Managing the Changing Employment Relationship - Tectonic Shifts and Employee Experience Evolution

Managing the Changing Employment Relationship Tracy Keogh Dave Ulrich

Reinventing the employee experience Tectonic shifts are redefining the employment relationship Remote or hybrid work is both scalable and expected Employees of all generations are rethinking values and ambitions Social, emotional, and environmental changes are shaping the workplace AI and changing technology are creating new challenges Mental health (emotional well being) concerns are increasing Labor shortages are shaping new workforce expectations Employer actions (malfeasance, insolvencies, layoffs, instability) have broken trust Uncertainty about the future persists To attract, develop, retain, and engage top talent, employers must build the capability to deal with these increasingly rapid shifts in the employment experience. 2

Quick Poll On a scale of 1 (poor) to 10 (excellent): How well are you managing the evolving employee experience right now? 3

The war for talent is over - Talent won! Continuous, two-way communications; analyzing data to identify issues Frequent communication, primarily one way Supporting all aspects of an employee s life; programming for the whole family Employee-centric programming Continuously re-recruiting; compelling vision and EVP Recruiting employees once Embracing/supporting employees holistically, including mental, financial, and social wellness Ignoring mental health in the workplace FROM Moving quickly, experimenting, course correcting, pivoting Following overly prescribed methodologies TO Flattened organizations with leaders managing uncertainty; trusting employees Hierarchies with directive senior leaders; command and control Stable, long-tenured employment Employee churn; semi-permeable organizational membranes Multiple employee relationships; meeting personal needs Majority of employees on-site; one dominant employee experience Technology as a nice-to-have Criticality of technology in creating employee experience and productivity; AI and new tech tools All powerful employer Employee in the driver s seat; employee as customer 4

Two Dimensions of Personalization Personalize: Care for each person respecting their individual wants and needs Personalize: Tailor work setting to individuals needs (flexibility in who, where, what, how work is done) Employee Experience What employees want and get from their work: be safe, believe, become, belong Engagement Employee sentiment Intrinsic attitudes (well-being, meaning, flourish) that denote employees enthusiasm for their job Commitment Being connected through identity or work systems to job, team, organization Satisfaction Extent to which employee likes job and aspects of the job: affect, attitudes, etc. Motivation/Motives Forces that initiate work-related behavior (expectancy, goals setting, personal traits, job characteristics) 5

What issues are having the greatest impact now? 1) Returning to the office Your leadership team may want employees back, but do employees want to return? 2) Reenergizing employees Is your workforce excited or feeling a general malaise? 3) Recruiting and retaining top talent Have you updated your EVP since COVID, and does it align with your business strategy? 4) Building the capacity for change How are you preparing yourself, your team, and your org for the changing reality? 5) Communicating effectively How are you staying in touch with your workforce? 6) Measuring organizational health Are you aware of issues across your organization? Are you running experiments to increase productivity? 7) Generative AI How are you adapting to generative AI and other developments? 6

Thank you 7