Talent Edge Weekly - Issue #59

March 28, 2021

Welcome to this week’s issue of Talent Edge Weekly—the weekly newsletter for human resources practitioners, bringing together insights about work, the workplace, and the workforce from various sources.

If you find value in this issue or any of its resources, please share them with your network by using the social media icons at the top of the newsletter.

Have a great week, and I look forward to sharing more ideas in next week’s Edge!

Brian 

Brian Heger is a human resources practitioner with a Fortune 150 organization and has responsibilities for Strategic Talent and Workforce Planning. To connect with Brian on Linkedin, click here.

THIS WEEK'S CONTENT

  • 2021 Work Trend Index Annual Report: The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready? | Microsoft | Shares Microsoft's 2021 Work Trend Index Report-covering seven hybrid trends and five strategies for firms to consider in response to the trends. 

  • What Is Your Organization's Long-Term Remote Work Strategy? | Harvard Business Review | Covers 10 key questions leaders should ask themselves as they plan for their organization's optimal mix of remote, hybrid, and in-office work. 

  • Experiments and Data for Post-COVID-19 Work Arrangements | MIT Sloan Management Review | Presents the case for how firms can use experimentation to guide flexible work decisions before committing to a set of policies and practices for the long-term. 

  • 11 Listed Companies Embracing Long-Term Remote Working and 5 Who Are Not | UNLEASH | Offers a summary of the stances that firms have taken on their long-term remote work philosophy. 

  • Reengineering the Recruitment Process | Harvard Business Review | Explores three trends that render traditional recruitment tactics obsolete and offers two actions on how firms can respond. 

THIS WEEK'S EDGE

The 2021 Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of over 30,000 people in 31 countries and analyzes trillions of productivity and labor signals across Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn. It notes that employees want the best of both worlds, with 73 percent of workers surveyed wanting flexible remote work options to continue, while 67 percent are craving more in-person time with their teams. And with over 40 percent of the global workforce considering leaving their employer this year, firms must have a thoughtful approach to hybrid work. The first section includes seven hybrid trends, including 3) High productivity is masking an exhausted workforce and 4) Gen Z is at risk and needs to be re-energized. The second section provides five strategies for business leaders as they address these challenges. One strategy—combat digital exhaustion from the top—covers tactics leaders can use to reduce workers’ burnout and workload. For example, leaders can use digital meetings only when collaboration is needed vs. informational/status topics that can be addressed through a “Teams Channel” or email. This excellent report will help leaders make choices about hybrid work that will affect their firm’s ability to compete for the best talent for years to come.

As leaders plan for their organizations’ optimal mix of remote work, this article suggests they will need to revisit decisions in two main categories: 1) company policies that set expectations of a dispersed workforce and 2) management practices and behaviors that enable remote or a hybrid work environment. The authors provide ten questions that leaders can ask as they make these decisions. On company policy, questions range from what is the right mix of remote work for our organization, which HR policies will need to be updated, are we ready to consider a work from anywhere (WFA) policy? Concerning management practices and behaviors, leaders should consider questions such as how can I help employees manage competing work and life priorities, how can we consciously engage employees, and how do we create a sense of psychological safety? Each question includes a few recommended practices. For example, leaders can foster psychological safety by showing vulnerability (e.g., sharing experiences where they made a mistake) and inviting all team members’ participation (e.g., on a call asking someone ‘what do you think?’ Firms can use this framework to proactively consider company policies and management practices to transform their remote workforce.

Firms continue to plan and decide on a timeline for an eventual return-to-work of their workforce. These decisions relate to questions ranging from do we return to a five-day workweek in the office or fewer days at longer hours?; has our workforce become accustomed to less time-intensive Zoom and Microsoft Team teleconferences, or are they ready to get back to in-person gatherings? This article argues firms can use experimentation to guide these decisions before committing to a set of policies and practices for the long-term. Experimentation allows firms to test aspects of their business operations and then use the data findings to inform broader policy. For example, one experiment can be where organizations have some groups work in the office every day, work entirely at home, and work a hybrid schedule. Firms can then measure these groups on various outcome variables, such as productivity, work satisfaction, and networking frequency, and then use the results to provide data-based suggestions that inform broader workforce policies and practices. The article offers tips for running experiments, such as start by articulating the questions of interest. 

This article summarizes 11 firms adapting to long-term remote work, including Ford, Dropbox, Salesforce, Shopify, and Siemens. It contains each firms' workforce size, revenue, a link to their announcement on remote work, and a summary of each firms' stance on the topic. For example, Siemens's perspective is that employees will work remotely two or three days a week, whether this is from home, a coworking space, or other appropriate working environments. Office working will then make up the rest of an employee's working week. A separate but related article (published by the same firm) shares five organizations that are not embracing remote work, such as Netflix, UBS, Goldman Sachs., and JP Morgan. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan, noted remote working had had a detrimental impact on younger workers and that so-called "creative combustion" had been affected. Goldman Sachs CEO, David Solomon, referred to remote work as an aberration that we're going to correct as soon as possible. It will be interesting to see the impact these company decisions (both those who support remote work and don't) will have on longer-term outcomes, including worker wellbeing and the retention and attraction of top talent.  

The pandemic continues to present an opportunity to reimagine various talent practices, including recruiting. This article identifies three trends that require a shift in recruitment tactics. The trends include: 1) Skills have an increasingly short shelf life—making it more challenging to determine the skills one should hire for. 2) Traditional talent pools are becoming outmoded, requiring firms to tap into non-obvious talent sources. 3) Candidates are becoming increasingly selective about whom they work for and what they want from their work. The authors suggest firms can respond to these trends with two actions. 1) Hire for potential, not experience - where firms look beyond immediate hiring needs and consider broader skills the firm will need and skills that enable people to learn quickly, such as learning agility. 2) Understand how candidates view the company and what they value and craft and tailor employment value propositions (EVP) accordingly. While tailoring the EVP to various candidate segments is not a new concept, the shift in candidate expectations suggests firms will need to reevaluate their EVP and determine the extent to which it aligns with candidate preferences. What aspects of your firm's EVP will you need to increasingly promote to candidates?

YOUR VIEW - Last Week's Poll Results

As firms implement policies to allow some jobs to work remotely long term, a segment of workers is using this opportunity to move to lower cost-of-living locations. This trend has sparked discussion on whether remote workers living in lower-cost areas should face a salary adjustment to align with labor costs at their new location. I asked readers:

These mixed results reinforce how the relationship between pay and location is complex and affected by multiple factors.

Since the majority of respondents (42%) believe that this decision will vary depending on the job, firms should:

  • Identify which jobs would not receive a salary reduction if they were moved to a different location. These jobs might include specialized roles with a shortage of talent.

  • Develop a pipeline of diverse talent for these jobs since they are location-agnostic, resulting in a broader talent pool.

  • Consider how this decision will influence the perception of fairness within job segments whose role is subject to a salary reduction. Firms can partially address this challenge with a clear compensation/talent philosophy.

Although location-based pay is not a new topic, firms who are considering a “work-anywhere” approach will need to develop and communicate their approach and think through the implications.

This Week's Poll Question

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If you find value in this newsletter, please take 10 seconds to complete the poll and share your opinion.

Upon casting your vote, you can view the most recent results. I will share the final results in next week’s newsletter.

If there is a poll question you would like to see in an upcoming newsletter, you can submit your question HERE.

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​Talent Edge Weekly is a free weekly newsletter that brings together the best talent and strategic human resources insights from various sources. It is published every Sunday at 6PM EST.