Emerging Norms Changing the Workplace

By Emma Gordon, Ph.D. / MBA, Senior Adjunct Professor of Human Resources | Senior Director, Learning & Talent Development, Residential and Dining Enterprises at Stanford University

In 2021, many people expected the world—and the workplace—would return AVAILABLE! to “normal.” In fact, work in 2021 was more volatile than anyone could have predicted, with new COVID-19 variants, major divisions around vaccination, a massive war for talent and quit rates reaching an all-time high. What changes can we expect in 2022 and beyond?

2020 raised awareness of racial relations with a laser-focus on organizational strategies in support of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives and programs. The number one priority for 2022 and beyond is for organizations to address how they manage DEIB initiatives across an increasingly diverse workforce to attract and retain the right talent to remain competitive, locally and globally.

Generation Z’s expect social responsibility and ethical leadership from their employers. They also demand workplace flexibility, employee voice, and career mobility in exchange for the talent they bring. Generation Z will make-up more than 50% of the global workforce in the next few years, so employers that don’t offer flexibility will continue to see increased turnover as employees move to roles and organizations that better align with their values and priorities.

Employees are now finding that they can leverage their transferable skills to pivot to new roles and explore new opportunities; skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, professional attitude, work ethic, career management and intercultural fluency, when combined with technical skills, increase a job seeker’s marketability and contribute to overall career success. Recruiters in 2022 are recognizing the value of candidates with skills that contribute to healthy workplace relationships and high performance teams which can achieve organizational goals.

In fact, overall the pandemic seems to be giving workers more power than they’ve had in a very long time. Organized labor has been gaining strength and visibility. Nationwide, there is a greater demand for unionization. Starbucks and Amazon workers recently unionized to demand fair and equitable wages combined with safer and healthier workplaces. In October 2021, more than 100,000 workers in the United States either participated in, or prepared for, strikes; “Striketober“ became one of the largest increases of organized labor in the twenty-first century. This power shift will continue well into 2023 with employees gaining leverage in negotiating more competitive salaries, creative benefits, and workplace health and safety programs.

Menlo students today will likely find that when they graduate they are entering a workplace with dramatically expanded possibilities where they can exercise greater self-determination.