Continuing to Look for this Needle in a Haystack is Holding Organizations Back

​In general, life is returning somewhat to normal after COVID.
 
We’re meeting in restaurants again, going to movie theaters, and otherwise gathering, as we didn’t for quite some time.
 
Work, however, at least for many in the knowledge sector, has undergone a massive shift.
 
And has not returned to how things were pre-COVID.
 
Nor does it show any signs of doing so.
 
Back then, the expectation was that employees live to work as opposed to work to live:
 
🚩 They needed to work on-site four or five days per week.
🚩 There was pressure to work well beyond 40 hours per week
🚩 They felt they had to be responsive at all hours
🚩 There was no such thing as taking a real ‘get away from it all and switch off’ vacation
 
𝙉𝙤𝙬, 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠.
 
Employees want leaders who genuinely care, meaningful work, and autonomy.
 
All of which are critical to having engaged employees and a great culture.
 
✅ In addition to a set of core, fundamental practices that genuinely make a difference, as opposed to the ‘nice to haves’, that satisfy but don’t engage.
 
Of course, employees also expect flexibility and at least some degree of hybrid work.
 
(𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙚𝙭𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚, 𝙞𝙨 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙧, 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩).
 
While not all companies are willing to change, some have, and those are the organizations where employees are going to stay, and candidates are going to apply.
 
Because, today, bottom line, employees are in the driver’s seat and are not willing to return to how things were before COVID.
 
💠 And companies attempting to return to that pre-COVID work world, acting as though the employer is still the one in charge, will lose.
 
Since the employee of old no longer exists and continuing to lament this fact and the fruitless task of finding them, is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack.
 
Which, as a result, is holding the business back.