Why the Future of Work Needs a Hybrid Approach From All Employers and Employees
If you`re having job or career issues then you need the assistance of the Job Doctor as she will put you on the best career path for you
“Click”
Was the sound I heard as I wrote on the blackboard with my back turned to a class of students who were only a few months shy of their adult years but didn’t have the experience of knowing what that action would mean for their future résumé.
I ignored it and continued on.
Again, “Click”.
I knew what the sound was but I wanted to be sure who was doing it. So I waited and pretended it wasn’t a thing.
Turning to face the class I walked through the classroom and by the time I`d arrived near the desk of the perpetrator of the clicking sound I announced to the class I knew they were taking pictures of me all along.
But that was as far as it went.
I wasn’t too bothered. I wasn’t the type of school teacher who was going to give out to a young person who was being curious or to try to stifle that creative mind if that’s what the world needed to solve its problems.
Yet I did politely warn them of the school rules that could possibly put a black mark against their future employment prospects. And I then continued to remind them that if they wanted to get away with it next time that it was best to turn off the camera’s sound effects. From there we all had a laugh but collectively wondered how this type of mobile technology was going to develop the world of work in the future.
But that was 2005 and technology and mobile devices have changed a lot since.
Yet the impulse to create has not and the world of digital storytellers has blossomed online. One such one is the Job Doctor who gives innovative and thought-provoking insights into the world of work and how you need to adapt when the economy is altering at a rapid pace forcing leaders to experience stress and businesses to comprehend closing due to a rising cost of living.
She shares her expertise freely with over a million social media followers and interests with not only younger people but #ceos who seek her out to give them personalized advice that will improve their lives going forward.
Having worked at the highest levels in both small start-ups and Fortune 50 companies she told me that right now is a tough time for all workers:
“A lot of weird things have happened over the past couple of years. Employers are wondering ‘how do I retain people?’ and employees are wondering ‘how do I survive a dysfunctional workforce and stop feeling a lot like a robot.”
So it’s clear she has her work cut out for her to entertain and educate her masses of followers going forward. But according to the Job Doctor, there is a deeper frustration for all involved in the world of work underlying.
“My theory is that people inside companies are frustrated because the employer had a lot of leverage for decades and they are wired to take as much as one will give. Now that quiet quitting has become a trending topic, employees are saying enough is enough and begin to scale back their extra efforts rather than continue to give and give. Although the likes of Google and Amazon say they don’t care if you go, I think people will leave and it will hurt these businesses.”
According to LinkedIn News, quiet quitting is about ignoring the insistence that working for a company would expect you to go above and beyond your job description and about the employee instead turning down projects if it does not wet their interest and refusing to answer work messages when they not officially within their working hours.
So it begs the question what is the future of work going to look like for all?
As Dr. Tessa reminded me, in a Boomers’ generation, people stayed in a company for an average of 8 years whereas now young people are quitting after only an average of 2.2 years so what she speaks about has huge relevance for the world of work at large and that:
“We need to treat employees like less of a cog and more of how they have contributed as a partner in the company. Otherwise, loyalty is dead. “
And I think she is right.
The Job Doctor let me know that younger people are wired for short-term thinking, not just in the tenure of their jobs, but in how they do the job itself. She indicates that data says that the way they work and even train for a job, such as watching shorter videos instead of weeklong training, makes them inclined to find faster ways to get work across the finish line, and often in a much faster way than their leaders did. This younger generation, she contends, expects to be rewarded for a job well done, and they de-value the idea of “earning your dues”. However, younger workers may not realize too that this way of thinking is at a clash with older generations, who value that time and experience are every bit as critical to success at work.
Sure, at present, their brains are wired to get that next hit of dopamine through learning complex things within seconds of watching great content creators like how Dr. Tessa succinctly put things on a plate for them. That and the fact that in their adult lifetime the gig economy has pushed them to be used as temporary or freelance workers and so contemplating having a pension and working for tomorrow has never been a current worry.
The emerging themes of shorter-term thinking may have long-term implications. Companies must find ways to bend the curve on employee loyalty if they expect to run smoothly. They also must adapt and offer choices in work schedule flexibility to capture the attention of a younger generation. It’s a big bet to place for those companies who are trying to return to the way things used to be, where the company held all the leverage.
Although there are distinct lifestyle advantages of the quiet quitting regime, in reality, over time, a younger generation may find that the benefits of focusing on a better balance between a transient approach to jobs, may help them build themselves a nest egg and financial security, something they will need as they age into the workforce. With that in mind, the future of work will require more empathy from both the employer and the employee.
In showing #empathy with both employees and employers, Dr. Tessa always asks every Uber driver she meets how they see the world of work. Almost to a person, the consistent replies are that they want the freedom of several jobs for them to have the ability to do the things they love to do, and to stack, gig work so they are not beholden to any single employer. And in reality what current leader who has worked long and hard to climb the corporate ladder doesn’t deserve the chance to have a full-time working life at something they truly love doing?
Perhaps then both employers and employees are singing from the same hymn sheet and both just want to do where it is their passion lies and not worry about the job security and the payment they get.
If you are thinking about quitting your job or making a move toward what attracts you most, take a moment to switch on your phone and check out the Job Doctor on Tik Tok. But please do turn up the sound for the future will need to see you clicking along faster than the average Uber driver with success at your fingertips.
