Champions for Change: Preparing for the Future of Work

Throughout my 2021 video series, Champions for Change, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to interview leaders driving all types of change in the workplace across industries. And have found this opportunity to connect with colleagues, clients, and kindred spirits greatly rewarding. Without further ado, my latest guest is indeed a kindred spirit when it comes to data-driven outcomes. After all, you can’t improve your outcomes if you can’t measure them. Janet Foutty is the Executive Chair of the Board for Deloitte US.

Janet and I were practically finishing each other’s sentences as we talked about how the future of work will be driven by the marriage of humanity and technology, proactively fostering the well-being of employees, and a greater focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Watch the entire video here, as well as any of the other Champions for Change episodes you may have missed.

Here are some key takeaways from our discussion that I believe can help leaders and businesses evolve as we all move forward together.

1.     We’re not rebuilding our businesses, we’re reimagining them.

So many business leaders are asking the same questions. “How do we get back to the old construct? How do we rebuild the workplace environment? How do we rebuild collaboration?” But “rebuilding” is not the way to look at it. We need to be reinventing and reimagining. Because fundamentally, we are changed forever. Janet says that as we all move forward in 2021 and beyond, “The imperative to transform is clear, but the path is really challenging.” Quoting a recent global survey of senior executives on business transformation, she says, “Forty-five percent replied they were focused on ‘building an organizational culture that celebrates growth, adaptability, and resilience.’ Forty percent said, ‘workforce capabilities and upskilling or reskilling for mobility.’ And thirty-five percent said, ‘implementing new technologies.’” No one has a crystal ball, so we’re all going to have to reinvent ourselves as we move forward. Which brings me to the second takeaway.

2.    Super teams will power the future of work.

They say, “teamwork makes the dream work,” and, as Janet sees it, the future of work will be fueled by “super teams” made up of humans and AI working in tandem. “We know the pace isn’t slowing down,” Janet says. “We're finding that savvy leaders connect super teams who are really combinations of people and AI technology. How do you leverage their complementary capabilities to pursue outcomes at speed and scale? I feel for the first time, we're really acknowledging that we need both the workforce and the technological capabilities to transform work. It's not an either-or but it's a both.” In other words, the future of work will need doers and data.

3.     Well-being in (and away from) the post-pandemic office.

“Sixty-seven percent of organizations remain fully remote today, over sixty percent said they're planning a physical return to the workplace this year, and seventy percent plan to continue in a hybrid model,” Janet says, quoting a survey Deloitte conducted. “So, that has us thinking about how well-being is impacted, from how we think about culture to how we think about fairness and equitability among the mix of remote and hybrid and on-site workers.” In this new workplace, it will be incumbent on the leaders to facilitate an environment of physical, emotional, and mental well-being. As Janet articulates so eloquently, “We must think about how to integrate well-being into the design of work.” As leaders, that’s what we signed up for.

4.     Data analysis is key to workforce equity.

We all have a tendency to stop at layers where the aggregation points confirm something that we’ve believed to be true. It’s called confirmation bias. But what many of us have learned as companies over the past year is that, even as diversity grows in the workforce, there is always more work to be done. “We produced our first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) transparency report this year,” relates Janet. “And it allowed us to reflect on the successes of the past, but it was also very humbling because we looked at data disaggregated across races at a much more detailed level in our organization.” She proposes that using this knowledge to reveal blind spots is “key to getting management to act.” As she says, “How we disaggregate our data about our workforces and about our supply chains and our communities sits at the center of us being able to have accountability.”

5.     Janet’s “Change Champion” mindset.

For Janet, having a “Change Champion” mindset means continuous learning throughout life and having the courage to be challenged by others. Which innately assumes a degree of humility. “The challenges that we face are way too big and the stakes way too high for any one person to think they have all the answers and can go it alone,” says Janet. “I try to surround myself with people who push me. If you have a champion mindset, it gives you that space and that confidence to allow yourself to be pushed, and that's what I think being a great leader is all about. It is about listening, learning, challenging, and continuing to advance your thinking through that mindset.” I wholeheartedly agree!

I hope that Janet’s data-backed insights will help you think about how to evolve your business as we move back to work and beyond. And if you missed any of our prior Champions for Change episodes, you can view them at the links below. 

·      How Championing Diversity Helps Create Institutional Wisdom and Success w/Christy Haubegger, WarnerMedia’s Chief Inclusion Officer and Head of Global Marketing and Communications

·      Taking Bold Action to Impact Social Change w/Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO of Albertsons Companies

·      Using Tech to Build a Safe and Sustainable City w/Michael Sherwood, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Las Vegas

·      How integrated learning supports the next generation of talent w/Terrence Cheng, Technology Director at the University of Connecticut-Stamford

·      Taking bold action to impact social change w/Glenda McNeal, President of Enterprise Strategic Partnerships at American Express

Thank you for watching and for being a Champion for Change!