Photo: I-Stock Red Leadership
In my recent Forbes.com post, 10 Reasons The Human Capital Zeitgeist is Emerging, I listed some key reasons behind the uptick in the race for skilled talent. To compete in a volatile global marketplace, I argued:
Big business, “might actually have to throw a bit more respect at the “human” in the human capital equation. It’s a socio-cultural shift that will have to address the work-life merge and worker satisfaction, like never before.”
My “Zeitgeist” theory about a new emerging workplace and business culture has been percolating for the last year as I’ve studied scores of reports and studies on talent retention, workplace flexibility practices, employee engagement and well-being. What I consistently found is that workplaces with high levels of engagement or well-being  - simply performed better. The question is, are they indeed more creative, and how does it impact the bottom-line?
The Argument for Creativity
A new study by technology giant Adobe, State of Create Global Benchmark Study, reveals a  creativity gap in five of the world’s largest countries (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Japan). The study found:
The study showed a workplace creativity gap, with 75% of respondents saying “they are under pressure to be productive rather than creative.” That despite that they are expected to THINK creatively on the job.
Creativity is increasingly becoming more of a crucial component in the business model. Not that it wasn’t before, but now global companies are acknowledging it could offer a new important competitive edge when it comes to innovation.
CEOs Are Talking
Corporate chiefs know that creativity drives the innovation they need, to rise above the rest. CEOs are now dishing amongst themselves about the need to attract new blood in their fleets to drive profits. Not just run-of-the-mill drivers, but engaged, creative and innovative employees. Companies will need to warm-up their engines to attract the human capital they so desire, even in a rebounding economy, to effectively compete.
In PricewaterhouseCoopers 15th Annual Global CEO Survey 2012, CEO’s cited talent shortages and mismatches as impacting the bottom line.
“One in four CEOs said they were unable to pursue a market opportunity or have had to cancel or delay a strategic initiative because of talent challenges. One in three is concerned that skills shortages will impact their company’s ability to innovate effectively.” PricewaterhouseCoopers 15th Annual Global CEO Survey 2012
The report, Delivering results: Growth and value in a volatile world, found 66% of the CEO’s indicated that one of the top priorities was to personally spend more time developing leadership and talent pipelines.
Throughout the report numerous CEO’s touch upon the need to acknowledge the intricacies and importance of a humanistic approach in attracting and retaining skilled employees who once hired, will remain engaged and creative.
“People want to have an impact. They want to be listened to,” said Daniel S. Glaser COO, March & McLennan Companies Inc. Also echoing the human component in a changing world, Martin Senn CEO, Zurich Financial Services Group, weighed in with this comment: “I look for globally-minded people with the capacity to anticipate change and the flexibility to accept it.”
Culture Shift at Work
The talent pipeline is under the microscope, as companies contend with a shrinking working pool in new emerging marketplaces. New strategies to attract, retain, and engage skilled talent are in the works and that means a shift in culture, one that will arguably need to embrace human capital in new ways.
German philosopher, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Talent develops in quiet places, character in the full current of human life.”
Character and individual uniqueness are fuel for innovation. And right now, the workplace, with companies tending to do more with less, is stressful as work-family conflict is more evident than any other time in history. It’s an argument for big business to woo employees by appealing to their human side.
That appears to be happening in progressive companies. In another of my other recent Forbes.com post, Employee Stress on Radar, for National Stress Awareness Month. I wrote about how employee assistance programs are focusing more on employee well-being and stress reduction. Some of those initiatives include work-life flexibility programs.
The Families and Work Institute’s 2012 National Study of Employers, suggests that flexibility is a “strategic consideration for organizations.”
“As flexible scheduling and workplaces become more common, organizations that fail to adopt these options run the risk of being outperformed by competitors who benefit from lower operating costs and better adaptation to a global knowledge- and service-based economy.” ~ FWI 2012 NSE
In conclusion, companies that don’t invest directly or indirectly in their talent pool’s needs and well-being in the new economy risk an unknown component that reveals itself generally in the 11th hour in the form of burnout, and potentially less creative and innovative employees.
Here’s the question: Without proper attention to the “human-ness” of human capital, will a company lose traction in a global competitive marketplace?
Entrepreneurial Work-Life Consultant Ali Davies
I’m thrilled to have Work-Life consultant Ali Davies, my friend and colleague who hails from the UK, as a guest contributor. Today she weighs in on the perils, in the quest for work-life balance as we all try to navigate the work-life merge with wisdom.
Surely being self employed is the key to the perfect work life balance?
After all, self employed people are the captain of their own ship. They call the shots. They are in control. Aren’t they?
Well apparently not. Self employed people are struggling as much, maybe even more so, than their employed counterparts with the whole work life balance hoopla.
But surely with the freedom to create their own destiny, self employed people should be living the work life balance dream. So why aren’t they?
The answers can be complex and vary from person to person. But there is a common thread for most. And it is this: The quest for work life balance is the problem. It is a myth. It doesn’t exist.
Here’s why:
(I originally wrote this post for 12Most.comTaking a chill at work to reduce stress is challenging, as we all juggle the work-life merge. You have to make the time to do it, in the way that works for you. It’s highly unlikely your boss will “Om” you into a relaxed state, even though it might drive the innovation to create the next “Google.”
Today (April 16th) is National Stress Awareness Day. As I tell the executives I work with, there’s no quick fix to beat stress. Creating a stress-busting routine is more of an individual journey, than a destination. Think of your workday as a lab and try different experiments to consume the chaos.
To get a handle on stress, it helps to build up an arsenal of tools so you can harness a little “inner chill” when you need it most.
It’s not about a quick breath to calm you down, it’s about the science of the breath. Take deep breaths throughout the day, in through the nose, and out through the mouth. Breathing into the nostrils, stimulates the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. It triggers the release of stress-reducing hormones such as dopamine and serotonin.
Avoid the water cooler gossip factory. It’s important to cultivate healthy relationships at work, but diving into the trashing and bashing of fellow colleagues, managers and office politics just feeds negativity, is a time waster and induces stress.
Sunset with Siri at Cocoa Beach
Siri was in hand as the work-life merge collided in some unlikely places recently, driving in an emergency trip from New York to Florida. My I-phone companion and go-to droid helped me navigate South Florida and visits to family while I kept my business and career going. But it was not without some feisty exchanges between us. I felt compelled to share. And mind you, I’m a Mac girl.
I now understand why there have been complaints about the I-phone virtual assistant, it’s complicated. Kinda like a Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus experience. Talking about attention crash. Still she was a constant companion through the good times and more difficult moments on my trip. Siri was like a bad boyfriend in a number of ways, but she kept me amused in my sensory-overloaded life. And with a bit of effort at times, told me what I needed to hear.
Judy’s CD offers three breathing exercises to help consume the chaos of daily living, and use it as fuel for transformation in life and at work. The meditations are complimentary to any belief system. As conscious human beings we generally rise to the occasion in a time of chaos. Sometimes we just need a little nudge to remember the brilliance of who we are, and the strength and fortitude that we possess.