Five Strategies For Creating A Future-Ready Workforce

What do all winning business strategies have in common? A solid workforce strategy; after all, it takes talent to execute business strategy. A recent PWC report suggests that four forces shape workforce strategy. And each of these forces points directly to one thing–talent management.

PWC maintains that these four forces—specialization, scarcity, rivalry and humanity —are at the heart of everything a company is and does. And together, they create a framework weaving together business and workforce strategy, culture and technology.

The Four Forces

Specialization is understanding current and future talent needs and ensuring the acquisition and development needed to deliver.

Scarcity is similar as it reflects the lack of, or the competition for, talent and opportunity.

Rivalry reflects engaging and leveraging talent to increase performance and business success across the industry.

Humanity is the earnest effort to connect with talent in a way that appeals to humanitarian interests and the greater good.

If business success boils down to these four forces, all of which focus on talent, what must companies do to create a future-ready workforce?

They must attract, retain and engage talent.

Five Strategies for a Future-Ready Workforce

1. Put employees first. Do this by understanding what they value and want from their work experience. And the best way to know that is by asking–not just once, but repeatedly. Ask candidates while they are interviewing. Ask new employees again during onboarding. Have mentors, managers and colleagues ask of themselves and each other. Doing so shows caring and builds trust, and trust is critical when it comes to employee surveys requesting open and honest feedback. Employees who are practiced at asking and answering questions around values and what they expect from their workplace will find it easier to provide meaningful answers. And, with feedback, leaders can strategize on delivering meaningful responses that connect with employee values.
2. Invest in talent. Building on understanding what an employee wants from their work experience means understanding how they want to develop personally and professionally. The PWC report suggests leaders create paths for relevant learning and development. Know how to identify candidates without bias for upskilling. Finally, PWC suggests knowing how to organize, structure and incentivize an increasingly specialized workforce to come together and deliver better customer experiences, higher productivity and other outcomes that matter.
3. Ensure diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) to enhance a culture more conducive to belonging. DEI are created when a company takes mindful, deliberate actions. It’s the collective result of proactive, authentic measures over time that creates an environment welcoming everyones’ contribution. However, belonging is different because a company cannot create it. The individual must experience it. In other words, belonging is an internal response to an external environment. PWC writes that if you make your workforce more diverse and inclusive—across all elements of the human experience and identity—you help society while helping address two of the four forces: the challenges of specialization and scarcity.
4. Helping employees see how their work contributes to business success. PWC writes that “humanity requires you to think deeply about your company’s culture, with a view to connecting (or reconnecting) people with your organization’s purpose and making clear to them how they may tangibly contribute to it. When the company’s purpose resonates with people, and they see clearly how they further it, not only are they more likely to stay (which could help with any of the other three forces), but they tend to be more engaged—and productive.” This is especially important for individual contributors and employees who are not direct-facing with the customer.
5. Reward performance, innovation, teamwork and constructive pushback. Yes, reward constructive pushback because that's how companies avoid mistakes such as investing in the wrong software or chasing a business objective based on a flawed process. Pushback is preventative–even though it can be painful. In inclusive organizations, employees will be more forthcoming. Once you recognize and reward constructive pushback, especially when the input results in better people and business outcomes, it must be rewarded. The reward is a great incentive; good leaders should always consider how best to recognize and reward their people.

Keeping people strategies top of mind in this ever-changing workspace will help ensure business success. Understanding key workplace demographics is an integral part of the process, and that often falls onto HR and the DEI staff to keep leaders informed. According to PWC, demographic trends help determine how scarce or plentiful workers are—and have substantial economic and social implications. It seems obvious, but how many leaders understand that, for example, the largest talent pool can be found in ages 65 and older? And, that a large percentage of more senior talent want and need to work?

Understanding demographic trends like this, combined with authentic actions company leaders take to put employees first, will help circumvent the challenges presented by the four forces of specialization, scarcity, rivalry and humanity. More importantly, doing so will position a company for a future-ready workforce.