Symes utopian work framework
We are transforming businesses in response to an age that requires an entirely different approach to its people strategy.
Focus on social issues
Professor Ian Wiliamson of the Melbourne School of Business made the case at the World Business Forum 2017 that for businesses to stay relevant, create new customer bases and identify untapped talent pools they must focus on social issues. By doing this, organisations can serve society and be profitable along the way.
Create a design-your-life model ...
Managers and leaders are holding their staff back by limiting what they do. Forget "flexibility", part-time roles, full-time roles and set hours. Autonomy is the number one key to motivation, to creativity and to productivity.
When staff don’t have ownership and they are not asked to contribute their own unique skills and gifts, they tend to switch off and revert to whingeing about dirty cups in the office kitchen.
Modern individuals thrive on choice, let individuals live the life they want to live. Let them choose when they want to work and where. This will open up the workforce and allow those who are restricted by the standard work framework a way in.
Have employees as consultants
It's time to stop thinking of staff as employees, but rather as consultants, who are providing their expertise. The framework for an individual's work should be deliverable and project based. Time is not the currency of work anymore. Give people the opportunity to contribute, to think, to come up with solutions. Have faith. The consultants know the answers. Get rid of meetings while you're there too!
What do they want? Ask
So many organisations in Australia are having conversations that were popular 20 years ago. How can we transform our performance management program? How do we deal with low engagement scores? Everyone in business tends to focus on the problems. Let's forget about the problems and ask a different question. "Are you happy at work?" Lean in with appreciative inquiry to find out the answer, stay away from annual surveys or questionnaires.
Hire for diversity or risk irrelevancy
Hiring for diversity is no longer a feel-good or compliance requirement. If organisations don't become more diverse it will be a case of survival of the fittest. Diversity is imperative to creativity and creativity is imperative to innovation.
Foster a coaching culture
Leadership has come a long way since the 1980s but it needs to go further. To thrive in the age of disruption, a culture of coaching needs to be present at all levels, leadership or no leadership. A coaching culture is one in which there is a belief that the individual has the answers within themselves to thrive – they don't need help or to be given a hand to lift up. They need to be asked the right questions.
Cross pollinate
Host a cross-pollination day, invite your competition, encourage individuals from different industries, people with diverse backgrounds. Host creation time sessions – one specific and one random. The 2016 IBM annual report predicts that cross polination will ensure the survival of organisations.
Celebrate individuals, not company culture
Organisations need to spend less time focusing on recruiting for company fit. Sometimes the black sheep are the great hires. When Brad Bird was directing animated feature film The Incredibles, he asked the HR department for the black sheep, the misfits, the individuals who didn't fit in with Pixar culture. The film went on to win an Oscar for best animation film and was a huge critical and financial success.
Symes Group can help your organisation change the way it works...
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