SHIFT Newsletter – June 2022

Trending Topics in the World of Work_

Download the SHIFT Newsletter HERE.

Our June issue of SHIFT explores why executives are eager to get employees back in the office, how learning is leading the way through the great reshuffle, what the debate is over Bitcoin’s energy use, and a new way to think about effective management.

Making Sense of Why Executives Are Eager to Get Employees Back in the Office After two years, many executives are determined to welcome their workforces back to the office, whether their employees are ready or not. But studies show employees aren’t nearly as gung-ho about returning to work. The Future Forum, developed by workplace-messaging platform Slack, surveyed more than 10,000 workers globally and found an “executive-employee disconnect” with regard to returning to work. Three-quarters of all executives reported they want to work from the office three to five days a week, compared with about one-third of employees. Among executives who have primarily worked completely remotely through the pandemic, 44% said they wanted to come back to the office every day. Just 17% of employees said the same. Jump to Article >>

Learning Is Leading the Way through the Great Reshuffle Amid this era of massive transformation, learning and development (L&D) has a new mandate, according to a report from LinkedIn. L&D leaders are answering employees’ renewed calls for growth and purpose, and they’re grappling with the urgent challenge of future-proofing their organizations. The transformation of L&D means learning leaders are knocking down traditional silos to collaborate on a more holistic vision for HR. They are reaching for fresh solutions to tie skill building to career paths, internal mobility, and retention, while also bringing a new sense of care and humanity to employee well-being, diversity, and inclusion. Jump to Article >>

The Debate over Bitcoin’s Energy Use Trying to understand cryptocurrency? An article produced by the Associated Press and published in Republicworld.com not only gives a good overview of how it works but also sheds light on the ever-increasing amount of energy that it requires. In the world of bitcoin mining, access to cheap and reliable electricity is everything. But many economists and environmentalists have warned that as the still widely misunderstood digital currency grows in price – and with its popularity – the process of mining that is central to its existence and value is becoming increasingly energy intensive and potentially unsustainable. Determining how much energy the industry uses is difficult because not all mining companies report their use and some operations are mobile, moving storage containers around the country chasing low-cost power. Jump to Article >>

A Good Read on a New Way to Think about Effective Management Roger Martin, a thought leader in business management and former dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, is the author of A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness (Harvard Business Review Press, May 2022). A cornerstone of business education is the idea that all decisions must be based on rigorous data analysis, but Martin says this framework is beginning to crumble under the weight of an uncertain future. Some traditional management models assume that future trends will mirror past ones, but in a rapidly changing world, this certainty is becoming less and less reliable. Jump to Article >>