JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin's lack of support for his chain's 40,000 employees was described ... [+]
It is obviously far too early to know what the business world will look like once the coronavirus pandemic has passed. But it is probably safe to assume that some aspects will stay different from how they were before for some time to come, if not forever. At the very least, remote working is likely to become much more prevalent, with even senior executives seeing the benefits. Similarly, video-conferencing and other forms of holding meetings that do not involve hours of travel time can expect to see a boost. But more important — and possibly more far-reaching — will be organizations’ and leaders’ attitudes towards employees.
We have become used to hearing a lot about how employees are organizations’ most important asset, about the talent war and the need to meet the changing needs of new generation of employees. But the reality is often rather different, frequently characterized by a transactional approach based on both sides acknowledging that employees are looking for opportunities to advance rather than the career and job for life of the past and employers want people to fulfil specific roles for a set period of time. That might be fine when all is going well, although it obviously has its drawbacks. But a crisis like the present one demonstrates that a little more connection might be required. The same employers that complain of the lack of engagement among their workforces can be quick to abandon them when the going gets tough.
In the U.K. in recent days, a couple of prominent companies have offered lessons in how to get it not quite right. At the large pubs chain JD Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said that the company could not afford to pay staff who were prevented from working by the national lockdown until government support arrived and called on employees to take jobs at the supermarket Tesco, which is hiring to meet the need for the delivery and distribution of food. He has since indicated that, with a Government scheme to support wages coming into force, he will pay what his staff are owed. Meanwhile, Mike Ashley, the billionaire owner of retailer Sports Direct, admitted he had made blunders in communicating with staff and with the Government over whether he could keep his stores open during the lockdown. He apologised and said he would learn from his mistakes.
Unsurprisingly, such incidents have caused outrage among trade unions and others on the Left, as well as in the country at large. Like other governments traditionally opposed to state intervention, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his colleagues have intervened in unparalleled ways to protect their economies and citizens from the strict measures adopted in an effort to halt the pandemic. Whether this means we can expect a return to mass unionisation and resulting protection for workers — particularly those in the “gig economy”, whose vulnerability has been made obvious — is unclear.
However, it is possible that certain organizations will see competitive advantage in shifting how they deal with employees. An indication of this is contained in a timely report from Mercer, a consultancy that specialises in human resources issues. In its 2020 Global Talent Trends study released earlier this week, it identifies four trends that will enable employers to “win with empathy” in the challenging times that the effort to combat the virus will create.
The trends are:
Focus on Futures: Work together to ensure people thrive now and in the future. While 85% of executives agree that the organization’s purpose should extend beyond shareholder primacy, only 35% of companies currently deliver on this — although, interestingly, only one in three employees say they would prefer to work for an employer that shows responsibility towards all stakeholders, beyond just shareholders and investors. Laura McKim, partner and UK Career Business Leader at Mercer, says: “It’s wrong to assume that shareholder interests cannot be aligned with those of a company’s wider stakeholders. Organizations that successfully navigate the turbulent times ahead will be those who champion empathy to maximise returns for all shareholders, employees and society alike.”
Race to Reskill: Transform the workforce by reskilling for a new world economy. Reskilling is the talent investment most capable of driving business success. With nearly all organizations embarking on such programs, significant skill gaps are appearing. Workforce capability and lack of future skills was the top reason transformations failed. Although 78% of employees globally say they are ready to learn new skills, 38% claim they do not have enough time for training. Moreover, just 34% of HR leaders are investing in workforce learning and reskilling as part of their strategies to prepare for the future of work and 40% do not know what skills their workforce has today. Lisa Lyons, UK Leadership and Workforce Transformation Practice Lead at Mercer, says: “Job requirements are changing and the responsibility for upskilling, reskilling and redeployment needs to be shared between employers and employees. Where organizations see less demand for certain skills and increased demand for others, they should look to identify people with transferable skills and provide reskilling opportunities.”
Sense with Science: See ahead by augmenting Artificial Intelligence with human intuition. Advances in machine learning continue to permeate across industries and ways of life, with use of predictive analytics nearly quadrupling in five years, from 10% in 2016 to 39% today, according to the report. Yet, only 43% of organizations use metrics to identify employees likely to leave, 41% know when critical talent is likely to retire, 18% know the impact of pay strategies on performance, 15% can determine if it is better to buy/build/borrow employees and 12% are using analytics to correct inequities and prevent them recurring. McKim adds: “The availability of data and capability of analytics has increased but with great data comes great responsibility, the challenge is for organizations to use it effectively to inform strategy through ethical means. The challenge for companies lies in balancing the protection of personal data and the interrogation of this data to drive strategic decision making.”
Energise the Experience: Inspire and invigorate people by redesigning their work experience. Delivering on the employee experience is HR’s top priority, and 58% of organizations are redesigning to become more people-centric. Yet, only 27% of executives believe employee experience will yield a business return. And, even though 61% of employees trust their employer to look after their well-being and 48% of executives rank it as a top workforce concern, only 29% of HR leaders have a health and well-being strategy. Mercer regards this as a crucial area since employees whose companies are focused on employee health and well-being are four times more likely to be energised. Energised employees are essential to realise organisations’ transformation agenda: they are more likely to stay, more resilient, and more ready to reskill, it says.
At the heart of all this, of course, is the human resources department. And Mercer makes it clear that there is plenty of work to do here. Pointing out that HR transformation is high on organizations’ agenda, it says that delivering on the employee experience requires HR to step out of its functional silos, yet only 40% of HR leaders say they have an integrated people strategy. As McKim says, “Interactions with employees matter, but often our focus on HR process and efficiency creates an unappealing candidate and employee experience. Organizations that approach the employee experience in the same way they would the customer experience, where a premium is placed on employee interactions and system and process design comes second, will have better success in engaging employees.” She concludes: “Never more than now has placing employees’ interests at the heart of our businesses been more timely or important.”
