Key Takeaways:

•  Change management has evolved from a simplistic approach to approaches that are more empowered, emergent, and purpose-led. As a result, companies are struggling to achieve complex changes and the failure rates for transformation projects are considerably high.
• While companies argue that tracking employees' productivity leads to improved accountability and efficiency, the authors reported that there are downsides to the practice. There have been complaints that the new clocks are unable to capture offline activity, undermine the work done, and are inept at gauging hard-to-quantify activities.
• One of the major conflicts surrounding the Great Resignation is the rising tension between employees and executives regarding in-person work. A recent study established that about 21% of employees would rather not return to the office compared to only 4% of CEOs.

Introduction

• This report provides three key articles on interesting topics to keep the C-suite informed of important trends and provocative ideas that may change the way an organization behaves. Further details on the logic used behind this research can be found in the Research Strategy section.

How to Get Your Team on Board with a Major Change

• This article was published by Harvard Business Review on August 04, 2022.
• The authors write that change management has evolved from a simplistic approach to approaches that are more empowered, emergent, and purpose-led. As a result, companies are struggling to achieve complex changes and the failure rates for transformation projects are considerably high.
• Their research and experience established that companies need to leverage deeper systemic forces, with the most impactful force being the primary need for humans to belong. The article further presents four strategies that leaders can use to address humans' "primal need to feel secure in disruptive environments."

 

Source

 

The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score

• This article was published in the New York Times on August 14, 2022.
• The article states that an increasing number of employees are being recorded, tracked, and ranked. In fact, 80% of the 10 largest private employers in the U.S. already track their employees' productivity metrics, mainly in real-time. Also, digital productivity monitoring is expanding to white-collar roles and jobs, and many workers, in both in-person or remote settings, are subject to scores and trackers which may lead to lost pay, penalties, or even lost jobs.
• While companies argue that tracking employees' productivity leads to improved accountability and efficiency, the authors reported that there are downsides to the practice. There have been complaints that the new clocks are unable to capture offline activity, undermine the work done, and are inept at gauging hard-to-quantify activities.

Four Ways To Turn The Great Resignation Into The Great Return

• This article was published by Forbes on August 15, 2022.
• The article states that one of the major conflicts surrounding the Great Resignation is the rising tension between employees and executives regarding in-person work. A recent study established that about 21% of employees would rather not return to the office compared to only 4% of CEOs. A different study by PwC found that about 19% of CEOs would prefer returning to fully in-person schedules as opposed to only 4% who would prefer fully remote work.
• The article offers four solutions to the standstill between executives and employees, the first one being that organizations should understand that returning to work should not mean returning to the old experiences. Also, companies should prioritize people over location, consider the tradeoffs between commuting and collaborating, and develop direct managers as ambassadors of empathy.

Additional Findings

•  Where To Start In Reskilling The Workforce 
•  How To Build Connections: Team Building In A Hybrid Workplace 

Research Strategy