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Writer: Gökhan Dinç
Our new normal has risen out of difficulties, and this has led to an acceleration of great transformations for companies. In the recovery process after the pandemic, the 'employee factor' is becoming more important than ever in the competitiveness potential of companies. Investing in digitalization and talent development would bring great opportunities. K's game-changing power in competition is preparing to offer us new stories.
In the pandemic period, when face-to-face work has turned into a 'job security problem', we need technology more than ever to ensure the continuity of work in the office and in the field. According to the results of the 'Future of Jobs' survey, which conducted by the World Economic Forum with companies in 2018 and 2020, there are 5 areas that we should prioritize regarding technologies that will be adapted to our jobs by 2025:
In other words, technological developments, which are expected in the medium term and defined as 'process' in our business life, have turned into a 'reality' that companies have to adapt in order to continue their business in a healthier way with the pandemic. At the same time, companies have brought their digital transformation plans forward and started to work to align their employees' skills to the new normal.
The break in the need for talent development after the pandemic and the gap between the current situation and the ideal shows us that more work will fall on the managers whom are responsible for human resources and education.
In the part of the same research, in the adaptation of jobs as a response to Covid-19, employees; have put the acceleration subjects of digitalization of business processes with video conferencing and technological tools, increasing remote working opportunities, automation of tasks, digitalization of trainings on developing new skills (up-skilling) and refreshing current skills (re-skilling), acceleration of up-skilling and re-skilling programs, in the top five. Surely, the tendencies of sectors and specialties to work from home or adapt to hybrid models, which have become more common in our lives after the pandemic, are altering. In a policy research document published by the World Bank in May 2020; education services, finance and insurance, company management, consulting, scientific and technical services sectors were found to be more adaptable to home-based work. Looking at the employees and specialties dimension of the same analysis, lower-paying jobs were found to be less adaptable to working from home. At this point, specializations in business lines such as law, management, business and financial operations, education, art-creative industries stand out as areas more prone to working from home. Therefore, up-skilling and re-skilling programs for working from home after the pandemic would provide more benefits for these business lines.
Perhaps the most difficult test during the pandemic period was given by the departments responsible for human resources and education and managers. Because there has been a radical change not only in the adaptation of the organization to the technologies needed for the continuity of the business, but also in the way of working, employee expectations and creating value. We are no longer talking about ongoing programs in talent management and skill development, but rather a race between companies. In the last 2 years, companies have seen the importance of agility, which was frequently referred to in the previous period in corporate life. The break in the need for talent development after the pandemic and the gap between the current situation and the ideal shows us that more work will fall on the managers whom are responsible for human resources and education.
HR managers in our country are also aware of today's requirements. Then again, the issue of skill development or refreshment, now, means something beyond the HR context. In our new normal, the competitiveness of companies in their own business lines, their employee turnover rate and their ability to attract talented employees are directly related to the adaptation of company HR policies to new working conditions and talent management. According to the '2021 Talent Trends Report' created by Mercer Türkiye based on the responses received from HR managers of 174 companies, we can say that investment priorities for the talents of company employees in Türkiye have changed.
In an environment where technological developments are the accelerating factor in the transformation of businesses after the pandemic, there is no time to waste for companies in the skill development race. According to Gartner's research, the skills needed for a single job increase by an average of 10% each year, while 33% of the skills needed just 3 years ago are no longer even on the agenda of companies. At the same time, with the dramatic change in people's roles in the workplace with Covid-19, soft skills such as emotional intelligence, resistance and adaptation skills, cooperation and communication have become very valuable, especially in areas that cannot be replaced by technology. Team leaders have also got their own share from this process.
In a study by MIT Sloan Management Review and Cognizant of 4,200 employees in 20 different industries, from sub-manager to CEO levels, 88% of employees believe digitally savvy leaders are key to the organizational success, whereas, by contrast, only one-fifth of those who were surveyed said their current leaders had the right mindset to thrive in the digital economy. On one hand, adapting to changing business requirements is a challenge for leaders, on the other hand, managing existing teams remotely, also creates a separate workload. According to the article written by Microsoft 365 Vice President Jared Spataro, based on a study conducted in China this year, the effort spent simply leading teams remotely adds 90 minutes per week to the working time of managers. These and similar studies show us that, companies should give special importance to team leaders and managers in the talent development race. Such that, in the Financial Times survey of 363 Chief Learning Officers (CLOs) around the world in this springtime, more than a quarter of participants stated that, they will increase training expenditures for leaders and managers in 2021…
The global epidemic has changed the expectations of employees from work and adaptation to the new normal, as well as affecting the sectors and our business life. In particular, it is important for companies that have employees from different generations and age ranges to put generational differences and employee expectations at the center in order for the training programs to be effective. With the increasing digitalization and new digital applications, the fact that working remotely has become a basic necessity in business life brings along a serious concern for compliance, especially for Generation X. In addition to the fear of losing their job due to non-compliance with changing conditions, the relatively weak health resistance of these people against the epidemic, is causing those who were born between 1965 and 1980 to have the highest expectations for healthy working environments in business life after the pandemic. For this reason, besides the skills for the use of digital tools, trainings for developing health awareness and healthy behavior come to the fore within the Generation X.
In our new normal, companies' competitiveness in their own business lines, employee turnover rate and ability to attract talented employees, compliance with the new working conditions and talent management of company human resources policies are directly related
The expectations of Generation Y and Z from both working life and education are slightly differ from each other. According to Erns & Young's study titled 'The Future of the Working World: Covid-19 and the New Normal', the flexible working model comes first among the main expectations from business life amongst the student participants from the Y and Z Generations.
25% of Generation Y employees emphasize that they have changed their future learning and talent development planning greatly, and 49% moderately. Y and especially Z Generation are more insistent on returning to offices. In the same study, when they were asked why they want to be in the office, 76% of Generations Y and Z emphasize the importance of staying social, accessing better work resources and collaborating with colleagues.
When we focus on Generation Z, which we are starting to see more often in business life, we see a youth whose expectations from education and business life are very clear. According to the 'Report-3 on the Well-being of Young People in Türkiye', which is regularly conducted by the Habitat Association, young people are not fond of, merely both distance education and working from home. 69 percent of Generation Z youth prefer to work within a place of business. The percentage of those who say they prefer flexible working and remote working only, is 23 percent and 4 percent, respectively… 73 percent of young people state that, they find face-to-face education more beneficial than distance education. The most important factor in the emergence of this table is; young people not being able to leave the house during long quarantine processes, not being able to meet their socializing needs with their work/school friends...
66 percent of the young people participating in Habitat's research state that, they are not satisfied with the education they receive. On the other hand, in the EY's ‘ The Future of Working World’ survey, the top three competencies that students want to acquire in order to invest in the future are listed as data analytics and applications (39%), design thinking (28%), and cloud technologies (19%). These demands also match exactly with the technologies that stand out in the World Economic Forum's work on the future of working, which I mentioned at the beginning of my article. In other words, young people know very well what they want from business life and education.
Beyond generational differences, the common denominator of the expectations of all employees from the working world and training after the pandemic is mental and emotional wellness… Companies should not ignore the psychological counseling dimension in their planning for the future process. In the survey conducted by the European Commission with approximately 5 thousand employees, 'What is the most important aspect of health and safety at work for you?' The fact that the answer to the question 'fitness and mental health' was given by 85% also supports this process. Our new normal has risen out of difficulties, and this has led to an acceleration of great transformations for companies. In the recovery process after the pandemic, the factor of working within the competitive power of companies is becoming more important than ever.
