Right Reality: The Future of Work

by David Batstone

"What could the workplace look like if it were designed to promote both organizational and individual flexibility, and what must executives and individuals do to realize this vision?"

That question drove the Career Innovation Company (CI) out of Oxford, England, to conduct a global survey of knowledge workers. Its results point to a workforce that is fairly disenchanted with the traditional structures of work that still dominate the market.

Here are some of the top line results of CI's survey:

*55% are dissatisfied with their sense of achievement at work *56% are dissatisfied with their ability to achieve work-life balance *52% are dissatisfied with their ability to gain new experiences *54% are dissatisfied with the way their skills are being used

Since work is unsatisfying for over half the workforce, it is time to re-think the rules of productive labor. Changes already are underway in many companies, for the most part due to the demand of talented workers for new arrangements.

I am lucky to be on the staff of an innovative non-profit. For the past five years I have served as Executive Editor of Sojourners magazine [hyperlink], headquartered in Washington, DC. When the chief executive of Sojourners, Jim Wallis, initially asked me to come on staff and help the magazine create an online presence that would enhance its magazine constituency, I balked because I did not want to leave my home on the other side of the country in San Francisco nor leave my tenured faculty position at the University of San Francisco.

Sojourners was imaginative enough to see that I could do my work - albeit with some hurdles that distance does create - without having to be present in the DC office. The organization also adapted to the idea that I could carry more than one "job title" - professor and editor. The wonders of new technologies, of course, make this arrangement possible.

Evidently, there are heaps of other people out there who are looking for innovative ways to practice their vocation. Using its research as a springboard, the CI group came up with a "Manifesto" to address the need for more flexibility and creativity in the employment contract. The Manifesto recommends six strategies:

1) Work should be defined in roles that play to people's strengths
How many search committees have you served on where the job position was defined by "tasks" rather than capacities? I quickly lose patience, because the fast-changing pace of organizational life begs for talent that can learn-to-learn, and adapt skills to changing demands. In that spirit, the global charity Oxfam is moving away from traditional job descriptions. Oxfam internally uses the language of "cut and paste" personnel, meaning its employees may be deployed in transitional teams to enable rapid response to unplanned humanitarian crises.

2) Most employers don't need exclusive control
According to CI research, 10% of full-time workers and 28% of part-timers have at least one other job. It is a growing trend: Organizations see an advantage in allowing their workers to perform in other, non-competing enterprises. They gain broader knowledge and diverse experience that enhances their capacities. Short of that, managers should begin to share talent between business units, encouraging skill mobility within their own company.

3) Design learning into work
Traditional hire-and-fire methods (including the churn of outsourcing) carries a high, though hidden, cost. Any manager with her salt can tell you that turnover is wasteful and expensive, hurts morale and depletes knowledge.

The future belongs to those firms that figure out how to re-train and re-deploy their talent. CI points to the pay-off in Bell Canada's investment in its "Bell People First" learning program. The company figures it saved $46 million at a re-training cost of just $7m - a 600% return.

4) Define work in projects, not weeks or years
Why is most work divided into 35-40 hour chunks? Most customer needs have little or no connection to the working week. We are seeing this transition in the workplace already - line managers are being replaced by project managers, and many workers report to more than one boss.

Years ago I changed the conversation with my consulting clients. When asked what I would charge per hour, I asked them what results they wanted me to achieve, and based on that I gave them a project cost. In that way, I maintain control over how, when, and where I do my work. The benefit for the client side, they know exactly how much to budget for the project.

5) Work commitments can be fitted to phase of life
Women who leave the workplace for maternity leave often are made to feel like exiles upon their return. In the emerging workplace, they are the model of a non-traditional career. A rising body of workers are moving in and out of employment to spend time in the non-profit sector, or to become self-employed, or to take care of an aging parent. The aging of the workforce will accelerate the demand for flexibility. The CI survey revealed that 97% of those nearing retirement said that they would be willing to do paid work after they start drawing a pension.

6) We can choose where we work most productively
The office does not have to be the primary location for work. Once workers are judged by their outcomes, they can discern the most productive location for their tasks. SunMicrosystems made a concerted effort to free its knowledge workers from the office in 2004, and saved nearly $71 million in real estate costs, according to the CI study. Beyond the telecommuter, companies need to reconsider the design of office spaces in order to maximize team formation, creativity and accelerated decision making.

I trust that the CI Manifesto does not come across as science fiction to you. The world of work is changing, at a differing pace in unique industries and geographical locations. But a "new deal" is emerging, and all workers - and the companies that seek their talent - should re-assess their assumptions about what would make them a valuable player.

Download the CI Manifesto for free.