In every generation there comes an opportunity to reimagine the way we work.
In the past hundred years, we have changed how we do our work due to the advancements in technology and how we choose to live. Still, work has been a big decider of where we live, what mode of travel we choose to use and where we educate our children. Simply put, our workplace has been central to most of our day-to-day decisions, the pandemic shook all of that.
The pandemic put a proverbial ‘grenade’ under our work life, leaving expensive office spaces to collect cobwebs, while we figured out how to continue working away from ‘work’. The funny thing is, we learnt to adapt and started questioning the way we worked before.
“Why were we breaking our backs to drive across town and fight 2-hour traffic jams to go to the office when we could now work at home?”
Some employers have not fully embraced remote work, notably, some of the big ones like Apple and Google have captured headlines recently for their stances. Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, previously told his global workforce of 137,000 employees that they’d have to return to the office beginning early September. Cook expected that employees would spend about three days a week at the office and the other two at home or remotely. The response to this forced return to work by his employees was swift as thousands of employees vowed to resign if forced back to the office. As I am writing this, Apple has again pushed back its timeline requiring employees to return to the office to January or even later.
Google on the other hand is applying pay cuts for the employees who choose to work remotely. These measures by the big employers seem to be completely out of step with the realities of employees and the tide that is inevitably changing. Most employees are busy re-evaluating their relationship with their work and this pandemic has fundamentally changed our view of work.
According to the latest McKinsey report, more than three-quarters of Executives recently surveyed said that they expected the typical “core” employee to be back in the office three or more days a week. In stark contrast, nearly three-quarters of around 5,000 employees McKinsey queried globally would like to work from home for two or more days per week, and more than half want at least three days of remote work. This is a huge alarm bell for leaders across the globe: the old way of working is on its way out!
Those who will succeed in the future are the ones that read the signs and adapt quickly.
At Tomorrow Today Global we believe that leaders need to think like futurists to succeed in a changing world. Our definition of a futurist is someone who intentionally builds the capacity to see and understand the implications of change.
This is the moment that will separate the future smart leaders from the pack.
To succeed, leaders need to look at hybrid work as part of the current and future of work. There is no point in wishing it away, now is the time to find innovative ways to make the balance between on site and remote work benefit our organisations and people. It’s time to work on multiple models that will deliver results for us and change the ways we manage our hybrid teams effectively.
The TomorrowToday team helped organisations learn about the ingredients required to lead Healthy Hybrid Teams through our virtual keynotes and workshop.
Perhaps it’s time for you and your leadership team to prepare for a hybrid workplace? If so then we invite you to reply to this email to find out exactly how we can help you and your team move into the future of work.
About the author of today’s Tuesday Tip – Buhle Dlamini
Buhle Dlamini is a globally sought-after speaker who helps organisations unleash their greatness and create an inclusive culture. Request Buhle to talk to your team about the 5 Key Ingredients of a thriving hybrid team.
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