Category: Business

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What Employees Want in the Reimagined Workplace

The evidence is clear that employees today want more work-life balance. A Bain study found that 58% of workers across 10 global economies feel the pandemic has forced them to rethink the balance between their work and their personal lives.[1]

Employees are questioning why they work – what is it for? how can we do it better? The result is a “new era of humanity,” according to Korn Ferry. Among the ways organizations will reinvent themselves in response are to become more fluid with flatter, non-hierarchical structures and formalized hybrid models of working.[2] One report suggests that “human relations” will take the place of “human resources.”[3]

McKinsey has laid out 9 themes important to employees in the future workplace:[4]

Supporting employee perspectives about reimagining the workplace experience, a Gartner survey of 52 HR executives in 2020 found that companies were already moving ahead with changes:

  • 94% of companies made significant investments in their well-being programs
  • 85% increased support for mental health benefits
  • 50% increased support for physical well-being
  • 38% increased support for financial well-being[5]

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Unemployed Young University Woman Looking For Work Or Job After Graduation At The Post Board

Trends and Best Practices in Career Pathways at U.S. Colleges and Universities

As colleges and universities seek to become more relevant to all their constituencies and engage them in lifelong relationships, the traditional “career center” is undergoing a major redesign. Key drivers of this organizational shift are the evolving needs and expectations of the “student consumer,” the dynamic realities of the job market and the demand by business for “skills-ready” employees. Several institutions have differentiated themselves by adapting their strategies and positioning themselves for leadership in this competitive space. Like most everything else in higher education today, the solutions are being developed one institution at a time. This report is a snapshot of the general trends coupled with specific examples of different approaches.

The Context for Change

In its 2022 “Jobs Landscape” report in 2019, the World Economic Forum (WEF), an international non-profit foundation for public-private cooperation, offered a provocative assessment of the future linked to four significant trends:

  1. Increasing need for lifelong learning in a non-linear world
  2. Evolving needs and expectations of the “student consumer”
    • “Younger generations entering higher education have a completely different point of departure than previous As digital natives, they have always had technology integrated into most aspects of their lives.”
    • “One-size-fits-all education will soon be a thing of the past and individual learning paths will arguably be less defined by traditional educational structures.”
  3. Emerging technologies and business models
    • “Fast-growing innovators in educational technologies and education industry outsiders are already challenging the status quo by structurally undermining the long-established business models of higher These new actors use technology and data to introduce new, alternative approaches that better deliver on the evolving expectations of learners…inexpensive, personalized, AI-driven…”
  4. Toward a “skills over degrees” model – “While the degree still rules, by and large, we are slowly moving towards a reality with more focus on acquiring skills not degrees…Research shows that education level is only weakly correlated with job performance and, in fact, more and more companies [Google, Apple, Ernst & Young UK, IBM] are actively shifting focus away from degrees to new ways of measuring employability as a consequence of the changing nature of work.”1
  5.  

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Binary Brain

AI: The Present & Future of Business & Organizational Life

There is no doubt artificial intelligence (A.I.) is playing a greater role in business in a variety of sectors than ever before. “[A.I.] is not the future of the workplace, it is the present and happening now,” according to Forbes. A.I. investment also continues to grow: worldwide revenues for cognitive and A.I. systems will reach $12.5 billion in 2017 – an increase of 59.3 percent over 2016 – to more than $46 billion by 2020, predicts research firm International Data Corporation (IDC). Fifty-four percent of the business and IT executives responding to a recent PwC Digital IQ survey said their companies are making substantial A.I. investments today, with that number increasing to 63 percent in three years. Read more >

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BizFlow’s New Brand Supports Strategic Repositioning

BizFlow, which delivers Business Process Management (BPM) solutions, has announced a new tag line, “Be Efficient,” to advance its overall corporate brand. “We wanted to send a clear, succinct, message to customers about the value proposition we bring to the marketplace,” the company announced. “Our people matched with our great technology solve complex business processing challenges faster, with great precision, while driving significant value to the bottom line.“ Read more >

Napa Review

Rethinking Volunteerism as a Workforce Growth Strategy

The financial belt-tightening caused by the recession is forcing nonprofits, from large universities to community organizations, to review their workforce strategies. Already there are plenty of examples of hiring freezes, salary caps and reconsideration of open positions. It seems that these fixed “people costs” are always the first to go. While they may be the fastest way to decrease costs, such cuts can seriously compromise earlier investments and reduce the ability to invest in key growth areas. Read more >