Future of work: it’s personal

Tomorrow’s best employers will be flexible; will break down hierarchy and leadership barriers and allow everyone to take part in leadership.

Ethics and integrity will be the cornerstone of employee relations and while companies will be smaller in headcount they will offer “better” people the chance to do more varied work in the hope of keeping them for longer.

So said Kevin Wheeler, the head of US think-tank The Future of Talent during the 2010 Australasian Talent Conference in Sydney (May 26-27).

Mr Wheeler also points out that while emotion has been forbidden in a work context forward thinking employers will be just as interested in how you feel as keeping your core skills sharp.

He says we are once again entering a time of scarcity of good candidates and as a recruiter I agree with him.

The Australasian Talent Conference is designed for employers and recruiters but there were key messages for candidates too.

Job hunting is set to become more “personalised” as well as more efficient as technology continues to develop across the employment space.

To me, that says if you as a candidate look hard enough, now and in coming years, you’ll start to see job opportunities that seem to be an identical match to your skills, goals and aspirations. As such, you will have a good chance of doing well in any new job you take on.

Margie Kwan of Ernst & Young Australia spoke about the firm’s Facebook page and how it is attracting the graduates the company wants. Ernst & Young have a massive graduate program but a big problem for them has been that only Accounting graduates think of Ernst & Young as a place to work. The company are actually looking for a very wide range of grads and Facebook has allowed them to get the message out.

Craig Liddy from Westpac spoke passionately at the conference about the way Learning and Development is used to grow and retain employees. It suggests to me that a really legitimate question for candidates to ask a prospective employer is to explain exactly what learning opportunities exists within their organisation.

If your next job comes down to a choice of two (lucky you!) then choosing the employer that offers the best training for advancement is a pretty reasonable choice. Westpac are certainly at the forefront of learning amongst the bigger corporates.

Listening to the speakers at the conference, one of the conclusions I came to was that employers are becoming more flexible. Employers spoke of the opportunities that now exist to work from home, flexible hours and travel. It’s worth asking when you at an interview about the flexibility offered.

Dr Simon Moss from Monash University was another highlight for me. His presentation covered his research into a person’s state of mind and how that affects their decision making.

He co-founded, Zenith Professional Development, which touts itself as “taking professional and organisational development out of the world of myth and fallacy.” The company collated a huge range of scientific discoveries that contradict much of the conventional management beliefs and practices and then built tools and training around what it thinks really works.

It’s certainly worth spending some time googling this guy, because I think all candidates need to start worrying less about gilding their CV and more about improving their mind.

It was also clear from the conference that with the amount of information now available on line, candidates are not going to get away with fibbing any more, so spend your energies on improving yourself instead.

To wrap up, I met some really progressive employers at the conference. If you are looking for a challenging place to work that will value you and the work you do, they’re out there.

It is time to sharpen your skills, write a cover letter with personality and find an employer that will value all you have to offer.