Employee Empowerment is Just One Tactic for Success in 2022
As the business community begins 2022, the words, employee empowerment have taken on a significantly different meaning. Historically they have been used to describe strategies designed to get workers more involved in the business. Since the beginning of the COVID marketplace recovery, however, they have reflected more of a worker’s self-empowerment to leave their current situation for a better opportunity.
As a reflection of this trend, 2021 monthly labor data for December shows that over 4.5 million workers have left for a better job. 2021 will forever be known as the “Year of the Great Resignation.” Further complicating this workforce issue facing most businesses is the fact that even if we were at 0% unemployment, we would still have over 4 million job openings. As the new year unfolds, one of the primary business survival strategies facing most organizations will be finding ways to empower their existing workforce to stay and grow with the company. SEWN addressed strategies to retain and recruit workers in our article, Resetting Your Labor Force for 2022.
While labor force turmoil is the greatest business challenge for the new year, close behind is the fact that product and material costs are exploding at record inflationary levels. Not to be left out, the global supply chain is an unfolding logistical nightmare. While the degree to which these factors affect you vary by organization and industry, the reality for all is the future is almost impossible to forecast and no specific remedies have yet been identified.
For many, this unpredictability may seem like a totally new phenomenon. In actuality, we have traveled this path before. The current global transformation of customer buying patterns through e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Alibaba, is a re-run of the marketplace changes created by Apple, Microsoft, and the Japanese auto industry in the 1980’s. Over 40 years ago, that global business intervention, driven by micro-chips, cell phones, and personal computers, also redefined the way tasks were performed, and organizations were run. At the time, it created and expanded the importance of global supply chains, reshaped the way millions of new jobs were performed, and re-defined the types of skills required by these new jobs. It also gave new meaning to the introduction of, and need for, advanced manufacturing technology.
The era of the 1980’s also introduced the concept of bench-marking. Companies that successfully negotiated their way through that marketplace revolution, used a formula that applies to our chaotic business situation today. While trying not to be too simplistic, it breaks down to a few steps:
Re-imagine your business
Re-tool your offerings, your systems, and your image
Implement bottom-up leadership through employee empowerment
Benchmark, brainstorm, and harness current advanced technology
SEWN’s top priority for this year is helping businesses develop and implement strategies that target each of these bench-marking steps, beginning with employee empowerment initiatives that best serve company goals and employee needs. The know-how, the technology, and the success stories to re-tool and re-imagine your business are already in place. SEWN has interviewed business leaders who have successfully navigated many of today’s challenges and have created a series of videos on this topic. These are available for your viewing. SEWN can also help you with a business analysis, connect you with resources, and guide you through the creation of a 2.0 version of yourself. SEWN services are free and confidential. Contact us today.
