How will organizations reinvent themselves in 2022? According to the new Korn Ferry Future of Work Trends in 2022, “Power has shifted. From organizations to people. From profit to mutual prosperity. From ‘me’ to ‘we’.”
The value of this year’s report is that it provides insights into how the employer-driven workplace is transitioning into one that is culture first and leader-centric driven. This is what I’ve been seeing for a while now in my work with corporate executives, leaders and teams.
The main theme discussed is, “… how this new age of the human will play out across seven trends that currently dominate the corporate world.” The areas are:
- Reinvention – The flip side of disruption
- Scarcity – Surviving the big quit
- Vitality – Give the people want they want
- Sustainability – Time to walk the talk
- Individuality – Do well better
- Inclusivity – The power of all
- Accountability – Trust or bust
When you get a chance, I hope you’ll take a look at the entire report, which is subtitled, A new era of humanity. Until then, here are some of the biggest takeaways I want to share with you.
Vitality & Individuality
While the findings are packed full of meaningful insights about the seven trends, the two areas that really stood out for me are Vitality and Individuality.
Vitality has to do with the health and well-being of employees, which is more important than ever. In short, employees want companies to “act more human,” and meet expectations for flexible working, better healthcare, and burnout prevention.
Individuality can be summed up by these two impactful sentences: “We can never go back to the way we used to work. The past two years changed everything.” Employees are looking for greater control over not only their careers, but their general happiness and well-being.
According to the research, companies (leaders) need to understand employees at a deeper level. This requires a leader-centric approach. My focus with leaders is always to help them understand the 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team that promote team cohesion and deepen relationships. Leaders must know how to build and foster trust, encourage productive conflict, foster individual commitment, and create a culture of accountability to drive results.
Relentless Focus
Another powerful takeaway is that in order to bring about transformative growth, there has to be a relentless focus on customers and employees. Transformations are more likely to be successful when company strategy, purpose and culture are all aligned.
Last year, I became certified in Fearless Cultures, Culture Design Canvas. This is a culture mapping tool to assess your current company culture, define your future state, and evolve workplace culture. Clients who have made the commitment to define their cultures and align around agreed upon behaviors are experiencing a deeper sense of connectivity and collaboration among team members. They are not experiencing the same things as their competitors, which are the loss of team dynamics and depth of relationships, as well as being overwhelmed and stressed.
Additionally, in today’s environment, virtual work makes it harder for candidates to understand and connect with a company’s culture. A positive, inclusive culture not only makes sense from a talent perspective, but also from a business perspective. Recent
Korn Ferry research found that there is a direct relationship between highly engaged and enabled employees and increased company sales and earnings.
Company Values
Here’s a sobering statistic from the findings: 71% of professionals say they would consider taking a pay cut to work at a company that aligns more with their values. Thinking about your organization. How many of your team members even know your organizational values? One value that can no longer be ignored is the growing importance of Sustainability.
From the report: “Your people want to get behind a purpose, something other than profit. Customers won’t accept a lack of care for society or the environment. Investors. Partners. Customers. Employees. They’re all turning their backs on businesses that won’t commit to sustainability goals. And demand for companies to act will only grow in 2022.”
What’s Next?
Again, I encourage you to take a look at the full Korn Ferry Future of Work Trends in 2022 report, and then reflect on where your company is right now and where it’s headed. Consider how leaders are preparing for these trends, and if you’re doing everything you can to be on the forefront of meeting employee needs and transforming with changing times. And as always, the Vida Aventura team is here to help you get there.
Feature image credit: Photo by Christian Joudrey on Unsplash
Deseri Garcia
Most leaders struggle with disengagement, dysfunction, and non-productive behaviors with their teams. We deliver training that develops leaders and engages teams to increase your company results.