Feb. 22, 2022 "Hybrid work could transform the labour market and the economy, but employers can't go it alone": Today I found this article by Victoria Wells in the Financial Post:
Hybrid work is here to stay and if done right, it could usher Canada into a new era of equity and flexibility in the labour market that could strengthen the economy. But it would be a mistake to assume those benefits will happen on their own, and employers will need government support, according to a new report from Deloitte Canada.
Some 40 per cent of the labour force worked from home in January, according to Statistics Canada’s latest monthly hiring report.
Making hybrid work more accessible will expand that number, unlocking more people currently left out of the labour force.
That would create a bigger pool of workers at a time when employers are coping with severe labour shortages.
“If you imagine a Canadian economy of the future, where more people can work, when and where they want to, you could arguably open up opportunities for people who have been left out of the kind of economic growth we’ve seen over the last decade,” said Stephen Harrington, a partner at Deloitte and author of the report, Getting Hybrid Work Right: Creating and Sustaining Inclusive Economic Growth in Canada.
“The inclusion aspect is incredibly important.”
Harrington’s report points to flexibility as one way to encourage more participation in the workforce. For example, companies are potentially missing out on valuable contributions from primary caregivers who would like to work, but need a set of hours that suit their personal schedules.
At the same time, employers will need to guard against potential discrimination arising from flexibility in hybrid work arrangements. Research suggests that women and the disabled are most likely to opt to work from home.
That could fuel bias. For example, people who come into the office more regularly may be offered more opportunities for advancement, including promotions.
Employers need not grapple with such issues alone. Governments could play a role in helping to craft equitable policies by strengthening human rights codes to apply to hybrid work arrangements, the report said. Governments could also offer improved guidance on an employer’s duty to accommodate people, “making sure leaders know their job is to make sure they build an equal playing field for all employees, regardless of the type of work arrangement,” Harrington said.
Governments also could use their clout as some of the largest employers in the country to set the tone for the private sector, without having to create actual laws.
“Their example can encourage other employers to adopt best practices, without necessarily codifying regulatory requirements,” Harrington wrote in the report. “Such measures can serve to promote equity, well-being and flexibility for hybrid workers while expanding access to this form of work.”
Breaking down barriers so that people in locations across Canada can participate in the workforce is also key, Harrington said.
Governments should work to remove inter-provincial roadblocks, such as place-based tax rules, that prevent people from working remotely in other provinces.
Investment in high-speed internet access is another critical way to get more people working.
In Canada, only 46 per cent of households in rural areas have access to high-speed internet. It’s even worse in Indigenous communities where only 24 per cent of households have access. Meanwhile, internet prices in cities is also a problem, as affordability issues prevent low-income Canadians from getting the services they need.
“If we do nothing, rural and remote Canadians, including Aboriginal communities, will not be able to participate (in this new labour market) in fair ways,” Harrington said.
The report offers additional suggestions to make hybrid work more equitable, including modernizing child care and caregiving systems, improving funding so people can upgrade digital skills, and providing money to help downtown cores transition from an over reliance on office workers’ dollars. Combined, such initiatives could help create better work arrangements for more Canadians and put the country on a more “prosperous path,” Harrington said.
But even as governments and employers hammer out hybrid work policies, there is more work to be done on the political level, Harrington said. The conversation around this new way of working needs to shift to one between politicians and Canadians. What’s more, that conversation needs to happen now, while the country is at an inflection point in deciding what the future of work will look like as pandemic restrictions end.
“If we do nothing, as we sometimes do as a country, because we like to wait and see how it’s going to turn out, then I think a lot of those choices are going to be made for us,” Harrington said. “And that would be a shame.”
Hybrid work could transform the labour market and the economy | Financial Post
As with IT, Net Zero, Entrepreneur, Gig (economy), Big Tech, Fintech the word Hybrid is a misnomer. The English language, in Canada, is being destroyed by its poor usage by ignorant Canadians.
What a laugh. “Public support?” From a bankrupt government? How will that workout?
Feb. 24, 2022 "Why 'hybrid work' is a meaningless phrase": Today I found this article by David Oliver on the Financial Post:
Instead of being back at the office five days a week, many of us are instead living the dream of a “hybrid” style of work: two to three days spent on site, in-person, and the other days spent virtually at home. Most companies are now wrestling with the question of how to define their view of “hybrid” so they can give direction to current and future employees.
Cue an army of self-appointed experts telling us how this will all need to work, and how important it will be to fall back on company culture. Expect to see manuals including
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, by Reed Hastings and Erin Meyers,
and Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail, by Ray Dalio,
dusted off and morphed into a new “How to do hybrid!” arriving in your inbox any minute now. You’ve probably had several missives already.
The problem is that “radical candour,” as Dalio calls it, and having no expense or vacation policy, as laid out in No Rules Rules, tells you very little about how to unleash your most precious and dynamic resource: your people.
While studying others’ opinions on the vast topic of leadership and culture might be interesting and could even provide some useful tips, these books were written about their company culture, not yours.
There’s a simpler and, to use that dreadfully corrupted phrase, more authentic starting point. It’s your own business strategy, combined with a healthy dose of grown-up common sense.
The one thing leaders really learned during the pandemic was that it’s possible to run an organization almost completely virtually, without the need for most people to be physically present in the office.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the best or most optimal way to run an organization.
We also learned that life and the world are highly dynamic and none of us actually know what might happen the week after next, let alone in six months’ time.
We don’t know what new external demands are going to be placed on us. We still don’t know if the pandemic is actually over (even if we’re praying for it to be), or whether there will be a long tail of infections and occasional response measures.
What we do know, also confirmed by the pandemic, is that human beings are social creatures.
Much of the joy in life is found in
interacting with each other in a common pursuit,
shared interest
or an old-fashioned argument (even in conflict-shy Canada).
Of course people’s expectations of work-life balance have changed. In the so called war for talent, the talent is demanding to know a company’s hybrid work culture or policy as a way of differentiating between other potential employers.
Some of the most successful people seamlessly blend life and work so it’s not always clear when they are on or off the clock. But many others seek clear boundaries between the two, especially those with children or others to care for, or for those whose work isn’t their only life’s pursuit.
They want to be their best selves when earning a living, and also know they can have sufficient downtime to recharge and do something else that brings joy and meaning to their lives.
Not many people want to go back to pre-2020, when, for example, Torontonians spent their lives commuting on a GO Train or stuck on the 401 at rush hour. But these same people likely also want some in-person interaction in their work lives.
The rich diversity of life comes from the fact that we’re all different, and those differences play out among individuals and teams. The sales team might have very different needs and demands compared to the finance team, for example.
We now live in a knowledge-based, information age economy.
A leader who knows how to create physically and psychologically safe environments where people can bring their whole selves to work and be their most productive, will stand out as a success over the dinosaur still demanding total physical presence in a command-and-control environment, just because that’s what used to work.
Organizations also need to get things done, and they need their people to work effectively together as intelligent adults in a place of individual and collective accountability.
If a leader, team or organization cannot create an environment where this conversation can happen in a grown-up way, it’s got bigger problems than trying to figure out a return to work policy.
So when asked what my hybrid policy is, I would tell them there isn’t one, but rather an expectation for leaders and teams to work out what’s right for them and then get on with it.
David Oliver is the founder of Minerva Wisdom Group.
David Oliver: Why 'hybrid work' is a meaningless phrase | Financial Post
Let's stop using hybrid, IT, gig economy, big tech, entrepreneur as all of these silly terms are nothing more than meaningless mumbo jumbo. Whilst we are at it stop with the "you know" and "like" ignorance and start to learn the English language as it is meant to be used.
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