News

Shifting Skills Market

June 10 2021

I’m sure I’m not alone in having some robust debates about the future workplace. Will we all rush back to the office gleefully skipping up the steps to sit with our work chums like we used to? Will the more introverted of us (yes, that’s you fellow accountants!) remain happily huddled in our kitchens shouting, “upper right, click there” and various other “you’re on mutisms”? Who knows? It’s an interesting conundrum for leadership.

Opportunities arising from disruption are vast. We have discovered that technology has enabled remote working in a way that has never been seen before. Many of us are used to a day of video calls now. Yet two years ago we were hopping on planes and spending huge amounts of time in the car to attend face-to-face meetings. No more. Yet recent surveys show that productivity is up, the environment is cleaner, and employees are happy to save a heap of time and money on commuting.

As business leaders, we are all considering how we keep the best and lose the worst aspects of remote working.

Opportunities arising from disruption are vast. We have discovered that technology has enabled remote working in a way that has never been seen before. Many of us are used to a day of video calls now. Yet two years ago we were hopping on planes and spending huge amounts of time in the car to attend face-to-face meetings. No more. Yet recent surveys show that productivity is up, the environment is cleaner, and employees are happy to save a heap of time and money on commuting.

Many organisations have discovered that they have access to a much broader skill base in the new environment. There is significantly more capacity and capability on offer. We no longer have to hire within a geographical region (unless there’s a requirement for regular physical attendance such as in the manufacturing sector).

Sounds great. But whilst we have access to a much larger pool of talent, there’s equally more competition for labour as other organisations come to the same realisation. So, we need to ensure we are maximising our hiring potential. We will not resolve today’s issues with yesterday’s solutions. We need to change our hiring focus and the management model that goes with it.

And therein lies the rub. Skills are attributes, not people. People are people. So whatever way we cut it, leadership must recognise the fundamental fact that an organisation is not simply a collection of disparate skills, drawn together for a variety of differing motivations. That is unlikely to be the way that we want our clients to feel about us.  Changing our management style and approach to recognise that great and motivated people deliver great things, will result in great customer experiences.  It comes down to culture, collaboration and drawing people together as a team.

We are seeing traditional functional leadership and managerial roles begin to wane in favour of a less hierarchical, flatter, structure. Teams are enabled to feel more connected to their colleagues, and to the enterprise.  There is an emerging division of technical leadership and people leadership. Being fantastic at what we do does not automatically make us fantastic at leading a team. Promotions based on excelling at technical skills no longer equates to excelling at interpersonal skills. Leadership in today’s workplace requires excelling at both.

Choice and freedom are becoming key considerations for individuals as they assess which organisation to join for their next career move. Those organisations that dictate hierarchal working patterns will find their labour market shrinking. For many, the future office is simply a collaboration and innovation hub. We will go for a purpose, not because it’s 9am on a Monday.

Successful transition from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic working will rely entirely upon trust. Creating and maintaining an environment where people feel trusted, and trust in leadership, relies on clarity. Clearly articulated expectations, goals and ambitions drive success. Clarity about targets, and the freedom and genuine empowerment to work out the best way to meet those targets is essential. Measuring outcomes, not specific pre-defined activities, is the new accountability model.

Moving with the times to embrace new, flexible, ways of working at all levels is now essential to business success. The most formidable barrier to economic recovery in the UK today is labour shortage. Labour supply has fallen at its fastest rate in four years according to the latest Jobs Report from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

We used to compete for customers. Now we compete for labour. Get the right people, build a collaborative and empowered winning team, then the customers will come…

Moving with the times to embrace new, flexible, ways of working at all levels is now essential to business success. The most formidable barrier to economic recovery in the UK today is labour shortage. Labour supply has fallen at its fastest rate in four years according to the latest Jobs Report from KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

The Author

Sheila Bryant