Preparing for a less-loyal workforce

Many leaders are unprepared for the new career life cycle of their employees, which are no longer linear, stable or predictable.

Careers are no longer linear, stable or predictable – a concept that talented, driven individuals are adapting to faster than many employers, said human capital specialist Anne Moore.
 
Moore pointed to the average US employee retention rate of 4.4 years – a tenure that halves for millennials, who will shortly comprise 50% of the workplace – as a “real challenge” for leaders, particularly as many are “unprepared for the new career life cycle of their employees”.
 
“Today, 20 per cent of Fortune 100 employees are contractors and, by 2020, 50 per cent of the workforce will be contingent, which poses real challenges in talent and career management,” Moore said.
 
“There’s an urgent need for a different framework or lens that acknowledges the shifting relationships between employers and employees, and the dialogue needs to shift to open, honest conversations about mutual contribution, purpose and progress.”
 
Senior management must create strategies that tackle attracting, developing and retaining top talent, while also keeping pace with the changing mindset of digitally-sophisticated employees, Moore said, as it is “inevitable that the next generation of leaders will hand career ownership to career owners”.
 
She recently launched collaborative career platform PlanDo – a social collaborative career platform that aims to help employees plan, track and share their performance, development and career progression with peers, leaders, coaches and clients – in an effort to put both employees and employers on the same page.
 
“PlanDo offers the necessary tools to ensure all employees can be self-sufficient career owners… and to equip employees and employers to have great career conversations, creating stronger leadership and ultimately, enhancing culture transformation,” she said. 
 
“When individuals are free to own their own career progress and align their contribution, a powerful shift happens,” Moore added.
 
“There’s mutual purpose, better performance, productivity and engagement, as success is drawn from an alliance between employees and leaders.”
 
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