Flexible People System
The future is constantly changing. It’s hard to predict what the people would prefer in future. But some predictions are more likely than others. Work from home is a new liking that has emerged important to people. Financial compensation, good workplace relationships, and work-life balance had been the important attributes liked by people for quite some time. These all re-validate the superiority of theory Y over X. Theory X subscribes to: People dislike and try to avoid work, so management needs to control, motivate and closely supervise people. Theory Y maintains an outlook that under conducive conditions people are self-motivated, enjoy work and will seek opportunities to excel.
Generation Y, the millennial's, look forward to much more: Trust, care for their concern and security, care for environment, sustainable development, motivational get together and outings. The importance of millennial's is becoming increasingly important due to structural shifts in demography and economy. The economic slowdown is expected to persist for couple of years, if not more. Enlightened business leaders understand that success means building young talented team. The competition for talent is getting fierce as people are increasingly considering new and better career choices. Merely competitive compensation is not enough to attract and retain talent.
Millennial's expect very personalized experience to meet their needs at every stage of their careers and look forward to exceptional experience across all touch points. It is indeed flexibility that most people are interested in, not a wholesale rejection of the traditional model of full-time physical collocation with colleagues. The spread of digital technologies marks the era of “Flexible People System.” The emerging network society is fundamentally changing the framework for entrepreneurial success – and demand new skills. Prerequisite for mastering and helping to shape this upheaval is systemic understanding of the digital change.
The connectivity mega trend makes it clear that the core of digital change is less about technological novelties and more about social responses. In the course of increasing networking, basic human needs such as trust and security as well as cultural and social aspects are becoming more and more relevant for digital business models and for the design of products and services. Digital networking is dissolving old social structures, exploding communication options, and creating a new level of complexity. We are still in an early phase of digitization, so a lot appears to be mixed up, and messed up. Social media has become a significant part of our lives, constantly evolving. Artificial intelligence has also made significant advancements in the past few years, and it’s predicted that they’ll become more innovative than humans.
Millennial's are raised in the digital age, therefore, interact differently with their peers and co-workers. They rely heavily on social media and emails for communication and engagement. They are used to doing many day-to-day activities with just a few clicks on their laptops or smartphones. Millennial's had grown up with constant feedback from their parents, teachers and coaches. They expect it from their leaders. It doesn’t have to be a long session. Just few minutes of clear, honest and direct feedback, on a regular basis, keep them motivated and engaged. Their quest for knowledge is apparent and they acknowledge that they have many things to learn. Organizations need to help them gain that missing knowledge, especially by appealing to the desire for the experiential learning.
World is getting more and more mechanized, automated, robotized and digitized. Even the oldest economy, agriculture, is poised for productive use of drones and AI. Millennial's are in demand everywhere for driving rapid technological advancements. World is poised for a rapid jump in productivity. The old concepts of human resource planning and management must change. The time is ripe for developing a “Flexible People System,” to ensure availability of the required talent, in a short time, from anywhere in the world. There is a lot of talent to be found worldwide, and if you are looking for it, you can find it. The key is to cast a wider net.
Millennial's thrive on open access, growth, efficiency and freedom. Using Uber, Amazon, smartphone apps, and living downtown seems to be the most efficient lifestyle. Millennial's are thinking about time in the big picture sense and treat time with more respect. With changes happening so rapidly today, a lot of the rules that Gen X live by are outdated. Technology is augmenting and replacing human judgement and enabling much better and quicker decisions. With the disruptive impact of data-powered AI combined with machine learning and deep learning, the possibilities to transform and reshape today’s digital world are endless, especially upon the full implementation of the 5G network and the Internet of Things. All these demand new skills, possessed by the Millennial's.
If these developments are any indication, they point to the fact that business leaders should be strategic thinkers. They are business partners who sit in the war room, helping executives plot the blueprint for growth. In most cases, talents will be key to achieving this strategic goal.
