Where is the office now?

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by Julia Hobsbawm

We’re in a new phase of workplace evolution. Adapting to three key shifts in working practices will help people and productivity.

Picture a snow globe as the representation of office life. A century ago, it might have had a typewriter or a skyscraper amid the swirling flakes. There would have been a desk, or a filing cabinet. It wasn’t until the internet came about that these things were rendered all but obsolete. We really hadn’t taken stock of this development until the pandemic forced the knowledge worker home to work at kitchen tables and ironing boards in what turned out to be the biggest workplace experiment since the Industrial Revolution.

Today’s snow globe might contain a laptop or a smart phone, but beyond that, anything goes. The disruption of the past two years has proven that the nine-to-five physical office is out; it will be skills, not schedules and proximity, that determine who works from where, and this gives impetus to hiring across time zones and boundaries. Rather than making a daily commute, people will choose where they work—a new way of working that I call the Nowhere Office. Why nowhere? Partly because we are in a liminal space between one phase of work and another, and partly because nowhere is an anagram of “Here, now” and represents the collapse of old long-term planning. Nothing is certain, everything is moving fast. We are nowhere near where we ever were in working life and are unlikely to return to this place again.

Entirely new patterns of work are emerging. The details of hybrid work are still unclear and will continue to change, but it is already the new normal. Last year, in a survey for the Prudential Insurance Company of America of 2,000 people in the US who were working remotely, 87% of respondents said they intended to continue working at least one day a week from home after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Globally, the world’s workers wanted to work from home significantly more post-pandemic than they were allowed to before 2020. The expectation today is that 40 to 60% of working hours will soon be spent in employer or client offices, with the remainder spent working from home (WFH). Companies compelling workers to come back to the office full time are experiencing pushback: when Goldman Sachs—whose CEO, David Solomon, famously called WFH an “aberration”—tried to do it, only 50% of employees complied. How did we get to this moment, and what trends are coming next? Continue reading →

How interview questions are changing in 2022

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BY GWEN MORAN

The Great Resignation, a return to the office, and a renewed focus on DEI are shaping what you’ll be asked in your next interview.

Over the past two years, companies and employees have had to adapt to new ways of working, ranging from shifting how they serve customers, to where employees work. But now, things are changing again. Many companies are planning to welcome employees back to the office, at least part of the time.

When the pandemic hit and many knowledge workers went home to work, organizations still needed to hire new employees and shifted to remote recruiting and onboarding. Now, says Eric Sydell, executive vice president at Modern Hire, things are changing again. And companies need to be sure they have the right talent to navigate that shift.

“I think a lot of companies [before the pandemic] were pretty stable in what they were looking for. And then, moving into the pandemic, obviously, things changed,” Sydell says. “We saw other types of competencies and questions become more emphasized—things that have to do with how much work ethic you have; how conscientious you are; how comfortable you are working independently.”

Some of that will remain, but companies have new concerns and priorities, as many bring employees back to the office, and become hybrid workplaces. Here are some of the topics and questions experts say prospective hires should be prepared to answer in 2022 and beyond:

VACCINATION STATUS

As employees head back to the office, nearly two-thirds of employers are mandating vaccines, according to staffing and recruitment firm Manpower Group. So, expect questions about your vaccination status, says executive career consultant Sarah Hutchison. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued guidance that generally allows employers to require employees physically entering the workplace to be vaccinated. And an August 2021 survey from Resume Builder found that roughly a third (33%) of hiring managers reported eliminating résumés that don’t include vax status. Continue reading →

5 ways to get out of a work slump

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BY ART MARKMAN

An occasional day of malaise is normal, but if you’re regularly feeling unmotivated, it might be time to consider how to get out of your slump.

Motivation comes and goes. Chances are, you have some days where you hit the ground running, and there isn’t anything that can stop you, and other days where your thoughts come in slow motion and you spend a lot of time staring at your phone or flipping through random websites.

A day of malaise every now and again isn’t something to worry about. A decent meal, some exercise, or a good night’s sleep ought to take care of that. But, as that day stretches into the next (and the next), it might be time to think about how to snap you out of your slump.

Here are five things to consider:

REMIND YOURSELF WHY

One thing about the modern workplace is that you rarely get an end-to-end view of the work you do. The meetings you attend may influence the development of a product or service, but on most days you’re not looking at the end product or the people whose lives are affected by your work.

It can demotivating to feel like you’re just a cog in a big wheel. To reset that motivation, take a step back and think about what your organization really does. Engage with it. If you make a product, go take a look at it. If you provide a service, engage with some of the customers or clients. If you build websites, take a look at the site itself. Find a way to appreciate the way your efforts contribute to a bigger outcome.

As a university administrator, I spend a lot of time in meetings with people talking about ideas. Luckily, I can step out of my office and walk across campus and see the people we serve. Sometimes I take a midday walk just as a reminder that I am part of an organization that influences the lives of thousands of college students each year.

TAKE A CLASS

Motivation can also fail when you feel like you have stopped growing in your job. When you first start a new position, there is a ton to learn. Eventually, though, you may feel like you can handle anything that comes at you.

At that point, you might want to focus on your own personal growth. Pick a work skill you’d like to develop or improve. If your company has a lot of learning and development opportunities, select one that will address that skill. Otherwise, there are a large number of programs you can attend in-person or online to learn more. Dive in.

ADOPT A PET (PROJECT)

Some people are lucky enough to be able to drive a lot of their daily agenda. Most people’s workdays are taken up with tasks that are selected by someone else—other managers, or perhaps the needs of clients and customers. That feeling that your life is being dragged along by forces outside of your control is also demotivating.

In that case, you need to reinvigorate your sense of agency. Find something at work—even a small something—that you can drive. Having a project where you can make key decisions and move it forward allows you to engage in some enjoyable problem-solving knowing that the outcome rests on your efforts. In addition, each step of the process can give you a feeling of accomplishment that will carry over to the other tasks you’re working on.

TAKE A MENTEE

After about your first month in the workforce, you have a perspective that differs from that of everyone around you. The things you know and the skills you have are likely to be ones that other people will want to know about. So, looking for an opportunity to mentor others should be a regular part of your work to ensure that you spread your expertise around.

What may be less obvious is that serving as a mentor benefits you as well. When you teach something to someone else, you have to view the world through their eyes. Often, that exercise can connect you to the factors that motivate those other people to work. In that way, mentoring others can energize you for the work you do. On top of that, when you discover that someone else has used something you have taught them to advance a project or to achieve a goal, that feeling also provides a boost.

PHONE A FRIEND

When you’re feeling down about your work, you also start to feel isolated from your colleagues. Give one of them a call, or grab a cup of coffee or lunch. Talk a little about how you’re feeling and your lack of motivation.

There are lots of good reasons to want to discuss this with a colleague. For one, good colleagues provide a sympathetic ear. For another, it normalizes discussions of the ups and downs of work, which helps everyone to feel less guilty when they’re not energized to work. In addition, your colleague may share some suggestions they have used when feeling similarly. Finally, just by talking through your situation with someone else, you often notice things about yourself that you don’t see when you just think about it. In the course of conversing, you may discover your own path forward.
Source: Fast Company

Will Anyone Love Legacy IT?

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Peter Bendor-Samuel Contributor

I shared my perspectives on various service provider firms many times over the years in blogs, especially at times of industry consolidation, or when new technologies and business models impact the market, as economic cycles ebb and flow, and as relationships and contracts change because of new expectations of the providers’ clients. My intent in these observations is to help enterprise clients understand how trends can affect their decision-making regarding third-party services. I now want to share my updated opinion on a service provider firm that I have closely monitored since its CEO changed in September 2019.

The third-party services industry is in the midst of a fundamental change as it pivots from building and supporting legacy systems to focusing on modernizing legacy systems and service providers develop and support their clients’ journey into the new cloud-based digital future. This headlong rush to the future and the greener pastures that it represents poses significant challenges to firms that have large legacy estates that need to be sustained and nurtured.

The DXC story

DXC Technology is a Fortune 200 global IT services company formed in 2017 when Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE) spun off its Enterprise Services business and merged it with Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC). Continue reading →

How to Interview a Sales Leader

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BY NIGEL GREEN

Most sales leaders were comfortable in the years before COVID – and they could ignore strategic planning, expenses, and talent management and still look successful. But the pandemic exposed weaknesses in the sales leader talent market. While their experience may have looked good on paper, how much of their success should be credited to favorable market conditions rather than their unique talents?

The world is different now – not only with markets but with the sales staff’s work/life expectations. If you’re looking for a sales leader, you need to dig deeper in interviews to make sure they are skilled at strategic planning, have a high financial IQ, and are dangerously good at talent management. According to Gartner 70% of sales leaders express low confidence in their ability to translate strategy into action.

In this blog I’ll explore each competence, then offer some questions to ask candidates during interviews.

Planning Is Key to Sales Survival

I coach a lot of executive sales leaders. When I ask them to review their strategic plan – something that not only details revenue per month, but assigns the revenue to sales reps, products, and even customers – many of them say they don’t have one “in the true sense.”

Planning ensures the current sales strategy aligns with future business goals; anticipates the loss of key strategic accounts; and identifies potential offering pivots that can create competitive advantages. Continue reading →