TEAM BUILDING ADVICE FROM WORK/23

From the effects of a 4-day Workweek to identifying what jobs in your company are “Career Accelerators” there is a lot changing in today’s work environments. In early May, editors from MIT Sloan Management Review delivered an online event to explore the changing nature of doing work, workplace and leadership strategy. Not all the shifts are the result of pandemic and remote teams. Some are demographic waves, as older workers leave in giant numbers and younger teams want a new style of work. Other changes are a response to being more resilient and flexible, rather than adapting 19th century factory approaches.

Only 30 percent of people the magazine surveyed said their organization is doing a good job of managing the hybrid workforce of employees, gig workers, remote team members or outside partners. This blended combination requires a more flexible approach – focused on outcomes, not hours worked – as the yardstick for success.

After Pandemic, Now What?

Managers who led teams through Covid-19 and economic shocks are dealing with people leaving or looking for a change. Tony Gigliotti, talent manager at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told Work/23 that “career advancement” was the top reason for employee turnover cited in 2022 at the Pittsburgh-based healthcare company. It forced Pittsburgh’s leading non-government employer to get more active about retention. There had to be an answer to engage employees with peer advice about a career pathway and options as their lives changed, he says. A community website that allowed workers to chart out career options based on their needs, skills and open opportunities, with coaching from others, was a big step in engagement.

In-House Talent Development

Another tool is “skills-based hiring” that removes artificial requirements for college degrees. Job descriptions that focus on solutions or willingness to grow can reduce time to hiring and build strong career pathways at all levels – not just for high-performing executives. This also supports diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) by prioritizing in-house workers who know the company and culture. Can you offer a longer-term vision for staying with a current employer? That can make a difference, says Beth Berwick of DEI advisor Grads of Life, a group that consults on improving hiring and removing career barriers.

“A degree requirement on a job may exclude as much as 70 percent of applicants who are people of color,” she adds. “A lower-cost hire, or promotion from within, expands access to opportunity and addresses equity issues.”

Flexible Work

“Time matters more than place,” says Brian Elliott, co-founder of Future Forum who explored the role of increasing trust in the new distributed workforce. He suggests a minimum of quarterly “All-Hands” company-wide or location meetings with social time such as meals to build team dynamics and connections, instead of outdated onboarding and mentoring programs. Future Forum was created to study the changing habits affecting desk workers, sponsored by BCG, Slack, MillerKnoll and other backers.

For managers, the challenge is defining operating principles, with some explanations, to guide management decisions, not rote policies that grow stale and may not fit unique situations.