By Michael D. Haberman
The recent revelations of the nature of the workplace at Amazon have brought into focus both the good and the bad side of the way the world of work is changing. Amazon was both vilified and praised for many of the workplace practices and methods that are rapidly evolving and becoming more and more common. These practices include: 24/7 connection to work; consistent ongoing evaluation that is data driven; peer evaluation; goal driven innovation and a drive to have the best talent available. Let’s explore these emerging practices in light of the projected nature of the workplace.
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24/7
For a decade now the discussion in HR has involved the topic of work/life balance. People strive to spend more time with family while working to the standard required by the job. What we are seeing now however, with a change in generations and facilitated by technology is a move away from balance to the concept of a work/life merge. The borders of work and home fade as people have the capability to work from anywhere at any time. Flexible workplaces, with flexible work hours make it less important to be chained to the 8 to 5 workplace of the 20th century.
Ongoing evaluation
Recently Accenture announced the removal of their annual performance evaluation. They have substituted an ongoing evaluation process that is facilitated by mobile technology. Data is collected on each individual worker on productivity, time and results allowing managers, and progressively more often peers, to evaluate employees on a consistent, even constant basis. This matches a desire by Millennials and other workers to have, what the authors of The 2020 Workplace say is critical to them: speed and frequency of communication. Speed in the next five years will be critical.
Goal driven innovation
At Amazon it was reported that people were challenged by tough goals to be as innovative as possible. James Canton, author of Future Smart, says that one of the top game changing trends is “Individuals will be measured in their jobs by ROI, return on innovation.” Jacob Morgan, author of The Future of Work, says that innovation is a key principle of future organizations, innovation that is driven by employees, customers, suppliers and the public. The creation of “new” will be enabled by technologies such as nano-technology, artificial intelligence and new forms of energy production. Employees will embrace this and drive to innovate.
Talent, Talent, Talent
James Canton says that the war for talent, the “competition between organizations for the smartest individuals will shape the future of nations and organizations.” The selection of talent is increasingly being driven by big data and companies are developing algorithms to determine not only who to select, but also to predict which employees will leave and who will stay and who will succeed.
At the same time this “talent” is also driving changes in companies. New workers want to work with companies that have a purpose. They want to work for companies that offer fulfillment. They want to work for companies that offer them flexibility. They are looking to work for companies that they don’t just need to work at, they want to work at. Companies that do not adapt to the change will find themselves trailing in business.
About Today’s HR Daily Advisor Contributor:
Michael Haberman, SPHR the co-founder and senior HR consultant of Omega HR Solutions, has more than 30 years of human resources experience, both a practitioner and as a consultant. Known as “the HR Compliance Guy,” Haberman teaches human resources management at the University of Georgia School for Professional Education and Emory University’s School for Professional Education. He is gaining a reputation as an HR Futurist writing a weekly post called Future Friday, where he explores HR relevant information about the future of work. He recently became a member of the IBM #NewWayToWork Futurist Program.