in the coming years will enter a Skills Revolution where people work alongside robots and automation augments human labor. The key to unlocking value for this generation will be Learnability. Youth skills that will be most prized are the ability to keep developing skills. Learnability is “the desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one's skill set to remain employable throughout their working life.”If you are part of this generation or mentoring someone who is, here are steps to cultivate Learnability from a young age – creating the building blocks to keep advancing. Recognize current limitations There is a half-life that is growing shorter and shorter for all skills. That’s why it’s increasingly important to learn how to learn, and have an aptitude toward growth. As history shows, each workforce revolution spawns an education revolution to provide a more skilled workforce to take advantage of the new jobs created. For young people, Learnability will provide the bridge between those that have the necessary skills and those who do not. Understand there are different learners Not all learners are created equally. Young people need to understand what kind of learners they are – their Learnability Quotient – to match with opportunities to continuously develop skills. The Learnability Quotient creates a way to assess learning styles and receive recommendations for how to develop and learn with data-driven insights. View learning in cycles In the past, education was seen as an upward trajectory that ended – at least formally – by starting a full-time job. Today, learning continues after graduation. The straight line of learning, working and retiring has been replaced by living longer, working longer and changing jobs throughout more often. This means that young people should plan from a young age to learn in cycles – education mixed in with application – to learn more and earn more throughout their careers.  Overall, tomorrow’s workforce needs a complete mindset shift. Learning doesn’t end with getting a job. It starts with Learnability. 

Scroll through Twitter or open any newspaper and you’ll find headlines on digitalization and the impact of tech on jobs. And it can make for some pretty concerning reading some of the time. Too much focus on the threats and disruption, too little on the real issue: the need for a Skills Revolution. It’s time we flip the narrative. “The robots are coming” is no longer the threat of the decade, but rather the opportunity of our lifetime. Humans will be more important than ever in the future of work: 87% of employers plan to increase or maintain their headcount as a result of automation, according to ManpowerGroup’s latest research. Rather than reducing employment opportunities, organizations are investing in digital and automation, shifting tasks to robots and creating new roles for their human workforce. While just 29% of tasks are performed by machines today, this is projected to increase to more than half by next year. We believe this tech change will unlock new possibilities and allow people to take on more meaningful work - just as we’ve seen happen before. History tells us that each time we’ve experienced an industrial revolution, an education revolution needs to follow to provide a more skilled workforce to take advantage of the new jobs created. We believe the same kind of revolution needs to take place now to bridge the gap between those that have the necessary skills and those who do not, so that everyone can thrive in the future of work. This is why learnability – the desire and ability to continuously acquire new skills and in faster cycles – is one of the defining features of the Skills Revolution. When 65% of children starting school this year are predicted to do jobs that don’t yet exist, learnability will be critical to enable people to learn, un-learn and re-learn throughout their lives. The best place to start? Help young people understand what kind of learners they are and provide them with opportunities to continuously develop their soft skills. It’s these human skills like adaptability, cognitive thinking and empathy that are increasingly in-demand as automation scales and machines prove better at routine tasks.Coupled with real work experience, human skills and learnability will be the next generation’s passport to sustainable careers.That’s why we are proud to partner with Junior Achievement and support events like #COYC19 last week to provide young people with hands-on work experience to unleash their entrepreneurial skills and develop their learnability, ensuring they are work-ready not just graduate-ready. Learning does not end when school finishes. Quite the contrary. The age-old cycle of “learn, work, retire” is long gone as people now live longer, work longer and change jobs more often.With longer life expectancy, later retirement and changing skills needs comes the necessity to learn, earn, learn more, apply, learn, earn, learn more, earn, apply, and so on.  Education cannot end at graduation. Individuals across organizations of all sizes and sectors and at all levels need to continue to nurture their learnability. They must learn and practice new skills on the job and sharpen the human skills that drive teamwork, unleash potential in others and augment technology.   As employers, we must promote a culture of learnability inside our organizations by guiding and supporting people in their learning and providing upskilling opportunities for all employees, not just those who would develop their skills anyway. That’s why at ManpowerGroup we’ve designated 2019 our Year of Learning: we’ve designed learning pathways for our people at all levels of the organization, including senior leadership, so they can broaden and deepen their digital and human capabilities.I passionately believe leaders have an important role to play here – CEOs must become Chief Learning Officers to ensure people develop the skills they need to succeed.And it’s a win-win: companies that nurture their workforce’s “hungry mind” can expect to outperform their less curious rivals.  The future of work is now. Tech is here to stay and will continue to impact the workforce of today and tomorrow. It’s our responsibility as employers to work out how we capture new opportunities by helping people develop the new skills they need to integrate with machines and unleash their human potential in new ways. Learnability will be the passport to growth and employment security - for all generations – enabling us to work alongside our robot colleagues, rather than be replaced by them. 

​A vast majority of global organizations recognize that strengthening workforce diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) is vital to their long-term success, with 95% saying they want to improve workforce diversity over the next 12 to 18 months.[1] However, businesses are at different stages along the journey and widespread agreement on how to accomplish DEIB objectives can be difficult to achieve.According to Coqual, a global nonprofit, one of the major hurdles in accomplishing DEIB goals is addressing the common refrain, “What about me?” Focusing on one identity group, such as Black or Latinx employees, can make others feel it comes at the cost of their own wellbeing and career growth opportunities. The ultimate goal in implementing an effective DEIB strategy is to create a culture of belonging in which every employee feels they have a central role with equal access to opportunities. [2]Building a strong DEIB culture takes time and commitment. Here are four steps to consider on the journey.Understand what DEIB really meansThe first step is to understand the roles of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and how they interact with each other as core principles. For instance, having a diverse team does not guarantee every employee will be treated fairly or feel respected or welcomed. But companies that navigate DEIB effectively are more likely to have employees with higher job satisfaction, increased trust levels, and feel more engaged. [3]While many organizations understand the value of DEIB, most still struggle with the belonging part of the equation since it can be harder to define, according to Dr. Syneathia LaGrant, VP of Global Learning & Development for ManpowerGroup. “Much more than a feeling, belonging represents the intentional ways a company ensures that it is actively seeking out and engaging diverse employee voices.”Dr. LaGrant notes that onboarding offers a critical opportunity to foster belonging. Instead of just a basic “tick the box” orientation style, companies should demonstrate from Day 1 how much they value an employee’s perspective. “Shift the language from, ‘Welcome to the company’ to ‘We’re so glad you choose us. We know you could have taken your talent anywhere.’”Set realistic, multi-year DEIB goalsWhile most organizations have good intentions when it comes to planning DEIB initiatives, some find it hard to move beyond the occasional social media post reacting to a recent tragedy instead of creating real, substantial change. One way to drive this forward with accountability is to set and measure goals.“Doing the right thing is important for companies, but leaders also need to look at the ROI that DE&I brings, says Ashish Kaushal, CEO of HireTalent and co-founder of Consciously Unbiased. “Manage your DEIB goals like you would for any business unit.”In 2020, global IT powerhouse Accenture did just that by publishing a series of ambitious goals to become a gender-balanced organization and diversify its workforce significantly by 2025. The company has pledged to increase its Black, Hispanic, and Latinx employee base in the U.S., UK, and South Africa by at least 60% over the next few years. To accomplish these goals, Accenture developed a robust set of best practices and focused on key actions including a focus on skills vs. education, prioritizing recruitment in urban areas, weighing internal goals against external benchmarks, and building their own pipeline. [4]Ellyn Shook, chief leadership and human resources officer at Accenture, notes that it’s important to look beyond the numbers. “Every organization must work to understand what representation truly means for its people. Without a vibrant culture that supports and sustains the desired change, there’s a very real risk of creating an atmosphere of divisive diversity.”Embrace the challenges of DEIBWithout leadership buy-in to diversity, organizations are doomed to struggle. The good news is that 75% of organizations are aware that more diverse and inclusive decision-making teams will help them exceed their financial goals. [5] Keeping pace with the extreme shifts in the economy and workforce requires establishing a solid leadership framework that helps executives assess and meet challenges head-on. This can be done by focusing on areas of impact, including creating a more inclusive culture and supporting employee career growth.Having a well-constructed foundation also helps companies address a top diversity challenge: attracting diverse candidates. [6] In many cases, this issue stems from aspects of the hiring process and application criteria that are not aligned with diverse candidates’ needs, according to Liz Wessel, CEO and co-founder of WayUp, a New York City-based jobs site and resource center for college students and recent graduates.[7]Companies need to review every aspect of their recruiting process from avoiding biased language in applications and job posts to scheduling fitting interview times, which can impede engagement with certain candidates.  DEIB training and specialized tools for managers can help reduce inherent biases. But it’s also crucial to establish inclusive policies and support structures to address all workplace interactions from childcare and health and wellness to persons with disabilities.Engage outside expertise in DEIB outcomesWhen starting any new initiative, it’s important to enlist outside experts who can help your organization overcome primary challenges and set metrics. Eighty-four percent of human resources leaders are open to receiving external help to build their DEIB culture.Because DEIB impacts every part of an organization, conducting research at the outset, including examining the current employee experience, is crucial. This kind of analysis can be time-consuming and may require a consultant who can view your current structure from an objective perspective. External experts can also help refine your current recruitment process and language as well as updating assessments that don’t filter out neurodiverse candidates. All of this will help companies build a stronger pipeline of diverse candidates.[8]To learn more about building a DEIB culture, read the Future of Work Report II: Who Will Do the Work?​References1. Everest Group Future of Work Report – Who will do the work 20222. https://hbr.org/2021/06/what-does-it-take-to-build-a-culture-of-belonging3. https://www.15five.com/blog/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/4. https://hbr.org/2021/06/how-to-set-and-meet-your-companys-diversity-goals5. Leading with Impact Framework, ManpowerGroup 20216. Everest Group Future of Work Report – Who will do the work 20227.  https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/8-diversity-recruiting-mistakes-how-to-avoid-them.aspx8. https://www.helioshr.com/blog/diversity-equity-and-inclusion-hr-leaders-guide-to-dei

​​The pandemic exposed weaknesses that many companies may not have even known they had. The global talent shortage, the need to scale up tech operations quickly to accommodate remote work and other digital operations, and managing the rising demands from people looking for more from their professional lives, have shaken many businesses to their core. Forcing most to reflect, regroup and reset as they seek a new and more sustainable path for the future.  As we continue to navigate the new reality, organizations are taking a much harder look at places where they were left exposed and identifying opportunities to reduce or mitigate risk or otherwise use this time as a way to reboot their operations for a leaner, more efficient future.  In ManpowerGroup’s latest report, The Great Realization: Accelerating Trends, Renewed Urgency–we take a closer look at the top trends companies need to know as they hit the reset button.  Trend #1: From Net Zero to Net Positive  Transparency around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), the rise of stakeholder capitalism and the convergence of standards and reporting is creating greater urgency for companies to take the lead. 2 in 3 organizations report ESG as a crucial focus for their organization, while 60% of companies are tying ESG goals to their purpose. Focus on climate action has entered the mainstream with many businesses making commitments towards a Net Zero future, though the next frontier will be S – a company's social impact. Success will come when the S is about People & Prosperity – becoming creators of talent at scale, championing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and improving employability and prosperity for all. For more information about ManpowerGroup’s ESG efforts, download the Working to Change the World report.Trend #2: Optimizing Workforce Via Strategic Talent Management  New, nimble operating models and people practices will emerge to respond to transformations in the market – from digital technologies to changing consumer preferences. The ability to turn data into meaningful insights will be critical to manage human capital risks, including the responsible integration of gig, freelance and contract workers. 68% of companies cite “consolidation of staffing suppliers” as a workforce management strategy currently in place in their organization. Vendor consolidation and resiliency will be at a premium to mitigate uncertainty and manage workforce risk.Trend #3: Businesses Emerge as Most Trusted  The fracturing of trust towards the government and the media has put employers in the driver’s seat to become the most trusted source of information. Embracing a values-driven agenda becomes a net positive for attracting and retaining talent. In fact, 7 in 10 workers say having leaders that they can trust and follow is important to them, and 2 out 3 people want to work for organizations whose values are the same as theirs. Employees are increasingly demanding “empathetic” action with expectations from all sides of the political spectrum that CEOs will lead the way. The role of business will continue to broaden into areas from advocating for racial equity to championing vaccination and voting rights. Trend #4: New Definition of Risk and Resiliency  As the pandemic continued to impact our lives, we heard more and more about the fragility of the global supply chain. Even before COVID hit, the strength of the supply chain was being questioned due to factors such as climate change, evolving consumer demand, and the global talent shortage. Over half of organizations are currently assessing their extended supply chains (e.g. third parties, sub-contractors) in order to reduce risks, nearly 40% plan to do so in the next two years. In order to reprioritize risk, organizations are rethinking their logistics strategy. Mono suppliers and vertical supply chains are out, and circular, networked, regional, resilient, and sustainable are in. Supply chain resilience and vendor consolidation will be at a premium to mitigate uncertainty and manage risk. Now is the time to embrace a shared vision of tomorrow. The sudden transformation of how business is done is going to have a lasting effect. As we’ve learned, some of these changes are closer to what workers wanted all along; flexibility, work-life balance and more. The trends known were coming are here and their adoption is accelerating as a result of the pandemic. Companies are becoming increasingly sophisticated as they are forced to adapt and hit the reset button while driving innovation that will sustain operations for years to come.  For more information about the key trends in the 2022 labor landscape, download ManpowerGroup's report, The Great Realization: Accelerating Trends, Renewed Urgency.

​​The massive workplace shift that has occurred over the past couple of years has many people seeking new opportunities that will empower them to grow in their careers while at the same time offering flexibility they may have not previously experienced. Successful companies understand that providing career advancement pathways for employees is crucial to recruiting and retaining talent.However, while most firms understand the value of the development of their internal staff and promoting from within, many are deluding themselves about their capabilities. Over 88% believe they have strong career management programs in place, but in truth, most employees have never experienced them. In fact, only two in five workers say they have career conversations with their managers annually, and one in five workers never engage in these types of one-on-one conversations. [1]While individual performance does play a major role in career growth, managers should play a key role in advocating for employees. Team leaders are responsible for offering support and providing constructive feedback to help employees realize their full potential. Here are three ways to equip leaders at all levels within your organization with the means they need to take charge of their careers.Clearly understand workers’ goals and strengthsA key step in ensuring a productive, happy workforce is having a solid understanding of every team member’s career ambitions, needs, strengths, and pain points. Engaging in frequent, open, one-on-one discussions with team members is an essential way to assess where they want to be and where they may be struggling. It’s also important to have faith in workers’ capabilities and create an environment that welcomes ideas, demonstrates respect, and encourages collaboration.Global technology company Hewlett Packard (HP) strongly believes that its world-renowned, innovative products are a direct result of its talented and diverse workforce. HP’s leaders and managers are advocates of empowering their staff to grow and develop at exceptional rates and fostering them to grasp opportunities that will create a better future for individual workers as well as the brand. [2] Antonio Neri, President and CEO of HP, started his career at a call center in Amsterdam and eventually advanced to the highest role in the organization – all within the course of 25 years.“I challenge you to look at the complete person when you’re considering a new hire. Even if that person doesn’t check all the boxes, dig deeper,” Neri advises. “You may find a spark – in their personality, skill set or experience – but most importantly passion and attitude that could ignite a successful career.” [3]Create a culture of career developmentWhile many companies conduct annual performance evaluations, it’s time for leaders to move beyond these and provide more ongoing career development opportunities for employees. Whether working with human resources or an external expert like Right Management, organizations can leverage specialized tools to support the effort from customized education modules to technology portals and one-on-one coaching.Global software giant Adobe offers a variety of educational resources on the company's practices for all new recent college graduates or individuals entering the workforce. The program is called Accelerate Adobe Life. Adobe employees receive regular check-ins, performance reviews, and training programs before starting their new positions. Additionally, employees are offered benefits such as educational reimbursement and leadership development courses. These benefits empower entry-level employees to achieve continual growth and advancement in the company from the beginning. Donna Morris, Executive Vice President of Customer and Employee Experience at Adobe, believes it is extremely important for those in the early stages of their career to understand there is a path for growth and career progression for everyone. [4]Leverage resources and technology to enable career mobilityWhen people feel they are ready to search for a new role, they may not realize that moving to an entirely new company isn’t the only option. In fact, over 40% of people are unaware of available job opportunities within their own organizations, yet 51% of workers know of current openings at other organizations. [5] This is a result of companies not being fully transparent about available positions or leaders not informing qualified team members.To retain talent pools and counteract turnover, companies need to be more candid about how team members can make departmental shifts. They can do this by including job postings in internal company newsletters or communication portals. Managers should also be encouraged by senior leaders to spread the word about openings and be alert to current team members who could fit into new internal roles."Many people leave their employer because they’re not sure they can advance their career, even though they’d like to stay,” says Dan Shapero, Vice President of Talent Solutions at LinkedIn. “That’s a problem that’s solvable with the right technology and cultural mindset.” [6]Tools that use AI to support career searches for individuals can be helpful, especially for large organizations where opportunities can sometimes be hard to identify.  HR software like RightMap™ allow organizations to map out the competencies needed by the organization for current open, and future roles. Benchmark your workforce against these competencies and align employees with the roles that best match their skill sets. [7]It’s estimated that companies can retain about 38% of their employees who would have otherwise departed by promoting them for a new role that fits their needs and meets the firm’s qualifications. [8] Nevertheless, some firms say that they don’t have all the information they need to understand the vital skills within their current talent pool. [9]“There is a real need for greater transparency about what opportunities are available and what skills are untapped internally across organizations,” explains Amy Smyth, Head of the European Centre of Excellence for Career Management at Right Management. [10]Organizations that take the time to understand employee goals, help them take control of their own career growth, and make them aware of internal opportunities are setting themselves up for long-term success.To learn more about how to encourage workers to assertively navigate their career paths while providing them with the right resources, visit Right Management.​References:​[1] Uncharted Territory Report, ManpowerGroup 2021​[2]https://www.themuse.com/advice/companies-committed-to-career-growth​​[3]https://www.hpe.com/us/en/newsroom/blog-post/2021/05/lessons-learned-from-25-years-at-hpe-from-call-center-to-ceo.html​​[4]https://ripplematch.com/journal/article/companies-that-offer-exceptional-professional-development-programs-for-entry-level-employees-f53abebf/​​[5] Uncharted Territory Report, ManpowerGroup 2021​​[6]https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/5-reasons-hr-should-look-inside-company-when-hiring/​​[7]https://workforce-resources.manpowergroup.com/development/wondering-how-to-attract-the-best-talent-focus-on-the-talent-you-already-have​​[8]https://www.cornerstoneondemand.com/resources/article/5-reasons-hr-should-look-inside-company-when-hiring/​​[9] Uncharted Territory Report, ManpowerGroup 2021​​[10] Uncharted Territory Report, ManpowerGroup 2021​

​​What started out of necessity during the pandemic, with people around the world demanding better working conditions, more health and safetyprotections, increased compensation (especially for essential work under incredibly stressful times), and greater work-life balance, has rapidly become the new normal. Employees in every industry, in every corner of the world are taking their professional lives into their hands in ways that few could’ve imagined just a few short years ago. ​​ManpowerGroup’s latest report, The Great Realization:  A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape finds this year is shaping up to be one of the most transformative years in recent history with workers in line to benefit greatly. Five key trends are driving the employee experience, and employers better take notice.  ​​Trend #1: The Reinvention of Work by Workers – Flexibility, Location, and PurposeWhen people thrive at work, everyone benefits. In ManpowerGroup’s recent What Makes Workers Thrive survey of workers around the world, we found competitive pay and workplace flexibility ranking near the top of people’s wish list. The top three most important work flexibility factors were: ​​Ability to choose start and end times (45%) More vacation days (36%)Having fully flexible workplace options (35%)​​​People in all roles – from the production line to the corporate office – will demand greater flexibility, fair wages, and more autonomy as a norm, redefining “essential” for work and for workers. Thus putting individual choice in reach for the many, not just the few. A heightened focus on a values-driven agenda, empathetic leaders and a culture of trust will become a net positive for attracting and retaining talent and engaging remote teams. People will choose to leave jobs as nearly half (49%) of all workers would move to an organization for better well-being. ​​Trend #2: Mental Fitness Prioritized – Prevention Will Be Better Than the CureWe all are sick of hearing about the pandemic.  But the reality is COVID-19 has fundamentallyexposed the growing mental health crisis affecting all workers across the labor force. Employee burnout is a growing bottom-line issue, 43% say their employer is not doing well on taking the issue of employee burnout seriously and actively taking steps to prevent it. Our research found 3 in 10 workers want employers to offer more mental health days to combat and prevent burnout. ​​Mental fitness will be increasingly prioritized, expanding traditional health and safety exponentially. A mass movement to break the stigma of silence will require employers to be explicit about their increased duty of care-protecting mental health as well as wealth, employability and well-being. Expect growing calls to action on burnout prevention as people expect organizations to look at benefits and policies, culture and leadership that helps build resilience and boost mental fitness.  ​​Trend #3: The Decoupling of Work and Home ContinuesLike flexibility, hybrid and untethered work models are becoming increasingly in-demand by people intent on retaining the pandemic’s silver lining and reshaping their own new world of work: balancing home and work, valuing flexibility, interaction, collaboration and human connection in a way that works for them. Even people who want to work remotely, 4 in 10 want flexibility to choose the working situation that suits them best. That goes beyond giving someone the opportunity to have a hybrid schedule but affording them the freedom to build hybrid schedules that fluctuate based on professional and personal needs.  ​​Hybrid and/or flex work will depend greatly on role and function as well as on the sector. For example, between 51% (finance) and 29% (manufacturing) will work a hybrid mix of remote and onsite.This hybrid paradox will continue while we practice and perfect flexibility that works for all.  ​​Trend #4: Culture Matters – The Attraction and Retention Tool That Eats Strategy for Breakfast“What is your company’s culture like?” is a common question candidates ask during the recruitment process. Culture is a key factor not just for new hires, but also for long-term, contingent, freelance, and gig employees as well. As companies work to attract more of these workers (many of them remote), culture will be a key factor for both recruitment and retention. Our research reveals that 3 in 4 workers want to feel motivated and passionate about their work, and 7 in 10 believe the work they do is important and want their contributions to be recognized by management. ​​This increased focus on reshaping company culture to build trust, retain remote teams and energize the employee experience will call for an Employee Value Proposition(EVP) that brings a sense of purpose and well-being plus empathetic leadership for a digital world. In this era of talent scarcity, the best employers will realize firsthand that without investing in and evolving company culture, they will struggle to execute their strategy and need to prepare to lose talent to companies that will. ​​Trend #5: The Rise of Voice and ActivismPiggybacking with culture is the need for companies, if they haven’t already, to take a stance on important social issues. 2021 saw workers stand up, speak up and walk out across industries. Louder demands for raising wages, flexible working, broader benefits and climate action are being galvanized via social media, with or without trade unions. Employees and customers want to spend their time and money with organizations that act as stakeholders: global citizens, pillars of the community and environmental stewards. The data reveals the rising significance of this trend as 64% of employees want their daily work to help better society and 2 in 3 workers want to work for organizations with similar values to their own. ​​Theafore mentioned trends are not the end all be all for the coming future in the labor market. Employees want employers to offer more programs and initiatives focused on prioritizing well-being while also providing flexibility, competitive pay, engagement, good working conditions and opportunities for skills development and career advancement. Shared values matter too, especially on socio-economic issues. But if employers do not understand these trends or ignore what workers want, they run the risk of falling far behind.  ​​For more information about what workers want and other key trends, download The Great Realization: A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape.​

​​Remote work, online ordering, and curbside pickup are just some of the lasting impacts of the pandemic as every company has now become a digital business. More than 80% of employers have accelerated digitization in response to COVID-19, and consumers and employees alike now expect tech to make the way they live and work easier.The right blend of tech and talent is now front and center. Acute skills shortages continue – in logistics, IT, cyber security, software development, data analysis and more – creating new urgency for organizations to upskill their people so they can translate data into insights, make data-driven decisions and combine the best of human and machine learning.The latest ManpowerGroup trend report, The Great Realization: A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape, breaks down the key trends that will unfold over the coming months and years and that story wouldn’t be complete without a closer look at the impact of tech acceleration.Trend #1: Human vs. Robot – Hyperconnecting Human Strengths  As every aspect of life becomes more tech enabled, we must strengthen the connection people have with work and colleagues for improved productivity and creativity. Machine learning and workforce data will enable prediction of potential performance, matching of individuals to ideal opportunities and will help people know themselves better than they ever did. 1 in 3 organizations plan to invest more in AI technology including machine learning over the next year, which will enable people to specialize in human strengths – in empathy and honesty, judgement and creativity, coaching, compassion and more.Trend #2: Closing the Chasm – From Digitization to Adoption at Speed Advanced technologies are increasingly impacting how companies transform business models, enhance customer and employee experiences and become moredata-driven. To meet the growing need, 1 in 3 organizations plan to build out internal capabilities in e-commerce and digital trade platforms, big data analytics, cloud computing, cyber security and IoT. But investing in and even deploying technology and innovation is the easy part. Digital-led transformation alone is no differentiator. Human capabilities and having the right culture enterprise-wide to execute are key to tech adoption, speedy ROI and continuous transformation. Trend #3: New Dawn of Sustainable Tech Organizations are responding to calls from a variety of stakeholders-investors, customers, employees, board members, governments, industry regulators and NGOs to act as good global citizens andusing technology to reduce emissions, transform supply chains and nudge consumer behavior. As tech giants compete to be the first to open up the metaverse the blending of the digital and physical worlds will emerge as one of the most important new trends, creating new opportunities to reimagine hybrid meeting and working with less environmental impact. Trend #4: Using AI to Increase Diversity and Reduce Inequities  An increase in understanding of neurodiversity means artificial intelligence must have in-built benevolence filter in diverse talent, not filter out the atypical. Organizations will recognize the value of machine learning match and predictive performance so we can help people know themselves better than they know themselves, charting a pathway of employability, equity and increasing prosperity.Despite increased investment in AI technologies across industries, 1 in 5 organizations cannot find enough AI and machine learning specialists for roles that require these skills. The full potential of AI cannot be realized until the right amount of skilled labor comes into the workforce, thus making it imperative for organizations to continue to invest in upskilling and reskilling in this high growth job and talent demand area. Trend #5: Win-Win = When Wage Gains Are Paid For by Productivity Organizations seek to balance higher wages with productivity growth. And policy makers prefer this dynamic because there are no current or latent inflationary pressures as the potential of the economy expands. Technology will unlock producing more with existing inputs or producing the same with fewer inputs.Trend #6: Smart People Analytics Will Enable Data-First Decisions  Providing a seamless and scalable digital experience for employees will require changes in technology infrastructure, management practices and employee and customer engagement models. Workforce and talent data/analytics will be front and center in leveraging data and analytics to identify match for a role and predict potential performance.76% of organizations with more than 100 employees rely on assessment tools such as aptitude and personality tests for external hiring. Employers will have even more data to manage and draw insight from as increased employee led data sharing and aggregation. The pandemic has changed the game. But the biggest mistake that business can make is thinkingtheir “return to normal” will be a return to the way things were. Those ways are over. Digitization means companies can now work faster, and in new, exciting ways that not only help them better compete in the marketplace but also provide their customers with the digital experience they’ve come to expect.  Walt Disney once said, “We keep moving forward—opening up new doors and doing new things—because we're curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. We're always exploring and experimenting.” Be forward thinking and you’ll be able to create a better workplace environment for your people and while improving customer experiences, thus ensuring better outcomes for your business.For more information about tech acceleration and other key trends, download ManpowerGroup’sTheGreat Realization: Accelerating Trends, Renewed Urgency- A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape.

​To #BreakTheBias ManpowerGroup is calling for more companies to respond to What Women Want at Work – new data shows autonomy, career progression and feeling motivated / passionate about the work they do matters most. ​​

​​The new hybrid work environment has its pros and cons for women and people of color. Organizations that want to create and maintain successful hybrid teams, need to establish and enforce DEI policies. As companies continue to evaluate hybrid work scenarios to determine the most effective long-term solution, it’s clear that one area to examine more deeply is how this new environment will be impacted by gender and ethnicity. While employees agree that there are many benefits to remote work, there are also potential disparities to consider and only 13% of company leaders are thinking about them. [1]Organizations that want to create a thriving hybrid work environment should address biases and implement policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion early in the process to ensure equal development and advancement opportunities. And while companies may implement diversity plans to create a more vital workplace – feelings of inclusion and belonging are key indicators of how these plans impact individual employees. Here are a few ways to make sure all employees – regardless of their gender or ethnic background – feel a sense of belonging in the workplace and have a fair shot at career success. Mind the Gender Gap Over the past couple of years, it’s become clear that work is something you do, not a place you go. Working women around the globe have experienced benefits from this new mindset with the majority saying they would prefer to work remotely post-pandemic. The increased flexibility has helped balance the multiple roles that many women manage daily including work, childcare and domestic responsibilities. [2]On the flip side, remote work also brings the new pressures of “being constantly interrupted by their demanding and impatient ‘mini bosses’ aka children,” said Marris Haddad, VP of customer success at 321 Ignition, a website platform for car dealerships. Haddad's days are spent juggling meeting preparation and virtual networking with homework support, resolving sibling fights, laundry and other jobs. [3]For remote workers who balance multiple roles, leaders can help prevent misunderstandings by creating clear policies that outline individual performance and team communication expectations. For example, when a new hire from a different country – and therefore, in a different time zone – is unable to respond to emails immediately on a Monday morning, some managers may inaccurately label the late response as procrastination. To counter this, leaders must provide training on how to support and collaborate with remote workers. These methods can be as simple as not requiring video on conference calls or improving flexibility with various schedules. Beware of Proximity Bias  The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” becomes a real concern for employees when some are in the office and others are remote. Companies must be vigilant to avoid “proximity bias,” which occurs when employees within close physical proximity to their team are perceived as harder working and more committed than their remote counterparts. This often results in more attention and success for onsite workers.  According to Ali Shalfrooshan, a UK-based occupational psychologist at PSI Services, these biases are a natural instinct, but they don’t always result in accurate judgments and can lead to overlooking qualified individuals who are working remote. One example of this phenomenon occurred when remote workers at a Chinese travel agency showed higher performance levels but did not receive the same performance-based promotions as the company’s In-house staff. [4]At first glance, remote work seems like it would create a level playing field for all genders on which people are judged more for what they produce and what they do and less for managing impressions and appearances, according to Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic ManpowerGroup’s Chief Innovation Officer. But that’s not always the case, he adds. Data shows that when companies move to a hybrid model, men are typically the first to return to the office and sometimes it’s because they see an opportunity to exploit politics. This causes problems because women are then going to be disadvantaged by not being “in the right place at the right time.” [5]Because of this, women may pay the price of being overlooked for prime work assignments and promotions. That’s why it’s important for companies to make a conscious effort to establish policies that treat all employees the same – regardless of gender – and avoid penalties for any remote workers by capping the number hours that all employees are able to work in office. [6]Make Room for Advancement Whether team members work remotely or on-site, they should receive mentoring and coaching to support their growth and performance. The good news is that 89% of workers want more remote learning skills development and career coaching. Leaders who want to create a successful inclusive environment will ensure that these training opportunities are equally accessible to all workers.  This kind of inclusivity may seem elusive to women who have taken on most of the responsibility for childcare and other domestic duties over the past year. [7] During the pandemic, only 9% of women working remotely with children at home received a promotion compared to 34% of men. Black and Asian-American workers are also at a disadvantage, as only 9% have taken on additional leadership roles compared to 15% of white workers. [8]  For these reasons, organizations need to provide career coaching that pairs team members with the right mentor – someone with whom an individual can relate and learn from so they can build the necessary skills that will lead to promotions.To create a brighter, more inclusive future of work, organizations need to clearly communicate that the team’s success is based on the quality of output, not on how many hours are spent in the office or online. Managers should be in regular contact with all employees to discuss how they are achieving their goals and schedule formal performance evaluations in which everyone is held to the same standards. To learn more about how ManpowerGroup is working with companies to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive teams, visit the Future of Work research.References[1]https://www.propmodo.com/hybrid-work-is-making-gender-inequality-worse/[2]https://www.ringcentral.com/us/en/blog/when-gender-inequality-in-the-workplace-goes-remote-4-challenges-women-face-in-the-wfh-2-0-era/[3]https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210804-hybrid-work-how-proximity-bias-can-lead-to-favouritism[4]https://workforce-resources.manpowergroup.com/the-transform-talent-podcast/a-conversation-about-working-in-the-new-normal-with-tomas-chamorro-premuzic-season-1-episode-1[5] Future of Work, Everest Group 2021[6]https://grow.acorns.com/how-the-hybrid-work-model-could-affect-women/[7]https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/inequitable-effects-of-pandemic-on-careers/[8]https://workforce-resources.manpowergroup.com/blog/getting-noticed-for-a-career-promotion

​​The global talent shortage that began before COVID-19 entered our lexicon has only accelerated thanks to the pandemic. Companies that can successfully manage the labor market have a competitive advantage over other organizations that are falling short in the battle for talent.  With 69% of employers around the world reporting they cannot find the workers with the skills they need, the recent ManpowerGroup report, The Great Realization: A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape, finds whoever holds the talent holds the future.  The talent shortage challenge is a complex issue with no easy answers. Several factors are at play, including: Shifting demographics (including shrinking birth rates)  Reduced mobility across borders The rise in early retirees  Lower workforce participation due to “The Great Resignation” Women leaving the workforce Though these are far from the only factors, they are contributing significantly to a growing threat to businesses in every sector - talent is scarce and everyone is looking for the needle in the haystack.  But behind every challenge lies opportunity. Now is the time for organizations to get even more creative in attracting, recruiting, upskilling, reskilling and retaining valued workers. Already, we find companies stepping up to meet the challenges head on. The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for Q4 of 2021 found, over 30% of businesses plan to increase wages to attract and retain talent and 1 in 5 employers plan to offer more benefits such as additional vacation time. It's a start, but more will need to be done.  As we continue exploring the top 20 trends shaping the world of work in 2022 and beyond, we take a closer look at 5 trends for how to navigate talent scarcity.  Trend #1: Skills Scarcity Is Driving Employer Creativity  With more than half of all workers (58%) needing new skills to get their jobs done, the skills revolution is in full force. Reskilling and upskilling will become non-negotiable for individuals and organizations as roles continue to require more skills than before, with both tech AND human capabilities most in demand. As the need for soft skills, including adaptability, communication, teamwork, and more take on increased importance, employers will need to ensure their people are constantly being provided opportunities to improve their skillsets. Invest in people and they’ll pay dividends for business  Trend #2: The End of the Generational Era – No More Boomers, Millennials, or Gen Z?  By 2030, people under the age of 35 will make up 75% of the workforce. The generational divide that has segmented the workforce will continue to dissipate until dissolving completely in less than a decade. On our way to that point, people of all ages will demand even more personalization while resenting being boxed, labelled, and pitched against one another. Younger workers are set to swell the workforce and as inflation rises and savings dwindle, the pandemic-exiteers will likely return to drive the gig work boom across generational lines. To bridge the talent gap, will organizations need to hire? integrate? workers from every generation to comprise their workforce mix. Plan accordingly.  Trend #3: From She-cession to She-covery  People from all walks of life have been hit hard by the pandemic. But it’s been especially damaging to women. According to Deloitte’s Women @ Work: A Global Outlook 2021 report, 51% of women are less optimistic about their career prospects than before the pandemic, with 57% saying they plan to leave their current job within two years. Progress that was made in closing the gender gap has hit the brakes with women leaving the workforce at alarming rates. Mass exoduses from sectors typically dominated by women - education, healthcare, and hospitality – coincide with rapid growth in tech, logistics, and sales where women are under-represented.  As women are increasingly getting more college degrees, producing more valedictorians and getting higher GPAs than men in STEM, it will be the employers who provide choice, flexibility and performance-over-presenteeism that will attract and keep the best and brightest, all while driving the skills and growth agenda.  Trend #4: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging – Progress, Not Pledges  Actions speak louder than words and people are no longer content with lip service and empty promises in the realm of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Though more than 30% of companies already deploy D&I training programs, continued polarization along lines of politics, race, identity and age means organizations will increasingly be asked to take positions on social issues. All stakeholders – investors, regulators, customers and employees – will expect even more transparency around progress, not just pledges, and will be held accountable. Organizations will need to visibly action diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging so everyone is able to benefit from economic recovery, tech advancements and climate justice.Trend #5: Sense and Sensibility – The Future of Work Must Work for FamiliesRethinking the future of work needs to be as much about family and care as it is about tech, robotics and machine learning. In ManpowerGroup’s What Makes Workers Thrive survey conducted in December 2021, nearly 1 in 4 workers are looking for employers who provide benefits such as parental and caregiving leave. Employers who provide caregivers (across all genders) with choice – flexibility and performance over presenteeism – will attract and keep the best and brightest. To win the war for talent, employers will need to reexamine and rethink how they accommodate the priorities of their workforce. The global talent shortage is reshaping the game for workers and employers alike. As we continue to move towards a new normal, understanding the issues shaping What Workers Want and meeting those needs is the key to solving today’s talent shortage problem. Companies that are able to go beyond what they’ve previously done for their employees will be able to weather the storm and successfully recruit the best people for their organizations.  For more information about Talent Scarcity and other key trends for 2022, download The Great Realization: Accelerating Trends, Renewed Urgency - A Look at the 2022 Labor Landscape. 

​​With employee attrition at an all-time high, employers are struggling to find out what workers want.  The answer, for many, is greater meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in their careers. It’s a widespread phenomenon we’re calling the Great Reawakening.One way that companies can meet this challenge head-on is by providing a line of sight to a career that allows employees to learn, grow, and have a positive impact. Call it upskilling, training or career pathing, companies that meet these needs will not only drive productivity and retention of their current talent, but help to attract the best talent in the market.   Stop Just Throwing Money at Today’s WorkerMany hiring managers make the mistake of thinking that it’s all about money. Americans now have  trillions more in savings than they did before the pandemic, so they may be less concerned with salary.  And throwing money at an enhanced talent search is bound to be equally fruitless—the candidate that matches your pre-pandemic job description may not exist in a post-pandemic world.   Instead, consider what makes today’s worker feel energized and engaged. In a Gallup report, 87% of millennials said that opportunities for growth and development were very important considerations for job satisfaction. 67% of other age groups felt the same.  If current and potential employees see a clear career path to learn, grow, and be connected to impactful and meaningful work, they will feel motivated and far more likely to stay. This necessitates alignment between individuals’ career goals and an employer’s approach to creating career growth opportunities.    5 things you can do to boost employee career growth Here are some ideas to help you build a career development strategy that will attract and retain talent. These ideas go hand-in-hand with enhanced onboarding and improved recruiting.Broaden your definition of career growth:Ensure that your organization has a broad definition of career growth beyond just promotions. Think of ways workers can grow in role, grow in function, redeploy across functions, even grow outside. Today, careers are much more of a lattice than a ladder. And it is important to even consider development outside of the organization, like the benefits that can come from volunteering in the community on boards or committees.Empower employees to own their career:When employees take ownership of their career, they feel a sense of purpose and belonging. Encourage them to explore their strengths and values and how they align these to the organization. Ensuring employees have mechanisms for getting feedback like 360 tools and career assessments can help. It is also important to teach employees how to network across the organization. Train leaders as career coaches:All managers should be expected to act as career coaches, using powerful questions to help employees explore their connection to their work. Questions such as, “What gets you excited at work?” “What is your dream job?” “How can I support you in making progress toward it?” Through coaching, managers can help employees uncover deeper meaning and purpose as well as grow for the future. These coaching conversations will also make employees feel heard and valued.  If managers are reluctant to adopt this role or are still learning how to coach, enlist certified career coaches. Enlist technology that enables career mobility:HR competency software such as RightMAP™ allows you to map out the competencies needed by the organization in the future, benchmark your workforce against these competencies, and align employees with the roles that best match their skillsets. These tools use AI to support career pathing for individuals, which can be especially helpful in large complex organizations where opportunities may be hard to identify.  Accelerate careers of underrepresented groups:Business Resource Groups (BRGs) are one way to foster inclusiveness and enhance professional growth, but they may not be enough on their own. Consider establishing a mentorship program within the BRG or through another formal program or informal network. It is also important to provide mentors with the support they need to understand their role and the specific ways they can support their mentees. Those companies will successfully navigate the Great Reawakening and cross the finish line as winners in the greatest talent contest in history. 

​​Differentiating and diversifying workforce strategies to access the right combination of skills, workforce mix, and labor markets has never been more important and challenging. The previous article, Total Workforce Index Addresses Organizational Challenges Most Impacted by Lack of Growth Talent, examines the business challenges most impact by growth talent and how to leverage market intelligence tools like the Total Workforce Index (TWI) to stay competitive.This article takes a look at three key opportunities uncovered in the latest 2021 TWI analysis and how organizations should respond. Whether an organization’s strategy shapes retention and development of existing talent or plots optimal pathways to new sources of talent, data from the Total Workforce Index can de-risk workforces across more than 200 key factors that relate to the Workforce Supply, Cost Efficiency, Regulation and Productivity in 75 markets around the world.Analysis of the TWI categories reveals three types of labor markets, each with strengths and weaknesses.Mature markets: These 20 markets are home to the largest contingents of growth talent (average 40% skilled workers) and have infrastructures to support upskilling and reskilling; exposed to wage inflation.   Incubator markets: There are 16 high-potential markets for Digital Services, Advanced Manufacturing and Clean Energy technologies and they  provide an opportunity to balance skilled labor with cost competitiveness.   Emerging markets: These are 31 markets with a rising Gen Z/millennial workforce (50% or greater share of total labor pool) but a shortage of skilled talent due to low rates of tertiary education and they require long-term investments.   TWI data and insights reveal three key opportunities amidst today's labor market realities, which are impacted differently by market type.  Opportunity #1: Elevate Learning as a Core Benefit in all Labor Markets  RecentManpowerGroup research shows workers want learning and reskilling opportunities—meaning companies looking to hire or retain workers should make learning part of their benefits package. The ability to secure talent needed for growth, especially in Emerging markets, is likely to depend increasingly on compensation strategies and skills development offerings.​For employers willing to step into the role of educator in Emerging markets, the long-term payoff could surpass Mature markets. If it takes money to make money, investing in your talent could be the greatest investment an organization can make.    Emerging markets have half the number (20%) of highly skilled workers as  Mature markets (40%) with only 19% of workers aged 25+ having a tertiary education as compared to 39% in Mature markets.​ Opportunity #2: Segment Incubator Markets to Hedge Wage Inflation in Mature Markets  Incubator markets hold the potential to supply highly skilled growth talent to specific fast-growing industries at cost-competitive rates while contributing to longer-term talent sustainability.Opportunities have been identified in three industries: Digital Services, Advanced Manufacturing and Clean Energy. R&D inflows for Incubator countries suggest governments are co-investing to build growth capabilities in these sectors. At the same time, the generational mix indicates a long-term payoff for companies choosing to invest in Incubator markets.Advanced Manufacturing Incubator Markets have a young (39% Gen Z/millennials), highly skilled workforce (33%) with an average monthly wage nearly half ($2,314) that of Mature markets.Targeted investments in Incubator markets will meet the defining talent challenges of the post-pandemic age – namely, accessing industry-specific growth talent in high-potential markets at competitive rates. These are possible medium-term investments that have the potential to bring access to new markets and skills that can boost growth in existing markets.    Opportunity #3: Integrate Contingent Labor as an Essential Strategic Sourcing Channel  Contingent labor is now an essential sourcing option for companies looking to diversify their skills mix and power their digital shift with growth talent.Demand for contingent work has increased by 9% in the past year [1], continuing a trend visible in TWI data since 2013. Within that, highly skilled contingent work is especially being utilized in Mature markets.    In Mature markets, 40% of contingent work is among highly skilled.In fact, rather than undermining permanent work (as previously feared), contingent labor now augments permanent work and offers access to highly skilled workers who are increasingly  moving to contingent work in their search for increased flexibility and autonomy post-pandemic.   How to Seize the OpportunitiesMarket intelligence tools such as the Total Workforce Index (TWI) have become a go-to intelligence source that has proven to be a difference-maker in a company’s ability to execute growth strategies.Organizations can also conduct customized analyses with the weightings for data adjusted to factors that drive growth uniquely within a specific industry and market(s). The opportunities for customization are extensive. Download the 2021 summary report or visit the TWI website to explore the data and rankings. Reach out to the Talent Solutions Consulting team to learn more about customizing the TWI for your organization.​References[1]  Gartner Talent Neuron May 2021

​More than ever before, the year 2020 has solidified the important role Human Resources plays in growing today’s organizations. The global pandemic and social movements highlighting inequities helped companies refocus on what’s most important to employees: health, upskilling and transparency. Those looking to have the right talent today, and for the future, are beginning to implement these themes into their talent sustainability strategy, and HR is in the lead.​The majority of executives (71%) strongly agree that HR plays a vital role in establishing the right culture, and 7 in 10 HR professionals have a strategy in place to design an employee experience that mirrors the customer experience. [1] This signifies the emergence of a new employer/employee relationship—one where the employer assumes a greater responsibility for employee health and wellbeing and sees employees as consumers within the organization. Companies also now have vast amounts of workforce data—from email and computer usage to AI performance analysis. Workers are increasingly comfortable with being monitored, but they expect employers to be transparent and communicative with them to create a sense of trust.  ​Here are several examples of how HR leaders around the world are capitalizing on these new themes in talent sustainability to position their organizations for growth in 2021 and beyond.  ​Theme #1: HealthJust as they created new procedures around social distancing and temperature checks to keep employees healthy and safe, HR pros are now prioritizing employees’ emotional wellbeing to lessen feelings of isolation, anxiety and stress. This isn’t just to retain existing employees but also to recruit the right talent, as energized employees are 6X more likely to work for companies that focus on health and wellbeing. [2] Companies have turned to HR to implement Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) safety protocols to protect workers, including limiting gatherings, separating workstations, contract tracing, scheduling more workspace cleanings, and encouraging the use of face masks, just to name a few. [3] These efforts must continue to not only minimize transmission of the coronavirus among staff, but also to foster employee trust and peace of mind that the workplace is a safe place. ​On-demand, professional coaching sessions also are moving the needle in supporting employee health and wellbeing. Global accounting firm PwC recently started to provide access to professional coaches who are available to discuss anything that may be causing employees stress. [3] These kind of sessions provide an invaluable opportunity to listen, learn and understand what workers want and how to support their needs, opening the door to a more resilient workforce. ​Theme #2: Upskilling/reskilling As 65% of the jobs Gen Z will perform don’t even exist yet, [4] it should come as no surprise that today’s businesses are racing to reskill employees. The need to train and develop new skills to grow the talent pipeline has only intensified as companies were forced to pivot, some multiple times, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the tidal wave of digital transformation that came with it. ​Walmart is a great example of this, having evolved its in-house upskilling program over the years. The Walmart Academy was created in February 2016 to provide needed training to 8,000 new managers, then to the whole workforce—2.2 million employees. Today, the retail giant has 201 academies inside Walmart Supercenters and modular classrooms in store parking lots. In 2019, the training integrated with virtual reality (VR) and saw retention increase 10%. The company also says its upskilling effort resulted in the promotion of 215,000 employees in just one year. [5]​“Whether it be soft skills or technical skills, upskilling and reskilling is tied to employees’ desire to continuously learn,” says Marceline Beijer, vice president of Talent Solutions at ManpowerGroup. “Teaching employees new, relevant skills can provide peace of mind and even happiness, knowing their skillsets won’t become obsolete. It truly can put not only your employees but your entire company in a position of power in 2021 and for years to come.” ​Theme #3: Data transparency Workers in 2021 are calling for more transparency from their employers about their wellbeing and productivity on an individual level as well as around environmental and social issues on an organization level.  To build employee trust and prevent turnover, HR teams must be prepared to answer new questions from employees about data ownership. For example, HR is now responsible for gathering health data to prevent the COVID-19 spread. As new HR technology continues to be introduced to monitor and improve employee performance, HR professionals are tasked with being the gatekeepers of this data as well. An empathetic and ethical approach is crucial here. ​Empathetic leadership will also be needed as employees, customers and communities demand organizations to act as global citizens and environmental stewards. Diversity and inclusion are key to preparing for the future of work.  ​“This is one area HR leaders themselves should focus on upskilling,” says Beijer. “We are seeing a remarkable rise in ESG [environmental, social and corporate governance], and as the voice of employees, HR needs to have a seat at that table.” Employees will remember how their employers empathized with them throughout the pandemic. As we move into 2021, organizations that focus on trust and transparency, wellbeing and upskilling will be ahead of the curve in keeping existing employees happy, and attracting new talent post-pandemic. For more insights on these and other trends in talent sustainability, tune into The Transform Talent Podcast.​References[1]https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2019/11/the-future-of-human-resources-2020.html[2]https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/global-talent-hr-trends.html[3]https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/pharmaceuticals-and-medical-products/our-insights/how-us-companies-are-planning-for-a-safe-return-to-the-workplace#[4]ManpowerGroup Skills Revolution Study, 2018[5]https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/summer2020/pages/upskilling-benefits-companies-and-employees.aspx

​Remote work, virtual collaboration and other ways to continue the “new normal” of business while social distancing will continue for the foreseeable future. Some organizations will be transformed entirely as they see how Work from Home and Work from Anywhere policies will become the norm for not just safety, but also providing the flexibility and productivity that employees want from a career. ​In this new environment, businesses will need to help their workforce learn and grow with the soft skills needed to excel. This benefits both employers and employees, with 79% of employees who are offered free training like their jobs versus only 61% who are not offered training. Many of the methods that develop employees in the physical workplace can be adapted to remote work. Here are ways to help employees build soft skills in our new normal. ​Cultivate Learnability In unpredictable times, we can at least be certain that workers will need to continue to learn new skills and abilities while on the job. In order to meet these new challenges, learnability--the desire and ability to continually learn and grow throughout one's career--is necessary. Cultivating a culture where employees feel like they are constantly learning will not only help motivation, it will also build the soft skills that require constant development.​Make it measurableThe expected average timeframe required to upskill workers varies across countries, and ranges from 83 days for companies located in Switzerland, to 105 days for companies located in France. So measuring progress is key. Measuring a goal can take the form of both inputs and outputs. If the goal is to improve leadership throughout the organization, for example, a manager may set a goal of employees posting in a new company chat system as an input metric. ​Set accountabilityOutput metrics are often associated with performance reviews, which play a part in developing soft skills. But companies can also create output metrics to set accountability. For example, a manager can rate leadership ability before and after a training activity such as joining a committee at work.Another logical question for companies is where training for soft skills will come from, especially with a limited or overextended workforce.  On-demand coaching is one way to provide effective soft skills training in today's environment. For example, RightCoach helps organizations build leadership skills, increase employee engagement and improve retention through on-demand, situational coaching. RightCoach's proven technology platform simplifies participant experience with easy–to-use, on-demand, self-service scheduling.​COVID-19 has created a dramatic landscape where workplaces need to nurture and support employees, and developing their skills is more important than ever.  

​​Among the various core ingredients of talent and career success, few personal qualities have received more attention in the past decade than emotional intelligence (EQ), the ability to identify and manage your own and others’ emotions. Importantly, unlike most of the competencies that make it into the HR zeitgeist of buzzwords, EQ is no fad.​In fact, thousands of academic studies have demonstrated the predictive power of scientific EQ assessments vis-à-vis job performance, leadership potential, entrepreneurship and employability. Moreover, the importance of EQ has been highlighted beyond work-related settings, as higher scores have been associated with relationship success, mental and physical health, and happiness.​All this is good news for people with higher EQ. But what can those with lower scores do to improve their intrapersonal and interpersonal skills? Is it possible to increase your own and others’ EQ beyond its natural levels? While Goleman and other popular writers argue that (unlike IQ) EQ is malleable and trainable, EQ is really just a combination of personality traits. Accordingly, it is not set in stone; it is largely heritable, shaped by childhood experiences, and fairly stable over time.​This does not mean that the effort put toward sculpting emotionally intelligent behaviors is a waste of time. It simply means that focus and dedication are required. The same goes for helping others to act with EQ when they are not naturally inclined to do so. Here are five critical steps for developing EQ:Turn self-deception into self-awarenessPersonality, and thereby EQ, is composed of two parts: identity (how we see ourselves) and reputation (how others see us). For most people there is a disparity between identity and reputation that can cause them to ignore feedback and derail. Real self-awareness is about achieving a realistic view of one’s strengths and weaknesses and of how those strengths and weaknesses compare to others’. For instance, most people rate their own EQ highly, yet only a minority of those individuals will be rated as emotionally intelligent by others. Turning self-deception into self-awareness will not happen without accurate feedback, the kind that comes from data-based assessments such as a valid personality tests or 360-degree feedback surveys. Such tools are fundamental to help us uncover EQ-related blind spots, not least because other people are generally too polite to give us negative feedback.Turn self-focus into other-focus Paying due attention to others is tantamount to career success. But for those with lower levels of EQ, it’s difficult to see things from others’ perspectives, especially when there is no clear right or wrong way forward. Developing an other-centric approach starts with a basic appreciation and acknowledgement of team members’ individual strengths, weaknesses, and beliefs. Brief but frequent discussions with team members will lead to a more thorough understanding of how to motivate and influence others. Such conversations should inspire ways to create opportunities for collaboration, teamwork, and external networking.Be more rewarding to deal withPeople who are more employable and successful in their career tend to be seen as more rewarding to deal with. Rewarding people tend to be cooperative, friendly, trusting and unselfish. Unrewarding individuals tend to be more guarded and critical; they are willing to speak their minds and disagree openly but can develop a reputation for being argumentative, pessimistic, and confrontational. Although this reputation helps enforce high standards, it’s only a matter of time before it erodes relationships and the support for initiatives that accompany them. It’s important that these individuals ensure an appropriate level of interpersonal contact before tasking someone or asking them for help. Proactively and frequently sharing knowledge and resources without an expectation for reciprocity will go a long way.Control your temper tantrumsPassion and intense enthusiasm can easily cross the line to become moodiness and outright excitability when the pressure’s on. Nobody likes a crybaby. And in the business world, those who become particularly disappointed or discouraged when unanticipated issues arise are viewed as undeserving of a seat at the grown-ups’ table. If you’re one of many people who suffer from too much emotional transparency, reflect on which situations tend to trigger feelings of anger or frustration and monitor your tendency to overreact in the face of setbacks. For example, if you wake up to a bunch of annoying emails, don’t respond immediately — wait until you have time to calm down. Likewise, if someone makes an irritating comment during a meeting, control your reaction and keep calm. While you cannot go from being Woody Allen to being the Dalai Lama, you can avoid stressful situations and inhibit your volatile reactions by detecting your triggers. Start working on tactics that help you become aware of your emotions in real time, not only in terms of how you experience them, but, more important, in terms of how they are being experienced by others.Display humility, even if it’s fakeSometimes it can feel like you’re working on an island managed by six-year-olds. But if you’re the type of person who often thinks, “I’m surrounded by idiots,” then it’s likely that your self-assured behaviors are seen as being arrogant, forceful, and incapable of admitting mistakes. Climbing the organizational ladder requires an extraordinary degree of self-belief, which, up to a certain point, is seen as inspirational. However, the most-effective leaders are the ones who don’t seem to believe their own hype, for they come across as humble. Striking a healthy balance between assertiveness and modesty, demonstrating receptiveness to feedback and the ability to admit one’s mistakes, is one of the most difficult tasks to master. When things go wrong, team members seek confident leadership, but they also hope to be supported and taught with humility as they work to improve the situation. To develop this component of EQ, it is sometimes necessary to fake confidence, and it’s even more important to fake humility. We live in a world that rewards people for hiding their insecurities, but the truth is that it is much more important to hide one’s arrogance. That means swallowing one’s pride, picking and choosing battles, and looking for opportunities to recognize others, even if you feel you are right and others are wrong.​While the above recommendations may be hard to follow all the time, you will still benefit if you can adopt them some of the time. Much as with other coaching interventions, the goal here is not to change your personality but to replace counterproductive behaviors with more-adaptive actions — to build new habits that replace toxic tendencies and improve how others perceive you. This is why, when coaching works, it invalidates the results of a personality test: Your default predispositions are no longer evidenced in your behaviors.

​​With 43% of employees saying they won’t return to a 9-5 office schedule, leaders who learn to build a new hybrid environment combining flexibility and structure will meet the challenges of the future.​With COVID-19 vaccinations underway around the world, countries are lifting restrictions and companies are developing roadmaps for what the return to work looks like. As 43% of employees say there is no going back to a traditional 9-5 mode [1], many business leaders are evaluating a new hybrid model that includes both remote and in-office work.Ideally, hybrid work involves the best of both worlds, combining sociability and structure with flexibility and autonomy. Kissflow, a provider of digital workplace services with offices in the U.S. and India, held organization-wide feedback sessions which led to a hybrid model consisting of three weeks of working from anywhere and one week of office-based work.[2] The UK offices of accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers took a slightly different approach with its 22,000 staffers, splitting the week between their home and office with the expectation that employees spend 40-60% of their time with colleagues.[3]Time will tell whether these trial configurations will be successful. But leaders are fully aware that they need to work harder than ever to ensure that expectations are clear and opportunities for collaboration and community building are abundant.Here are four steps your organization can take to develop a playbook for remote work success.Identify roles suitable for remote workAs the pandemic continues, one thing is clear: most employees value the flexibility, productivity and work-life balance they’ve experienced with remote work– and don’t want to lose it. But not every role is a good fit for work-from-home. For example, many workers in healthcare and educational organizations as well as those within the retail and hospitality industries need to be present onsite. Organizational roles fall intoa framework of suitability for remote work[1] from manufacturing and technician positions that require physical presence to customer service and marketing, which can easily adapt to remote.Leaders need to carefully examine each role to decide which ones are best suited to continue off-site and only move ahead with a hybrid work environment if an optimal number of roles can work remotely.Define clear expectations and benefitsThe conventional work schedule – 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., five days a week – may be shifting for now, but what, exactly, is the new norm? As businesses scramble to figure out whether they want to incorporate a 3-2-2 model (i.e., three days in the office, two days working remotely and two rest days) or another form, leaders need to set expectations around performance outcomes, team milestones and deliverables that consider team members’ flexible schedules and time zones.Remote work has also escalated the need for employee development, as greater distance and fewer face-to-face interactions heighten the need for stronger communications and morale-building. Employers and workers would benefit greatly from on-demand virtual coaching that creates a culture of resilience and helps build community.Prepare for potential pitfallsThe challenges inherent in transitioning to a hybrid model are on full display at Apple, where employees are currently battling with leadership about remote work policies and timing for the return to the office. Common hybrid work issues that organizations like Apple are dealing with include employee engagement, sustaining culture, ensuring well-being, IT security challenges as well as team building and recruiting.[4]Prudential Financial is also working with its 42,000 employees to manage remote work expectations, including ensuring that all staffers opt for Mondays and Fridays as their work-from-home days. The company has been redesigning its offices to repurpose conference and collaboration spaces to further encourage employee engagement. Rob Falzon, Prudential’s Vice Chair, also insists that video capabilities should be extended throughout the offices so remote team members don’t feel left out.[5]Another pitfall to consider is the gender divide that a hybrid work environment has the potential to create. If businesses set up a schedule to allow remote work, but do not cap the number of days employees come into the office, they could create a system that hurts women and impacts diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. This is mainly because, statistically,women are more likely to prefer remote work[CH2] to help them balance childcare responsibilities.[6] Remote work will contribute positively towards leveling the workforce playing field for men and women – but only if every voice is heard – whether it’s in the office or via a video call, according to Annette Polaszewski, CEO of Interprefy, a fully remote software company where women make up a slight majority.[7]Provide support structuresAside from the many benefits of remote work, employees cite the top challenges as managing distractions, loneliness, collaboration and communication.[8]That’s why organizations need to make sure they evaluate and update HR and IT processes carefully and frequently for long-term success. HR leaders should lead the development of innovative strategies, including video chat software, phone systems, messaging channels like Slack or an intranet channel. The key is finding that delicate balance between radio silence and constantly reaching out to employees with texts and emails. Hybrid work environments will not be sustainable without investments in collaboration software, such as document sharing portals and more information security controls.All the state-of-the-art tools won’t help if organizations don’t provide leadership training opportunities that help managers empower employees to continue skill-building and career development, no matter where their office is located. Learn more about how ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions can help your organization deploy a global talent strategy and a future-ready hybrid work environment.​​​[1]Work, Reimagined: ManpowerGroup Research Reveals What Workers Want Post COVID-19, August 2020[2]https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200824-why-the-future-of-work-might-be-hybrid[3]https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/18/office-hybrid-or-home-businesses-ponder-future-of-work[4]Everest Group – Future of Work Series – Where will work be done, 2021[5]https://www.villageworkspaces.com/companies-struggle-with-hybrid-work-plans/[6]https://www.axios.com/the-gender-divide-remote-work-men-women-childcare-4fc29dba-4e1c-4e96-9cf3-64db61ba23e5.html[7]https://www.c-mw.net/how-remote-working-is-helping-balance-the-gender-inequality-scales/[8]https://www.statista.com/statistics/1111401/challenges-of-working-remote-2020/​​

​​The chronic stress of facing uncertainty day after day is taking a mental toll, and 2020 is set to be one of the most stressful years in history. Workers are suffering from burnout and loneliness as they manage remote work, affecting morale and productivity. In fact, a recent survey by Oracle found that the pandemic has propelled workplace stress, anxiety and burnout.  ManpowerGroup Chief Talent Scientist, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, shares his top leadership tips around how managers can better support their teams. Check-in regularly with the teamMake an effort to schedule time in your colleague’s schedules that includes time for asking “how are you feeling?” A 21st-century leader needs to act as an employee coach and be willing to proactively reach out to employees to check on their emotional well-being. “A leader needs to act as an employee coach and be willing to have open and honest conversations where they can check in with their employees to see what their stress levels are and help support them manage these.”Be aware of manager stress levels Self-awareness helps managers understand how their own stress levels can impact the team. When someone is stressed, they tend to focus on themselves and are unable to care for or support others. Managers need to see themselves in the eyes of others, so to help grow self-awareness, make it easier for the team to provide managers with constructive feedback in a structured way.Practice self-care outside of workSleep well, eat well and exercise. If managers put their own well-being at the center of their daily routine, it will not only help manage their own stress levels but better support the team and their struggles during this pandemic. The goal should be not eliminating stress, but learning how to manage it with a balanced and supported environment. “And while it’s important to have a solid culture, creating a totally stress-free environment with no problems won’t help build a resilient team,” Chamorro-Premuzic said. The silver lining is that stress itself isn’t the enemy, if understood and managed effectively. As Chamorro-Premuzic said, “Some people see stress as a negative, but actually it can lead to many successes. In the workplace, resilience is often built through some form of stress or hardship.” In 2020, this rule is being put to the test like no other time in recent history, but it can be used to come together as stronger teams in the future.​

​​The rules keep changing as digital transformation sweeps the workplace. The pace of disruption is accelerating, and it is impacting leaders. Today, a combination of personal traits that stay relevant over time and emerging digital skills can help business leaders become the digital leaders of the future. The good news is experience and soft skills can help lead through digital transformation. Here’s how to nurture the right skills to stay current in the workplace.  Nurture Timeless Soft SkillsCertain skills never go out of style even as digital changes impact the rest of the workplace. The powerful combination of brightness, adaptability, endurance and drive are the enablers and solid foundation for effective leaders. These attributes are predictive of future success. Develop Learnability and CuriosityIn a world of rapid frequent disruption new skills emerge as fast as others become obsolete. What you know is less important than what you can learn. Digital leaders need to be role models by seeking out different experiences, unusual perspectives and by being open to fresh ideas. Find out your Learnability Quotient.  Acquire Digital Skills and Expertise Leaders must also have an understanding of the technical skills required to effectively transform their business. They should surround themselves with experts and take time to stay informed of the latest trends, challenges and opportunities facing their organization. Don’t Stand Still Digital transformation is not a one and done. Change is dynamic, so agility and continuous adaptation is essential. Feedback is important to informing what steps leaders should take. Throughout your career, plan to innovate, experiment and learn fast. Tomorrow’s environment is just beginning. 

​​There’s a huge amount of digital advancement that’s coming into the workforce today. The only way that organizations can be well prepared for this future of work is by upskilling and expanding, acquiring skills to stay relevant and preparing to think about what the jobs of the future will look like.To do that, managers need to start talking. Research by Right Management found that two-thirds of managers are failing to support their employees’ career development. But as we think about developing the workforce of tomorrow, career conversations today are crucial.One of the ways to enable a learning culture is by involving managers. We know from research that in an organization, managers set the tone and model the behavior that learning is a priority.Organizations need to invest in employee development for their workforce to be better prepared for this future. It’s not just for today, it’s preparing for tomorrow.Embedding career conversations into a company’s organizational cultureThere are two main benefits to having regular career conversations: They help enable a learning culture, and there is a direct correlation with higher employee engagement and productivity. In a Right Management survey, 82% of respondents said they would be more engaged in their work if their managers would have regular career conversations with them.If managers are not having their career conversations, employees are not going to see growth and they won’t know what opportunities to explore. Organizations will lose those employees because they are not in sync with their aspirations. Managers play an important role to really take ownership of their career.There is a positive relationship to employee engagement and career conversations on a regular basis. You have higher productivity and engaged employees, because workers are thinking about becoming a better version of themselves. When employees actively think about career aspirations, then productivity, engagement and higher retention is the outcome.Stages of the career journeyOne way to visualize a career is through the idea of learning journeys. A new employee has a learning journey, and so does someone who has been at the organization for 10 or 20 years. They just have different training needs at different times.The softer skills are important, but at certain stages learning is also around functional and technical abilities that need to be absorbed on the job. What thinking about careers as a learning journey can accomplish is mapping and integrating softer skills and technical skills over time, and visualizing how that will come together.What a manager can do is help employees understand where they are in the learning journey for their career. In the short term and the long run, that benefits everyone.

​​Over the last few years, many notable businesses have started to phase out traditional performance reviews. Dell, Accenture, GE, New York Life and Adobe – to name a few – have all moved toward frequent check-ins, touchpoints and coaching for employees.There is good reason for the transition, as shorter cycles between feedback creates more flexibility and actionable goals for both managers and employees. But before a company rushes to join the annual review-free ranks, it’s important to consider strategies to maximize frequent feedback. Here are strategies to consider when making the switch to continuous feedback loops.Discuss short- and long-term career goalsThe annual performance review may ask where employees wants to end up in one, two or five years. The shorter review cycle provides an opportunity to consider not just job titles, but rather roles and projects within an organization. For example, an employee may want to explore learning a specific job skill for a shorter period of weeks or months, and then reflect and consider how that skill fits into larger future goals. Career conversations can offer opportunities to discover a wide range of skill sets in the short term that may fit into longer-term career goals.Be flexible – as necessaryIt can be readily apparent early on in a project if performance metrics will be met, exceeded or fall short. The same is true of employee performance. The benefit of a frequent check ins with managers means that goal metrics can be adjusted. A manager should be cautious of adjusting the goalposts too much, but with buy-in from an employee a goal can become dynamic over time. Adjusting upward, downward or deciding to stay the course will be more motivating than a static goal off in the distance.Consider autonomy, mastery and meaningThe core principles of motivational goal setting still apply. Companies need to abandon the binary choice of moving up or moving out, and allow lateral moves into specialty areas. Check-in should celebrate growth by identifying skills that employees have mastered. Finally, reviews should provide insight into how contributions align to the strategic goals of the business. Reminding employees of autonomy, mastery and meaning on a regular basis will increase motivation for the long term.​Rethinking performance reviews is a healthy practice. But the replacement system needs to adapt to the new format, rather than become a series of mini annual reviews. With careful thought to the goals of performance management, a new method that benefits managers, employees and the company can emerge.

​​An agile workforce is the only way to succeed in the future of work.The employees you hire today may soon have to perform jobs that don’t even exist yet. That’s a challenge when entire groups of their workers need to be retrained, moved or otherwise be adaptable to change. The rapid pace of technological change is also shaping workforce agility to now emphasize leveraging the best blend of people and technology.A workforce is agile when it can quickly shift amid the forces of change--An agile workforce is defined as “the division of tasks into short phases of work and frequent reassessment and adaptation of plans.” For employers, having and keeping an agile workforce is worth its weight in gold. Here are ways that organizations can take an agile approach to workforce planning:Develop for the long term It takes significant resources to recruit, onboard and train employees from an external source. And even then, there’s no guarantee that person will work out. Proactively identify individuals early on to nurture and develop into leadership roles. Consider implementing a development program to help boost the internal talent pipeline for the future and move quickly when you need to fill a top role.  Help staff with their own goals Helping move talented individuals up in the organization can mean that others need to move around or out of the organization. This could mean helping people find relevant lateral moves in the business that aligns with everyone’s goals. It could also mean helping people explore their opportunities outside the organization—from furthering their education, to a change in industry, or even retirement. Agile workforce means helping everyone achieve their career and personal goals.Increase employee engagementAn agile workforce is an engaged workforce – one that is ready to jump at opportunities. A simple management tweak can help increase engagement, with 82% of today’s employees saying they would be more engaged in their work if managers conducted meaningful career conversations with them on a regular basis. Through the implementation of an effective career management strategy, organizations will create a more engaged workforce and a more agile business.Because the global digital revolution is changing the landscape, business leaders cannot be certain about what may be around the corner, which is why investing in keeping an agile workforce now is more important than ever. Agile businesses will have an advantage – and keep an advantage – as the world of work continues to change.

​Diversity has been a business watchword for many years. However, in 2020  many organizations had to take a hard look at how they defined diversity and practiced inclusion and be honest about their progress, even while they expanded their understanding of the term. Inclusion encompasses a wide variety of aspects in the quest to broaden talent pools, including neurodiversity. In a new episode of The Transform Talent Podcast, hosts Roberta Cucchiaro and Dominika Gałusa talk with Kate Griggs, Founder and CEO of Made By Dyslexia, about closing the growing skills gap for Gen-Z, the generation expected to bear the worst impact of workplace shifts due to the pandemic. Here’s why the link between dyslexia and the in-demand soft skills such as creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability and emotional intelligence is so important now.​The need to think differently As Griggs shared, in an era of automation where facts can be Googled and spelling can be corrected at the touch of the button, it’s creativity, imagination and intuition that sets us apart from machines, and that’s Dyslexic Thinking. Dyslexia is literally a different way of processing information, and with that different way of thinking comes a pattern of strengths; creativity, innovation, and big picture thinking. The latest Future of Jobs Report published by the World Economic Forum highlights how exactly these social and emotional skills are the top in-demand competencies for the next five years. For organizations, understanding and valuing dyslexic thinking and neurodiversity can be an opportunity to bridge the skills gap of the future.​A range of abilities As businesses tackle a variety of problems, they need people who have exceptional skills in certain areas. As Griggs explained, that is true of people with dyslexia, who have “spikes” of skills they have highly developed to succeed in the world. In other words, if some with dyslexia excel in the area of a soft skill like public speaking, he or she may double down in practicing that skill in order to be especially high performing in that area. “What dyslexics also tend to do, if they really focus on their strengths, is hone in and become much better at them,” Griggs said. “So, a lot of people refer to them as superpowers, which is a nice way of thinking about it.” ​Value cognitive diversity Along with neurodiversity –– different ways of processing thought –– Griggs prefers the term cognitive diversity, or diversity of thought. Teams shouldn’t all think the same way. With the recruitment process, inclusion means screening in rather than screening out with standardized barriers to entry. People with dyslexia may have brilliant ideas that will be filtered out at the first step if assessments aren’t rethought to include diversity, which can be overlooked in traditional reviews of resumes. An example of being inclusive for cognitive diversity comes from the UK Government Communications Headquarters, that has been targeting dyslexic and neurodiverse people in their recruitment strategy as the dyslexic workforce is particularly good at connecting the dots, simplification, seeing the bigger picture as well as work as a team.​The Value of Dyslexia report shows how dyslexic thinking produces creativity that won't be able to be replaced by automation. Inclusion is critical because workforces are more productive when people feel like they can bring their talents to a team and belong –– and produce important results. Hear more on the podcast. 

​“Schooling doesn't assure employment but skill does.”― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words​Pay attention to the news stories about the hiring challenges facing companies around the world and a common narrative emerges. Loads of jobs, in virtually every industry, but a lack of talent hampering recruiting efforts. ​And the situation appears even more daunting in the tech sector given the competition for talent. Why? Because every company is now a tech/digital company. If they hadn’t already, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated efforts to adopt and deploy new technologies to help businesses pivot and stay afloat over the last year and a half. ​​According to our latest report, Stack It Up: Tech Skills in Demand, we found tech-related jobs make up more than 50% of the top 20 in-demand roles. Some examples of the most in-demand tech jobs include: ​Data analysts and scientists AI and machine learning specialists Big data specialists Digital marketing and strategy specialists Digital transformation specialists Information security analysts Software and application developers Database and network professionals ​While the search for qualified talent checking those skills’ boxes is ongoing, and an uphill battle, getting talent with the necessary tech skills is just one side of the coin. ​It’s not enough to just have the right technical skills anymoreThose roles are in demand at companies across a variety of sectors, from financial and professional services to healthcare to retail and e-commerce, government to logistics, advanced manufacturing, and more, and job functions. And when you couple that with the growing need for human soft skills to effectively execute these roles, demand for talent is going to continue to skyrocket and finding the right combo of skills is increasingly competitive. Some of the top soft skills that are desired are:  Analytical thinking and innovation Active learning Complex problem solving Critical thinking and analysis Creativity Leadership and social influence Resilience/stress tolerance/flexibility Reasoning/problem solving/ideation Emotional intelligence Persuasion and negotiationAs tech evolves towards 5G driven by the rapid rise in remote and mobile work, and demand for cybersecurity and cloud engineering continues at pace, the future profile of talent is morphing. ​​Two-thirds (64%)of companies do not have the skills required to implement their digital transformation strategy and capitalize on growth potential. What’s an organization to do?​​Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge Changing workforce dynamics and the acceleration of tech adoption are forcing organizations across all industries to redesign their workforce composition and rethink their skills mix. Companies want to be employers of choice, achieve the first-mover advantage on scarce and in-demand talent, and ensure a durable competitive edge in the market.​Companies must develop sophisticated, competitive workforce strategies to Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge to ensure they have the specialized IT talent and increasingly in-demand skills their organizations need. What do the 4 B’s entail? We’re glad you asked:​BUILD- Invest in learning and development to grow your tech talent pipelineBUY- Go to external market to find the best tech talent that cannot be built in-house in the timeframe requiredBORROW- Cultivate tech talent outside the organization, including part-time, freelance, contract and temporary workers to complement existing and emerging skillsBRIDGE - Help people move on and move up to take on new tech roles and acquire new technical and soft skills inside or outside the organizationHow Experis can helpTo maximize the return on digital investments companies need a forward-looking skills agenda: infusing a digital mindset in the workforce and making technical and soft skills development the focus of training and hiring programs.  ​As a global leader in IT professional resourcing, project solutions, and managed services specializing in Business Transformation, Cloud and Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Digital Workspace and Enterprise Applications, Experis supports companies to build a skilled talent pipeline with the powerful combination of in-demand technical and soft skills that are critical for business success. ​Our team has the data, insight and expertise to bridge the tech talent and skills gap with leading IT professional staffing (permanent and contract), innovative training and data-driven workforce solutions. ​​To learn more about Experis, visit: www.experis.com.id​

​Across the globe, every workforce has been affected by the changing working conditions in a pandemic. Workers on the front lines face real physical health concerns, while remote workers face isolation that can lead to mental health challenges and burnout. In response, organizations have learned how to cope and adapt to help their employees. According to a new report from the World Economic Forum, business leaders can care for the health and wellbeing of employees as we start the new year in the following ways. Adapting to the expansion of remote work The future of work has already arrived for a majority of the online white-collar workforce. Eighty-four percent of employers are set to rapidly digitalize working processes, including a significant expansion of remote work—with the potential to move 44% of their workforce to operate remotely. To address concerns about employee well-being, 34% of leaders report that they are taking steps to create a sense of community among employees online and also looking to tackle other challenges posed by the shift to remote work.[1]Providing upskilling and technology mastery Developing and enhancing human skills drives economic success, individual wellbeing and societal cohesion. That said, the past decade of technological advancement has also brought about the looming possibility of mass job displacement by technologies. What is needed is a revolution in education, and in continually training the workforce for transitions. The coming decade will require purposeful leadership to fulfill human potential, which leads to a confident and productive workforce.Creating frameworks for human capital Over time, a business may lose sight of just how valuable employees are to the organization, so the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum recommends creating a set of metrics and framework to track the value of human capital. A successful workforce investment strategy includes identifying workers being displaced from their roles, managing the displacement, funding reskilling and upskilling, motivating employee engagement in this process and tracking the long-term success of such transitions.Ultimately, the World Economic Forum asserts that “no firm can prosper for long if it proves damaging to the social fabric around it.” In a time of extraordinary challenges, the success of a workforce is the success of the organization.​1.The Future of Jobs Report 2020, World Economic Forum​​

​​One bad experience can tarnish a brand’s reputation. That’s true of a product failure or poor customer experience.  For organizations, how candidates are treated in the job application process also creates a feedback loop that can be positive or negative. A recent episode of the Transform Talent podcast outlined how organizations can minimize negativity for job applicants who don’t get hired, and even enhance their reputation through a thoughtful job process.  Have a plan for non-hiresIn any hiring pool, up to 98% of those who apply aren’t going to be selected for the role. And the more popular the brand, the more people will likely apply and be disappointed. That means the vast majority of those who have touchpoints with your organizations will not hear what they want, or even have a lasting negative impression of your brand. Organizations can get out in front of this by preparing a communication plan with timeliness, respect and that values the intelligence of the applicant. Putting a plan in place to communicate with each applicant will help mitigate negative perceptions.  ​Be responsive  The biggest thing a company can do with candidates is simple: Be upfront. Companies create self-inflicted damage if they do not communicate with an applicant at all, especially if candidates spent hours applying. “Some of the worst stories is just candidates not getting any information," says Daniel Birkholm, CEO & Co-founder of candidate feedback platform Talenthub.io. “The least you can do as a company when a candidate applies for a job, is getting back to them.”  ​Enhance the application process  Organizations go a long way to make sure customers have a positive experience with their products, whether that’s building an easy-to-navigate website or providing quick responses to questions from customers. Job candidates are also potential (or current) customers, so putting the same care into the job applications process can also enhance (or detract) from a brand reputation. “Things from the ease of use when you apply to the transparency during the process, the expectations setting” are all important to candidate perceptions, says Birkholm.  ​Provide VIP treatment to finalists  The candidates that make it to the final round –– but just aren’t the right fit at the moment –– have the most potential affinity and fit for your organization. They may even come back to fill another role in the future. Because of this, these elevated candidates require even more personal treatment, which may include personal feedback. One company, for example, gave vouchers for shopping to all of its finalists, in recognition of the value and time they provided.  For more strategies, read more in the ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions report Add to Cart: Candidates Are Consumers, Too. The report sheds light on how negative hiring experiences can change future purchasing decisions, as well as help employers more effectively attract and retain the best candidates.

​​Attracting top talent, especially younger candidates, is an ongoing challenge for companies, in today’s fast-changing market. Employers are searching for the right fit, something that many are prioritizing over a specific set of hard skills[1] while first-time job hunters may not know how their skills apply.​One of the most effective ways for employers and candidates to learn more about each other is by gamifying recruitment. This enables employers to attract younger and more diverse candidates with a memorable recruitment experience while simultaneously allowing candidates to gain insight on how they might fit into a potential role.​Here are some ways that online assessments, like gaming, can attract new candidates and help guide them on their career path.Evaluating for skills and fitGaming presents a creative way to showcase skills and knowledge to prospective employers through simple quizzes, thought-provoking scenarios, and unique forms of content. Simultaneously, organizations gain practical data that help them make informed hiring decisions within the framework of a unique experience that also boosts their brand – whether or not the candidate is hired. Companies who incorporate strong talent assessments up front, also have higher retention and increased productivity.[2]​ManpowerGroup recently developed a fun interactive assessment tool that enhances the overall candidate experience. Game to Work helps companies to engage with job seekers who may have a difficult job search due to lack of experience or who struggle to stand out in the applicant pool. The Shorty Award-winning campaign encourages candidates to emphasize gaming experience within their resumes and demonstrate vital workplace skills such as critical thinking and complex problem solving, which can be acquired through recreational gaming.[3] Gaming also cultivates competencies like creativity and emotional intelligence that are increasing in value as machines perform routine tasks. 43% of employers say it is more difficult to teach the soft skills they are seeking.[4]Looking beyond age and experienceFor job candidates previously overlooked due to youth and inexperience, online gaming can help them explore areas they thought they might not be qualified for.​Magyar Telekom in Hungary, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom (the parent company of T-Mobile USA) used gamification to attract millennials and candidates with limited work experience for sales roles. These candidates usually don’t have much experience so their resumes couldn’t showcase their abilities. By removing resumes as a screening factor using Benchmark Games, Telekom evaluated candidates’ competencies such as goal orientation, endurance and problem-solving skills.​The company noticed that some people who had been rejected because of their resumes were hired a year later because they scored really high on games – and then became high performers. Candidates hired through games reached 95% of the KPI levels of high performers just after three months.[5]​Game-to-Work similarly tapped into younger gamers with a Gaming Skills Translator that enables candidates to enter the specific games they play, their experience and skill level and the amount of time they spend gaming. It then translates the data into workplace skills that applicants can add to their resumes, helping them understand how their skills translate into real-world career paths.​Salvatore Cammarata, a 27-year-old sales professional from France and avid gamer since 6-years-old, used the Gaming Skills Translator by encoding three of his favorite games – World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy and League of Legend. Through a relatable and engaging experience, he discovered a variety of soft skills that helped him reimagine his career possibilities, ultimately leaving sales to train for a developer position. “This tool is a good springboard for young people looking for a job to help them become more aware of their abilities,” he said. [6]Fostering continuous learningAn individual’s learning quotient (LQ) helps determine their workplace success over time[7] and gaming helps the brain create better cognitive models, making it easier to predict and react to new situations.[8] Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s Learnability Quotient (LQ) help people identify their learning style and offer feedback on how to keep developing their skills and employability.​“Gaming fosters the skills of continuous learning and the ability to adapt one’s skill set is increasingly critical as people adjust to the ever-changing landscape of work,” said Luca Giovannini, V.P. Global Innovation and Analytics, ManpowerGroup.Creating more engaging assessmentsGoogle learned early with its famous billboard mathematical riddle, that using appealing gaming techniques to assess talent can reap major rewards. Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s Game to Work, not only attract candidates with creative content, they also offer quantifiable data to help employers identify talent who are well-suited to the organization. They also provide younger candidates with a personalized guide to understanding their own interests and work preferences.​SkillsInSight is another assessment tool that engages candidates with a 10-minute cognitive game that helps determine likeability, ability and drive.​It also provides immediate feedback that supports talent decisions, aligns capabilities and potential for filling a company’s gaps. These data-based insights can help provide workplace advice for talent and indicate a good match for employers.​Online tools like Game to Work and SkillsInSight offer a fun way to put individuals at ease which ultimately makes for a more accurate assessment of their potential fit for an employer. Enthusiastic and skilled gamers have developed a wide set of skills needed to thrive, including communication, reasoning, and collaboration. These soft skills are just as important as quantifiable skills that are typically learned in the classroom, such as math, literacy, and computer proficiencies.​Download a free whitepaper Game to Work: How Gamers Are Developing the Soft Skills Employers Need for more examples and insights. To learn more about ManpowerGroup’s data assessment capabilities for candidate recruiting, visit Talent Solutions.​References[1] Recruiting a Competitive Workforce: Should Needed Skills be Built or Bought?, ManpowerGroup[2] https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/effective-talent-assessments.pdf[3] https://go.manpowergroup.com/game2work[4] Humans Wanted: Robots Need You ManpowerGroup, 2019[5] https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/gamification-in-recruiting-effectiveness[6] https://www.lecho.be/economie-politique/belgique/general/le-gaming-le-yoga-le-running-boosters-de-cv/10302650.html[7] https://manpowergroup.com/workforce-insights/expertise/learnability-quotient[8] https://www.pnas.org/content/111/47/16961

​A commitment to diversity and inclusion takes deliberate steps beyond willingness and words. For many years, hiring and maintaining a diverse workforce has become a moral imperative for businesses. Now it’s also an economic necessity as businesses face a record high global talent shortage. In today’s war for talent, the strongest businesses will also be the most diverse and inclusive. Fostering a diverse workforce takes more than words and a willingness to grow. It takes deliberate actions and a strategy from business leaders. Below are steps that businesses can take to become more inclusive now and into the future. Use assessment for hiring and promoting The traditional ways of building and promoting a workforce based on gut instincts can be riddled with unconscious bias. A more equitable way to level the playing field is to assess candidates with data. “Science-based assessments are the most accurate and reliable tool for placing the right person in the right job,” says Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic Chief Talent Scientist at ManpowerGroup. “As well as testing technical skills, assessments measure human strengths that are critical predictors of success such as how rewarding someone is to deal with, their ability to do the job and their willingness to work hard.” Businesses have a long way to go on this front, with only 49% of workers globally have been assessed, according to ManpowerGroup research, Closing the Skills Gap: Know What Workers Want. Furthermore, 81% of those who have been assessed report higher job satisfaction versus 65% of those who have not. Offer schedule flexibility For hiring and promoting women into leadership, this is especially key. Workers want flexibility — and that means all things to all women and men. This can mean nontraditional work hours with flexible start and end times that counter the rush hour, options to Work from Home (WFH) or Work from Wherever (WFW), condensed four-day work weeks or five-hour workdays that peak productivity and preserve the weekend, and parental leave that balances family and care and can be worth more than pay. Especially in the digital age, work can get done in so many ways. Productivity beats presenteeism. Businesses can attract top talent by asking what type of schedule works best for them. Provide training for growth The next generation of leaders are already in the workforce. But are businesses training and preparing to create more diversity at the top of their organizations? By 2050, there will be no racial or ethnic majority in the United States—diversity will be the norm. If an organization wants to be competitive in this landscape 30 years from now, they need to start thinking about creating a more inclusive culture through mentorship programs, hiring beyond traditional talent pools and widening their pipelines, and preparing for the new future of jobs. ​Click here for more resources on diversity and inclusion.

​As organizations' skills needs shift faster than ever before, especially as trends like digitization accelerate, they need refreshed talent and workforce development strategies to attract, develop, engage and retain the best talent in this next phase of the Skills Revolution.This transformation, however, can be turbulent –– or it can be guided with expertise and strategy. According to newly-released ManpowerGroup research.Skills Revolution Reboot: The 3R’s--Renew, Reskill, Redeploy, becoming a creator of talent by proactively upskilling/reskilling talent to be available when and where needed reduces risk and paves the way for sustainable growth.Assessing potentialBuilding talent starts with first assessing potential. Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s proprietary SkillsInSight™ help people identify their strengths and work preferences and help organizations to predict an individual’s likely fit for the role. It also compiles aggregate data that makes it possible to predict who will be more likely to acquire new skills in the future. Assessment + data + analytics = insight that supports talent decisions, reduces talent acquisition costs and improves employee mobility by aligning their capabilities and potential to the organization’s skills gaps.Creating a career roadmapCompanies need a clear roadmap when it comes to their strategy and individuals need clear guidance. ManpowerGroup’s MyPath program helps progress talent from one role to the next, from declining industries to growth sectors and closing the skills gap. ManpowerGroup talent agents are experts in assessment, coaching and data-driven recruitment and provide candidates with personalized guidance to develop for future roles. These services provide pathways in growth sectors such as IT, finance, advanced manufacturing, sales and logistics.Coaching supportIt doesn’t matter if workers are blue collar, white collar, new collar – all will need to develop the skills they need for the future of work. Personalized coaching support through RightCoach and RightMap - an AI-powered assessment, skills analysis and matching technology – can help meet workers where they are and help transition to their next phase. With RightMap coaching, 85% of employees felt more motivated to take on additional challenges in their role.Teaching new skillsIn growth sectors like technology, talent is scarce because skills are so new. The most innovative organizations are partnering to become creators of talent, sourcing the people who can learn and developing the skills they need. For example, Experis Tech Academy works with a broad range of clients, technical schools and universities to design curriculum for learners that can be applied on the job even before the learning is complete. With industry experience combined with workforce expertise we are defining future skills requirements, identifying current gaps and mapping skills to potential career paths.For many companies, this future is unchartered territory, which is why these solutions are available to help organizations acquire the skills they need and individuals to develop the skills employers are looking for in-demand talent that’s needed in today’s rapidly-changing environment.  Download the Skills Revolution Reboot: The 3R’s--Renew, Reskill, Redeploy reportfor more insights, including a roadmap of solutions to help organizations attract, develop, engage and retain the best talent in this next phase of the Skills Revolution.

​​The past year demonstrated that organizations need to deepen their understanding of diversity as well as how to make diversity and inclusion an institutional reality. Organizations that thrive in a fast-changing world will have a workforce with diversity of background, skills and perspectives. Here are ways organizations can approach and foster diversity.   Plan for the future By 2050, the demographic make-up of the United States will look very different than it does today — diversity will be the norm. Talent in all its diversity is the most potent competitive differentiator. If you want your organization to be competitive 30 years from now, start by assessing hiring practices, creating mentorship programs and leveraging diverse talent pools. Use assessment to increase diversity The traditional ways of building and promoting a workforce based on gut instincts can be riddled with unconscious bias. A more equitable way to level the playing field and increase diversity is to assess candidates using data. Businesses have a long way to go on this front, with only 49% of workers globally have been assessed, according to ManpowerGroup research. Furthermore, 81% of those who have been assessed report higher job satisfaction versus 65% of those who have not. Neurodiversity: The need to think differently Creativity, imagination and intuition sets us apart from machines. That’s Dyslexic Thinking. Dyslexia is a different way of processing information, and with that different way of thinking comes a pattern of strengths, creativity, innovation, big picture thinking. For organizations, that means understanding and valuing how dyslexia and neurodiversity can be an opportunity to bridge the skills gap of the future.  Provide opportunities for women Women have been disproportionately affected by both social and economic crises due to the pandemic, and over-represented in job losses across industries including retail, leisure and hospitality. At the same time, there is a clear opportunity for women to reskill and upskill in growth sectors including information technology, operations and logistics. Women are an untapped talent pool which could be re-skilled or upskilled for many of the jobs of tomorrow. Ongoing measurement of your diversity and engagement efforts and involving employees in that process is essential to ensure you are moving the needle. Achieving diversity, inclusion and equity takes time but by taking proactive steps today your organization can achieve  a series of wins along the way.

​​At ManpowerGroup, we believe businesses have a responsibility to be a positive contributor to societal change. That means intentionally building diverse and inclusive workplaces and hiring the best employees based on talent without discrimination. Not only is this the right thing to do, but studies repeatedly show that inclusive practices have a positive impact on your bottom line. Being an ally to LGBTQ+ colleagues is as simple as remembering the power that words at work have to make people feel welcomed, valued and included. ​Here is a guide to pronouns in the workplace and tips on how to promote an inclusive work culture. You can also download a PDF copy of the guide here. ​​​​​​

​​Pride Month is widely recognized as a time to celebrate diversity and inclusion and show allyship to members of the lesbian, gay, bi, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) community. For organizations and businesses around the world, it’s also a reminder that we need to hit the accelerator on making workplaces welcoming for all.​Across the hundreds of thousands of clients ManpowerGroup works with globally, we are helping our partners align their ambitions with clear, actionable plans to hire more inclusively and keep the diverse talent they hire. Here are 10 ways to start (Also be sure to download the LGBTQ+ Inclusive #WordsatWork Guideto learn about proper pronoun usage and more):​Do your research. Start with the United Nations Human Rights Office’s Standards of Conduct. Reflecting the input of hundreds of companies across diverse sectors, it offers guidance on how to respect and support the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the workplace, marketplace and community. Develop an effective -and global- corporate diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) policy. Your policy should articulate your commitments and clearly reference sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics/intersex status. It should also explain your company’s responsibilities and employees’ responsibilities and outline what will happen if that policy is violated. Multinational companies must also have a cohesive global implementation strategy—mindful that concepts of equal rights and fair treatment of LGBTQ+ people may not be well-institutionalized in many markets or regions.Ensure buy-in from employees and management, including commitments to take the DEIBstrategy forward. Expand employees’ soft skills in empathy by exposing them to other points of view and perspectives. Regularly train them on DEIB, ensure they’re familiar with your policy, and consider incentivizing leaders by hardcoding their commitments into performance frameworks. Leverage technology to establish best practices. The DEIB technology now exists to support your company with policies and practices, provide timely analytics, identify and reduce bias, introduce greater transparency and visibility, and support employee training. Download the World Economic Forum’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 toolkit to explore all the opportunities and accountabilities now afforded by tech. Create a culture of conscious inclusion. A welcoming workplace is one where people with different demographic and psychological backgrounds feel seen, heard and valued—not by blending in, but by providing a different perspective to reduce the homogeneity of attitudes, values and beliefs. This also keeps groupthink and decision-making biases in check. If your organization is serious about allyship and equal opportunity for LGBTQ+ employees, you must go beyond programs. To truly change culture, take proactive steps to promote a diverse pool of candidates for senior leadership and board positions, and train and incentivize managers and employees on what it means to be inclusive.  Appoint leaders with these three characteristics. A change in culture starts from the top. If your organization is serious about itsDEIBpolicy, start by building a diverse leadership team within your organization. Make sure people with higher levels of curiosity, humility and courage are not overlooked. Ideally, you want leaders who demonstrate a passion for learning, humility to admit when they make mistakes and courage to act boldly and speak out against injustices. Build an LGBTQ+support network. For pro-LGBTQ+ policies to be effective in attracting and retaining LGBTQ+employees, your company’s efforts should have high visibility. For example, support efforts by LGBTQ+ employees to create their own staff groups and extend the same opportunities to them for extracurricular activities as you would to any other group. Take it to the community. Partnerships with local LGBTQ+ groups, such as youth centers, community centers, advocacy groups and charities, exhibit long-term commitment to LGBTQ+ employees. This can also help your company better understand the challenges those employees face, informing your corporate policymaking and providing a way for your company to support positive social change. Listen, apologize and learn from your mistakes. Odds are that you will make mistakes along the way. If you’ve been called out for a microaggression or an act of exclusion toward an LGBTQ+ colleague or employee, it’s important to respond with compassion, concern and humility. Make the other person feel heard, sincerely apologize and don’t make it about you.Set targets and track your progress. Your company’s key decision-makers should receive regular progress reports on DEIB efforts, including updates on employee experience and engagement levels. Assign a senior-level officer to oversee and direct DEIB initiatives, education and training. What gets measured gets done.​At ManpowerGroup, we believe businesses have the responsibility to be a positive contributor to societal change. That means intentionally building diverse and inclusive workplaces and hiring the best employees based on talent without discrimination. Not only is this the right thing to do, but studies repeatedly show that inclusive practices have a positive impact on your bottom line.​To learn about the power of language to foster an inclusive workplace, download the LGBTQ+ Inclusive #WordsatWork Guide.

​​For many workers, there has never been a time for greater flexibility and autonomy in their work lives, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced a sudden shift in the world of work. Many workers would like to see some changes to become permanent. Here’s how organizations can view and support empowerment of their workforce, to the benefit of all.The ability to chooseThere has been no one-size-fits-all for workers when it comes to working from home full time, a hybrid model or remaining in a physical workplace. Organizations should work with HR and with individuals to determine the best balance of work and home responsibilities for individuals and organizations alike. Employers will increasingly redesign and revalue the workplace for the best blend of “heads down” remote work along with “heads up” collaboration and creativity. Meanwhile, the continued growth in the gig and freelance economy will continue to redefine what it means to be an employee or worker as well as increase worker choice.The importance of physical and emotional healthWhen the COVID crisis began, all focus shifted on keeping people physically safe. But as the months continued on it became clear that the workforce also needed mental and emotional support, especially with growing isolation. This requires a greater role for HR, with more duty of care and leadership that can empathize and understand the needs of their workforce. An always-on digital lifeThe increased adoption of social networking sites and virtual communities means that workers’ digital footprint and daily interactions have expanded –– from Slack to Twitter to email and back again. This has enabled an always-on digital presence, often blurring the lines between personal and professional development activities. For organizations, this can mean helping their workforce to adapt, understand their roles and responsibilities, and share ways to help employees switch off and disconnect. Transparency and equityToday, workers want more from their employers, including security, sustainability of skills, work-life blend and wellness​. They also expect more from the values of their organization such as acting as global citizens and environmental stewards along with other social goals and metrics. Employers that show they are committed to both their workforce along with their customers and shareholders will be able to attract, retain and support the best talent. Employers and employees are evolving and moving into the future together, and it takes both groups to communicate, understand and adapt to each other’s needs. Moving forward, organizations need to be prepared for and understand the fundamental shake-up of the old work order –– and be ready to take bold, innovative and effective action. ​Download ManpowerGroup's Top 21 Trends in 2021 Full Report or Infographic for more information on the major forces of demographic shifts, rise of individual choice, growing client sophistication, technological revolution as well as emerging trends shaping the workplace and workforce of the future.

​For any organization, attracting and retaining talent has become increasingly complex as digital capabilities expand. Now workforce management will become more tech-driven, on-demand and responsive to global trends. Organizations need to become more sophisticated in how they approach future workforce development and talent management. Here are a few ways they can adapt to the changing landscape and lead with action.Talent management for remote work As more employees expect to work remotely, organizations need to re-think their business models and consider training and upskilling their employees in a variety of areas including technical skills. According to a July 2020 McKinsey report, organizations need to create the foundation for long-term remote work, revamp their upskilling and retaining approaches, and adopt an agile approach to strategic workforce planning. Those companies can turn remote working into a competitive advantage. This includes attracting new talent including working mothers, professionals looking for more flexibility or work-life balance, and access to broader international talent.Demand for assessments and solutionsWith meaningful data, organizations can better predict performance, skills knowledge and overall job fit for individuals. Assessments like ManpowerGroup’s proprietary SkillsInSight™ Assessment help people identify their strengths and work preferences and help organizations to match the right person for the role. These insights support talent decisions, reduces talent acquisition costs and improves employee mobility by aligning the right capabilities and potential to the organization’s skills gaps.Improving supply chain resilienceAs we saw with supply shocks from the pandemic, the supply chain is vulnerable unless companies can better approach uncertainty and manage risk. In the future, organizations will need to create connected supply chain ecosystems that include aggregated suppliers, satisfied users and amplified networks. If and when another crisis hits, organizations need to have a more sophisticated system to prepare for supply chain shock and diversify their mitigation strategies, as well as have the right technology, systems and talent in place to reduce risks and respond to threats.Renewed demands on leadersLeadership has always been important, but it is at an even greater premium as organizations navigate months of a crisis and look to emerge stronger. The global economic, political, and social turmoil that has resulted because of the COVID-19 pandemic has put increasing pressure on global leaders to lead with empathy and digital agility, champion social justice and climate action regardless of sector, and help usher in recovery and sustainability. No small feats on their own, together these goals will take masterful leadership to achieve.  As organizations look ahead, the constant will be that business will continue to evolve and require a sophisticated response demanding resilient leadership, technology and solutions.​Download ManpowerGroup's Top 21 Trends in 2021Full Report or Infographic for more information on the major forces of demographic shifts, rise of individual choice, growing client sophistication, technological revolution as well as emerging trends shaping the workplace and workforce of the future.​

​The year 2020 was a year unlike any other. The job market was already in upheaval when the pandemic struck, disrupting the way people worked almost overnight. Outplacement was immediately elevated in importance, playing a major role in helping businesses, workers and economies transition and recalibrate into this new normal.  The sudden change in workplace operations meant many businesses immediately drove new efficiencies through shifts to create more flexible working arrangements, including allowing staff to work remotely. Employees needed to quickly adapt to enabling technologies such as video conferencing software to remain productive and stay connected to teams and clients. For many HR professionals, this also resulted in difficult decisions in order to right-size the workforce.  Outplacement is now even more important in helping employees make a successful transition in a fluctuating job market. Here are three ways outplacement is evolving to help both companies and their workers respond to the disruption of an ever-changing economy: ​Employ better data for improved outcomes Flexible and remote working arrangements mean employees need to be even more prepared for transition. In the last few years, workers who participated in outplacement programs increasingly switched jobs across industries but also between different job roles. Globally, 49% of candidates who went through outplacement programs found a new role in a different industry [1]. This is the highest proportion of people changing industries in the last eight years.  This growing culture of career mobility requires organizations to be equally agile to keep up in real-time. For employers, positive ROI and solid outcomes are increasingly important outplacement metrics. This requires better data to understand where jobs are located and how they can be accessed. Tools such as Total Workforce Index can help organizations build a data-driven approach that integrates market insights into the outplacement process. Kaye Owen, a senior deployment manager at Lloyds Banking Group in the UK, says that the rapidly changing market has required their team to significantly alter their approach. “We’ve found over the last four or five years that it’s a lot more strategic now, and there’s a real acknowledgement of the importance of trying to identify the skills of the future.” Data – and the ability to sift and accurately analyze it – is an important part of that evolution and these demands will only continue to grow. Tune up your emotional intelligence Human resources leaders were already focused on the well-being of their workforce prior to the pandemic. But displacement caused by the pandemic escalated the intensity as workers faced  career transitions and remote workers became increasingly isolated. When COVID-19 hit, Swiggy, India’s largest online food ordering and delivery platform, felt the impact with layoffs of about 1,100 employees. Like many other organizations across the globe facing similar difficult situations, Swiggy’s HR department provided support to employees to help them find other positions. But they also took the additional step of training their HR team on “emotional intelligence,” including how to have meaningful conversations, build confidence and prepare candidates for interviews, according to Girish Menon, Swiggy’s VP of human resources. [2] “Employees need the ability to bounce back, and our team is trained to support them.”  More organizations realize how important it is to ensure employees depart with a positive view of the company. Providing one-on-one coaching gives them an opportunity to have honest conversations about the things that concern them and learn how they can take the next step on their career path. ​Future-proof employees By 2025, automation and a new division of labor between humans and machines will disrupt 85 million jobs globally in medium and large businesses across 15 industries and 26 economies. [3]Workers riding this wave of massive change face a new urgency in this reskilling revolution. Employees, from orientation through exit strategy, need help to identify opportunities and align their transferable skills. They also need to be agile and adaptable in planning their next career move. The most innovative companies recognize this and are adopting workforce career management solutions for scalable career development. For example, American Express launched a career counseling center and Unilever introduced a program that matches individuals to projects of interest to expose them to different areas and build new skills. [4]These types of initiatives will be especially necessary as employees are no longer limited by location; outplacement support must become truly global and prepare individuals to access  opportunities worldwide. Many businesses will ask employees to return to physical offices, and some will be glad to go back. However, employee expectations have changed, with only 12% of people wanting to return to full-time office work and 72% preferring a hybrid remote-office model moving forward. [5]Outplacement support that combines smart data, emotional intelligence and development opportunities for in-demand skills, will play a vital role in helping individuals and businesses navigate these changes. This will create a confident, agile and valuable workforce that is able to confidently face future challenges – anytime, anywhere. ​To learn more, download our latest whitepaper, “Careers in Transition: How will outplacement evolve to help companies and workers respond to upheaval?” ​References1 Right Management data on people moving sectors 2https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/some-companies-that-have-been-forced-to-lay-off-staffers-are-helping-them-find-jobs-elsewhere/articleshow/76235947.cms3https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/10/recession-and-automation-changes-our-future-of-work-but-there-are-jobs-coming-report-says-52c5162fce4https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinesscouncil/2020/03/18/to-future-proof-your-business-future-proof-your-employees/?sh=69abd038dd8c5 Moving beyond remote: Workplace transformation in the wake of Covid-19 - Moving beyond remote: Workplace transformation in the wake of Covid-19 | Slack​

​​In our new COVID-19 reality, the world is experiencing a level of rapid change never seen before. One thing that’s clear is that digital-minded organizations with the ability to quickly assess and make insightful workforce decisions will be more likely to not only survive the crisis, but thrive.  ​However, this will be challenging for many businesses as 72% of global organizations experienced a reality check and found themselves not fully prepared from a technology perspective. [1] Now these companies are scrambling to play catch up in migrating operations and workforce to a virtual environment. With the majority of employers planning to offer flexible work options for the long-term [2], there’s no turning back the clock to pre-pandemic work styles.  ​Here’s four ways that your organization can leverage data to build a stronger team: ​Use data to predict talent potential Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a crystal ball that could ensure your next hire is a win for the company? Predictive analytics gets close by helping Human Resource professionals assess individuals with skills profiles that help determine who is most likely to succeed in a particular role. That’s crucial when the cost of a bad hire can mean up to $240,000 in expenses for companies. [1]​Remember the movie Moneyball where analytics helped the Oakland A’s select the right players to spur the team to 20 consecutive victories over a month’s time?  That success has translated to the business world with global companies such as Google, Marriott Hotels and Credit Suisse Banks. ​Credit Suisse deployed predictive analytics to identify employee churn and this information was anonymously shared with line managers to help them reduce turnover risk factors and retain  talent. The bank saved an estimated $70,000,000 a year in recruiting and onboarding costs as a result of this initiative. [2]​Make data your company's decision-making anchor When the world stopped, the hospitality industry suffered a significant impact, but take-out and delivery service saw a massive uptick in activity. Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison noted that their team had to take 60 years of standard operating procedures and transform them for digital in a matter of 6 weeks. By making a commitment to digital strategies as their new centerpiece of decision-making, Allison was able to shift the pizza giant to a contactless delivery model across the country. The key was carefully creating a unified data-driven vision for the company’s technology, innovation and supply chain teams while still making the training of Domino’s delivery experts a priority. [3]​“As we look at digital capabilities that we’re putting in place today, it’s not just to be competitive in the next couple of months. It really is to set ourselves up in what may end up being the new normal in our industry,” says Allison. So far, it’s paying off as nearly a year later, Domino’s digital sales are up 75% and they have been able to keep most of their retail locations open. ​Upskill Teams to Leverage TechnologyEven before the pandemic, companies were navigating changing technologies and the new skills that employees would need to manage them. COVID-19 has amplified the urgency for workers to develop these new ‘skill muscles’ to strengthen them and prepare the organization for future disruptions. The U.K. healthcare system, for example, had to retrain their staff within weeks to manage virtual appointments, something that occurred less than 1% of the time prior to 2020. Now doctors assess nearly 100% of patients by phone or video, with only about 7% requiring a face-to-face appointment. This has required medical staff to learn how to do safe and effective diagnosis remotely. Something that will now continue even after the crisis has passed. [4]​As organizations determine which strategies encompass the future of their business, leaders should quickly identify skills that are crucial to business recovery and focus first on those that will drive a disproportionate amount of value to the organization. ​Foster a data cultureOrganizations who ingrain data into their culture are well-positioned to create ‘SuperTeams’ - the next step in technology’s integration into the world of work. “These SuperTeams are powered by increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence blended with the best in human skills – all working together to solve problems, gain insights and create new value for both workers and organizations,” says Dave Mancl, manager of Talent Analytics for ManpowerGroup. ​Creating SuperTeams involves a concerted effort to upskill employees on how to leverage these new tools and processes. That can be a challenge considering that only 21 percent of workers are confident in their data literacy skills, including understanding, questioning, and working with data.3 But Human Resources can play a role during recruiting by including data and metrics language in job descriptions to attract the right candidates. Employers should also improve success by reinforcing skills development through group training or one-on-one coaching and then hold employees accountable to measurable data-driven goals.  ​Organizations who integrate data to better assess, upskill and build SuperTeams will be well-positioned for future growth. ​For more insights on these and other workforce data trends, tune in toThe Transform Talent Podcast.​Sources:[1] https://www.news.xerox.com/news/global-Xerox-Future-of-Work-Survey-results[2] ManpowerGroup Q4 2020 Employment Outlook Survey[3] https://www.apollotechnical.com/cost-of-a-bad-hire/#:~:text=The%20average%20cost%20of%20a,hiring%2C%20retention%2C%20and%20pay.[4] https://techhq.com/2020/01/mind-the-skills-gap-between-big-data-and-employees/ ​

​​Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has erased hard-fought gains in gender parity at work. It’s been twice the negative impact as women have taken on both more at home while roles predominantly held by women have been downsized. At the same time, a new future is currently unfolding that needs to take into account the skills, leadership and resources provided by women.  Behind every setback, an opportunity can be found. Employers must meet the call to support the women in their organizations and reshape the environment of work. Here are ways to move forward with women learning new skills, advancing in leadership and stepping into a post-pandemic world. Needs to reskillThe impact of the pandemic accelerated changes already taking place for in-demand roles. Reskilling and upskilling will benefit women to meet the increased demand for cybersecurity experts, data analysts, software and app developers. In addition, new roles provide opportunities in areas such as contact tracers, distance monitors and temperature checkers are emerging as fast as others decline in aviation, hospitality and entertainment. Ask for flexibilityWomen and all parents and caretakers can leverage the last year to ask for flexibility and remote work options to continue if they are available and have provided improved balance. Millennials in particular who have caretaking responsibilities are most eager to avoid the commute and least willing to lose flexibility they have gained. As the vaccine roll-outs continue and organizations plan for the future, make sure to communicate your work preferences and how the optimal arrangements benefit everyone. Consider career progressionFor many workers, it’s been a year of coping and getting by as best as possible under the circumstances. In fact, IT workers are the only sector that do not rank “just keeping their job” as top priority. Now as we look ahead, don’t lose sight of career development, progression and advancement. Women should feel empowered to move up in their organization and ask for responsibilities and positions of authority while being supported by their organization. Value your soft skillsWitnessing the biggest workforce shift and reallocation of skills since World War II means that skills that were en vogue in 2019 might now be out of fashion. However, soft skills continue to endure and be in demand. In times of rapid transformation and uncertainty, these so-called soft skills are more important than ever in workers and in leaders. As we move forward, women can emphasize abilities such as adaptability, communication and human connection to help themselves and their organizations navigate change. As we progress through and past the COVID-19 pandemic, the world needs women leaders more than ever. For International Women’s Day, the time is now to focus a spotlight on the necessity of women’s impact in the workforce.  

​Behind every setback, an opportunity can be found. And while the COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a chain reaction of setbacks for women around the world, it’s also provided an opportunity to raise awareness about gender inequality in the labor market. New global research from ManpowerGroup sheds light on this, outlining how women’s career trajectories have been disproportionately impacted by COVID and why the risk of a “She-Cession” real. It’s time to advance the global conversation about why a gender-aware response to COVID is necessary. Here’s why.Equality maker or breaker? How the crisis impacts womenMen may have a higher COVID-19 fatality rate, but data indicates that women will bear the longer-term consequences of the economic and social crisis. With women’s employment 19% more at risk during the pandemic compared to men’s,[1]the dangers of occupational segregation and the informal economy have been exposed like never before.​Not only are women over-represented in many of the sectors most impacted by COVID-19—e.g., retail, hospitality, entertainment, travel and manufacturing—but they’re also more likely to work in the informal economy. This means women are far likelier to have lost their livelihood, lost income or experienced a drop in working hours.​The figures look a little different from country to country but tell a consistent global story. During the first month of the pandemic, the 740 million women who work in the informal economy lost an average of 60% of their income. This figure swelled to 81% in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and 70% in Europe and Central Asia, while women workers in Asia and the Pacific reported a 22% reduction in income.[2]WFH may not be working for womenWork-from-home is good for women, right? Not so fast.“It’s tempting to think that flexible work options will be a universal big equalizer for women,” says ManpowerGroup Chief Talent Scientist Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. “Not always. Men are more likely to want to use the office for networking, women for collaborating and getting work done. Working from home could accelerate underlying inequality by further reducing opportunities for face-to-face networking.”​ManpowerGroup research found that women and men have dramatically differing attitudes about working from home and returning to a physical office post-pandemic. Women said they are more concerned about going back to the workplace and more appreciative of the office as a means of separating work from home. Meanwhile, men said they are more likely to want to be in the physical office for visibility and promotion and to say they feel relieved, happy and confident about a return to the workplace.​To prepare for a hybrid future that accommodates both remote and in-person workers, employers have to be careful to avoid a two-track workplace: men in the office, women at home, where they may miss out on informal networking and critical assignments. Such a disparity could also give rise to a new form of “presenteeism,” whereby employers make assumptions about their employees’ productivity and performance depending on whether they’re physically co-located or working remotely.​Employers can combat this by looking at the effects of remote working by level and whether or not it provides the same career benefits to the entry-level, mid-career, and executive roles. Most important is that employees are evaluated on their output and rewarded for what they actually contribute rather than for the show they put on.Unpaid domestic work and the parent trapWith more than 1.5 billion children out of school worldwide,[3]many women workers must now double as school teachers and/or caregivers while working from home. Even before the pandemic, women took on the lion’s share of responsibility in caring for loved ones and doing unpaid domestic work. Now, gender equity in the household has grown even more lopsided.​Since the pandemic began, 56% of women globally have increased the time they spend on unpaid care work (compared to 51% of men), and 60% of women report spending an increased amount of time on unpaid domestic work (compared to 54% of men).[4]​In the U.S., mothers have reported spending 15 hours more per week than fathers on household tasks and education as compared to fathers.[5] And 1 in 3 mothers has considered leaving the workforce or downshifting their career because of COVID-19.[6]​Employers must understand that remote working does not occur in a vacuum and build flexibility into roles previously seen as inflexible. By taking active steps to challenge embedded assumptions about the gender-normative roles of mothers and fathers, those norms will be less likely to drive the way managers and colleagues perceive remote working by parents and what they expect of them.​Another must for women in today’s workforce: plenty of flexibility. Women want outcomes that allow them greater control over how and when they get work done. They expect employers to accommodate One Life, where work and home are integrated, rather than part of a balancing act.Mind the leader gapOstensibly, it’s been a good year for women in positions of power. In May 2020, the number of women running Fortune 500 companies hit a new high[7](although the fine print will tell you that that means that only 7% of companies on the 2020 Fortune 500 list are run by women). Meanwhile, women leaders—from New Zealand's Jacinda Ardern to Germany's Angela Merkel—won praise for their handling of the COVID-19 crisis.​And studies have continued to prove that women are good for business. In fact, companies with the most female officers have financial returns that are 34% better, and demonstrate enhanced productivity[8], share performance[9] and business results.[10] Before the pandemic, the number of women in senior management roles globally was gradually increasing. In 2019, it had grown to 29%, the highest number ever recorded.[11] And in the U.S., which has traditionally lagged behind the global average, representation in the C-suite grew from 17% to 21% from January 2015 to January 2020. Now, female leaders in the U.S. say they are 1.5 times more likely than senior-level men to think about downshifting their role or leaving the workforce because of COVID-19-related burnout.​ManpowerGroup research is clear: When it comes to ascending to leadership positions, women aren’t looking for favors, just a level playing field. To accelerate the rise of women in leadership positions, employers can start by putting policies into place that directly address those things that established female leaders have said were the greatest obstacles throughout their career: lack of role models, gendered career paths, and a lack of access to sponsors and influential networks.[12]​2021 finds the workforce at an inflection point and many employers unsure about what steps they need to take to ensure gender parity within their own organization. In this new reality, ManpowerGroup is partnering with employers to help them commit to paying greater attention to the re-balancing of family care responsibilities and careers, to changing prevailing gender dynamics in the workplace, and to rethinking the way women work, are recognized and rewarded.​10 ways employers can progress gender parity in the new realityHelping women upskill and adapt to a fast-changing world of work will be one of the defining challenges of our time. Now is the time to reset for the new reality and make the progress the next generation of women in the workplace need to see.Know “the why.” Advancing toward gender parity in the workplace is far more than just “the right thing to do.” The data is clear: Companies with women at the top perform better.Set women up for success. Recognize the obstacles women historically face at work—lack of role models, gendered career paths, and lack of access to sponsors and influential networks—and identify ways to remove each of these. This starts with active listening; the best bosses are asking women what they need to succeed.Make work-from-home work. Understand that remote working does not occur in a vacuum. Find ways to build flexibility into roles previously seen as inflexible. Take active steps to challenge any embedded assumptions about the gender-normative roles of parents so that those norms do not drive the way managers and colleagues perceive remote working by men and women and what they expect of them.Ask “why not?”Succession planning must be bolder. Instead of saying, “She doesn’t have the experience,” ask, “What do we need to make it work?” Challenge assumptions. If we think it is possible, we can make it possible.Leadership needs to own it and measure it.To demonstrate commitment to getting women into leadership, change must be led from the top. Leadership must also be held accountable by making progress measurable.Make it count. Leaders must know exactly where they need women to be. Looking at macro numbers is not enough. Articulate a talent legacy—how things will change and what it will look like by when. Plan for it as if it were a strategic business priority or investment. True change takes time, focus and discipline.Focus on output. Upgrade your performance evaluation processes and metrics to ensure a focus on outputs and, crucially, do not include assessments from periods of lockdown when childcare was unavailable.Identify adjacent skills sets. Identify adjacent skillsets for new roles, and importantly demonstrate how short bursts of training and upskilling can accelerate people from one job to the next.Remember, learnability will be the great equalizer. Now is the time to focus on helping employees develop technical skills at speed and scale, while also hiring people with learnability—the desire and ability to learn new skills. This can make a real difference in shaping a future in which everyone can be ready for high-growth roles. Hire for soft skills. When looking for those employees with learnability, look for soft skills like communication, collaboration, creativity, curiosity. These are the most valued— and the hardest to find—human strengths in today’s job market and employees who have them make smoother transitions to new roles or careers.The good news is that the future that women say they want for work is closer to what research indicates all workers want—more flexible, virtual, trusting and integrated. More equal.​References:​​​[1]https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/gender-equality-in-the-wake-of-covid-19-en.pdf?la=en&vs=5142[2]https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/9/feature-covid-19-economic-impacts-on-women[3]https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~mdo738/research/Alon_Doepke_Olmstead-Rumsey_Tertilt_COVID_2020.pdf[4]https://data.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Whose-time-to-care-brief_0.pdf[5]https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/03/business/economy/coronavirus-working-women.html[6]https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace[7]https://fortune.com/2020/05/18/women-ceos-fortune-500-2020/[8]https://hbr.org/2019/02/research-when-gender-diversity-makes-firms-more-productive [9]https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/14/female-leaders-may-boost-share-price-performance-credit-suisse-says.html[10]https://talentorganizationblog.accenture.com/financialservices/the-economic-case-for-gender-balanced-leadership[11]https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-management[12]ManpowerGroup ESG - Seven Steps to Conscious Inclusion​​

​The impact of the pandemic on women is an issue for everyone in the economy, as under-representing women in the workforce deprives businesses of much-needed skills, leadership and resources. Today, it’s crucial for employers to support the women in their workforces with greater focus on changing prevailing gender dynamics in the workplace. Here are actions steps that can be implemented immediately by organizations to support gender parity.   Communicate the benefitsAdvancing toward gender parity in the workplace is far more than the right thing to do. The data is clear: Companies with women at the top perform better. And in the private sector, numerous studies have found that having more women in the workforce and a greater gender balance of female leaders improves productivity share performance, business results and overall economy​Remove obstaclesRecognize the obstacles women historically face at work—lack of role models, gendered career paths, and lack of access to sponsors and influential networks—and identify ways to remove them. This starts with active listening; the best leaders ask women what they need to succeed.​Make work-from-home workAs we’ve seen over the last year, management can be done in new arrangements. Find ways to build flexibility into roles previously seen as inflexible. ​Start with YESSuccession planning must be bolder. Instead of saying, “She doesn’t have the experience,” ask, “What do we need to make it work?” Challenge assumptions. ​Leadership owns itTo demonstrate commitment to getting women into leadership, change must be led from the top. Leadership must also be held accountable by making progress measurable.​Make goals measurableLeaders must know exactly where they need women to be. Looking at macro numbers is not enough. Articulate a talent legacy—how things will change and what it will look like by when. Focus on outputUpgrade your performance evaluation processes and metrics to ensure a focus on outputs and, crucially, do not include assessments from periods of lockdown when childcare was unavailable.​Identify adjacent skills sets for new rolesDemonstrate how short bursts of training and upskilling can accelerate people from one job to the next.Approach learnability as the great equalizerNow is the time to focus on helping employees develop technical skills at speed and scale, while also hiring people with learnability—the desire and ability to learn new skills. This can make a real difference in shaping a future in which everyone can be ready for high-growth roles.​Hire for soft skillsWhen looking for those employees with learnability, look for soft skills like communication, collaboration, creativity, curiosity. These are the most valued—and the hardest to find—human strengths in today's job market and employees who have them make smoother transitions to new roles or careers.The good news is that the future that women say they want for work is closer to what research indicates all workers want—more flexible, virtual, trusting and integrated. More equal.

​​Providing support for mental health and encouraging check-ins and downtime can help organizations enhance the benefits of a remote work environment for employees. ​The massive shift to working from home has been beneficial for employees and organizations. In a recent ManpowerGroup Future of Work survey, 8 in 10 respondents want more remote work to better balance family life. But the survey also revealed some complexities about remote work, such as the inability to leave work at the office. Here are ways that managers can accommodate working from home in a way that is beneficial and promotes balance. ​Pay attention to mental health needs ​There are a number of relaxation techniques that can lower stress, reduce the flight or flight response and help increase well-being for employees, from physical exercise to breathing practices. Organizations are providing help during these times with on-call counselors and virtual health appointments. ​Create channels for communication ​Working from home can feel isolating, but adding more video calls to the workday isn’t necessarily the antidote. Instead, managers can provide less intrusive but more timely feedback mechanisms, which include pulse surveys, peer group support and Slack or Microsoft Teams-style collaboration. Managers should use these channels to listen. ​Help manage workloads ​Organizations should understand who has additional obligations to care for children or parents, or family members that need attention. Globally, 40% of people say schedule flexibility is one of the top three factors when making career decisions, according to ManpowerGroup research. Managers can redistribute work to those who have capacity, or offer flexibility. ​Remind employees to take a vacation ​Taking time off –– even at home –– is just as crucial to employee balance today, maybe even more important than in “normal times.” Historically, the majority of North American employees don’t use all allotted vacation time. Unfortunately, overcommitment is counterproductive. Taking vacation time is a vital part of preventing burnout, maintaining job satisfaction and inspiring and motivating an employee’s best work. Encourage employees to take their deserved time off. ​Recognize generational differences​Organizations should know that there are generational differences in attitudes about working from home, with Gen Z and Boomers more eager to return to offices for networking or collaboration. For these workers, additional virtual communication can replicate opportunities. ​Ultimately, helping balance during working from home comes down to recognizing and respecting boundaries, and communicating frequently. These guidelines can enhance the experience for everyone involved.

​Over the past decades, rapid digital transformation has enabled organizations to completely reimagine the way they work and manage talent. From reliable video conferencing platforms to digital collaboration software, to ubiquitous cloud-based connectivity, and a data-centric approach to strategic decision-making powered by the synergy between artificial and human intelligence, an imaginary worker from the 1950s would surely marvel at the current landscape of work as if they were in a Black Mirror episode. ​And yet, it took a pandemic to truly accelerate this trend and transform the way most people work day to day, leveraging these foundational aspects of technology to dramatically change how we approach jobs and careers, perhaps forever. Indeed, for those with the skills to work remotely, the crisis has turbocharged an unparalleled shift toward more flexible work, and being able to live one life that better blends work and home — trends we know workers have wanted for some time.​Technology has the potential to be a great enabler, providing humans with the tools to remain emotionally and socially connected even while in physical isolation, and the crisis has been the critical catalyst for change. At the onset of this crisis, talent literally left the building, and we’re now beginning to realize that in many places, it is unlikely to come back. In what will surely count as one of the strongest demonstrations for the extraordinary human capacity for adaptability, workers of the world have been able to remain productive even in lockdown.​Humanyze, a technology firm that specializes in social sensing (led by MIT’s Ben Waber, who coined the now widely-used term people analytics), mined anonymous company e-mail, chat, and calendar data to find that working without an office has actually extended people’s working time by an average 10–20%, while also reducing work-related stress and negative emotions, increasing confidence and well-being, and increasing communication with close collaborators by a staggering 40%. In the early days of the pandemic, Microsoft reported a 200% increase in virtual meetings (mining their client data from Microsoft Teams), with a total of 2.7 billion meetings per day. Although virtual teams and remote work were already quite prevalent prior to Covid-19, it is likely that overall collaboration will actually increase when everyone is remote, with firms like Twitter and Square announcing their employees can work from home forever, and early indicators suggesting that business collaboration is stronger now than before the pandemic.​As we look to the new next, unsurprisingly, many people have no desire to return to the office full-time, and, by extension, be forced to live close to it, especially if it is there mostly for symbolic or decorative purposes. As our newly released ManpowerGroup global analysis shows, 8 in 10 workers want more remote work to attain a healthier work-life fusion. To be sure, we had been talking about the benefits of an agile, hybrid, and fluid workforce for some time, but the pandemic marks the formal entrance to the age of digital nomads and a personalized workforce, with five salient trends (and opportunities) to consider:​1. Technology Is Deepening Human Connections: Discussions about new technologies, such as AI, often paint a bleak and dehumanizing picture. For example, the author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari, has warned of the rise of a “useless class” of humans. And there are vastly exaggerated alarm bells being rung over automation. A more obvious trend so far has been that humans working with, and enhanced by, AI, almost always produce better results than humans without AI, or AI without humans. While the crisis accelerated the use of technology, which enabled the decoupling of work from a “place”, this shift was already occurring as a large proportion of organizations — large, medium, and small — made necessary investments in online collaboration tools like Zoom and Teams, growing the market for collaboration software to more than $45 billion globally (resulting in a 300% increase in Zoom’s share price since the pandemic started).​Technology is rapidly becoming more human. We aren’t simply collaborating; we are running businesses, visiting family, attending weddings, and educating our children through technology, making the virtual world more humane, forging deep digital connections that are founded on true human connectedness. The crisis has converted collaboration software to “cohabitation software,” with Microsoft reporting a 10% increase in social meetings (including “pajama day” or “meet my pet day”) during the past few months. All this allows us to exist “in the same space at the same time” together, while we determine the place.​2. Building Culture Outside the Building: Last year, when the world could not even imagine the present state of affairs, we presented our research on What Workers Want, and a Fortune 500 CEO asked us: “How do you possibly build culture when you don’t sit together”? Our response was that culture doesn’t exist within walls; it exists within people, so you have to build culture through people, wherever they sit. We could tell he was skeptical — yet the pandemic has proven that we can and must build culture from living rooms and home offices across the country. Workers knew this a while ago. It’s why people may use the exact same technology yet experience work in a very different way when they move from one company to another. Fundamentally, culture is “how we do things around here,” and it’s the sum of default behaviors, preferences, values, and decisions that make each organization a unique habitat, regardless of whether people frequent an office or not.​Now company leaders are realizing it as well. Leaders can focus on building culture anywhere by refraining from micromanaging, getting over the politics of presentism, and learning to measure what each employee actually produces and contributes to the organization with as much objectivity and data as possible. Above all, by nurturing trust and fairness in relationships with employees, leaders can upgrade the company culture even in a virtual-only world.​3. Work That Supports Life:Our ManpowerGroup research shows that the second concern after health for workers post-crisis is maintaining flexibility. Most workers want to work remotely a few days a week; they want a hybrid workplace between work and home that allows for better balance. But the office does still have a role in human connection. Companies like Ford are taking this as a moment to redesign how office space works. Others are investing in new hubs where people come together to collaborate and socialize. Gen Z employees are most positive about coming back into the office (on their terms), and they, especially, look to the workplace as a source of socialization as much as a place to network and learn. Gen X and Boomers, who are leading many companies today, enjoy the separation that the physical workplace brings in their efforts to keep work and home a bit more separate.​It’s critical for leaders to realize that while workers may still want to occasionally come to the office, few want to come in every day. For jobs that must be in-person, it’s going to be important to flex the hours to minimize the commute, flex the shift to allow parents to be part-time teachers, and flex the days to enable the workforce to work in a way that supports life.​4. Screens as the Great Equalizer: The great thing about video calls is that the boxes are all the same size — it’s a great equalizer. Prior to the crisis, we had all been in meetings where a portion of the team was in person and part was online. The online participants were primarily bystanders to the actual meeting. There was an advantage to being “in the room,” akin to being in the right place at the right time, and saying the right thing to the right person.​As companies work to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion, technology provides the level playing field most groups want. Not only is it harder to engage in office politics, show-off, or manage up when you are in a Zoom call and everyone is watching, but the ability to capture, record, and analyze meetings data provides organizations with hard facts to evaluate DE&I in real-time. Diversity analytics, including a measure of how much people from different groups speak during meetings, whether they are included or excluded from the informal social networks that govern the power dynamics of an organization, and whether their ideas and comments are well-received by the group, promises to accelerate progress in a still dysfunctional area. It is a wonderful silver lining that technology and the global health crisis have sanitized a lot of the toxic politics and nepotism that corrupt the meritocratic ideal of talent-centric organizations: it is a lot harder to “pretend to work” when nobody sees you or cares about where you are.​5. Talent Geographically Unleashed: The virus isn’t confined by borders, and neither is talent in a virtual world. For years, the model has been the same; when you’re interested in hiring talent, an early question is often “Will you relocate?” On most talent plans around the world, it’s the biggest career-limiting question, as it’s restricted career advancement and company growth for decades. However, in recent years, we have seen an empowerment of skilled talent calling the shots on separating where they choose to live and where they contribute to work. Software developers experienced the earliest shift — the work followed the talent. Then, with record low unemployment in many areas of the world last year, we saw this openness to location expand into other sectors, such as banking and consumer goods.​Technology has now untethered talent from location. Talented individuals with in-demand skills in any sector now realize they can live where they choose and work where they are qualified. And employers now realize they can source “best of” talent from anywhere in the world as long as they have internet connectivity. The idea that workers have to physically move to get a job is gone, along with the costs of relocation. It’s actually quite simple: talented workers want to be free — free from geographic borders, free from physical location expectations, and free from government restrictions. As The Economist estimates, opening borders to free up talent would result in a $78 trillion increase in global GDP: “Labor is the world’s most valuable commodity — yet, thanks to strict immigration regulation, most of it goes to waste.” If technology and cultural organizational changes enable people to do their work from wherever they want, they will set talent free even with current immigration laws and restrictions, countering the recent political trend to slow down globalization in favor of nationalist policies.***Workplace and workforce have now been separated, while work, home, and school have been brought together. Technology is moving humanity away from the office and back into homes across our nation every day. We are building culture outside of buildings, with work that supports life on a more even playing field, with talent that can come from anywhere. As we look to the future, it’s time to unleash these new way of working for the long-term, with a focus on well-being, equality, and productivity that can work for both employers and employees long after this crisis ends. It’s time to embrace the truly global talent pool that is available to drive growth, regardless of where those people call home.In short, the global talent pool has arrived, and talent is the new global currency… if businesses have the culture, confidence, and technology to tap into it.​*This article was originally posted on Harvard Business Review authored by Becky Frankiewicz and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic.   

​​By gaming more often during the pandemic, potential employees are developing soft skills that today’s employers need the most. Gaming is big business – made even bigger by COVID-19-related lockdowns. This past June alone, $1.2 billion total was spent on gaming, up 26 percent from the year prior. The good news is that all this time spent on video games could actually be to gamers’ professional advantage, as the soft skills they hone extend well beyond the console. While gaming, soft skills that are in high demand and short supply with employers around the world are being mastered – think an aptitude for things like critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. For employers today who are rallying to regroup after the pandemic, the need for these qualities has only grown. Those who understand gamers’ unique untapped talents will be much better prepared to leverage the next generation’s skillset to their advantage. Here are some of the ways that research has shown the gaming boom is prepping tomorrow’s workforce: Developing Soft Skills From our “Robots Need Not Apply: Human Solutions in the Skills Revolution” white paper and study, ManpowerGroup surveyed 20,000 employers across 42 countries on the impact of automation on the jobs and skills that will be required for the future. What we found was that while soft skills are of greatest value to employers, they are also hardest to find and even more difficult to train employees on. And there is rising demand too for relevant skills from recent research of What Workers Want, Post Covid Report, in times of rapid transformation and uncertainty these so-called soft skills are more important than ever in workers and in leaders. Games can teach players how to solve problems, calculate probability by weighing the pros and cons of different approaches and to think strategically. In popular multi-player games, players must work together to win, enhancing their ability to collaborate remotely. Virtual environments also let players test and learn different communication styles, although gaming often leads to in-person meetups and hangouts. Finally, sandbox games that let gamers roam free are linked to enhanced creativity. These gamers tend to have better visual-spatial skills – the ability to envision movement of objects in space – important for careers in science and engineering. Improving Learnability Gaming nurtures players’ learnability – their desire and ability to quickly grow and adapt one’s skill set to remain employable. To measure this quality, we developed an assessment – the Learnability Quotient (LQ) – that enables people to identify their motivations and styles of learning. Games generally improve a player’s ability to learn how to learn by creating better cognitive models – making it easier to react to new situations. Aiding Assessments Gaming can help employers assess the skills of potential employees. By interviewing candidates about their favorite games – a topic likely to throw job candidates off guard – as a way to determine their skill set, employers are more likely to match an individual to the roles that require those skill sets. Interestingly, different games enhance different skills: To map individual games to specific skills and job candidates who have them, we worked with a psychometric specialist to analyze over 11,000 games across 13 genres. We found, for example, that people who play Tetris demonstrate mental flexibility, pattern spotting and an ability to work independently, which match well with hard-to-fill jobs in manufacturing or logistics. To help fill the skills gap, employers should take a holistic and open-minded approach to matching talent with jobs. Leveraging talent from the gaming community is one more method to create a future-fit workforce – and an innovative way to one-up the competition. Learn more in ManpowerGroup’s Game to Work report.

If you could ask a candidate one question in your next Microsoft Teams interview, what would you ask? Here’s one to think about: Do you play video or computer games? ​You can learn a lot about someone by talking about gaming because people often inhabit the places and cultures depicted within games, much like they would at work. And their favorite games may be a good indicator about which of their soft skills will translate from a screen to IRL.​Globally, one in three people are gamers. But lately, people have been flocking to highly detailed simulated environments in even greater numbers, as the COVID-19 pandemic has left many sheltering in place and yearning for company, albeit online. When inhabiting these domains, landscapes and dusty divots, you learn how they work and see what happens when you make different choices and take different actions. You trace paths, avoid delays, collaborate, construct, learn and solve problems. It’s not the graphics that make video games real; it’s how they mirror our real-world decision making. ​Action-based gamers, for instance, tend to be interested in mastering skills, collaborating and competing as a team, whereas those who play strategy, puzzle and quiz games like StarCraft, Civilization, Pac-Man, Words with Friends or League of Legends may have honed their decision-making, planning, concentration and persistence skills. And video games like Mario Bros. provide incredible learning environments because failure is so easy. Did you fall into the very first lava pit? That’s okay. Players learn to dust off the lava and get back out there. They practice improved anticipation, rehearse better movement and—finally—advance more confidently. The ability to confront failure is a skill that’s invaluable for anyone who needs to make decisions in an endless range of different scenarios. ​To identify the top soft skills developed in each gaming category and map them to specific work skills, ManpowerGroup analyzed more than 11,000 games across 13 genres—from action adventure to role-playing to music and indie. By taking our Skills Translator Quiz, job candidates can select the games they play and their level of achievement. The algorithm then translates their gaming experience into workplace skills they can add to their resume and discuss in interviews, ultimately connecting them with potential job matches. This allows gamers to better articulate their skills sets, especially if they have limited work experience, and gives employers a novel way to match people to vacant roles.​Games have defined narratives—a start and an end point. Whether you’re saving the world or defeating ghosts, you have to review and assess your progress and be ready to course correct. You get rewarded for your solutions and for saving and leading others. Best of all, you get to explore the outer edges. As you practice cognitive thinking, you learn to think as an entrepreneur whose survival depends on adapting to change. ​Furthermore, you can adjust for difficulty based on performance, and as learning expands, the play gets harder, requiring more agile thinking and adaptation. ​When you play video games, you are learning how to learn—and learnability is one of the strongest predictors of job success. You also learn how to collaborate, as games are complex social systems where you engage in constructive learning together with your teammates. ​Cognitive skills are critical, and as games become increasingly social, they’re nurturing the need for foresight to be able to predict danger and success. The plot is often predicated on collaboration, with every player bringing their unique skills into the fold. You earn rewards only as teams. ​Of course, gaming is by no means a universal universe with a herd of one-trick ponies. Different video games require different skills. Some require more social perceptiveness. Others require more logical thinking. The questions recruiters might ask themselves are: What skills am I looking for? And where might this candidate have been practicing these skills online? How close are these skills adjacencies to the ones required on the job? Should I hire a Fortnite player with sharp collaboration skills or a Words with Friends Player who’s more practiced in problem-solving? ​The skills gamers acquire on their remote planet or paradise island migrate across worlds, from the game to the workplace, where critical thinking, risk-taking and open collaboration are rewarded. ​In their downtime, tomorrow’s workforce might just be helping themselves make it to the next level in their career. To learn more, download our Game To Work report.​

Workforces are rapidly adapting to a new normal out of necessity—and it could be here to stay.Flexible scheduling. Working from home. Collaborating virtually with colleagues. These were all workplace trends on the rise in recent years, as digital natives and a younger generation advanced in their careers. Globally, 40% of people reported that schedule flexibility— especially flexible start and finish times and the ability to work from home—is one of the top three factors when making career decisions, according to ManpowerGroup research. Now what once seemed like luxuries or “nice to haves” in jobs are now a necessity in response to the realities of a global pandemic. The global economy is getting a crash course in digital workforce transformation, seemingly overnight. It will be a massive undertaking and difficult transition. But it’s also speeding up trends already underway. Here’s how today’s workforce is adapting and accelerating change. Digital collaboration and conferencingTools like Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Teams, Slack, Sharepoint, Basecamp and more have seen a massive surge in interest as teams work to collaborate on projects, meet in real time and coordinate schedules when not in the same physical space. In some ways, businesses have seen efficiencies grow—people can start collaborating face to face with the push of a button. As digital literacy increases, teams will better be able to determine the best means of communication and choose the most effective channels for collaboration. Leaders stepping into new rolesThe ability for leaders to foster innovation, especially during periods of significant disruption, is critical, with technology playing a major role. In the past, technology was sometimes siloed into the domain of information technology or younger workers. Now everyone must become proficient with technology, including senior leaders. The pace of disruption is accelerating, and it is impacting leaders as much or greater than anyone else in the workplace. For business leaders, embracing digital tools to connect has become crucial. Leaders must have an understanding of the technical skills required to effectively communicate with and transform their team.Rethinking the work scheduleGlobally, workers are doing their job duties remotely as shelter-in-place orders are given to those who are able to stay home. This experiment in massive work-from-home protocol gives businesses an opportunity to rethink their structure. Since digital transformation allows workers to be productive on their own time and location, organizations are seeing the value of productivity over presenteeism. A major shift in the future could be a byproduct of today’s adaptations.   Those who have been at the forefront of the digital revolution for years –– Millennial and Gen Z workers –– are leading the charge and helping others make the leap. But with everyone now needing to work together, the shifts that have been happening could now become the new normal. How prepared is your organization for digital workforce transformation? Take the Digital Evolution Pathway assessment to find out.

​Today’s digital workforce looks a lot different than it did a year ago, largely driven by a pandemic that caused organizations to move entire workforces to remote work virtually overnight.In a recent ManpowerGroup webinar, Technology + People = Transformation, Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO & Managing Director of TCS, Tata Consultancy Services, Jonas Prising, Chairman and CEO of ManpowerGroup, and Heather Landy, Executive Editor at Quartz,  shared insights on how the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, the impact on skills, and how companies can find the best blend of people and technology.Here are 5 ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in an acceleration of growing disruptive tech trends.Human ingenuity + technology will endureThe pace of how quickly organizations adapted to the pandemic shows the importance of human ingenuity. In many cases, organizations shifted entire workforces to remote work in the span of a week. This was accomplished through sheer resilience and ingenuity, showing that even sophisticated artificial intelligence can’t completely replace the human element. This trend of technology interacting with human capabilities will endure. Although a lot of organizations had the capability of making the shift before the pandemic hit, the crisis initiated the change and made it happen. Organizations going through transformations should remember that it's not about the technology alone, but more importantly about the culture and how you lead and what makes you really make that step change that transforms the organization.Flexible working models for allPrior to the pandemic remote working on a full-time basis was close to 4% to 5% of the workforce.  Today, it’s about 35- 37% of the workforce with a blending of both the offline and the online worlds likely to continue. Workforces have been able to apply human ingenuity, the ability to adapt very quickly, and combine it with technology that while it was always there, we weren't embracing it to the same degree as now---we continue to do the work and maintain the productivity, but in a completely different way. Although human beings are social creatures that like to congregate, what this pandemic has proven is that organizations can create situations enabled by technology where we can combine work life and personal life in new ways that benefits the individual so that the flexibility is available when workers wanted and when they need it and it also benefits organizations all at the same time.Continuous learning is a mustGrowing reliance on technology will accentuate the polarization of the workforce between those that have the skills and the tools to make this transition and those that don't. The need for companies  to invest in the tools and technologies to up-skill and re-skill their own workforce and create a learning culture within the organization have become even more essential.  Many employers are still very unaware of the need to re-skill and up-skill their workforces, critical to growing their talent pool and their human capital in terms of skills and capabilities to execute on business strategies. The gap in training may eventually create a huge turning point in favor of a more scalable re-skilling and up-skilling effort at not only a company level, but also a nationwide level as this situation continues to evolve at such a rapid pace.Strong cultures will winIn a recent Quartz survey, 37% of respondents said that they felt their workplace culture had improved since the start of the pandemic while 15% said they felt that it had deteriorated. Companies that were already at the top of their game culture wise, employees have a favorable impression. The split suggests that building and maintaining good company culture is important, especially when workers are spread out. Organizations that do the right things in terms of increasing the rate of communication, engaging teams, and prioritizing health and safety can emerge from the pandemic with an even stronger culture. As for leadership, organizations tend to move slower with transformational changes than their own frontline talent, so it’s important to create the leadership culture that can successfully navigate today’s complex, fast-changing environment.Trust will dictate transparencyIn the personal space, people have moved a lot in terms of being willing to share information even knowingly. Today’s environment is used to transparency for good or bad, but the trust factor, what institutions individuals trust with that information, is going to determine how workers feel about sharing it.  Many of the world's largest companies today are essentially the world's largest companies because individuals provide so much data for free, which is monetized by the companies. It’s how organizations manage the data that will determine how much individuals trust them with it. In the end, it will come down to individual preferences, and the trade-offs they are willing to make—which have to be built on a full understanding of what the data is being used for. Watch the Technology + People = Transformation webinar available on demand for additional insights.

Employers need to be vigilant to keep their workforce connected and engaged.Businesses facing the COVID-19 crisis are confronting both immediate and long-term challenges for their workforce, including persistent pressures that erode morale over time. Here are ways that businesses can help improve morale when it is needed most in times of uncertainty and crisis. Create mentorship networks Social connection is especially important when workers are scattered across locations. Encourage your team to connect both for personal and professional reasons--a positive step toward supporting mental health. At the same time, it can also provide long-term opportunities, learning pathways and help people think beyond the crisis of the moment. A mentor can help younger employees identify areas for growth and development, and provide a low-stress opportunity to have career conversations. Don’t overlook reverse mentorships, whereby junior, often younger,  employees help more senior ones learn and adapt to new technology. At some point, times of uncertainty will shift back to stability, and at that point having existing mentor relationships to build off of will become even more valuable.  Encourage moments of levity In times of great crisis, leaders might feel it's hard or even inappropriate to be anything other than serious, but allowing for and encouraging moments of positivity and levity is what everyone needs from time to time, as long as it’s authentic and grounded in facts. It’s one of the most obvious factors of job satisfaction, but one of the hardest to get right, and key to creating an employee-centric work environment. This could be in the shape of virtual after work mixers, a business development day, or simply opening up communications channels and encouraging staff to share their news on your intranet or group chat. When staff gets along, they are far more likely to boost each others’ morale. Model and promote kindness Kindness has always been an important leadership trait, but it’s even more business critical in uncertain times that require empathy and understanding. In a survey of 51,836 leaders, a tiny percentage – just one in every 2,000 – were rated at the bottom quartile in terms of likability but in the top quartile in terms of overall leadership effectiveness. Kind and likable leaders will be transformative when their teams need this trait the most. Celebrate small victoriesIt’s easy to get wrapped up in routines and challenges. But even when businesses are at their most stressed – and especially then – it’s important to pause and notice the accomplishments of colleagues. As a bonus, when leaders pay attention to catching their team doing something right, they are less likely to negatively stew over their problems. The positivity will be reflected back on mood and productivity. Improving morale in a difficult environment takes work, but it’s worth it. Slowing down, paying attention to the needs of the team, and taking deliberate actions can help build momentum into a beneficial upward cycle. 

​Is your employee engagement program underperforming? If so, it may be built on surveying practices popularized some 15 years ago that are still followed today at many organizations, even though these methodologies are proven to have limited effectiveness over time.Myth #1 – CensusThis is the idea that every employee should get the exact same survey. A one-size-fits-all design is said to improve efficiency and organizational momentum, while avoiding employee confusion over why people got different sets of questions. There is no academic or real-world proof that this belief is valid and, in fact, just the opposite is true.  There are dozens, if not hundreds, of examples where a more robust design provided enhanced (in quality and quantity) insights. If you have 20,000 employees and I give you a questionnaire of 40 questions, I can, in turn, provide you with insights on only 40 items. A far better design is to craft a core set of 30 to 35 questions and then create an additional 10 to 15 modules of 3 to 5 questions each.  These “modules” can be distributed on a random, geographic, or functional or experiential basis. The average survey is still only 40 questions long – but you and your leaders have now gained insights into 100 different items across the organization.Myth #2 – ConsistencyOr, as I call it, laziness. According to the consistency myth, each new survey has to match the one that went before in order to measure progress and trends reliably. On the face of it, that seems logical. Trouble is, organizations are organic not static entities. Show me a company that hasn’t changed over the course of a year, or doesn’t have new issues to deal with.  You can’t. Your survey instrument needs to change by at least 10% each wave to stay relevant to your current direction, structure, and needs, and enable you to uncover information that will be useful strategically or tactically. Again, optimized design and proper use of modules can achieve this without impacting your core survey.  You need a platform with the speed, agility and flexibility to keep up with the reality of business in the 21st century.Myth #3 – ComparabilityEverybody wants to measure themselves against the next guy and that’s why it’s easy to fall for the myth of comparability. Comparability is founded on the questionable value of benchmarking. The vendor has accumulated a database of companies whose employees have answered the exact same questions (word for word) that your employees are being asked. You are promised that you’ll gain tremendous insights by seeing how your employees stack up against the “industry-wide norm.” However, the companies in such a database are only convenience-based samples and are not representative of an industry or geography. In fact, you will learn little of value because while industries tend to be consistent, organizations exhibit tremendous variability – variability in how the culture operates, what concepts mean, how they do what they do. Convenience-based comparisons based on standardized surveys won’t help you improve. Instead, customizing your questions to your company’s unique culture, situation and needs will help you uncover your organization’s unique strengths and weaknesses to get the insights that enable meaningful change.The three C myths have gained another C-word – credibility – over the years because of the sheer number of organizations that bought into them. But, if we’re honest, we know this outdated approach to employee engagement stalls out over time and provides limited realization of business-wide benefits. A better C-word to describe it would be – common.Instead, I’d like to see companies move towards more enlightened practices that align better to changing business needs … obsess over improvement rather than comparisons … demand as much accountability from senior leaders as from front-line managers … and drive toward targeted actions that leverage organizational strength and remove the barriers to engagement.How about your company? Are you satisfied with your surveying practices? Are there other “myths” when it comes to employee engagement?

If you want to generate some positive energy in your workforce, here are three easy things you can do that can make a difference right away:Use their names.Open every conversation—whether by email, phone or in person – with your employee’s name. Not only does this guarantee his/her attention, it also reminds you that you are talking to a living, breathing person. Too many emails start in mid-sentence, as though speaking at, not to or with, the other person. Even in person, our tendency is to focus on our thoughts about the topic at hand rather than the person with us. This simple form of recognition can make a tremendous difference. It ensures that you not only have the other person’s attention, but that you make a personal connection that results in improved collaboration, respect and trust.Inspect what you expect, and expect the best.One of the vice presidents at a global organization in Minneapolis says that she expects to see courage, collaboration and curiosity in her employees. She goes out looking for these attributes every day and says that not only does she find them, but she supports them with whatever resources she can. Choose characteristics that represent your own or your company’s highest values; then go treasure hunting. In addition to encouraging both employee competency and confidence, you will build a mental library of inspiring stories to use for team building, presentations, and developing talent (including yourself).Talk about what’s going right.Fires and problems always arise, but in most workplaces on most days, the vast majority of what’s happening is that intelligent, competent people are doing their jobs capably and to the best of their ability. At the end of each day or week, review what went well and how you can build on it. Solicit your employees’ insights on what made things go right, not wrong. Regularly value their expertise and honor their contributions to your company’s continued success.While systemic drivers of disengagement, like bureaucratic processes, antiquated systems or stressed capacity may be out of your control, these three simple ideas will help you build influence and impact where and when it’s needed most and can help you maximize the effectiveness of your team.

For many of us, a career is primarily a source of financial stability, and we need to get away occasionally to relax and enjoy a holiday with family, friends, or even alone.  ​But is there a way that companies can make time at work as enjoyable as being on holiday? Is it possible to create a workplace that is so engaging that people aren’t working from weekend to weekend and actually look forward to Monday morning? Sound impossible? Read on.  ​It is no secret that an engaged workforce contributes to higher financial returns. Studies have shown that companies with high employee engagement have seen a yearly positive change in operating income of over 15%, compared to companies with low employee engagement where the change is -30%.What is really interesting is that managers account for 70% of variance in employee engagement scores! So, if you are a manager, here are some strategies and tactics on how to create an engaging, career-oriented workplace. If you aren’t a manager, consider sending this article to your boss!​Work as a rewardNothing compares to the feeling of success. When organizations directly link organizational achievements to individual efforts, employees will perceive work as a source of joy. This requires several things. You have to hire and cultivate passionate, dedicated people and you have to set clear goals and performance management metrics for evaluation. When employees are held accountable for results and rewarded for their achievement, engagement levels rise.​Humanize your approachManagers have to build genuine relationships with their staff, recognizing their dreams, fears, hopes, passions, and other emotions. “Put yourself in their shoes” is a cliché but employees love managers who demonstrate empathy and provide help and encouragement when needed. Motivation also rises when employees realize their work serves a larger purpose. However it is not enough to simply remind them of the vision statement.  Instead, share stories about real people whose lives were improved because of your company’s services or products; that will touch employees’ hearts and help them realize their work is needed.  ​Grow togetherWhile organizations rely on their workforce to grow, people also aspire to grow and develop their own careers. In fact, two thirds of individual performance drivers are tied to career conversations. To create a dedicated team of employees, organizations have to ensure that a proper career plan is developed for each individual. People are far more likely to be engaged at their work when they know how they can potentially grow within the company. Moreover, it was found that building on employees’ strengths is much more effective than focusing on fixing weaknesses. People who