This week’s Center for the Transformation of Work (CTW) community call features Agnieszka Porebska who is VP External Relations at Talent Alpha. During this meeting she will present the important data and insights from the recently released Future of Work Report 2021: The A3 Revolution. A3 stands for Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere which means workers are getting work done on their own terms and companies need a multi-dimensional strategy to stay on track. Join us to learn more and discuss.
Chat room transcript:
00:04:03 Todd Brous: Hey Mafé!
00:04:17 Mafé Rabino: Hi Todd!
00:04:53 Mark Hannant: Evening all from Mumbai
00:05:21 Todd Brous: Happy Diwali!
00:05:32 Carin I Knoop: UHU
00:05:33 Mafé Rabino: Warm Greeting Everyone!
00:05:35 Carin I Knoop: we can run wild
00:10:16 Balaji Bondili: Clubhouse downloads are falling off a cliff: The app was downloaded only about 900,000 times in April, down from February’s peak of 9.6 million
00:13:48 Carin I Knoop: do rats count as “not drinking alone”?
00:14:10 Dyan Finkhousen: Welsome Akhil!
00:14:13 Dyan Finkhousen: Welcome
00:14:21 Balaji Bondili: In NYC, you cant say, I am eating Pizza alone…
00:14:43 Dyan Finkhousen: Welcome Amy and Ray!
00:15:13 Amy Haworth: Amy Haworth, Citrix where I lead employee experience. Where people and digital and physical meet.
00:15:39 AGNIESZKA PORĘBSKA: Welcome!
00:15:51 Todd Brous: Welcome Meghna!
00:16:09 Dash Desai: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dashdesai/
00:16:09 Carin I Knoop: Welcome Meghna! So nice to have you here and a different generation. I am a case writer at HBS — read the footnotes! 😉
00:16:43 Raymond Wolf: Ray.wolf@a2kpartners.com
00:17:39 Carin I Knoop: Always great conversations.
00:18:12 Chris Link Duarte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linkdreams/
00:18:21 Chris Link Duarte: c.duarte@linkingdreams.org
00:18:50 Dyan Finkhousen: Wow – that sounds like quite a celebration @Mark!
00:19:10 ashley beaudoin: Thanks Mark!
00:19:15 CTW: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhannantteammagenta/
00:20:21 Mark Hannant: mark@teammagenta.com
00:20:50 AGNIESZKA PORĘBSKA: https://talent-alpha.com/future-of-work-report-download/
00:32:51 Steve Rader: It really seems that workers are starting to push back on this idea that an organization “owns” their time….
00:33:18 Dash Desai: We are seeing the same pushback in UK too
00:34:46 Dash Desai: Employers are starting to mandate x number of days in the “traditional” office and people are starting to push back. Some opting to leave. A few HR teams tried negotiating a reduced salary for those who did not want to return and guess what… employees took up the salary hit :). Heading in the right direction
00:35:40 Raymond Wolf: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondwolf
00:35:46 Dyan Finkhousen: The tension on mandates is an interesting dynamic as well – a number of factors shifting perceptions regarding the role between firm and fte… increasing optionality on the supply side is softening the leverage of the firm
00:36:11 Carrie Leonard: I have heard anecdotally that the junior bankers at the large banks pushed very hard about return office, i.e. “forcing” the partners and MDs into the office *before* them.
00:36:45 Balaji Bondili: What we are hearing is that any pressure on staff is leading to huge attrition – the great resignation.
00:36:48 Steve Rader: @Dyan +1. @Carrie very intersting
00:37:28 Dyan Finkhousen: Super interesting @Carrie
00:37:32 Balaji Bondili: the increase in wage bill this year, we hear is as much or more than the last 2-3 years of wage increases.
00:37:59 Steve Rader: It’s as if there is a pent up “dilbert” frustration that has been given release by these new work options…
00:38:17 Mark Hannant: The idea of culture is being challenged. Companies will need to be less monolithic culturally and more heterogeneous
00:39:57 Dyan Finkhousen: Naturally more efficient markets for earning pathways, learning pathways, and enablement services mean the supply side has a more robust landscape of options, don’t have to just accept the terms any single organization on the demand side is offering.
00:40:46 Dyan Finkhousen: @Steve definitely. Perhaps a new workstream for OA… the next-gen Dilbert series for FOW
00:41:29 Steve Rader: @Dyan .. I think you are right on… close HR-based wage setting seems to have been an artificial constraint on the actual market rates that seem to be adjusting now with the more open marketplace…
00:41:40 Balaji Bondili: I am just not sure if freelancers are being actively used to fill this gap.
00:42:43 Balaji Bondili: For example: using external talent isn’t even an option on this slide?
00:43:33 Dash Desai: @Balaji, @Dyan – Do you think the negotiation balance is shifting across all industries… it certainly is in the shortage skills areas, but I wonder it is shifting for the masses
00:43:37 Steve Rader: HR definitely seems to default to internal approachs… but I don’t think they are finding real solutions
00:43:45 Dyan Finkhousen: @Steve it would be an interesting study to evaluate the post-industrial revolution frameworks for work and workforce design, and identify which design components are outdated with digital era models
00:43:46 Amy Haworth: This conversation about talent makes me think this group might be interested in this report Citrix published in 2020: Work 2035. https://www.citrix.com/content/dam/citrix/en_us/documents/analyst-report/work-2035.pdf
00:44:38 Balaji Bondili: Dash – the balance of power is shifting towards employees, but that doesn’t mean, companies are actually moving away from “depending” on FTEs.
00:44:47 Carrie Leonard: @Dyan I love that idea
00:44:57 Steve Rader: @Dyan +1
00:45:04 Dyan Finkhousen: I agree with @Balaji – I suspect we haven’t reached ‘entitlement’ yet with engagement of the freelancer workforce – more room yet to normalize
00:45:05 Mafé Rabino: Baby Boomers Retirement Report Posted by Steve King https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steveking2_the-pandemic-accelerated-boomer-retirements-activity-6861693217600090112-Tv_e
00:45:24 Balaji Bondili: I think we have gone backwards this year in the move towards open talent.
00:45:28 Chris Link Duarte: As a group, we agree that freelancers are so valuable. Open Talent is part of the wave of the future of work. I think there is something to be said about the pushback though. I imagine the commercial real estate world is not real happy that large office buildings aren’t as necessary in the future–thus, I believe that a lot of the push back is from companies that have invested large $$$ to in-person required work.
00:45:39 CTW: Open Talent Ecosystem: https://open-assembly.com/open-talent-ecosystem
00:45:48 Amy Haworth: We’re exploring how the power shifting to the worker and increase in flexible (time and place) arrangements are creating this idea of “gigs with benefits”. Where previously, being a gig worker was the only way to gain flexibility…now that flexibility is becoming available with permanent roles.
00:46:08 Balaji Bondili: HR departments are CONSUMED with the retention challenge and acquisition challenge that they have reduced focus on open talent.
00:46:18 Dyan Finkhousen: Dash – agree with Balaji… I think we’re still very much in an adjustment period (frankly probably always will be – the pendulum always swings)
00:46:31 Steve Rader: @Balaji… I would suspect that the tug of war between the past and the future is starting in full….
00:46:34 Chris Link Duarte: @Amy, can you share a link to your work?
00:46:41 Dyan Finkhousen: I love this image (and this report)
00:47:17 Steve Rader: @Balaji… agree with our assessment about HR being consumed with retention.
00:47:27 Chris Link Duarte: @ Dyan- A tug-a-war on a tightrope
00:48:29 Raymond Wolf: We’ve found that lack of policies (IT, legal, security) are the first hurdle we need to overcome with most enterprises
00:48:37 Chris Link Duarte: Agneiszka thank you so much for sharing.
00:48:59 Dash Desai: Great presentation Agnes. Thanks for the insights.
00:49:03 CTW: A recording of this call and the chat will be on our blog in a few hours after this call.
00:49:21 Steve Rader: @Agnieszka, thank you! I really love the way this report puts all of these pieces together!
00:50:26 Kannan Upadhyaya: Nice presentation
00:51:12 Mark Hannant: Policy makers in India recognising the shift and responding. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/employment-ambit-may-be-widened-to-include-gig-and-platform-workers/articleshow/87122198.cms
00:52:12 Elina Jutelyte: Thanks for sharing!
00:53:37 Steve Rader: @Balaji I’m just jealous of your IoT blinds.
00:54:08 Chris Link Duarte: Can someone share the link to the webinar that is on the screen if you have it?
00:54:32 Balaji Bondili: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-smart-blinds/ Here you go! Sharing the joy of buttons!
00:54:38 CTW: NEXT CTW CALL: 11/21: Burnout in the “Passion Economy”: Mental Health for Open Talent >>
Carin-Isabel Knoop is an Executive Director at Harvard Business School and she is passionate about encouraging human sustainability and equal access at work. Her recent article, Burnout in the “Passion Economy”: Mental Health for Open Talent, sheds light on the fact that open talent platforms are in a unique position to pioneer and design the future of work with an eye on the mental health of freelancers.
00:55:08 CTW: Carin’s article: https://carinisabelknoop.medium.com/burnout-in-the-passion-economy-mental-health-for-open-talent-56fc8ab95e65
00:56:07 Dyan Finkhousen: @Balaji – we can always count on you to raise the bar, challenge us to dream bigger dreams, and embrace the brave new world of digital transformation in every aspect of our lives!
00:56:08 Mafé Rabino: Thank you @Agnieszka for sharing a comprehensive report. I appreciate all the time you had put into it.
00:56:10 AGNIESZKA PORĘBSKA: https://talent-alpha.com/human-cloud-webinar
00:57:11 Dyan Finkhousen: @Agnieszka – amazing work, thank you so much for sharing!
00:59:49 Chris Link Duarte: Need for quality, speed and efficiency
01:00:21 AGNIESZKA PORĘBSKA: Thank you! and thank you for your support @Dyan
01:00:49 CTW: When these companies have a clogged toilet (problem) who do they call? A plumber (the “freelance” solution to the problem)
01:00:53 Steve Rader: Totally agree… but that seems like it is a real dead end given the rate of change in skills needed.
01:00:54 Todd Brous: That mindset shift is super important!
01:01:08 Dyan Finkhousen: Mindset has to precede methodology
01:01:17 Raymond Wolf: we are getting traction explaining OTE as a solution for upskilling
01:01:31 Steve Rader: I need to jump to my next call. Thanks for another amazing call!!
01:01:50 Mark Hannant: So the response to the ‘great resignation’ is ‘great retention’ – rather than a reimagining a more dynamic workforce strategy
01:01:59 Barry Matthews: Awesome job Agnes!
01:02:02 Raymond Wolf: Also seeing that companies are still in the process of exhausting all the traditional talent solutions before moving to free lancers
01:02:12 ashley beaudoin: Gotta jump, excellent conversation as always!
01:02:16 Kannan Upadhyaya: Thanks ! See you all in next meeting.
01:02:55 Dyan Finkhousen: The pandemic first exposed the fragility in our outdated supply chains… and now we’re seeing the stress fractures in our outdated work and workforce design structures
01:03:06 Todd Brous: Thank you!!!
01:03:07 Mafé Rabino: Thank you Everyone!!!
01:03:15 Erik Stettler: Thank you! Great call.
01:03:16 Carin I Knoop: thank you!!
01:03:16 Dyan Finkhousen: <3 All!!
01:03:17 Balaji Bondili: Thank you for the conversation!
01:03:20 Mark Hannant: Great conversation. Good to see you all. Happy Diwali
01:03:25 Marcello Magalhaes: 🙏🏽
01:03:27 Raymond Wolf: Great conversation…
01:03:31 Carin I Knoop: yes looking forward to it — we can change the antiquated work rules
