Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Guiding Your Team Through Evolving Work Structures

Whether you’ve been with the same organization or moved around, if you’ve been a manager for a while, you have probably experienced a lot of changes regarding how, where, and when people work. The boundaries for what’s acceptable and what isn’t have shifted dramatically over the last 10 years, and many agree that the waters are growing even murkier.

As we approach 2020, every organization is different with respect to policies on flexwork, technology-facilitated collaboration, virtual teaming, contract hiring, meetings scheduling and logistics, and the like. And because the dos and don’ts frequently evolve, your responsibility as a leader is to ensure that protocol is clear and that your employees can function happily and productively in the context of new structures. Here are a few suggestions for a successful transition.

Understand what the rest of your organization is doing

Before you provide guidance to your team, talk to HR or c-suite leaders about any top-down work structure-related policies, procedures, and resources that already exist and can be tweaked or updated to meet your team’s needs. If another leader is blazing an innovation trail, learn from their experience and aim to take workable arrangements to the next level.

Understand each individual’s unique needs

We now operate in a workforce of one, where every employee governs their career differently. Prior to revising a structure or process (or starting a new one), survey your team members about the most effective ways to get their jobs done with maximum impact and minimum stress, and notice commonalities in the feedback.

Choose pilot over permanent

Complete transitions to new structures gradually and on a small scale. For instance, if you want to move your team from 100 percent in-office to 80 percent, with the option of working from home or another location the remaining 20 percent, start with a three-month trial. Outline rules and expectations upfront and select a metric like productivity to ascertain how well the new protocol is working.

Educate your people on politics

If you’re reading this piece, your team may be on the cutting-edge of 21st century work. This means that your employees could run into snafus with other departments that operate differently. Think through potential complications early, manage perceptions, and ensure that your team can address objections from and continue to build trust with more traditional areas of the business. In other words, don’t let other leaders think your people are lazy or off the grid.

Encourage frequent communication

Any change process must be accompanied by more discussion than you think you need. Schedule group and individual check-ins at least twice a month so that your transition is smooth and hiccup-free as possible, protocols are consistently implemented from one team member to another, employees have an opportunity to provide feedback, and business is running as usual.  

In a business world where every employee’s journey is different, facilitating effective transitions is just as critical to engaging and retaining top talent as more traditional lifecycle focuses like onboarding and performance. Join sponsor SilkRoad and me for a webinar on August 29, 2019 at 2PM EST and come with questions!

 

Humanity Works Book Tour: Glimpses of the Future

One of the highlights of the last year was my #humanityworks tour in the UK, from which these six videos resulted. Check them out for short and sweet advice on what's to come in the workforce of 2030 and beyond.

Episode 1: Don't Worry about AI Stealing Your Job, Worry about Your Lack of Skills

Episode 2: Why You Should Develop Your Interpersonal Sensitivity Skills

Episode 3: Technology Will Create New Jobs

Episode 4: Will Technology Develop Consciousness?

Episode 5: Workplace Agility: The Crucial Skill for Your Career

Episode 6: 3 Important Technologies for HR and L&D

 

Supply Chain Strategies for Smaller Businesses

Supply chain management refers to overseeing the processes that transform a raw material into a final product and ensuring that goods and services proceed smoothly from initial manufacturing to customer delivery. Effective supply chain management involves streamlining the flow in a way that maximizes the organization's bottom line and the end customer's value.

Experts believe the future of supply chain management will include increased automation, along with a focus on analytics, sustainability practices and complex supplier relationships. And women are leading the charge—according to a 2018 survey conducted by Gartner Research, there has been "sustained strong representation of women in the senior-most ranks of supply chain organizations relative to other functions. We also find more supply chain leaders spearheading their own initiatives to attract, retain and advance women."

To that end, I asked a few women supply chain leaders what they are doing to further their careers as well as the missions of their organizations.

Smart Analytics

Collecting data from a variety of sources and using it to derive relevant insights for the business can have an positive effect on supply chain performance.

Jill Keto, CMO of Easy Metrics, a cloud-based supply chain visibility provider, has moved up in her career by developing tools that help organizations optimize their largest controllable expense—labor. 

“Using big data in warehouse environments to track labor is a strategy that has paid huge dividends," Keto says. “My customers see improved team engagement, 40 percent productivity improvement and 15 percent labor cost reduction simply by using data to capture the labor costs of every action.

“In a tight job market where labor demand is outpacing supply," she continues, "and where customer requirements like same-day shipping and small orders are the norm, distribution operators are running into challenges that didn't exist before."

Keto leverages the interplay of the Internet of Things, machine learning and big data to bring a degree of calm to the chaos.

Sustainability Focus

Before founding her company virtue + vice, which advises fashion brands on impact sourcing and sustainable supply chain management, entrepreneur Melanie DiSalvo worked in supply chain management, product development and production for major fashion brands. 

DiSalvo's intimate experience with the fashion supply chain and global market trends, particularly strategic regional sourcing and operations, provided the know-how to launch her own company.

“My in-depth understanding of how each level of the supply chain works has gotten me ahead," she says. “My time spent living and working overseas in factories and mills was invaluable because it taught me exactly what's possible and what isn't, and shapes how I solve problems for my customers every day. 

"Because I know what goes into making each component of a clothing item, I can come up with environmentally sustainable workarounds that most people would never think to try," she adds.

For more insights, check out the full piece on the AMEX Business site.

Workforce 2030 Podcast is on a Roll Thanks to Partner SilkRoad!

The Workforce 2030 podcast sponsored by SilkRoad is off and running, with several episodes now online. Please check these out and let us know what you think!

Episode 1: Disruption in the Changing Workforce

In this episode of Workforce 2030, Robert Dvorak, Chief Executive Officer and President of SilkRoad, joins Alexandra Levit to discuss disruptive changes affecting the workforce, today and in the future, as well as the importance of agility and continuous learning in this time of change. Dvorak brings more than 30 years of experience in executive leadership positions in strategic sales and marketing.

Episode 2: Mergers & Acquisitions and its effect on the Workforce

In this episode of Workforce 2030, Jennifer Fondrevay, Founder and Chief Humanity Officer of Day1 Ready™, joins Alexandra Levit to explore Mergers & Acquisitions and its effect on the Workforce. Jennifer works with forward-thinking business leaders, owners and executives to pre-plan their people strategy through the phases of M&A so their employees can contribute from Day 1.

Episode 3: How, When, and Where to Apply Automation in the Workplace

In this episode of Workforce 2030, Ravin Jesuthasan, Managing Director and Global Practice Leader at Willis Towers Watson, joins Alexandra Levit to discuss applying automation and AI to jobs and how organizations can optimize human-automation combinations. Ravin is a global thought leader on the future of work, automation and human capital. He has been recognized as one of the top 25 most influential consultants in the world by Consulting Magazine, one of the top 8 future of work influencers by Tech News and one of the top 100 HR influencers by HR Executive.

Episode 4: Agility and Adapting to Change: How to Future-Proof Your Career

In this episode of Workforce 2030, Marti Konstant, best-selling author of Activate Your Agile Career, joins Alexandra Levit to discuss agility and how to future-proof and take control of your career by adapting and responding to change. Marti has an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a former technology executive who has worked in Silicon Valley. She now works as a workplace futurist, keynote speaker, top-career influencer, best-selling author and expert in applying agile principles to workforce development.

How to Think Like a Futurist

Being a futurist means paying attention to new patterns or trends that are slowly percolating up through the market and/or society that have the potential to catch on in a major way. It's about coming up with possible scenarios for the future given these developments.For me, the ideal timeframe for futurist thinking is 5-10 years, because although no one can successfully predict the future, in this window you are more likely to be able to clearly see where things are going according to current operating models. Now, in 2019, I think anything beyond 10-15 years is reasonably futile because we bump up against the technological singularity (the time when machine intelligence becomes so sophisticated that it causes currently unfathomable changes to human existence).  

The simplest way to imagine and prepare for the future is to devise intelligent strategies that will serve your company well. You can do this by reading a ton and consulting experts in your field about what they're seeing. Futurists use tools that systematize these recommendations including scenario planning, environmental scanning, Delphi surveying, and individual software programs like Fibres, Futures Platform, and Athena.

Through your research, you will probably determine that financial markets and corporate structures are likely to change dramatically in the next few years. Blockchain will democratize, streamline, and improve the efficiency of ownership. Other potential developments in the financial sector include the increased use of algorithms to boost trading effectiveness, and the inclusion of machines and machine learning in individual and corporate financial planning.

For the rest of this piece, please see the Strategy Business site.

Announcing Workforce 2030: A New Podcast About Our Most Critical Workplace Disruptions

Today marks a very special occasion. Alongside my partner of 10 years, SilkRoad Technology, a global leader in strategic onboarding for workforce transformation, I am releasing a new podcast: Workforce 2030. The show features discussions with leading talent management experts, business leaders and industry disrupters on topics about the future of work and how the workforce will transform to meet the needs of 2030 and beyond.

In my tenure as a workforce futurist, I’ve spent a great deal of time on the microphone with fabulous hosts, and now the tables have been turned! The inaugural episode of Workforce 2030 features Robert Dvorak, CEO and President of SilkRoad. Bob was incredibly fun to talk to because he’s been working in the technology field for 30 years and as you can imagine, has witnessed an incredible amount of growth and change.

In our lively, 30-minute conversation, Bob and I addressed what makes a successful brand a successful employer, why establishing strong employee relationships must be a combination of high tech and high touch approaches, why there’s one human managerial skill that’s essential for effective onboarding, and how tech-based systems facilitate assimilation and prevent quit quits. You’ll also hear why Bob and I are against the word “retention” and why it’s now everyone’s job to be in continuous learning mode.

Whether you’re leading an organization or a team, whether you seek the secret sauce for your own successful career in the mid-21^st century workforce, or whether you read Humanity Works and are looking for a bit more guidance, this is the show for you. Our next several guests include Jennifer Fondrevay, Chief Humanity Officer, Day1 Ready™ M&A consultancy, Grant Zallis, CEO, Founder IAR Consulting, and Ravin Jesuthasan, Managing Director, Willis Towers Watson. If you have a question you’d like me to ask these knowledgeable experts, please send it along!

Tune in to the first episode or access the whole series.

Trends You Must Know About If You Produce Anything

When you produce basically anything, strong supply chain management is imperative. When a supply chain works well, the customer experiences better product quality and distribution. When it doesn't, productivity, revenue and customer satisfaction plunge.

Fortunately, business innovation in the supply chain management space has flourished over the last few years, mainly due to digital advances. Here's a look at 10 business innovations that are positively impacting the space.

1. Data Analytics

Big Data analytics improves in sophistication every year, allowing supply chain managers to derive knowledge and insights from huge amounts of both structured and unstructured data coming in via a variety of sources. Solutions powered by machine learning algorithms analyze data to predict machine malfunctions and transportation delays and help managers make more cost-effective decisions up and down the supply chain.

2. Transport Management Software

Known as TMS, these programs are a critical underpinning of supply chain management. They provide a logistics platform allowing supply chain managers to optimize fleet operations and efficiently execute the physical movement of goods. This business innovation is increasingly important as shipping costs and customer demand for faster delivery continue to rise. Using TMS, supply chain managers can better track inventory and materials across the supply chain in real time.

3. Radio Frequency Identification

RFID has been around for a few years now, but its integration into supply chain management has experienced stops and starts. This business innovation uses electronic fields to automatically identify, follow and track data like the temperature of objects that have attached RFID tags. The tags look like barcodes, and their implementation has recently become less cumbersome and expensive due to smart advances in sensor technology and increases in data processing speeds.

4. Geolocation

RFID isn't the only business innovation improving the tracking aspect of supply chain management. New geolocation solutions leverage low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks and are decreasing both the cost and the energy consumption associated with more traditional tracking. By securely connecting trackers and sensors to the cloud via the Internet of Things, supply chain managers can view and transmit data globally.

For the rest of the trends, head over to the AMEX Business site.

Modern Businesses: Local Versus Global

Not long ago, offshoring of goods and services was a foolproof way to keep costs down—if you could manage it. Now, however, due to changing markets, local sourcing is experiencing an upswing. Helped by Gabriele Rizzo, futurist adviser for private and public international defense organizations, and Alexander Bird, CEO of micronutrient food manufacturer Kiss My Keto, let's look at the pros and cons of local versus global supply chains.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Local and Global Supply Chains

Since local supply chains are often smaller, local suppliers may require less of an initial investment and allow smaller orders, which results in lower stored inventory costs.

In some foreign countries, worker wages are increasing, so the gap in labor costs between local and global supply chain strategies is diminishing. For instance, according to Eurostat data released in the fall of 2018, wage growth in the eurozone reached its fastest rate for two years, accelerating in the second quarter of 2017.

Also, goods and services production is becoming more specialized and geared to local customers, and in such cases, there is often an advantage of being physically close to the buyer. These factors led global management consulting firm AlixPartners to report that 69 percent of the 106 U.S. and western European manufacturing firms that responded to their 2016 annual survey were considering moving production closer to their home bases.

But global supply chains have substantial benefits as well. Today's economy is unquestionably global and having only local operations may result in lost opportunities and stalled growth.

Also, depending on your industry—and especially if you are in manufacturing—you may face significant skills shortages in certain U.S. regions, but can readily find available labor in countries such as China and Mexico. Raw materials may also be less expensive in a foreign market, and global supply chains also allow businesses to take advantage of the innovation afforded by emerging markets.

That said, time lags, shipping delays and language and communication barriers associated with global supply chains may negatively impact a business's speed, agility and on-time delivery record.

Finally, political situations can sour quickly, so global supply chains in certain regions of the world may carry a higher risk of business disruption overall.

For more where this came from, check out the American Express Business site.

Supply Chains of the Future: What You Need to Know

There's a significant amount of change taking place in business today, and it requires owners to avoid disruption to their supply chain strategy.

Supply chain management plans will need to take into account automation and tech innovation, new geographies and regional sourcing, increased regulation and climate change.

Automation and Tech Innovation

Extensive job automation can affect your supply chain strategy for the better because it allows organizations to reap the unique strengths of both humans and machines.

"Teaming together human creativity, abstract thinking and adaptive response together with machine precision gets you the best of both worlds, leaving machines in charge of what they do best—easy, repeatable tasks—and freeing humans to be the best they can be," says Dr. Gabriele Rizzo, a futurist adviser for private and public international defense organizations.

But businesses will need to work with labor unions and governments to transition workers into new roles and help them to re- and upskill, and to enforce the appropriate labor laws involving safety, wages and hours. They may also want to consider developing a means to collect worker feedback and adjust operations, so they meet employee needs throughout the march toward automation.

According to Rizzo, implementing automation and other emerging technologies are of utmost importance in building and maintaining an edge in supply chain operations.

"These technologies enable fine-grained gathering of operational data, advanced analysis of processes and impacts and faster decision making," she says.

A 2017 Gartner report predicted that by 2021, virtual customer assistants (VCAs) and chatbots will handle 20 percent of all customer service interactions. Although technology innovations such as VCAs and autonomous mobile robots are getting smarter, human workers are still needed to integrate and oversee their participation—and this often requires a highly specialized, but not always readily available, skillset.

If your supply chain strategy already incorporates data analytics, you're off to a great start. But even so, it's becoming even more important for owners to zero in on the information that's most useful and relevant to them.

Technology-based supplier audits are valuable, as are digital platforms and dashboards that assess the effectiveness of operations and worker sentiment in real time.

To fully leverage Big Data's potential, owners must determine the data science skills required for their operations, and work to source these either internally or externally.

For more where this came from, head over to the American Express Business site.

How Digital Automation Can Help Make Your Life Easier

While many fear digital automation, more software arrives every day that saves business owners a great deal of money year by lowering costs and increasing productivity and efficiency.

Let's look at a few business-related areas in which digital automation can help make your life easier.

Recruitment

Need to hire staff? Predictive analytics is transforming recruitment.

Predictive analytics is deriving business insights from data to uncover patterns and illustrate potential outcomes, and it can tell you how well your efforts are resonating with your desired candidates.

A variety of platforms, including LinkedIn, leverage data mining and digital automation to show the number of candidates in a specialty and/or geographic area based on the number of job listings in each city.

Unconscious bias is a huge problem in recruiting that keeps business owners up at night. If often keeps us from seeing recruits' true abilities and negatively affects hiring for diversity.

Consider exploring software that use “augmented writing" to allow owners to phrase job descriptions with neutral language, and, using digital automation, removes names from resumes so evaluators don't make assumptions about gender, race or ethnicity.

Paperwork

Most business owners are still mired in paperwork. And when you rely on paperwork, you risk misplacing important documents.

In the era of digital automation, you can leverage applications to simplify note-taking and document storage. There are digital note-taking tools that can help save your ideas, snippets you hear and things you see throughout the day as clipped notes. Some can also scan your paperwork papers directly to the cloud and/or your mobile device and computer of choice. If you're worried about security, some even has encryption features for sensitive documents.

As for all those business cards you constantly have in your briefcase or jacket pocket, try address book management app. These can help manage your address book so you're alerted when people change jobs or roles.

For the rest of the piece, check out the American Express Business site.