Is “The Great Wait” The Starting Gun for the “Talent” Economy?

66 % 

Number of workers who researcher Envoy says are still “worried” about returning to the office. 

68 % 

Workers preferring a “Hybrid Workplace” from a recent survey by insurance giant Prudential. 

Another 66 %. 

The number of organizations saying – again from Prudential - they are delaying their office reopening until later.  

It’s called “The Great Wait”. 

And for Employees who are hesitant to return to the office, it’s producing repercussions that will generate profound changes in the workplace the next few years and how we work. 

And the uncertainty that this is evoking will be expensive for Employers. Very expensive. 

What is it that Employees – “Talent” in today’s parlance - really want? 

Who knows? As yet to be determined. 

Is this all the beginning of a nascent “Talent Economy”? 

Masking. Collaboration. Living Digital. All present in the workplace just ahead. And each one an ingredient in the complex gumbo of an environment that will shape tomorrow’s workplace.  

First to Masking. Like the ubiquitous candy dish at the receptionist’s desk, the Mask and Sanitizer station is now a fixture in company lobbies everywhere on the planet. 

And though it seems to be on-again, off-again some days, it has come to define today’s work environment. 

Finally, a survey by Deloitte found that 91 % of Employers will “require masks”. Pretty much a done deal, sounds like. 

It also symbolizes why employees are taking their time getting back to the office today and, continue to be nervous about Covid. The threat of the virus just hasn’t gone away. 

Next Collaboration. Again from Prudential, two in three remote workers agree that “in - person” interactions and “collaborating” with colleagues are important for their career. 

Chiming in on that, PwC’s recent US Remote Work Survey indicated that Employees see the office mainly as a place for “collaborating”.  

Of interest in that same Survey: Employers mainly see the office as a place to increase “Employee Productivity”. 

Kind of a glaring mismatch don’t you think? Oh well 

“We’ve seen two years' worth of ‘digital transformation’ in two months”. Quote from digital workplace researcher Yeaster, 

Covid has pushed digitalization in the office to new heights and speeds. 

So our third key trend – Living Digital – completes “the Great Wait” and emerges as a driver moving us all toward “The Talent Economy”.  

To that point: Workers are demanding WFH and getting it. Second, those same workers are getting better and better connected through elements like IoT ( Internet of Things ) and UC & C ( Unified Communication and Collaboration ). 

So, summing up here, I have two recommendations for your organization below 

Recommendation # 1. Take an “informal survey” of your employees now on where they currently stand on a range of issues like masking requirements, WFH wishes, the “new normal” and so on. You know what I mean here. You really need a “temperature” check on the organization and you need it right now. 

# 2. Formulate a Plan to address “The Great Wait” at your company so at least you're making progress on getting employees back to being productive and they have a “yardstick” and “a specific plan” for getting back to normal. Whatever that is. 

With no plan or yardstick, your organization is the proverbial ship without a rudder. Going in circles and going nowhere. 

Hey, we in no way want that, right? Damn right. 

So get out there and get with “The New Talent Economy”! And do it now, everybody. Hey, we gotta get back to work!  

Until next time we get together around the table, huh? 

Ciao.