Until the 19th century industrial revolution most people worked from home. Travelling to a central workplace is a relatively recent development, but in the 21st century we now have an information workforce and as a result everything must change again. In their new book "Future Work" Alison Maitland and Peter Thomson present a compelling case for changes in organizational culture and working practices, drawing on their survey of 366 managers across 40 countries and examples of companies successfully making the transition.
The authors underpin this with robust academic research as Maitland (former Financial Times journalist) is a senior visiting fellow at London's Cass Business School, and Thomson is a visiting executive fellow at Henley Business School. "Future Work" suggests that many Bahamian businesses can potentially increase efficiency and attract the best talent by exploiting technology to boost output and provide employees greater freedom over how and where they work.
However, technology alone is not enough as it also requires a seismic change in the role of leaders and managers by switching the emphasis from managing inputs (the hours people work) to managing outputs (what people actually produce). This requires a re-evaluation of traditional ideas regarding working hours and set holiday allowances, etc. Instead staff can work how they like as long as they meet company objectives, personal targets and customers needs.
Organizations that have already changed the way they work are reaping the benefits from higher productivity, improved workforce motivation, enhanced customer service, reduced costs and lower staff turnover. Google engineers have long since been judged on what they produce, not where or when they do it. ROWE (Results-Only Work Environment) practices have been adopted by Gap and they believe that it has provided a three-year advantage over their competitors.
A Microsoft survey confirmed that 71 percent of employees felt they were most productive when away from the office and a study of 24,000 IBM staff found that those with flexible working could work an extra 19 hours a week before hitting the same levels of stress as those without it. Even President Obama is in favor and in 2011 he called for federal workers to be judged "by the results they get - not by how many meetings they attend".
As management thinking is shifting towards a more autonomous, trust-based, results-driven culture, Caribbean based businesses are now facing some difficult decisions regarding their own "Future Work". o "Future Work" by Alison Maitland and Peter Thomson Published by Palgrave Macmillan and available from www.Amazon.com o Keith Appleton JP, BA (Hons), N.Dip.M, MInstLM has extensive experience within an academic, managerial and strategic leadership role. He is a member of the UK Institute of Leadership & Management and can be contacted at keithappleton@hotmail.co.uk, or follow him at twitter.com/writingrightnow.
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