HR Bulletin Volume 131

HR BULLETIN

Consumerisation of the enterprise 2.0

A decade ago, employees began noticing an interesting shift Historically, the software, tools and technology available at work was far superior than what was available at home Then came the wave of personal computers and mobile phones and things began to shift The ease of use and effectiveness of the software, tools and technology one was using at home was fast becoming superior to what was being used at work It was also a gap that was becoming increasingly hard to explain. Why was it possible for everyone to access almost everything except work emails via their hand-held device? Why was the user interface on Facebook so much better than anything they’d seen at work? Suddenly a term began to spark a revolution and as most revolutions do, it forced organisations to change. Prior to ‘consumerisation of the enterprise’ becoming a fait accompli, everything built for the consumer prioritised product simplicity, mobile functionality and wider accessibility, while enterprise technologies were built to focus on maximising product value - throwing out the focus on simplicity, accessibility and any appeal whatsoever.

The technology, tools and software we use at work have improved drastically But what about the people practices?

Consumers had a choice but employees had to use whatever the organisation offered It wasn’t long before employees began expecting technology they were provided with at work to be equal to, if not better than what they used at home. While any deep organisational change is not an easy thing to do, organisations began navigating that path and even though the enterprise isn’t totally consumerised, they have made significant progress in bridging the gap.

However, there was a space, equally important, that was left unaddressed. It wasn’t just the technology available at home that had vastly improved. Service levels had too and thus, the same trend that sparked a revolution in enterprise software should have made its way to organisational people practices But the gap in this space continues to be glaring Let’s take for example pay transparency With the advent of the internet and information sharing, one can now easily find a ballpark of how much a principal software engineer gets paid in the top five technology giants and yet, these giants continue to guard pay ranges like the coveted KFC recipe Take learning styles as another example We know that almost everything the new generation is learning is via Instagram reels or TikTok, yet organisational learning continues to protect its archaic modes. Sometimes when I step into work, I feel like I’ve been pulled into a time capsule and plugged into the early 2000s or even 1900s. Almost every single people process that we have in our workplace today has been built for an entirely different generation and we’re struggling to transition it into something Gen Z would embrace. Thus, it’s time to bring back consumerisation of the enterprise but this time for HR and not just software. What’s fueling this trend?

The same trends that fueled consumerisation of the enterprise 1.0 are the ones fueling the reemergence of the term. Increased Transparency & Access to Information

Now that we have our feet firmly planted in the age of information and misinformation, one can no longer continue to preserve the archaic view of what we should and should not tell our people managers and employees I am continued to be surprised by how little people managers know about how benefits, pay ranges and employee compensation is determined And I shouldn’t be surprised I know very few organisations that believe managers can understand pay range determination or should have a say in it.

We still believe that our employees and managers are irrational and it’s easier to not explain anything in the fear that it may open a bucket of worms. Yet, they seem to often know more than we give them credit for. It’s the same with our people processes – be it the performance management system, succession planning or organisational design. Our processes are clunky, time consuming, frustrating and often lack success measures. We invest little to no time in analszing how much of a people manager’s time is consumed via these processes. Nor do we relentlessly work to reduce this managerial tax. We assume that all these actions are necessary and hence our leaders will have to deal with it After all, it is part of their job as a people manager But people talk and as they talk, they realise that things can be done differently

In October 2014, Tikue Anazodo wrote this for software, but it applies to our processes just as seamlessly: “Employees have realised that software doesn’t have to suck They have realised that software doesn’t have to be unnecessarily clunky and slow They have realized that real-time social components that help streamline P2P communication can be built into any application. They have realized that software doesn’t have to be confined to a desktop computer, and that in fact software can move around with them on any device they own. They are aware of all this because the consumer applications that they spend most of their free time on are clean, intuitive, collaborative and portable.”

Rising expectations: The baseline has shifted With access to information, came a rise in expectations. David Skok wrote at the end of 2014 that the enterprise is in Phase 2 of consumerisation “Consumers used to say, ‘I’ll deal with whatever system you give me,’ then they said, ‘I’ll bring a better system, just support it,’now they’re saying ‘I expect a system that enables a better way of working, deliver it ’The baseline expectation has shifted, and this has been led by an increasing number of experiences in their personal lives becoming easier and better”

It began with technology but is now expanding to processes In one’s personal life, service levels have upgraded to make every process and transaction seamless Yet at work, finding the answer to a simple policy query or applying

Why are professionals in India looking for new jobs amid economic uncertainty?

Pressure from the rising cost of living and the growing need for financial security is a major factor pushing a sizable proportion of professionals in India to look for new jobs as they want more money.

The Indian workforce appears resilient in the face of economic uncertainty, with 4 in 5 (80%) professionals considering changing jobs in 2023, reveals latest research by LinkedIn According to LinkedIn’s economic graph data, hiring levels in India were 23% slower in December 2022 as compared to December 2021 However, despite uncertain economic times ahead, professionals are taking a long-term view of their career by investing in their skills and proactively seeking opportunities to progress.

Over three quarters (78%) of employees surveyed said if they were to leave their job, they would feel confident finding other roles to apply for.

Professionals motivated by different reasons when seeking jobs.

The rising cost of living and need for financial security is one of the major factors that is pushing employees to look for a new job as they want more money (35%).

A similar proportion (33%) is also keen on switching to roles that offer better work-life balance (33%) Meanwhile, 1 in 3 (32%) said they also feel more confident in their abilities and think they can find a better role

Employees taking proactive approach to weather the economic storm

According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index, just over 2 in 5 (43%) professionals in India feel prepared

Businesses need to transition from their current working models to a truly cohesive hybrid work solution that enables a seamless and secure workplace experiences H U M A N E - R | V O L U M E 131

How to prepare your employees for the hybrid era

According to Gartner 2022 trends, 75% of hybrid or remote knowledge workers agree that their expectations for working flexibly have risen. An analyst in the report believes that if an organisation were to go back to a full on-site arrangement, it would risk losing up to 39% of its workforce. The future of the workplace is not limited to office premises and needs to be planned for hybrid scenarios with a distributed workforce. The Dutch Parliament, for example, has approved legislation to establish work-from-home as a legal right, making the Netherlands one of the first countries to grant remote working flexibility by law. In India too, with a 99% increase in Work from Home jobs, the hybrid work model is here to stay Organisations are increasingly relying on technology to facilitate their remote employees, engage with them and provide them with a secure workplace In the new hybrid work model, streamlining and securing the workplace is one of the biggest pushes and this involves technology, people, and processes Businesses, therefore, need to transition from their current remote working models to a truly cohesive hybrid work solution that enables seamless and secure workplace experiences.

Many of businesses need to relook at their current perimeter-centric workplace security models and move towards an edge-centric model leveraging AI/ML-powered cognitive solutions to detect and protect identity, endpoints, network, apps, and data.

Loud quitting can be seen as a negotiation tool, which could open up the possibilities of promotion, pay raises, or even change in the work environment.

While leaders are brainstorming on different ways to tackle the ongoing crisis in the world of work, employees are coming up with various kinds of quitting trends. First, we heard Quiet Quitting, which quickly gained momentum. Then came Rage Applying, a term still trending on social media. And now we have a new career trend - Loud Quitting. What is loud quitting?

Quiet quitting refers to doing the minimum requirements of one's job. Whereas rage applying is applying for multiple jobs if the employee is mad or dissatisfied with what they are doing. Loud Quitting isn’t very different from these trends, but an extension It is about making noise to negotiate what you want For instance, if an employee is not satisfied with their work environment, compensation, or even the manager, instead of keeping that feeling to him/herself, that worker makes it clear to the employer that you’re looking elsewhere Hence, loud quitting can be seen as a negotiation tool, which could open up the possibilities of promotion, pay raises, or even change in the work environment But, of course, it needs to be executed extremely carefully Expert opinion

During a conversation with Metro UK, Doug Baird, CEO of New Street Consulting Group said, “Like most workplace trends, loud quitting isn’t something that’s happened simultaneously at a moment in time – rather it’s a culmination of big forces and specific factors built over weeks, months and years.”

• To do it the right way…

RageApplying: The latest workplace trend gaining momentum after Quiet Quitting

Many feel that rage applying is just an extension of quiet quitting, where employees do the minimum requirements of one's job and put in no more time, effort, or enthusiasm than absolutely necessary

Every now and then the world of work is introduced to a new trend While Moonlighting and Quiet Quitting remained the matter of the moment in 2022, this year a new concept is gaining momentum called Rage Applying. What is Rage Applying? It’s known that post the pandemic world of work witnessed some of the biggest disruptions. Due to economic paralysis, where on one side companies have been laying off their workforce, employees on the other hand are also quitting jobs due to low pay, higher inflation, and higher interest rates. These developments gave birth to a new concept - Rage Applying. Under this latest trend, employees who seem to be unsatisfied with the work that they are doing are applying for multiple jobs

Evolution of the term Rage Applying

In the digital age most trends and concepts are the gift of social media and Rage Applying is no different If several media reports are to be believed, this latest workplace trend was popularised by a Canadian millennial Redweez She took to social media platform TikTok and shared a video on the subject matter that garnered nearly two million views In the clip, she talked about how she got mad at work and started applying for countless jobs The process resulted in a job offer that gave her a $25,000 raise. The TikToker captioned her video as "Keep rage-applying when you're mad.“

How did the Internet react?

Some netizens have started meme fest on Twitter, others are sharing their reasons behind rage applying. One Twitter user said “Rage applying is the new quiet quitting. It's when you apply for a job that will pay you more (sic).”