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Background:
The Future of Attraction, Motivation and Retention
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A white paper from WorldatWork reviews credible future trend literature, applies critical analysis, and forms a “world view” on “The Future of Attraction, Motivation and Retention: A Literature Review."
Stay ahead of the curve. Be prepared and get in the dialogue now about the implications of future trends on the labor force, technology and the global scope of opportunity. Learn more about the evolution of human capital strategy, work design, outsourcing, and training and how they will change the face of attraction, motivation and retention forever.
8 Predictions
- The successful organization of the future will excel at acquiring, organizing and strategically deploying global resources.
- There will be increased global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural and political spheres.
- Technology will advance at an even more rapid pace than in previous decades.
- There will be continuous, dramatic changes in the labor force.
- Human capital will become an even greater source of value.
- The way work is organized and performed will evolve and change continuously.
- Outsourcing will increase.
- Self-paced, self-directed individualized virtual learning will dominate business training.
Implications for Human Capital Strategy
Organizational Needs
Recruitment and retention will be part of a business’ competitive edge in a hypercompetitive market. In the near future, an organization’s ability to attract, motivate and retain will emerge as the primary indicator of fiscal performance and survival. To that end, given the diverse workforce, organizations will be offering more variety in rewards as they try to access the best and the brightest in a seller’s market.
Global Scope of Opportunity
Sourcing talent, like everything else in the future, will be a global affair. The global scope of opportunity will involve companies in many complex systems: economic, social, technological and political. Still, an organization’s most important strategic concern will be people. People issues will be at the top of the agenda for companies interested in growing, being innovative, being productive, and being competitive.
Technology
All-pervasive technology will be a double-edge sword: while it will be easier to work when and where you want to, it may be harder to get away from the job. The futurists see technology deeply integrated into the workplace, and in people’s lives: both at work and at home.
Labor Force
With an increasingly diverse workforce, no single reward element will be a value driver. Job enrichment, flexibility and career development will be valued above job security and stability. There will be increased importance of the value proposition for individual workers.
Human Capital Strategy
There will be more aggressive emphasis on reward differentiation for engaging and retaining critical talent. Assessment will be more important and more valuable as organizations assess rewards that attract, motivate and retain their workforce. Increasing commitment, retention and productivity are the goals, and these can only be accomplished through improvements that are mutually beneficial for both the organization and the worker.
Work Design
With workers working outside the traditional environment, HR will face new challenges in work design. Dramatic technological advances will mean that being “at work” will mean working in telecommuting hubs, collaborating with global colleagues, and using virtual worlds. Being at work won’t mean being at the office. That said, technology that makes “going to work” easier, may make leaving work much more difficult.
Outsourcing
For purposes of the literature search, outsourcing is defined as the movement of internal business processes to an external entity. Given the likelihood that outsourcing will increase, future challenges include: motivating a non-employee workforce and motivating people who are doing prescribed tasks or who do not have career paths or logical career progression. Job design will be examined as organizations look for ways to pull jobs apart to find pieces to outsource. Thought must be given to the motivation of workers assigned “pieces” of the work.
Training
Authors writing about future trends all agreed that there will be continuous connectivity and a wealth of information. Mass collaboration will allow networks of people to share information and create knowledge together. Digital communities will flourish, and experts will assert themselves through these communities. Training will be available in small, readily accessible, easy-to-use modules for use at any time. Technology and learning will be integrated with daily business tasks and woven throughout workers’ lives.
Resources Presentation (PDF)
Download WorldatWork President Anne Ruddy's presentation slides and notes from the 2007 WorldatWork Total Rewards Asia Pacific Conference.
workspan Magazine Article (PDF)
Read an advance copy of a December 2007 workspan magazine article. |
