Top 5 Workplace Trends to Watch in 2011 – Part 5

Today is the final installment of this five part series on the top workplace trends to pay attention to in 2011.

Entreprenuerism

Many organizations have become bogged down in bureaucracy, in top-down, management heavy hierarchies where the most simple questions and business issues have to go up and down and all around before an answer can be delivered. In business this might involve layers of managers, and consultations with boards of directors.

In the non-profit sector, this may be the interface between the Executive Director and the elected Board.

Having worked in bureaucracies and held leadership and governance positions at local, regional, provincial and national levels in a variety of organizations, I’ve learned that many organizations become paralyzed in inertia at various points in time. They become stuck and have a difficult time moving forward, or driving innovation in their organizations, creating new products or services. All of this will eventually impact the bottom line.

A specific example I would use is the lack of diversity and the glass ceiling that most corporate and even non-profit boards still labour under. It’s really quite astonishing to many that the ceiling is still firmly in place, limiting the opportunities of women and people of diverse cultures from bringing their assets, wisdom and experience to these levels.

The statistics on the numbers of new businesses is not yet bearing out that a lot of people are jumping into entrepreneurism and moving from paid employment into their own businesses. We may see some movement in the statistics though because there really appears to be a growing interest in self-employment.

This is particularly noteworthy for women. Today’s workplace environments are not working for a growing number of individuals who simply do not want to work under the old rules. They don’t want to expose themselves to some of the toxic and unhealthy work environments so many employers create and sustain for their employees. They want the kind of work-life balance that can be had in self-employment. They want more freedom and the ability to access and use their creativity and innovation in their work. Many organizations simply do not value, or make real space for these things and they want the top-down status quo management ethos to continue to be the only game in town.

Many of the younger generations also find these traditional workplace cultures to be in opposition to the values that have been instilled in them. They are used to and comfortable with rapid change, growth and innovation of technology. Many have been socialized to provide significant input, feedback and leadership into various facets of their lives. Once in organizations that are designed in the more traditional way, they find them stifling, lack of opportunities to share and have their ideas and creativity used, or acknowledged. They find these organizations stagnating and running around in circles doing the same things over and over, whether they work or not. When told “this is the way it’s always been done” or discouraged from trying new ways of doing things, they become disheartened, bored and disconnected. They feel like their efforts and ideas have no traction and this translates to feeling like they have no place in the organization and no future. They don’t like feeling like cogs.

People believe in themselves, in their abilities to provide services and products and help others in ways that they find larger organizations cannot respond to in the same way. The idea of building their own value-driven organizations is going to become an increasingly desirable career option as mid and new career individuals realize their ability to develop their careers, change employers and “working for the man” is just not as fun, or as rewarding as being their own boss.

How can employers compete with the concept of becoming entrepreneurs? As organizations begin the important work of succession planning leaders need to start analyzing their organizational structures and mandates. Here are some questions that can guide this strategic assessment and analysis.

• Are all divisions and workers clear on the mission, mandate and purpose of the business, or organization?
• Is the current structure achieving the best results, the most profit?
• Could the organization be less top-heavy?
• Would innovation and decision-making be improved by a different structure?
• Do work groups and teams all fit together and share an interconnected understanding of being part of the greater whole of the organization and what it’s purpose is?
• How are top performers and high potential employees identified? Is there a plan to develop these employees?
• Is there a mentoring program in place?
• Is the organization engaging its’ employees in activities that encourage and reward creativity and innovation?
• Are there opportunities for employees at all levels of the organization to develop their knowledge, skills and abilities and in their careers within the organization?
• Does the organization encourage fresh ideas, goal setting and action planning and reward employees for timely resolution of problems and challenges?
• Is there a way to utilize entrepreneurial values and vision within different work teams and divisions of an organization?
• For non-profits, is there a way to become more involved in creating social enterprises opportunities within the agency and for clients?
• Is there a way to speed up decision-making and responses to immediate needs and demands?
• What are the short-term and long-term visions for the organization? Is it enough to just stay the course and keep doing what the organization does best? What are the pros and cons of this? Will this be enough to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment?
• Is the original vision and purpose of the organization still relevant?
• Is there a need for strategic analysis and planning for the vision going into the future?
• Is the team you have now able to carry the vision of the organization forward?

Conclusion

It is not an option for today’s businesses, or other organizations to remain treading water in one place. As we’ve seen over the last few years, survival is not a given for any organizational entity. Change is the only consistent variable most organizations are faced with in today’s world. How the leaders of today’s organizations chose to dance with change is doing to make the biggest impact for the future.

Paying heed to these top five workplace trends in 2011 will go a long way toward creating successful and sustainable organizations in the future.

About the Author:

Tracey Young, MSW, RSW is a Labour Relations and Forensic Social Work Consultant with Catalyst Enterprises BC, based in British Columbia. Find out more about the services we provide here: http://www.catalystbc.ca/