Heading into the coming year, of particular import is the topic of culture and change in the workplace. In the United States, the shift in behavior is a multi-generational one, as millennial employees begin to assume a larger presence in the national workforce.
Along with increased numbers comes a preference for how to work in highly competitive and collaborative environments. Sought after for their digital native status, great educations and hard work ethic, their expectation of what makes an ideal workplace and culture is a topic that merits deeper analysis.
Culture is gaining importance for entire firms as they plan toward the immediate future, whether through succession, promotion or the implementation of change management.
Change management is a collective term for all approaches to preparing and supporting individuals, teams and organizations in making significant and positive organizational change. Because the only thing constant is change, transformation helps to drive a thriving culture based on improvement.
Real transformation in real time, addresses multiple dimensions, including but not limited to an organization's processes, technology, communications and business model.
Harvard Business Review identities change management as a hot topic as companies work to transform in real time, by improving the way they work, identifying why they have certain values, and how the overall mission continues to evolve. After all, all management is in fact, the management of change.
The values inherent in one generation are often quite different in another. It is at this juncture that anticipating and thriving on change comes to the forefront for consideration heading into 2018.
Insights include the fact that a combination of culture and meaningful work might outweigh compensation or security for millennial employees. Seeking environments that offer mentors, stimulating work, collaboration inside and out of the office—as well as the ability to work remotely are characteristics of a company's culture. These aspects combine to create prioritization of a career and a lifestyle, or work-life balance, highly valued by millennial workers.
Digital list cites that smarter workplace leaders value the change in dynamic that this culture shift entails, once they understand how to harness its many benefits. This includes better internal communications, less email and more effective in person meetings. Multi-generational sharing of knowledge, skills and insights – plus an invigorated approach to problem-solving to eliminate the circular group-think that calcifies communications and diminishes results in so many offices.
As Harvard Business Review emphasizes, the best and most successful companies are balancing strategic planning with purpose. A strong marketing PR partner is vital to successfully anticipating change in the coming fiscal and business year. In order to stay ahead of the curve and effectively oversee the workplace culture, change management is crucial.