With the transformation of the modern workplace happening before our eyes, how do we talk about it? The words we have used to describe our work environment don’t seem to meet the gravity of change. We are describing something transformative, and it requires us to reinvent our vocabulary.

With the Collective Awakening (or Great Resignation), companies are now aiming to meet the needs of the employee, and those that are unwilling to meet the moment and adapt are facing high turnover and disengaged teams. Hiring for diversity/equity/inclusion, engagement, and culture positions alone isn’t the answer.

As Steve Jobs said, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” The systems created over centuries have been designed to benefit the company, often at the expense of the employee. But what happens when we lead with trust and autonomy? Creativity, ownership, and innovation flourish.

We are already seeing companies embrace this moment to create management strategies and a model for working that extends beyond the pandemic.

A concise example is Siemens. They summarized their new approach in two sentences.

1. Focus on outcomes rather than time spent in the office.
2. Trust and empower your employees.

By leading with emotional intelligence, through trust and autonomy, employees feel and see that they are valued. The result? They exceed expectations. The people and the company thrive.

The post-pandemic workplace isn’t strictly defined by where we work. So many companies define their culture using words like onsite, remote, or hybrid.

Admittedly, at Clickstop we’ve had our own struggles when COVID-19 changed everything seemingly overnight. It took us longer than normal to adapt and draw a line in the sand about who we wanted to be from here onward.

While we are still grounded in our mission, values, and strategies, the employee experience is vastly different. The way we communicate and the environment we are creating is different. It requires much more intentionality to make up for the lack of organic connectedness.

So, we set out to find a better word to describe this new workplace experience. Where did we land?

Dynamic.

Merriam-Webster definition of dynamic:
Characterized by continuous change, activity, or progress.

We don’t want to ever stop changing or progressing. COVID-19 challenged us to be decisive about how tightly we would hold onto the past and how we did things. This reflection led us to say, we aren’t just a hybrid work environment. That simply describes where people work, not the experience they are having.

By choosing to embrace the complexity we live and work within, we are incorporating our employees’ families, our communities, and the growth of our people into Clickstop’s DNA. Don’t get us wrong, there is a business reason for this focus, but it’s about more than that. We aren’t looking to line our pockets.

We are looking to fulfill our employees’ dreams. Tending to every facet of their lives because caring for our people allows them to care for the business. Business is personal. 

That mindset is beyond what words like hybrid, onsite, and remote can describe.

We are looking for something more. At Clickstop, we believe in a partnership between business and employee. When we can align the needs, goals, and dreams of the employee with the needs, goals, and direction of the company, we produce something more than just a place to work. We create something transformative and life-changing for all who are involved.

We create a dynamic workplace.

Take a moment to reflect…
Is your workplace supporting your pursuit of your best self?