I would categorize the 2010’s as the decade of transformation. In 2015 we continued to see organizations execute strategies to “transform” their business to increase revenue and lower operating costs.
Uber was also in the spotlight in 2015. It’s a great example of a business that used technology to evolve the traditional taxi service model. Despite protests, public opinion and demand have resulted increased market share for Uber, eroding the existing taxi monopoly. The lesson is companies can’t afford to be complacent or behind the times with technology.
For many organizations the transformation journey has been challenging. Strategically, culturally and operationally, the end state requires employees to abandon the “old ways” and become more agile, adaptive, innovative and insightful. The diagram below shows a few examples of what the transformation has looked like for many organizations.
As employers re-tool their workforce, they’ve also realized they need to attract and retain talent that can sustain the new workplace. As change becomes more rapid it will be too expensive for employers to continue to downsize and attract new talent as strategies change.
This means HR will need to re-think about how they define success profiles, or what I call the Talent Profile of the Transformation Employee. After transformation, the workforce promotes change; talent is fluid and able to move into different roles as the business grows and changes. Instead of traditional recruitment practices that focus on screening for specialized job knowledge, the focus shift to screening on for behaviours, attitudes and the willingness to embrace and promote change. Employees would learn the specialized knowledge they needed to enable them to move into other roles. Research shows it’s easier to learning something new than it is to change behaviours[1].
Employers are also under pressure to deliver a work environment that will attract and retain the transformational employee they seek. The greater the match between the successful talent profile and the employer’s value proposition the greater probability the employee will stay.
2016 will be a pivotal year for talent in the workforce. More than 3.6 million baby boomers will retire this year[2]. It will also be the first year Gen Z graduates will enter the workforce[3]. More digitally advanced in technology and open to trying new things than Millennials, they will seek jobs that match their technology and work-life style needs. In 2016, Millennials will comprise the same percentage of the workplace demographic as Gen x’ers. As we approach the end of the decade, Millennials will comprise 50% of the workforce; with Gen Z comprising 20%[4].
Millennials in the workforce- Source: [Footnote 5]
Companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Task Rabbit will continue to compete attract candidates with offers of C2C entrepreneurial and flexible work arrangements.
Gen Z – Source: [Footnote 6]
As we begin 2016, I wish each of you a wonderful happy, healthy and prosperous new year. May your transformation experiences be successful!
I’d love to hear about some of your transformation stories. Please share them with me on LinkedIn or 
@AnnzalieBarrett on Twitter.
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Ann's Social Recruiting Blog 