Digital Cultures: Age of the Intellect

DIGITAL CULTURES

AGE OF THE INTELLECT

Dr. Ganesh Shermon

Copyright © 2017 Dr. Ganesh Shermon.

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ISBN: 978-1-4834-6416-9 (sc)

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CONTENTS

Preface

CHAPTER 1   Business of Digital Cultures

CHAPTER 2   Case for the Digital Intellect

CHAPTER 3   Cultural Manifestation Patterns

CHAPTER 4   Influence of Digital Cultures

CHAPTER 5   Leadership Challenges

CHAPTER 6   Organization Model Interfaces

CHAPTER 7   Linking The Dots

CHAPTER 8   Emergence of a Digital Culture

CHAPTER 9   Leading an Intellectual Company

CHAPTER 10   Digital Building Blocks

CHAPTER 11   The Intellectual Company – Discover

CHAPTER 12   Age of the Intellect

EPILOGUE   People Factor - A Digital Mind Set

ANNEXURE 1   The Intellectual Corporation of the 21st Century

ANNEXURE 2   Defining Organizational Cultures, Leadership Styles, Organizational Models

ANNEXURE 3   Measuring Intellectual & Human Capital

ANNEXURE 4   Digital Culture Alignment Inventory

PREFACE

Trigger – MIT, Sloan School of Management – Culture, Leadership, Knowledge, Organizational Models, and Intellect as factors that influence one another was nurtured as a thought by my faculty at MIT. The course work on Cultures by Prof. Edgar Schein (3 Cultures of Management), or the assignments on Socialization, Tales of the Field, Leadership by Prof. John Van Maanen (Leadership & Ethnography), sessions by Dr. Peter Senge (Learning Organization), Prof. Michael Scott Morton (Organization Theory/ Decision Support System/Business Models), and Prof. Thomas Malone (Knowledge – Intellectual Capital) who, I believe significantly helped me formulate the hypothesis for this research. That, Leadership (Styles/Behaviors) Influences Organizational Models (Structure, Design, Org Theories) to Build and Sustain an Intellectual (Value, Technology Overt & Covert Presence) Culture (The way we do things here). Many years later, I had authored a position paper titled, Money for Nothing, Knowledge for Free, followed by a 2007 book, Knowledge Human Resources Management that focused on building a Knowledge – Learning oriented Human Resources Function. Now, the premise that Intellect/Knowledge rules in a Digital Friendly Organizational Business Models, has now culminated with this book linking Intellect with Digital Business Cultures.

Thought Leaders - It would be equally important to acknowledge inspiring and path breaking works of Prof. Nitin Nohria (Harvard – An Icon, A friend from old times), Prof. Henry Mintzberg (McGill), Prof. P. Khandwalla (IIM A), Prof. Dave Ulrich (University of Michigan), Prof. Tom Davenport (MIT) in the fields of organizational models, design, structure, people and theory.

More than One - Research Assistance - For Anavir Shermon –(www.anavirshermon.com) engagement with this book commenced soon after I started writing it based on my research. A Senior in Industrial & Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, his experience lay in the domain of Operations, Corporate Strategy & Structure, Continuous Improvement, Lean, and Engineering Economics with a keen focus in Game Theory. Thanks to his experience as robotics mechanical co lead role through FIRST Robotics, learnings and some very exciting work in a Research Assistant role to Professor Roman Kapuscinski (Chair of Technology & Operations, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan), on a Behavioral Science Project, to Professor Amy Nguyen-Chyung (Assistant Professor of Strategy, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan), on an Entrepreneurship & Strategy project and to Professor Mariel Lavieri (Associate Professor, Department of Industrial & Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, his active engagement with editing this book over the last 18 months was substantive. His contribution to the book involved compiling research material, articulating multiple research hypothesis, data management, statistical analysis, compiling & analyzing public domain reports on digital businesses, building case studies, analysis of industry history & development, analysis of digital companies’ competitive and comparative advantages, data mining, critiquing, validating, and conducting literature reviews. Many of my clients had asked me if I had any tools or materials that could help them in designing a digital culture. Anavir, helped build organizational surveys pertaining to "Measuring Digital HR in an Intellectual Company, Measuring Intellectual & Human Capital, Building and Sustaining a Digital Culture and Digital Business Alignment Inventory" etc. In addition, Anavir did background secondary research on work in progress at US/Canadian Universities in relation to digital businesses. He helped in building graphics, case studies, obtaining leadership style feedback, identifying digital trends in relation to changing digital business models, organization structures, strategic building blocks in HR, disruptive elements in people management, obtaining digital companies best practices and culture stories. This was followed with work in all other areas including administering questionnaires, interpreting the reports, performing general due diligence, compiling stories on leadership styles apart from editing, patiently identifying, revising, placing all of the graphics for the book by analyzing and incorporating these into respective chapters. Not to forget how Anavir saved me from making many an error, more complex/unreadable, while editing and making this book significantly more simple and easier to read. To me, his greatest contribution was to think and act as a Millennial, which he is, in contrast to me, a Baby Boomer. Anavir provided sharper interpretations, shooting out hypothesis, differentiations, anecdotal references and critical insights into the Age of the Intellect.

May I please place on record my gratitude and appreciation to individuals, organizations, leaders and followers, my firm, each and every one of them, who without hesitation supported the research work in all possible ways. They were truly the inspirers of the document produced herein. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to past and present colleagues from KPMG, its CEOs Gautam Dalal, Ian Gomes, Russell Parera, and Richard Rekhy, its partners, consultants and clients.

And my gratitude and obligation goes to, my friends, inspirers, mentors and guides, who took me at face value when I spoke of my desire to write a book on a complex subject and agreed to support my research. Each of them kept at it through these many years guiding, directing, channeling, following up and pushing to get on with it. They set targets, subtle, meaningful and worthy to complete.

A writer is only as good as his clients, corporate entities, teachers, trainers, content sources, mentors, guides and, editors. It has been a privilege to have so many supporting this book. Hundreds, from multiple domains, countries, ethnicity, culture specialists, thought leaders contributed to this book by graciously, generously spending the time to be interviewed, by sharing their ideas, or by pointing me to people, research material and, case studies. Of special mention would be some terrific contribution, great inspiration with interviews, case studies, research content, books, blogs, thought papers, authors, futurists, organizational material from Adam Grant, Adrian Gore, Aditya Puri, Alessandro Di Fiore, Allan Freed, Allain Gosselin, Allen Webb, Allen J. Morrison, Allan Alter, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Andres Hervas-Drane, Andy Manko, Andrall E. Pearson, Andrew Mayo, Andrew McAfee, Andrew Shimberg, Andrew Arcuri, Anshuman Singh, Anthony Bourdain, Anthony Goldbloom, A Lakhani, Arvind Mahajan, Ashish Gupta, Armina Kapadia, Arun Sundararajan, Austin O. Oparanma, Brad Karsh, Bharath Ramakrishnan, Bill Owens, Bobby Parikh, Ben Van Deputt, Benn Konsynski, Bert Spector, Bernd Schmitt, Belal A. Kaifi, Bhrigu Joshi, Bill Briggs, Bruno Aziza, Bukowitz Wendi, Caroline Webb, Carolyn Dewar, Carlos Dominguez, Claudia Saran, Claudio Fernández-Aráoz, Charles Swindoll, Christi Joseph Paul, Christine Barton, Christine Bader, Christian Schm, Chris Egan, Chris Townley, Christoph Zott, Christopher A. Bartlett, Claudio Feser, Claudia Joyce, Clifford Geertz, Colin Price, Courtney Templin, Cristina San Jose, Dan Pink, Daftuar C N, Darius Ghandhi, Darren Faint, Dave Ulrich, David Kiron, David M. Schweiger, David Mathison, David Maxfield, David Knight, David Teece, Deidra J. Schleicher, Deepa Shekar, Detlef Pollack, Donald J Boldwell, Don Valentine, Davis Dyer, Donald F. Van Eynde, Donna Morris, Dorian Pyle, Doug Palmer, Douglas Iverster, Derek Dean, Didier Bonnet, Dragonetti, Nicola C, Edgar Schein, Edward Hallowell, Elena Corsi, Elisa Farri, Eli Pariser, Emily Jane Fox, Emily Lawson, Erik Brynjolfsson, Eric Matson, Eric Clemons, Eric Steven Raymond, Erik Rorth, Fei-Fei Li, Ferzaan Engineer, Fr. E Abraham, Fr. E H McGrath, Fr. J A Arroyo, Fr. Ozzie Mascarenhas, Frances Frei, Frank Felden, Fred Luthans, Frederick Dalzell Gary P. Pisano, Gavin Wright, Gerald C. (Jerry) Kane, George Collins, George Westerman, George Gilder, Glenn Finch, Gregory Moorhead, Gyan Chandra, H. James Wilson, Hal B. Gregersen, Harvey Mackay, Harold Lasswell, Hema Thakkar, Henry Mintzberg, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Jenkins III, Hewlett, S. A., Hortense de la Boutetiere, Howard Gardner, Hornstein, Andreas, Jac Fitz-enz, Jack Welsh, Jacques de Villiers, Jacob Morgan (Chess Media), Jacques Bughin, James Brian Quinn, James Guthrie, Janette Batten, Jay I. Sinha, James Manyika, James Heskett, Jaana Remes, James Krohe, Jr, James Champy, Jamie Hawkins, Janardhana Reddy, JC Herz, J Jay Scanlan, J. Stewart Black, Jeff Fromm, Jeffrey Schmidt, Jennifer Alsever, Jerry Rao, Jerry O’Dwyer, Jeremy Howard, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey R. Immelt, Jeffrey Dunn, Jeetu Singh, Joseph Grenny, Jon Younger, Josh Bersin, J Martin Hayes, Jim Austin, Jimmy Diamantakis, Jim Rohn, Jim Nordstrom, Jonathan Woetzel, Jonathan Davidson, John Hagel III, John Ratey, John D’Arcy, Dr. John Halamka, John D. Sterman, John Brownstein, John Kotter, John Seely Brown, John Girardi, John Van Maanen (MIT), Jorge Lopez, Jon Kaplan, Julian Birkinshaw, Julia Kirby, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe, Karl Sveiby, K Kumar, Khari Johnson, Kelsey Robinson, Ken Richardson, Kenneth Boulding, Keith Rosen, Kevin Crowston, Krishnakumar Natarajan (Mindtree KK), Kris Dunn, Laura Croucher, Laura Nash, Laura Wining, Leif Edvinsson, Leigh Weiss, Linda S. Gottfredson, Linda Garneau, Ling Lau, Liz Gryger, Lowell Bryan, Loren Gary, Lorrie Lykins, Lynda Gratton, M S Banga, Ma. Evelina Ascalon, Marc Beaujean, Marc de Jong, Marcus Shingles, Margaret Rouse, Marise Ph. Born, Mark Kramer, Mark Smith, Mark Spears, Mark Williamson, Martin Mocker, Martin Gill, Martin Harrysson, Mary-Ann Russon, Maryam M. Kaifi, McMahan G C, McWilliams, A, Melanie Reuter, Michael Schrage, Michael Fitzgerald, Dr. Michael Haydock, Michelle A. Barton, Michael Beer, Michael Porter, Michael S. Bernstein, Mike Malone, Mike Miller, Mike Rhodin, Monideepa Tarafdar, Moses Abramovitz, Mohamed-Hédi Charki, Mohamed Zain, Mohd Rizal Razalli, Mohd Hasan Selamat, M S Krishnan, Narendra Mulani, Natrajan Ramkrishna, Nathan Bennett, Nathan Marston, Natasha Buckley, Nathaniel Branden, Nick Bontis, Nick Beim, Nicolai J. Foss, Nile M. Khanfar, Nina Kruschwitz, Nitin Nohria, Noel Tichy, Nola Weinstein, Norman Lee Johnson, Norton D.P, Ofir Turel, Oliver Bossert, Oulton, Nicholas, Dr P Bala Subramainam, Pamela Kirk Prentice, Paolo Gaudiano, Paul A. David, Paul Michelman, Patrick Sullivan, Paul Willmott, Patti Schaar, Pavan Bhosle, Per Krusell, Peter Aceto, Peter Outridge, Peter J. Carroll, Phil Ryan, Peter Weill, Pierre Lévy, Pradeep Khandwalla, Prasad Kurian, R Pettinger, Pierre Nanterme, Prahalad C.K, Pradeep Udhas, R H Davenport, R Sridhar, Rajiv Chandran, Rajesh Gupta, Ralph Landau, Ranjit Bawa, Randy Boissonnault, Raphael Amit, Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Rebecca Shockley, Renee Boucher Ferguson, Richard Boulton, Richard Petty, Richard Rekhy, Rich Grange, Ricky W. Griffin, Richard Hagberg, Richard Helm, Rick Lamanna, Rik Kirkland, Rinju Sarah Mathew, Rita Johnston, Robert Reich, Robert J. Alio, Robert G. Smith, Romie F. Littrell, Roos G, Roos J, R S S Mani, R Sridhar, Robert Bolton, Robert Kaplan, Robert Lambertucci, Roger Roberts, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Rusli Abdullah, Russell Eisenstat, Russell Parera, Ryszard Barnat, Samuel Tilden, Sanjay Lalbhai, Sarah Zimmerman for Suzy Kaseem, Sarita Kumari, Sarah Tattersall’s, Satty Bhens, Sean Silverthorne, Selena Rezvani, Sharad Sarin, Shahar Markovitch, Sherbin, L, Siegwart Lindenberg, Srinath Sridharan, Stacey Madge, Stanley D. Truskie, Stephanie L. Woerner, Stephanie Russell-Kraft, Steve Case, Stephen A. Miles, Stephen Robbins, Stephen Gregg, Sumantra Ghoshal, Sumberg, K, Susan Lund, Susita Asree, Tangly Catlin, Terry Leap, Terence McKenna, Theodore Kinni, Timothy Taylor, Thomas W. Malone, Thomas G. Apel, Thomas A. Hickok, Thomas Stewart, Thomas Gumsheimer, Tom Saar, Tom Tierney, Traub, James, Vasant Dhar, Veronika Belokhvostova, Verna Allee, Vijay Gurbaxani, Victor L. Brown, Vidya Santhanam, Vinayak Kamath, Wayne Brockbank, Wageeh A. Nafei, Wilton Henriques, Winston Brill, William Mishler, Williams Ruth, Wright, P M.

Research for this book required an understanding of a wide variety of corporations attempting to build stakeholder value through capturing contributions made by organizational intellectuals. Case content from some corporate sector players need special mention, a grateful acknowledgment and thank you. Airbnb, Air Canada, AON, Abbot, Accenture, ADP, Acquire Media Corp., Acrolinx GMBH, Adobe, Atos, A T Kearney, Atex, Attensity, Attivio, AlphaGo, Andersen, Amazon, American Express, Apple, Applied Materials, Arvind Inc. Astra Zeneca, AT & T, Aviso, Bank of America, Bayer, BASF, BCE Inc, BCG, BDO, Best Buy, Bell Canada, Berkshire Hathaway, Betterment, Big Think, Bitly, Bitcoin, Blackstone, Bleachers Report, Bloomberg, Blue Fountain Media, BMO, BNP Paribas, Boeing, Bose, Boston Scientific, Boston University, bOX, British Airways, Bunge, Business Manager, BuzzFeed, Cadburys, Cargill, Carnegie Mellon, Castrol, Chevron, Cisco, Citibank, CIBC, CNN, Coca Cola, Cognizant, Connotate Inc., Cornerstone on Demand, Columbia University, Continuous. Ai., Cornell University, Costco, Conagra, Coursera, CSC, CultureIQ, Culture Amp, CVS, Cxense ASA, Danaher, Degreed, Dell, Deloitte, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, DNN Corp, Disney, Discovery, Dollarama, Duke University, Eaton Corp, eBay, EMC, Emory University, Enterra, Enterprise, Ericsson, Etsy Inc., EY, Facebook, FEDEX, Fitbit, Fortune, Forbes, Floqq, Fujitsu, Fuze, GE, GenPact, General Dynamics, General Assembly, Georgia Tech University, Glint, Google, Goldman Sachs, Grand Thornton, Granyon, Grovo, GSK, Harvard University, Halogen, HCL, HDFC Bank, Hertz, HP, Hitachi, hiQ Labs, Home Depot, HourlyNerd, Hudson Bay, Hudson Interactive, Huemor Huffington Post, IBM, ICICI Bank, IDBI, Ignite Visibility, Indiana University, Infosys, Infor, Instagram, InstaCart, Intel, Intrepid Learning, Jabil Circuit, J P Morgan, J & J, KPMG, KKR, Kenexa, Korn Ferry, Kentico Software, Krux Digital, Lumesse`, Loblaw, Linked In, L’Oréal, Lyft, 3 M, Magnolia, MasterCard, McMaster University, McGill University, McCain Foods, MediaPass, Mercer, MIT Sloan School of Management, Michigan State University - MI, Microsoft, Micron tech, Morgan Grenfell, NetSuite, Netflix, Novartis, Nutanix, McKinsey, McDonald, MSU, MindTree, Namely, National Geographic, Net Suite, NEST, Nike, Nordstrom, Northwestern University, NewYork University - Stern School, Office Depot, OpenText, OpenSesame, Oracle, Paylocity, PayPal, Pandora, Pathgather, Penn State University, Pepsi, Pfizer, Periscope, P & G, Placed Inc., Pluralsight, Purdue University, PwC, Queens University, Qualcomm, Quartz, Quintiles, Rapid & LLC, RBC, RBS, Reckitt Benckiser, Reuters, Rogers Communications, SAB Miller, SAP, Sanofi, Samsung, Shopper Drug Mart, SHRM, Salesforce, Scotia Bank, SEOP, SEO Brand, SilkRoad, Slack Technologies, SnapChat, Southwest Airlines, Splunk, Spotify, Standard Chartered, Stanford, Starbucks, SONY, Suncor Energy, Staples, SumTotal, Syngenta, T Mobile, Taco Bell, Taleo, Target, Targa Resources, Tata TCS, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Temple University, Tesla, T D Bank, Texas Instruments, The Economist, Teradata, ThinkAnalytics, Tim Hortons, TINYPulse, Transnet, Twitter, Tumbler, Uber, Udemy, Ultimate Software, Unilever, UCLA, UC Berkley, University of Chicago – Booth School, University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign, University of Pennsylvania – Wharton School, University of Maryland, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, University of Minnesota, University of North Carolina, University of Texas - Austin, University of Texas - A & M, University of Toronto, University of Virginia, University of Western Ontario, Darden, UPS, Verizon, Vimeo, Visa, Vista Print, Walgreens, Washington Post, Workday, Workopolis, Wellington Asset Management Company, Walmart, Wendy’s, Wells Fargo, Western Digital, Wharton, Whirlpool Corporation, Verizon, Vodeclic, Wealthfront, Webtrends, Wingify, WIPRO, Wisetail, Yale University, YELP, You Tube, XEROX, Xyleme, Zenzar, Zumobi.

To us, this book at one level is nothing but a significant compilation of some amazing research, citations, verbatim reproductions, white papers, blogs, frontiers, thought work, interviews, analytics, focus groups and original research contribution by thinkers from Hackett Group, ASTD, Aberdeen Human Capital, MIT Sloan School of Management, MIT SMR, American Management Association, A T Kearney, Conference Board, McKinsey Consulting, BCG - Boston Consulting Group, HBWSK, EY, HBR, KPMG LLP, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Inc. PwC and every attempt has been made to acknowledge their contributions closer to the text and in the preface. If there have been any inadvertent misses please accept my sincere apologies. Business Manager journal and Editor Anil Kaushik needs special mention for continuously supporting new ideas through my publications of papers in his management and human capital journal. MindTree Inc. is showcased as a Best Practice Global Digital Enterprise.

Delighted to dedicate this book to my institutions of learning, its faculty, staff and administrators, from XLRI to MSU to Sloan School of Management, MIT.

For my family, Kavita Shermon, my wife, a Business Owner, (www.riverforestconnections.com & www.rforc.com, www.RiverForestEStore.com with very little time, who simply stood by supporting, (editorial, documentation, critique, specialist comments) despite multiple time zone business obligations (Read – Tough, Demanding, Particular, Precise, Clear, Unforgiving of my repeating mistakes, verbosity) and son, Anavir Shermon, Michigan Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, multi-tasking between his University assignments, research role responsibilities and given his research and editorial obligations towards this book, co-authoring other books with me etc, decided to stay away from Canada, to help him contribute meaningfully, his claim that I am pretending to rewrite the declaration of independence? Of course, not to forget some terrific editorial comments, critiquing, simplifying language, design, customer service and marketing support, Justin Scholfield, Carolyn Neal Lockridge and the many creative designers, from LULU Publishing, Raleigh, NC. A big thank you. Sincerely appreciated!

To all of you do we dedicate this work, nothing shattering this earth, but done with all earnestness, as a symbol of gratitude for lifelong learning. That, without each and every one of you and your work, my dream of authoring a longitudinal research based book on what I call as The Age of the Intellect would simply not have happened.

We call it the Digital Cultures in an Intellectual Company – Age of the Intellect.

Dr. Ganesh Shermon

Oakville, ON. Canada

[email protected]

CHAPTER 1

Business of Digital Cultures

HOW! Digital Cultures! We are often asked is there a method or a way to influence or build the desired culture. Is there something called a right or a wrong culture? Would organizations seek to alter its cultural path consciously and is it possible to do so? Our answer to that is a resounding YES. What you got is what you get and what you have. Right or Wrong - Good or bad! And this is not about whether organizations are actually right or bad. It is what people perceive it to be in those organizations. One is not declaring that there a standard formula, and if executed effectively, organizations would have a new or a desirable, favorable culture. NO, such a recipe does not exist. But with equal resolute can also state that if organizations were to understand, appreciate their As Is culture, with all of its facets, aspects, players, issues, challenges, goals in regard to their existing culture, it is indeed possible to influence such an As Is culture to a To Be desired state culture. It is possible to influence cultures where there is an honest attempt to understand the gaps in what the leadership believes is a gap between existing and desirable culture (In their opinion or based on opinions received from its people, customers – whatever may be the appropriate process they have followed to gather reliable data) with an aim to build a desired outcome (Could be Ethics, Resources, Compliance, Economic, Structural, Strategic, Processes, National – Global, Work Environments, Policy Perspectives, Rewards, Customer Relationships, Product Qualities, Nature of Business and there are many such variables to be covered in this outcome definition). These actions would or may mean and necessitate influencing strategy, structure, technology, leadership, rewards, people, values, purpose, policies, programs, rituals, attitudes, behaviors and To Be processes. It does not mean that such organizations can wish away its past, its history, stories, rituals or challenges, leadership practices or reputational image dimensions, but it can surely attempt to alter its course by responding and answering questions with a YES, we will continue, NO, we will discontinue, May be, we will continue, May be we will continue along with doing the following additional things, Do More, Do Less, and so on…. This book will cover many case studies, client experiences and research content where researchers, management consultants and organizational scientists have helped transform/ alter / modify / influence / change corporate cultures. Every large company that has attempted transformation or have transformed, successfully or otherwise have in a small or big way influenced its culture. At the substantive level, large scale change management programs are always about changing cultures. At some level in this book, we will close by saying, "It is all about Intellect, All about PeoPle, Stupid! APPS!" Pun intended!

The world of 2020! Awesome to look forward!! But, as I write, BNN reports, George Clemenceau, the premier of France in WW1, once famously stated that War is too serious a matter to be left to the military (often misquoted as to be left to the generals). 100 years later, on another battleground, the global economy, the Central Banks are battling to get people and businesses to spend, today’s world economy is changing rapidly. Not because of external factors alone. But owing to an implosion too. World events like the Eurozone debt crisis for Europe, the shrinking of manufacturing growth in China for Chinese currency, the downgrading of the North American economy for US debt, US economy is stalling, declining earnings, yet with very record high valuations, TINA, fall in Canadian dollar for Balance of trade, BREXIT for UK, (Economist writes, The Bank of England had not changed base rates in seven years, but when it finally moved, it did so with a bang. In response to the low growth it expects in the wake of Brexit, it cut rates by a quarter point, to 0.25%, expanded its quantitative easing scheme and introduced a new funding scheme for banks. The move came on August 4th—three prime ministers, two disappointing European football championships and one referendum since the last wiggle in the rate), US election rhetoric, Oil price crisis for Saudi Arabia cost cuts, have had a worldwide impact on business, sentiment and confidence. PwC projects, The UK’s vote to leave the EU shocked currency and stock markets, and has led to an environment of economic and political uncertainty. Against this backdrop, we have revised our main scenario projections for UK real GDP growth to 1.6% and 0.6% in 2016 and 2017 respectively, down from 1.9% and 2.3%. This revised estimate assumes that the Bank of England embarks on some monetary loosening due to the expected reduction in aggregate demand, and in an attempt to stabilize financial markets. We’re also assuming that fiscal policy is supportive of growth. But Brexit will be on the minds of policymakers outside the UK, and indeed the EU, as well. The Swiss central bank has already intervened in the foreign exchange markets and the US dollar appreciated slightly following the referendum - though it hasn’t reached the levels it was at earlier this year. Therefore, we are still expecting the Fed to raise interest rates, although probably not until December or later. In such unstable times, companies are increasingly facing the heat of shareholder demanding performance despite a volatile business environment.

Organizational Struggle – Organizations, may desire, hope or even pray, but seldom get time to adapt themselves to a rapidly changing business landscape. Thus, in the existing scenario, the impact of culture, smart talent, leadership as they inevitably engage with disruptions through technology cannot be overemphasized. Organizations need leadership which can make sense amidst this ambiguity, find patterns in the chaos and take charge to meet the desired end state of performance and value realization. Business leaders, on the other hand, also need to address not only these challenges to skilfully manoeuvre their respective organizations to the next level but would need to be wary of the fact that in this battle for supremacy they are also on a headless chicken run against their competition. The days of marathons are over for many companies and business models; it is all about frequent bursts of 100 meters’ dash only. And every leader wishes they could be an Usain Bolt. Increasingly there is a new generation of corporate life, which have become more dependent on the machine and its application. Their orientation to work life has become computer-centric, sometimes meaningless, cynical and self-defeating. Their orientation has been to move on and on into cyberspace, move into the knowledge-based business and hope to keep their psychic space intact.

Demographic SHIFTS of the 20th-century patterns have been influenced by choices made by double income families, population control in China, an emergence of BRICA countries, greater emphasis on governance at the political level, the changing profile of workforce and their expectations. There is an increasing reality of older, mature competencies, more tenured employees staying in the work place longer. A significant majority are now reaching to dangerously closer to their age of retirement exposing organizations to wide gaps in skills and competencies and are now presenting a real and present danger to business continuity in some critical workforce segments. The possibility of this imminent exit and its implications are now becoming a true reality of organizational policy makers. Extrapolate. Exasperate. Enervate. Or be extravagant. This is not an exaggeration! The 20th-Century corporations cannot possibly prepare to enter the 21st Century without envisioning the coming 100—not to mention the 1,000 – years of management is obvious. To our mind, many 21st century corporations no longer can think the way they thought in the year 2000 or 2002, (Y2K, dot-com, or BPO or ATM banking for example).

BUT again, there is a CHOICE! Between reinventing, altered understanding of the business model, forward integrating from the here-and-now to predicting only a slightly altered future, leaping over logical barriers to prophesies a transformed tomorrow- for the corporation, for the CEO, for the manager, for the young and bright talent…indeed, for each and every activity of the company, smart talent is at the core! At one end, smart talent will remain the substantive need of the customer, and at the other the core digital product offering of your company.

We KNOW! Organizations are products of the ways that people imagine, think, act and interact in differing situations, exploit the opportunities provided to them and actively engage and manage themselves given business dynamics. People in turn become products of experiences, interactions, connections, interfaces, feedback and collaborations in such organizations. Experiences and connections are made possible by the processes deployed by organizations. And best of processes are those that are practiced seamlessly enabled by technology that facilitates behaviors as it happens for people segments across time zones, geographies, languages, values, and cultures.

1. The nature of an organization is what exemplifies it, describes its character, and makes its shape recognizable. It encompasses the choices that will be made about future products and services, as well as future customers and markets.

2. In business today, strategy traditionally answers the question How can we compete in the market, and maintain an advantage?

3. Strategic organizations provide the vision, direction, and the purpose of growth for any organization.

4. Strategic focus is not about small goals, micromanagement of business strategies or delivering poor customer satisfaction.

5. Rather, it provides an all-encompassing umbrella under which businesses and leadership devise appropriate strategies, goals to create value.

6. Strategic leadership provides clarity regarding to two strategic issues; what should be the plan of action by providing the vision, direction, and creating the context for growth;

7. Plan on how to execute the plan by sketching out a road map for the organization that will allow it to unleash its potential, by crafting the corporation’s portfolio,

8. Help determine what businesses should be there, what are the performance requirements of the business, and what type of alliances make sense.

Figure 1 – Market Forces Influenced by Digital Changes – Global Impact

Being = Vision X Culture X Strategy X Commitment - "An organization that seeks to change its nature and be something different focuses on four requisites: vision, culture, strategy, and commitment. These four issues are interactive rather than additive. If one is missing, the multiplicative power is severely diminished. The first requirement is a clear vision of what the organization must become. The vision must be basic, honest, positive, and inspiring. It can’t be hyperbole. It must be backed with evidence of why it is imperative. The reasoning must be not only commercial but also humanistic. You win the hands and minds with commercial reasoning. You win the hearts with humanistic reasoning. The second requirement is culture. Great companies are built on great cultures. Culture is the powerful, driving life force of an organization. It is the corporate blood that carries the nutrients throughout the system to nourish, support, and revivify. The next requirement is strategy. There has to be a grand plan to carry out the vision. The strategy focuses on the internal tactics that will be deployed to deal with the external market factors. Externally, the state of technology; competition; global, national, and regional economies; government policy and regulations; and community support influence a corporate strategy. Strategies that ignore external forces ultimately drive a company to inappropriate and belated actions. When the strategy or the culture gets out of sync with the market- place, the company suffers. Someone once said that success is the first step on the road to failure. What that means is that success often breeds arrogance, the you can’t argue with success cliché. Writes, Jac Fitz – enz, in, The ROI of Human Capital 2009. Arrogance is a slippery slide that quickly propels anyone on it to the bottom. The final and critical requirement is commitment. Without commitment, everything else is just words. So it is in many organizations-inspiring words on plaques, promises of a new culture, grand strategies in impressive folders. Then the first bump in the road overturns the shiny new vehicle. Every- one at the top of the organization must demonstrate every day that there is commitment behind the words he says.

Today, we are faced with the unenviable situation characterized by:

Business GAP – This is a gap between Business Intent & Achievement. In fact, traditional definitions of what is a business gap are now only hypothetical given that changes affecting business performance are far more dynamic. For example, Financial parameters are no longer the single window panacea for organizational performance measurement, although some short-term Street Guru’s may disagree! Why would then many companies have a PE multiple or a Market Cap not truly reflective of their financial performance? Business managers are looking for substantive ways to authorize organizational issues that can deterministically guarantee performance. But this obviously is never to be. What is promised to the Board and the shareholders is not necessarily the possibility that the CEO is mandated to accomplish and report. (Refer - Market Forces Influenced by Digital Changes – Global Impact)

Whose talent is it, anyway? Talent Gap - Broadening the talent horizons

Traditional answers to talent management questions – how to source, supply, hire, develop, engage and retain the best people – are too narrow. Instead, to create the capabilities they need to win, organizations should consider business acquisitions, joint ventures or alliances as alternative sources of supply of talent. This may mean looking to the crowd, to alumni or other businesses for ideas or inspiration. It also may mean taking the flexibility of your workforce to a whole new level through the greater use of contingent workers, for example. Finally, it is worth reiterating the need to look at talent management practices through the eyes of the next generation of employees. How should it feel to be hired, on-boarded, nurtured and rewarded by your organization? Many organizations – particularly those of a global nature – also suffer
from a lack of clarity concerning who actually ‘owns the talent’. This can make it difficult, if not impossible, to enable the best people to make the internal career or job moves that genuinely drive personal development and engagement. Effective and forward-thinking talent management calls, therefore, not only for the clarification of this ownership but also for talent management to be on the agenda at the most senior levels.

Uncertain ENVIRONMENT – Don’t do it if you can’t do it! Forecasting is a dangerous business, says Rita Johnston. The Meteorological Office only claims 80 per cent accuracy for UK weather forecasts, for a maximum of eight days. Apparently safe predictions from established trends, such as the Victorian forecast that the streets of London would be knee-deep in manure (due to the proliferation of private horse-drawn carriages), were overtaken by unforeseen innovations (in this case the combustion engine), whereas apparently wild flights of fancy (such as Arthur C Clarke’s space predictions) have come to pass. Historically, an accepted method of forecasting the future has been to look at current trends and to project them, incrementally, ahead. For many years Alvin Toffler (1980), JOHN Naisbitt (1982), Marshall McLuhan (1980), EDWARD De Bono (2000), Charles Handy (1994) and others have warned us that the pace of change is now increasing not arithmetically but logarithmically and so our forecasts have had to take this into account by projecting trends exponentially rather than incrementally. But an Analytics Specialist – Data Scientists – Big Data Analyst will tell you just the opposite. Today the degree of accuracy with which one can project the future is higher than before. Big Data analysts can predict to an accuracy level upwards of 90%. State of uncertainty about future requirements of Knowledge, Skills, and Competencies continues to haunt business executives. These analytical techniques establish optimum levels of control, analytical process of establishing objectives and drawing up alternative programs can be assisted by building hierarchical programs. As business pressure changes, as new ways of working emerges new portfolio of assets come into reckoning a need is felt for new knowledge, skills and capabilities to manage such assets. This is despite the early entry of the information era with on line availability of data and information available to process as knowledge. Why have high performing manufacturing companies discounted for their future earnings despite their potential to do well commercially? Why are companies in the knowledge industry positioned more competitively for the 21st century?

Generations DISCONTINUITY - Generation Xers enjoy work but are more concerned about navigating the work/life balance. They are the first generation to grow up with computers and the internet as part of their lives. Constant familiarity in the networked world has had a profound impact on their approach to problem-solving and collaboration. They follow a close pattern with the Baby Boomers in working on knowledge based activities that require depth, quality, and consistency. This group values individual & collective time, at times quite mutually exclusive. From a retention perspective, this group seeks identity with an organizational learning program and recognition systems that identify and differentiates the know how folks from known fewer masses. CEO’s from this generation have acquired the capability to manage a combination of enterprises that straddle both the old and the new economy quite adeptly. Globe & Mail quotes the Amway Global story. For Amway, Generation Y is its fastest rising demographic.

Contradictions GALORE - Millennials Have Least Analytical Acumen, AMA Study Suggests, says, Phil Ryan, nearly one in five Millennials (19%) are perceived to be lacking analytical skills when compared with other generations in the workplace, according to a study sponsored by American Management Association (AMA). The survey looked at how prepared organizations are to compete in an age of Big Data and involved nearly 800 respondents from more than 50 industries. Participants were asked to assess the analytical skills of their employees by age group. With a combined 58% rated as advanced or expert, the Gen X cohort’s analytical strength was rated highest, followed by Baby Boomers with 41% and Millennials with 35%. Despite their familiarity with technology, Millennials aren’t seen as having equal analytics savvy, said AMA Senior Vice President Robert G. Smith. But what’s really at issue here is an analytical mindset, which includes both quantitative and qualitative ability more than any specific number-crunching skill. In other words, employees need to know what to look for, what questions to ask, and how to make inferences and draw conclusions based on data in order to drive the organization forward. According to Smith, organizations are taking a hard look at the skills and competencies they will need over the next decade. Companies will be stepping up development and training, and analytical skills will be high on the list of priorities. What they’re seeking is strength in data analysis and critical thinking across the whole organization, not just among a select number of experts as in the past. Management realizes it is imperative to build the right skills…across all age groups in an organization."

Figure 2 – High Level Characteristics of Multi-Generational Workforce

Arrival of MILLENNIALS - Millennials have gone from representing just over 10 per cent of its global sales force in 2005 to nearly a third now. Gen Y now makes up a third of new Canadian memberships. Amway has seen Gen Y shoot up 21 per cent in recruiting and 19 per cent in sales generated. The demographic trend is also reflected at cosmetics giant Mary Kay Cosmetics Inc., where just over 20 per cent of the 38,000-strong Canadian sales force is Gen Y, while half of the U.S. sales force is under 35. Significant changes have been noticed amongst the generational divide and tend to have real implications for how employers and employees work together in a global mobility context. For example, Baby boomers put a heavy focus on work as an anchor in their lives. Managing lives around work is central to the way they have lived. Baby boomers worked on the notion of learning based contribution, occurrence based delivery and task based performance. They demonstrated a high degree of consistency in performing high quality repetitive tasks that required concentration, focus and single mindedness to closure or achievement. Baby boomers who have reached leadership positions are likely to lead mature organizations in business or functional roles with very little difficulty. They possess an intrinsic capability to handle complex brick and mortar economy companies with ease. Retaining this generation does not rest with the organization. The high degrees of self-motivation in this band of employees who have seen many economic down turns have a built in resilience to bounce back and manage their careers. (Refer - High Level Characteristics of Multi-Generational Workforce).

Based on an EY Global Insights Case study, MIT SMRs, Laura Wining investigates GE’S big bet on data and analytics, To stanch the brain drain over the past few years, many companies have been forced to hire back retiring workers to serve as consultants — an unsustainable practice. Brennan says that the industry needs a way to capture and codify the departing knowledge. But there’s also got to be a refresh so that you can attract new talent and arm them with tools, technology, and the capability to get their work done efficiently, he says. The tools that a 26- or 28-year-old PhD in petroleum engineering wants to use are fundamentally different than ones preferred by somebody who’s leaving the workforce, he adds, noting that Millennials expect that cutting-edge analytics and tools will be available in the workplace. When I entered the workforce, I had better tools at work than I’d ever had access to at home, but most of the employees we bring into GE have access to better technology than we allow them here, and we’ve been playing catch-up. The same thing is happening with our customers, says Dan Brennan, executive director for the Industrial Internet for GE Oil & Gas.

GE’s ad campaign aimed at Millennials emphasizes its new digital direction continues, Laura Wining. The campaign was designed to recruit Millennials to join GE as Industrial Internet developers and remind them — using GE’s new watchwords, The digital company. That’s also an industrial company. — of GE’s massive digital transformation effort. GE has bet big on the Industrial Internet — the convergence of industrial machines, data, and the Internet (also referred to as the Internet of Things) — committing $1 billion to put sensors on gas turbines, jet engines, and other machines; connect them to the cloud; and analyze the resulting flow of data to identify ways to improve machine productivity and reliability. GE has made significant investment in the Industrial Internet, says Matthias Heilmann, Chief Digital Officer of GE Oil & Gas Digital Solutions. It signals this is real, this is our future."

Reward Mechanisms for Millennials - In the Best Way to Pay for Generation Y rate six types of rewards as at least as important as compensation. Few companies in today’s knowledge-intensive economy would deny that they compete on the caliber of their people. With this richer understanding of the two generations that now dominate the workforce, the challenge becomes clear. Companies whose employment offers align best with the shared values of Boomers and Gen Ys will enjoy a major talent advantage. In HBR 2009 How Gen Y & Boomers Will Reshape Your Agenda Sylvia Ann Hewlett Laura Sherwin and Karen Sumberg write further, "If we were designing a workplace from scratch today, or consulting to a big employer, we would insist on crucial elements.

In order, they are:

• High-quality colleagues

• Flexible work arrangements

• Prospects for advancement

• Recognition from one’s company or boss

• A steady rate of advancement and promotion

• Access to new experiences and challenges"

Consumerism - In the context of an ageing population in some geographies and younger generational employee critical mass at another geographical location there are seemingly apparent contradictions to the way in which talent has to be managed. Corporate programs articulated in a US HQ may not always be relevant to a young Chinese worker in Beijing or a software programmer in Bangalore, India. In just over 10 years, approximately 75 per cent of the North American workforce will be comprised of members of Generation Y & the Millennials. This presents significant challenges; with political, business and non-profit leaders facing numerous issues from energy and environmental conversations to indigenous engagement and educational quality and attainment. How will this generation prepare to work independently and take on leadership roles at all levels of society? Asks, Randy Boissonnault, President of Xennex Consulting. A large workforce number of this 75% will comprise of workforce from other parts of the world who would have migrated to US or Canada.

Figure 3 – High Level Characteristics of Multi-Generational Workforce

Diversity - It is but a reality that workforces around the world are fast becoming more diverse across a number of unique and personalized dimensions (age, cultural preferences, ethnicity, Color, psychological profiles, learning abilities, sexual combinations, identity clarity, work glass ceiling, global experience acceptance, leadership – personal styles, employment choice, life preferences, personal attitudes, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.). Organizations are now strategically leveraging peoples’ differences to achieve competitive advantage/ better business results. There is a concerted effort to ensure that programs are established to attract and retain employees who bring in varying perspectives, point of view and perhaps contradictions, to enable them to deal with business exigencies and talent trends as they encounter. Many trend analysts from firms like EY, Deloitte, Accenture see the need to recognize the impact increased employee diversity could have on the organization. To be effective, they say, diversity strategies should to some extent reflect the customer base and geographies of the organization. Alignment with corporate strategy on diversity directions needs to be attained. Diversity’s Definition Has Changed, says Selena Rezvani in, Five Trends Driving Workplace Diversity In 2015 Forbes issue, In addition to creating a workplace inclusive of race, gender, and sexual orientation (to name a few), many organizations are seeking value in something even simpler, diversity of thought. In some industries that are known for being insular – think law or high-tech companies – seeking out talent with different thinking and problem solving backgrounds in critical. Deloitte research underscores that diverse thinkers help guard against groupthink, a dynamic observed firsthand last year with a large corporate client. Partnering with the company just after they had experienced a major product failure, the CEO lamented that the failure resulted from too much blind agreement internally – something Deloitte’s study calls expert overconfidence." Future-thinking companies see the danger in this lack of diversity and often question their own hiring and retention practices—and even their everyday operating norms. It’s Less About Being a Good Corporate Citizen: The business case for diversity has never been more front and center than it is now…and why not? Basic economic theory suggests that consumers will correct for a company’s lack of diversity by simply not spending money there—making slow-to-change organizations extinct. The same can be said of employees, who are constantly balancing the costs of working somewhere against the personal benefits they derive, including a match in values. Gains in employee engagement, effort and retention alone make for a compelling diversity proposition. Add to that customers who evangelize your diversity philosophy and products—and feel you have insight into who they actually are, and the diversity ROI is hard to ignore. These companies also achieved a proper balance between formal and informal forms of communication. A few common methods of communication adopted by these companies included small meetings, face to face interaction, one-on-one discussion, breakfast gatherings, all staff meetings, video conferencing and informal employee dialogue sessions, use of newsletters, videos, telephone hotlines, fax, memoranda, e-mail and bulletin boards; and brochures and guides to educate employees about the downsizing process, employee rights and tips for surviving the situation. Many organizations encouraged employees to voice their ideas, concerns or suggestions regarding the diversity in digitization process. According to many best practice organizations, employee inputs contributed considerably to the success of their change activities as they frequently gave valuable ideas regarding the restructuring, increase in production, and assistance required by employees during this large scale diversity driven change program.

Technology Will Move from Burden to Benefit: Global HR analytics expert and thought leader Josh Bersin found in his research that the average large company has more than 10 different HR applications (including diversity data), taking considerable effort to bridge and synthesize that data into meaning. Luckily, startups are building new diversity technology that drives more precise, actionable change. Gap Jumpers came up with software that allows for blind interviewing and testing via the computer, helping to sidestep the risk of biased hiring decisions. Unitive helps employers write more inclusive job descriptions and creates accountability during interviews, for example calling out if a hiring manager disregards criteria they initially said was very important to them in a hire. Not surprisingly, those companies seen as most mature in terms of HR also spend the most on HR—and foresee their largest future HR investment being in technology".

PwC says - Only Technology Matters - Technology enabled business environment and Intellect, as a basic unit is inevitable. The organizations are likely to be driven, managed and determined by those who possess the intellect to forecast, foresee and lead the corporate unit. The organization would be densely networked with singular and multiple variables (people groups, technology, vendors, customers etc.) and linked with the environment. Technology has become an integral part of lives that deal with corporate priorities. All forms of stakeholders.

Deloitte’s Bersin - HR Technology is Scaling - The HR technology market, which is now more than $15 billion in software alone, is exploding with growth and innovation, says Josh Bersin, principal, Bersin by Deloitte. One of the most disruptive changes is the trend toward automating HR practices and integrating systems, making them so easy to use that people think of them as part of their daily life. By embedding and automating people practices into applications employees use every day, ‘systems of record’ are becoming ‘systems of engagement.’ At the same time, these cloud based talent platforms give leaders the real-time information they need to adapt to changing business and labor conditions. The big vendors (SAP, ORACLE, WORKDAY) now make up 60% or more of the market and are growing their share (and acquiring others) while dozens of other companies (CornerstoneOnDemand, SumTotal Systems, PeopleFluent, Halogen Software, Ultimate Software, Silkroad, Saba, Infor, and others) make up the rest. Solutions in this market are radically redesigning their user interfaces, bringing substantive digital linkage, sophisticated integration and invest heavily in object-based design, embedded analytics, and ease of use in every way. Communication was found to be a primary success factor of effective transformational scaling. According to a survey conducted in major US companies, 79% of the respondents revealed that they mostly used letters and memorandums from senior managers to communicate information regarding transformation including restructuring or downsizing to employees – post digital actions. However, only 29% of the respondents agreed that this type of communication was effective. The survey report suggested that face-to-face communication (such as briefings by managers and small group meetings) was a more appropriate technique for dealing with a subject as traumatic (to employees) as downsizing. According to best practice companies, employees expected senior leaders to communicate openly and honestly about the circumstances the company was facing while facing technological onslaught (which led to downsizing).

EY POV - Platforms Integrated – An EY research on HCM trends states, "Technological progress has enabled how systems contain more and more functionality that in turn bring people, technology and performance together. From wage-related HRIS or Payroll and benefit systems, (ADP, Ceridian) which only needed to calculate wages, systems are growing to a fully integrated, unified, best of breed HCM Platform solutions (Workday, Oracle Fusion, Success Factors, CoD, UltiPro, SalesForce, SABA, ADP, Adrenalin etc.) that are comprehensive and thorough tools supporting strategic decisions. The information contained in systems is expanding from wage-related to talent management to competency-related employee data.

KPMG on Analytics Mobility - A trend is that ROI, Analytics and linkages to financial and non-financial information are more and more joined in order to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the function. In order to increase productivity, reduce operating costs, and free HR staff to focus more on strategic and value adding tasks, people function is increasingly offering self-service through respectively designed portals to managers and employees. A few top of the line HCM platform solutions provide a single source of truth as a promise to clients who wish to demonstrate openness and transparency to their employees in the way talent is attracted, developed, deployed, retained and managed in their enterprise. There is a need to redesign workplace to help knowledge people work in an integrated and connected architecture. Information sharing is not limited to users within organizations. By means of mobility, smart phone or IPADs, portals and recruitment self-services, potential employees can be reached and supplied with relevant information. Managers can use similar services to approve requests of a transactional nature or perform value adding transformational tasks such as provide on line feedback, coaching, testing, hiring, interviews or learning, 360 feedback or E training".

Need for Flexibility, Personalization & Customization - For many professions, work is no longer defined by the office location, nor by the hours of the day, nor by the specific tool used by the trade. Many employees have home-based offices and may perform their tasks before or after the actual workday. Flexible workdays, part time decisions would become common with employees determining work goals, work content and work methodologies depending upon the technological infrastructure available for effective performance. Obviously what flows from this would be greater the technology infrastructure the better is likely to be individual output and contribution. Career paths would not be linear, would turn grossly flexible, lateral and would make horizontal growth that are knowledge intensive, real and visibly supervising an intellectual mind. Career paths would create comparable performance yardstick, meaningful measures and performance evaluation would insist customized evaluation process and tailor made compensation reward program.

Need for an Altered Maslow Need Hierarchy – Individualism - Expectations and preferences of employees are becoming more diverse. Employees want more room to express their individualism, and they are expecting that HR services and programs should be flexible enough to accommodate their individual preferences. Monogrammed shirts with your name, as a brand is no longer the prerogative of the C Suite executives. Young executives are wearing made to order work wear that demonstrate their individualism. My work has to be fun, my life has to be fun and I want to do a job that’s fun. Generation Millennial often have varying concerns: because of their deep know how with technology, they believe they can work flexibly anytime, anyplace, and that they should be evaluated on work product, not on how, when, or where they got it done. The real revolution is a decrease in career ambition in favor of more family time, less travel and less personal pressure. However, this group consists of a large mass that lack consistency in their outlook towards work life. While their expectations from employer’s match with generic trends their work ethic to support such an expectation falls way behind. Guess WIFI connectivity, Smart Watch, Facebook membership, WhatsApp and Battery are likely to be on top of these needs too!!

Need for Frequent Rewards – "Young are no longer saving as their parents did. Their debt is on the rise. In a North American context, Melanie Reuter, director of research for the Real Estate Investment Network, says, They will be the first generation that is not going to be better off than their parents were, Her interpretation. ‘But, because millennials are such a large group, representing about 27 per cent of the population’, says Reuter, it’s imperative that businesses gauge this group’s behavior and respond accordingly. If you don’t pay attention to what this generation wants, regardless if you agree or not, you won’t have a business soon because they are such a large cohort that they do have spending power. Nearly half of millennials (41 per cent) prefer to be rewarded or recognized for their work at least monthly, if not more frequently, whereas only 30 per cent of non-millennials would like that level of frequency’.

Need to be Open & Transparent - Employers should increase transparency around compensation, rewards and career decisions. They should create a meaningful rewards structure that regularly acknowledges both large and small contributions made by employees. Debbie Amery of PwC, Compensation and rewards have to be individually charted depending on the intellect brought in by the employee along with the time frame for its delivery. The company should have reward programs on a group basis for knowledge workers. The Performance Appraisal system must have built in rewards for system creators.

Need for Global Influences & Mobility - KPMG research focuses on how enterprises driven by globalization and trade agreements, both employees and employers are now expecting greater mobility within and across the organization. They have seen trends such as increased recruiting at a global level, greater number of international mobility, choices and how employees face a vast array of options with respect to geographic, political, and social-conditions attributes of their employment. Both employers and employees now expect greater mobility within and across organizations. In today’s world, employees are willing and often seeking to broaden their range of employment and career opportunities by making request transfers to a different city, region, country, or continent. In the Country, full labor mobility across the continent is now the norm.

Need for Intellectual Hierarchies - Corporate hierarchies now turn into intellect hierarchies, positions of leaders and managers held by those with a knowhow, know-what and the know-why, rather than an upgraded position in the hierarchy with fancy titles made available through a corporate career plan. Dan Schawbel the Founder of Millennial Branding states, One specific technological trend that has a direct relevance to where, when, and how people work is the emergence of mobile communication and productivity tools. The problem is that most workers grow impatient with their current roles (including titles, identity, branding) and think that the only solution is to move to another company. In a new study in partnership with American Express, we found that 73 per cent of managers are very willing or extremely willing to support employees who want to move within the corporation and 48 per cent of millennial employees are interested in making these moves. Employees need to look left and right not just up if they want to be successful. At the higher levels in an organization, you need to have a firm grasp on how different groups operate or you won’t be able to manage them properly.

Need to Internalize Impact of Labor Force - An often forgotten reality that is unlikely to ever go away is the presence and impact of labor force and their trade unions. The nature of labor unions can differ by geography and industry but their role, values and purpose at a broad level continues to go on and on. In some geography they have managed to adapt, work their way constructively with their employers to obtain a fair status for their constituents and in other geographies the degree of militancy and unreasonableness continues unchanged. Of greater degree of frustration is the trend of governments managing business enterprises and unable to deal with trade unions to make their support productivity and performance. Tim Wright from Talent Cultures says, Competition for talent is fierce because talent is a leading factor in a company’s competitive advantage. Recruiting, developing and retaining talent are the tools that build competitive advantage. Talent management starts with recruiting. Stronger recruiting efforts contribute to greater talent acquisition. Employee engagement adds to developing and retaining talent. It demonstrates the company’s appreciation of their value to the company — as it builds their value to the company. What company does not look for every possible way to gain advantage over their competition? Consulting major KPMG Human Capital Practice report of 2012 (Shermon 2012) seeks to focus on the need for HR strategists to tailor their strategies to reflect their own organized labor circumstance, that HR strategy should not neglect organized labor, even in jurisdictions where it is not an immediate risk and how HR strategy should paint a long-term picture of the nature and risks of organized labor in their operating jurisdictions, and possibly even those of their suppliers.

Need to Dispel Myths about Millennials – Change is complex: it does not come in a tidy package, with infallible steps to success. It takes unexpected diversions and displays the frustrating complexity that is the hallmark of human behaviour. There is considerable evidence to start indicating the multiple types of behavioral perceptions on Millennials. From smart, innovative, entrepreneurial, freedom loving, getting things done generation to lazy, selfish, whimsical, convenient values and so on. Our survey asked U.S. Millennials and non-Millennials which words best describe the Millennial generation. While Millennials’ perceptions of themselves are generally favorable, non-Millennials tend to view them far less kindly, often referring to them as spoiled, lazy, or entitled." As the pace of change increases, capacity to change (individual/institutional) effectively becomes critical. Long-term success will require a capacity to change: the ability to create and react to change in a continuous and strategic way. Companies that develop these skills will outlive their competitors: they will use change as the source for innovation and long-term growth, and as a new way of thinking. These perceptions may be coloring how executives view the Millennial consumer, preventing companies from understanding and fully addressing the product and service needs of this generation—and establishing