While most recognise that work is undergoing dramatic upheaval—accelerated on two fronts by the pandemic and increasingly urgent calls for diversity in the workplace—how the workforce is managed and compensated has not kept pace. A new report, “Work Has Changed: How Boards Navigate Disruption and Drive Human Capital Transformation”, released today from WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD) and Pearl Meyer warns of the risks associated with this disconnect and offers a roadmap for boards to help organisations transform their approach to human capital management.
Susan C. Keating, CEO, WCD commented, “Directors are recognising that addressing workplace shifts and human capital transformation must become a priority to ensure the long-term sustainability of the organisation … Boards have a fiduciary duty to tackle the heightened risk of employee disengagement and unproductivity.”
David Swinford, President and CEO, Pearl Meyer spoke of the main areas that need be addressed, which the Report highlights and said, “Three key areas have been identified where boards and management can work together to bring needed change: employee engagement, organisational structure and process, and leadership.” He added, “Now more than ever, we need transformative leaders who can engage a highly diverse workforce in new ways. The compensation committee, with its increasing responsibility for leadership development in addition to rewards and incentives, has a significant role to play in this evolution.”
Three big transformational opportunities
and specific actions for both boards and management teams to undertake
- Changing and disengaged workforce: organisations need to create a sense of purpose and help balance work/life demands, build an environment of continuous learning, and actively forecast the workforce skills and characteristics for the future.
- Outdated organisational structure and processes: near-term solutions include actively moving away from command-and-control style models toward a more collaborative environment, leveraging the push for flexibility to create a fit-for-purpose workforce, and selectively and strategically deploy technology that builds efficiency.
- Stagnant leadership profile: directors and senior managers must renew their commitment to succession planning and leadership development, looking long-term beyond just the C-suite and cultivating a diverse executive talent pool with unique experiences, skills, and attributes necessary to enact business strategy.
The report also highlights the role of the workforce and that employee expectations of the companies they work for have become stronger and employees have much greater influence. Keating explained, “Boards are thinking about how to respond to these expectations from the long-term perspective and how we turn employee input into sustainable changes.” Swinford concluded, “These ideas are urgent things for directors and management teams to address. A silver lining in this especially unusual and uncertain time is the opportunity as leaders to reset our approach to talent management and meet the moment.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
