By Mary Corrado, courtesy SBAM Approved Partner ASE
The workforce is changing quicker than some organizations can keep up. Some are predicting that by 2027 the majority of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers. The traditional business structure is fading away as employment preferences change and technology advances.
For more established organizations that are out of the growth phase, being nimble enough to change with the times can be difficult. Below are some tips, as published on forbes.com to help you stay forward-thinking as an employer:
1. Get your skills in a row. Start looking at the skills within your organization. Think about both today and the future. Identify which ones should remain in-house and which ones might eventually be outsourced. For those skills you want to keep in-house start working with management now to nurture and accelerate those skills within the team. For skills you may need in the future, but you might outsource for, start developing those relationships.
2. Be flexible about working. Many employees are no longer interested in working the typical 9 to 5 hours. In order to stay relevant, it’s important to offer flexible hours and working options. If you don’t, your talent pool will shrink significantly. A good way to start is to offer employees the occasional work from home day as needed and offer them the flexibility to work around family obligations.
3. Maintain positive relationships with your contractors. As the median employee tenure is now 4.2 years, contracting is becoming much more common. Keep your mind open. While hourly rates for contractors can be high, you’ll save money on benefits, holiday, and vacation pay. Although they are contractors, keep those relationships strong by inviting them to company events in order to make them feel connected to the organization.
4. Invest in video communication. In order to support remote working options, organizations should invest in video conferencing software. The software should integrate well with laptops containing a good camera. It should be easy for employees to arrange conference calls and share their screens with co-workers.
5. Encourage continuous development. Encourage your employees to be forward-thinking as well. Invest in your employees’ continuous education. It will keep their skills at the forefront and has been shown to improve employee engagement. This should hold true for employees at all levels throughout your organization.
ASE has been around for nearly 116 years and to remain relevant we’ve had to pivot and turn throughout the years. We offer our employees the flexibility they need in order to support a good work/life balance. We also encourage continuous development by having all employees attend at least one employee development educational event per quarter. We believe that investing in our employees is investing in the organization. How have you stayed relevant and forward-thinking as an employer? Email me at mcorrado@aseonline.org.