Good morning.
One of the striking characteristics of the business environment over the last three years has been heightened attention to employees. Their health, their values and beliefs, their preferences for when, where and how to work—all have rocketed up the list of concerns for CEOs.
With reports of layoffs now a daily occurrence—Salesforce, Amazon, and Goldman Sachs are among those who’ve announced reductions recently—it’s worth asking: Will corporate concern for employees’ wishes and welfare diminish as labor market slack increases?
A new report out this morning from the folks at Deloitte, who sponsor this newsletter, offers a window into why the change may be less than market economics might suggest. The fundamental nature of work is changing, and as a result, “organizations will have to abandon illusions of complete control” as “workers assume greater influence and accountability for organizational and societal outcomes.”
At the core of this change, the authors say, is a shift away from the notion of “jobs”—a predefined set of functional responsibilities assigned to a particular worker. That made sense at a time when change was slow and workers were cogs in an industrial machine. But in today’s world, a “skills-based approach” to managing work and workers is critical, and a much higher degree of autonomy is essential for workers to achieve maximum agility and deliver the most value.
One of the interesting conclusions of the report is that while most corporate leaders now recognize the need for this change—93% of corporate leaders surveyed by Deloitte agreed that “moving away from the job construct is important to my organization’s success”—only 20% believe that their firm is “ready to address the movement away from jobs.” In short, the reinvention of work is still in its early stages.
You can read the full report here. But the bottom line for me is this: the role of employees in the corporate value equation is fundamentally changing. A temporary economic downturn may cause some short-term changes in corporate behavior toward employees. But in the long term, effective engagement of employees will only grow in importance as a key to business success.
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
