Who’s in charge? Leading the 21st Century workforce · 2013. 4. 10. · Leadership ‘Taking...
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Executive Discussion Evening Who’s in charge? Leading the 21 st Century workforce A companion paper to Fujitsu’s Executive Discussion Evening Taking control by letting go As technology proves its worth in driving out efficiencies, more and more organisations are embracing new working patterns; mobile and flexible working styles are increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception, with around three-quarters of companies today making some use of flexible working.* And tough economic circumstances are driving organisations across all sectors to invest in tools and techniques to enable employees to collaborate beyond traditional boundaries. For employees, the concept of greater flexibility and empowerment is extremely attractive - and for many - a hygiene factor. Yet it could be argued that greater control can be achieved by letting go - along with greater employee satisfaction, engagement and retention. Letting employees do their jobs flexibly - often from home - sounds to some managers like a recipe for a distracted, un-focused workforce. But the evidence suggests that letting employees ‘do their own thing’ is the cornerstone of a new style of leadership which can see an organisation’s productivity rise. The 21 st Century workforce Today’s leaders need to understand what motivates their people, and to embrace the approaches and tools that will make them productive, whilst creating a new culture - quite a challenge. Yet the benefits are self-evident; staff at phone company O2, for example, self-reported getting 36% more work done and ‘gaining’ more than 2,000 extra hours than if they had been in the office. Employees also reported getting more sleep and 14% more family time. And Generation Y is also making its mark; using the same technology and platforms for work and personal life, they see the boundary between the two as being fuzzy and indistinct. They expect to be allowed to use technology for personal purposes while at work; the trade-off, however, is that the same technology makes it possible for them to be more productive in their job. But it’s not just Generation Y driving change; many senior managers and executives like working with new technology because they don’t want to be tied to an office. The thing the 21st Century workforce is coming to expect is flexibility in terms of where, when and how they work. The 21st Century workforce wants to bring its own devices to the workplace, because this will assist the partial merger between its work and personal life. According to some research, two thirds of today’s workforce, suffers from ‘nomophobia’ a genuine fear of not having their phone with them. But, as leading technology provider Fujitsu argues, give them that flexibility, exploit mobile technology more and allow employees to use their own devices (the famed BYOD), and an employer will not only attract and retain the brightest and the best of the workforce, but will be able to lead more effectively. *CIPD, 23 July 2012 But what about the people who are challenged with leading the employee of the 21st Century? Many leaders - more comfortable with conventional command and control structures - want to remain visibly and tangibly ‘in charge’.
Transcript of Who’s in charge? Leading the 21st Century workforce · 2013. 4. 10. · Leadership ‘Taking...
Executive Discussion Evening
Who’s in charge?Leading the 21st Century workforceA companion paper to Fujitsu’s Executive Discussion Evening
Taking control by letting goAs technology proves its worth in driving out efficiencies, more and more organisations are embracing new working patterns; mobile and flexible working styles are increasingly becoming the rule rather than the exception, with around three-quarters of companies today making some use of flexible working.*
And tough economic circumstances are driving organisations across all sectors to invest in tools and techniques to enable employees to collaborate beyond traditional boundaries.
For employees, the concept of greater flexibility and empowerment is extremely attractive - and for many - a hygiene factor.
Yet it could be argued that greater control can be achieved by letting go - along with greater employee satisfaction, engagement and retention.
Letting employees do their jobs flexibly - often from home - sounds to some managers like a recipe for a distracted, un-focused workforce. But the evidence suggests that letting employees ‘do their own thing’ is the cornerstone of a new style of leadership which can see an organisation’s productivity rise.
The 21st Century workforce Today’s leaders need to understand what motivates their people, and to embrace the approaches and tools that will make them productive, whilst creating a new culture - quite a challenge.
Yet the benefits are self-evident; staff at phone company O2, for example, self-reported getting 36% more work done and ‘gaining’ more than 2,000 extra hours than if they had been in the office. Employees also reported getting more sleep and 14% more family time.
And Generation Y is also making its mark; using the same technology and platforms for work and personal life, they see the boundary between the two as being fuzzy and indistinct. They expect to be allowed to use technology for personal purposes while at work; the trade-off, however, is that the same technology makes it possible for them to be more productive in their job.
But it’s not just Generation Y driving change; many senior managers and executives like working with new technology because they don’t want to be tied to an office.
The thing the 21st Century workforce is coming to expect is flexibility in terms of where, when and how they work.
The 21st Century workforce wants to bring its own devices to the workplace, because this will assist the partial merger between its work and personal life. According to some research, two thirds of today’s workforce, suffers from ‘nomophobia’ a genuine fear of not having their phone with them.
But, as leading technology provider Fujitsu argues, give them that flexibility, exploit mobile technology more and allow employees to use their own devices (the famed BYOD), and an employer will not only attract and retain the brightest and the best of the workforce, but will be able to lead more effectively.
*CIPD, 23 July 2012
But what about the people who are challenged with leading the employee of the 21st Century?
Many leaders - more comfortable with conventional command and control structures - want to remain visibly and tangibly ‘in charge’.
Executive Discussion Evening
Leadership‘Taking control by letting go’ is how Fujitsu describes its vision of 21st Century leadership.
Managing a mobile workforce demands a different style of leadership, and a lot of middle managers are not really geared up for it. ‘One of the clients I work with in government talks about “the marzipan layer in the cake,” says Fujitsu’s David Rosewell. ‘This is the layer that needs to help direct the cultural change, use the tools available to support collaboration, and empower and drive teams to become comfortable working with less physical structure.’
‘In the old world, people came into work nine to five and managers could make an instant judgment about their productivity because they could see them. Even concepts such as flexitime were based around input – how many hours you put in.’
‘The point we want to make is that is literally last century. That direct line of sight to the workforce is in large part no longer available. You don’t know how many hours people are working; you don’t know where they’re working. But we’re saying, “It doesn’t matter”.’
If managers are prepared to give up that line-of-sight, to give up that clock-watching mentality, Rosewell argues, then potentially they can get a lot more out of their workers. But he stresses that it does require a fundamentally different approach.
‘You’ve got to let go, and you’ve got to manage by output and outcome. It requires a real cultural change.’
Is taking control by letting go the secret to leading the 21st Century workforce?
Executive Discussion Evening
Return on investmentExecutives can see the potential benefits around productivity and property reduction - organisations often have a lot tied up in property which is half empty much of the time. A case in point is the local authority in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, which reduced employee office space by over 40% across a number of departments and saved £1.6m in property rationalisation by implementing mobile working solutions.
Similarly, by taking the pressure off employees to meet face-to-face and equipping them with video conference facilities, significant savings can be made – both fiscal and environmental; Wakefield Council also reported a 20% improvement in staff productivity and saved more than 225,000 annual commuting miles - equivalent to 65 tonnes of CO2.
Although the precise ROI of allowing more employee flexibility has not been exhaustively examined, anecdotal evidence from a variety of organisations suggests what progressive leaders are experiencing.
As Peter Thomson, author of 2011 book, Future Work: How businesses can adapt and thrive in the new world of work (Palgrave Macmillan) says, “HR departments need to stop thinking about flexible working as a flimsy feel-good benefit, and more as a proper business strategy.”
The same applies to an organisation’s approach to technology; mobility must be approached strategically, with the mindset of liberating and empowering the workforce.
Planning for ChangeThe shift from workplace to workspace is now unstoppable and too transformational for CIOs to ignore. Fujitsu’s David Rosewell says, “The starting point must be on the business outcomes - such as increasing customer service or public safety. This focuses the mind on giving people the right information at the right time - wherever they are.
Then all the initiatives in the mobility strategy should be considered in the round to ensure that effort is not duplicated, the solutions work with one another and that the user has tools that are not just useful and usable, but most importantly desirable.”
In this way the true benefits of mobility will be realised.
Work is no longer a place you go, but something you do.
Subject to contract.
Accuracy: Fujitsu endeavours to ensure that the information contained in this document is correct but, whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of such information, it accepts no liability for any loss (however caused) sustained as a result of any error or omission in the same.
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Executive Discussion Evening
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About FujitsuHeadquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu is the only global Japanese ICT provider. With annual revenues of over $54 billion, Fujitsu is the world’s third-largest provider of IT services, employing approximately 170,000 people in over 100 countries worldwide. We provide our customers with an end-to-end capability, delivering IT products and services, networks and applications. Our collaborative style is part of our commitment to working with our customers to address today’s challenges while also planning for the future.
We are the largest Japanese employer in the UK, employing over 12,000 people across UK and Ireland, with offices stretching from Inverness to Lewes, and Dublin to Newcastle.
Fujitsu’s services and solutions touch the lives of 99% of the UK and Ireland population, from enabling airline bookings and driving licences through to banking transactions, high street shopping and much more besides.
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