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The Future of Work is under attack: literally. The current fear of the Coronavirus has exacerbated the existing state of increased worker anxiety, depression, isolation and disengagement. They are all at all-time highs across the globe. And the pressure keeps mounting as the world moves ever faster.  In the U.S. alone, it’s costing billions of dollars in lost revenue and workforce productivity.

The Future of Work and the Workplace of the Future are huge topics of conversation. Yet, we’re still SOOO confused.  We ask, what it will look like? What it will feel like? Where and how will we work? How many hours will we attend to work and how will we balance that with all our other life challenges? How will we handle disease, global challenges, technological changes (robots, AI, digital, etc.), and how will we survive as workers?  It is an amazing question, especially today.

WE ARE MISSING THE POINT!  We are forgetting the single most important Future of Work component: the workers themselves.  The Worker of The Future. What will they do?

To break through all this uncertainty and confusion, to succeed in the future workplace, we need to first make sure we’re focusing on the right thing: the worker. Then, we need a system that helps and supports our workers as they navigate this period of tremendous change. Adjusting our focus and implementing a proven system is the only way to develop better connection, better engagement, and better teams. If we can figure that out, we’ll have better performance and financial results, better impact, better communities, and a ultimately a better world! 

Why We Need to Be Asking the Right Questions About the Future of Work

The workplace is changing and this change is creating enormous pressure. Industry research and our own independent polls of 20,000 people demonstrate the impact of big data, robotics, AI and other technologies our future. Here are the stats that we need to be concerned about and now with our new anxiety about Coronavirus, add fear on top of that – yikes!

  • 375M people will have new job categories,
  • 41% of companies will be fully automated,
  • 47% of jobs will be gone by 2030,
  • 67% of CEOS believe technology will create more value than human capital,
  • 44% of leaders believe automation will make people largely irrelevant,
  • Workers are scared too: 53% believe people may become irrelevant and 50% believe that they will need new jobs. 

Management and employees are both uncertain. As a result, fear, anxiety, depression, lost productivity and disengagement pervades the workplace.

But to bridge this gap, move out of uncertainty, and create engaged workplaces and workers of the future, you must put your focus where it belongs. On the people. People need people and people need to matter. 

Reports from Korn Ferry, McKinsey, Josh Bersin, and The World Economic Forum show that Emotional Intelligence and effective human interaction are the real skills necessary to win in the workplace and create engagement.  Human interaction will become even more important to succeed, connect, provide value and grow businesses.  And it is multifaceted. It includes purpose, meaning and an integrated and diverse approach to work, community, and family. Humans want connection and meaning. They want contribution and impact. They want to feel seen and heard. They want immediate feedback. But most of all, they want to matter.

The Hacks, Tools and Solution:

Let’s create that connection and bridge the gap between the Worker of the Future and the Future of Work. After coaching over 20,000 Millennials, Gen Zs and their managers, we’ve developed a simple 3-hack system that will help solve the workplace disengagement crisis. This system can be rapidly implemented today to shift the way you lead and positively impact your company’s bottom line.

Hack #1: Turn Your Workplace Upside Down:

Learn what your most critical audience (your workforce) needs from you to create high performance. Ask them questions on an individual level, create focus groups, and send out surveys. Get a sense of what they need and value in order to meet them where they are and utilize them in creating a culture that defines the Future of Work within your company. Safety will be added to this list for sure so let’s have the dialogue: what do workers need from you to feel safe and protected? Utilize our tools like The Platinum Rule, “WIFThem,” and our signature communication tool, “GPS” –  Gratitude, Permission, Shared Experience

Hack #2: Create Meaningful Work:

Many studies demonstrate that meaning, purpose, impact and contribution are the most important things that workers of all ages want from the workplace. To create meaningful work, make sure your organization is addressing these two key things for each of your employees: providing opportunities for learning/growing and creating a sense of community. This is the way you will ensure the work feels meaningful, no matter the task. Now more than ever when we have been pushed to a new normal , which includes fear of survival, meaning matters.

Hack #3: Reskill from the Inside/Out on Emotional Intelligence:

According to the World Economic Forum, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is key for 2020 and beyond. Additional research, including the 2017-2020 Bersin reports on HR and talent predictions support this. To help your people develop a higher EQ, focus first on finding a way to connect with them. Then, create a safe workplace and encourage them to be vulnerable in sharing the truth of who they are. Finally, mentor and coach them in the moment, not during a quarterly or annual performance review. Today’s workplace moves fast and tomorrow’s workplace, even faster. You need to help your people grow and develop new skills for success now. Particularly, are they capable of being managed remotely, engaged through self-motivation, trusted by coworkers, and still learning and growing?  What systems will you put into place to help them?

Doing the work and committing to using this 3-hack system MATTERS. If we don’t put our focus in the right place (on the Worker of the Future) there won’t BE a Workplace of the Future. Because without the people, none of it really matters. So start solving the disengagement crisis in your organization today! Use our system, check out our free tools, and read the rest of our blog for even more implementation tips. Reach out to us to learn how we can support you in creating lasting change through our high-performance coaching, keynote speeches, and workshops.

Within 24 hours of release, Pokémon GO surged in popularity unlike anything the app store has seen before. In terms of time users spend on the app, it surpassed Snapchat, Twitter and even Facebook![1] If you’re unfamiliar with Pokémon GO, it’s an augmented-reality game that launched in the United States late last week. To break it down, the game lays a sort of semi-transparent Poké-world over your actual, physical location, which you can explore by literally walking around while staring at your screen.

The game has been all the hype over the past week, striking a chord in the millennial generation. Whether you are into gaming or not, you should pay attention. What they accomplished are hints to what your business might do to attract millennial customers.

 

Reason 1: Technology

Millennials were the first generation to grow up with technology being an influential part of their lives. Pokémon GO offers the best of both worlds: the joy of playing an addictive video game combined with the experience of interacting with others in the real world.

While technology has created a world where many millennials prefer to stay inside and immerse themselves alone in their screens, Pokémon GO has brought them together. Certain hotspots in the game attract more users, resulting in more physical, face-to-face interactions. The wild success in such a short time conveys that millennials do want to get out of the house and meet other people. By leveraging the inherent desire for human interaction along with a fun, addictive app, other companies can mimic this strategy to capture the attention of millennials. Forbes estimated that Pokémon GO is bringing in over $1.6 million in revenue per day in the United States alone.

 

Reason 2: First Brush with Millennial Nostalgia

Another reason this game has struck gold among generation Y is because it’s nostalgic. Pokémon became popular in the late 90’s, both on television and in video games (think back to the dinosaur age of Nintendo 64 and Gameboy.) The game has awakened positive, childhood memories among millennials. The familiarity of the app has proved to be a hit, and as the New York Times put it, “Millennial’s First Nostalgic Blast.” The game’s success has blazed a trail for other companies to leverage nostalgic games and memories of generation Y to create future products.

While it’s too early to tell if the game will plateau soon or become a “one hit wonder” for Niantic, the makers of the game, Pokémon GO has given businesses and marketers a look into the future of what millennials love.

The world is changing, as you can see from Pokémon GO, and those who understand and adapt to the interests and attention of millennials have a real opportunity to create  economic value and winning products and services.

 

 

[1] Lancaster, Luke. “Mobile Users Spent More Time on Pokemon Go than Facebook.” CNET. N.p., n.d. Web.