The New World of Work - Brief Article

Training & Development, May, 2001

Here at the News You Can Use desk, we've received many press releases and articles centering around one common theme: the world of work in these crazy, crazy times. Here's an overview of what you can expect:

Recruitment and retention. According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, nearly four out of 10 U.S. workers are seeking new job opportunities in 2001. Career expert Diane Strahan says there's a new type of worker--the silent job seeker--who is always looking for a better salary, job location, or work-life balance. Strahan says, "Don't confuse [his or her] silence and satisfaction with job complacency.

Human resources consulting firm Drake Beam Morin predicted recently that in 2001, workers will renew their appreciation for traditional businesses that offer stability and structure. Other attractors: challenging work, opportunities for learning, and a cultural fit within the organization. DBM predicts that corporate culture will become even more critical for attracting talented workers. Locus of control. It used to be that you came and left work when your employer told you to; did the tasks your employer assigned; took the compensation, training, and promotions your employer offered (no back talk); and moved up the career ladder rung by agonizing rung. No more.

The new workplace model recognizes that people have choices. Labor, at least at press time, is still a seller's market, and workers are becoming free agents sold to the highest-or best-bidder.

Now, workers expect to have a certain degree of control over their job tasks, benefits, and work environment. People are looking for flexibility and work-life balance. If companies can't offer those, expect to see employees walk away. Hopscotch. To advance on their career paths, people are moving to what the Herman Group calls the "hopscotch model."

Workers jump forward, backward, laterally, or onto a completely different path, as they seek job satisfaction, freedom, and the opportunity to make a difference. Look for people taking lower pay to do the work they prefer or jumping into a completely different career to learn, experiment, and experience. What all this means for training. The new knowledge-based economy and the talent shortage are bringing employee education and training programs to the forefront of companies' strategic plans.

To manage the now mission-critical education programs, companies are hiring chief learning officers to run corporate universities as self-funded businesses inside organizations, says a recent study by Corporate University Xchange.

Business education is being managed like a business, with learning officers sitting at the executive table and tailoring programs to organizational objectives and strategy. Says Jeanne Meister, president of Corporate University Xchange, "The status, power, and influence of CLOs continue to grow and evolve, much like the position of ClO(chief information officer) over the past 15 to 20 years."

Corporate universities are cropping up all over. Nearly three-quarters of the corporate universities surveyed were started in the last five years; nearly onefifth opened their doors just in the last year. Almost all of the universities surveyed aim to brand themselves as separate from their companies. Many created a distinctive logo and motto, (similar to those of traditional universities) and put them on posters, t-shirts, and other corporate giveaways.