[Jjinbit] 'N ga-ui Samusil', Three Values Changing the Workplace [Office Shift] (40)

Recognizing Changes in the Values of Diversity, Flexibility, and Creativity
Why the Same Work Methods No Longer Work

Editor's Note[Jjinbit] is short for 'Jung Hyunjin's Business Trend' and 'Real Business Trend,' a segment that showcases trends in the changing nature of work. The segment within Jjinbit called 'Office Shift' carefully examines the changes in offices triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and aims to lay the groundwork for exploring answers to new work styles through experiments we have experienced together. It will be delivered to you every Saturday or Sunday. After 40 installments, it will also be available as a book.

'One-Size-Fits-All.' Every office worker has long pictured the typical scene of arriving at work at 9 a.m. on weekdays and leaving uniformly at 6 p.m., the so-called 'nine-to-six' schedule, sitting at a fixed desk inside a large building. This form of office work has lingered in our minds for a long time. The era when such monotonous and uniform work styles prevailed, making it hard to find individuality, is over.

Now, some adjust their commuting times flexibly and choose their seats via a system upon arriving at the office. Increasingly, people start work from home, cafes, or nearby shared offices instead of the traditional office. Companies have begun adopting four-day or four-and-a-half-day workweeks instead of the five-day workweek introduced over 20 years ago. The concepts of optimal time and place to enhance productivity and efficiency have diversified.

[Image source=Pixabay]

"Work is no longer one-size-fits-all," "The COVID-19 period confirmed that remote work is not suitable for everyone," and "We must be cautious about applying the changing meaning of office space uniformly across all sectors." Various experts interviewed emphasized that work styles are diversifying. Numerous factors determine how we work, including industry and job type, societal perceptions, and the emergence of new technologies.

These changes began even before the COVID-19 crisis. IBM in the U.S. introduced flexible working hours as early as 1980, over 30 years ago. Samsung Electronics started applying a flexible attendance system in 2009. The pandemic merely accelerated these changes. Work styles will continue to evolve even faster in the future.

The breakdown of uniform work styles is due to the changing values pursued in our workplaces. To survive in changing times, companies and employees must understand these values and adapt by finding optimal ways of working. This is why it is essential to properly understand the three values currently transforming our workplaces.

'Diversity'... Changes in Work Styles to Suit Various Employees

We live in an era of 'Diversity.' Recognizing differences without discrimination has become increasingly important. Respecting employees from diverse backgrounds such as race, gender, and culture, and managing them appropriately to enable each individual to demonstrate their abilities, directly translates into a company's competitiveness. This is why 53% of Fortune 500 companies reported having a Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) last year.

Choi Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, which has accelerated experiments with flexible work systems even before COVID-19, emphasized in February during the '2023 Dialogue with New Executives' that "organizations embracing diversity see productivity improvements of about 20-30%," and that "new executives must not only build relationships as company representatives but also represent organizational diversity." He added, "It is necessary to accept diversity and break free from existing stereotypes to find new business opportunities."

[Image source=Pixabay]

Pursuing diversity is truly the prevailing trend. According to the '2023 Jobs Report' released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in May, a survey conducted by global recruitment agency Manpower found that 7 out of 10 Generation Z respondents would not be satisfied with companies lacking work environments based on diversity and equity. Additionally, 56% of Gen Z respondents said they would find it difficult to accept management teams that lack diversity.

As Generation Z, who will fill our future workplaces, demands a culture that recognizes employees from various backgrounds, diversity has become an unavoidable value for companies.

When employees with diverse backgrounds gather, their lives and lifestyles also become varied. Work styles inevitably are influenced. From working moms and dads balancing childcare and work to digital nomads who live freely traveling abroad without a fixed residence, a variety of employees exist. For companies to secure such diverse talent, it will naturally become necessary to consider various work styles instead of uniform ones.

'Flexibility'... Power Struggles Surrounding Autonomy and Choice

During the COVID-19 period, the value that received the most attention regarding work styles was 'Flexibility.' Fixed office workspaces were disrupted, and employees who had to juggle childcare and other responsibilities experienced the ability to choose their working hours.

Flexibility in work styles begins with recognizing employee diversity. Some may need to care for children or sick family members. Among employees, some are 'morning people' who focus best in the morning, while others are 'night owls' who are most productive late at night or early morning. Certain tasks are best done alone, while others are easier when done with colleagues.

[Image source=Pixabay]

Recognizing these differences and granting employees autonomy and choice allows them to work flexibly in times and places where productivity and efficiency are high, while achieving well-being and balance.

Kyoko Yamamoto, General Affairs Director at Japanese telecommunications company NTT, which has widely adopted remote work, said in an April interview, "Employees from diverse backgrounds can work freely, experience growth through work, and improve life satisfaction, thereby realizing well-being." Catherine Powell, Airbnb's Global Head of Hosting, explained in a May interview that Airbnb's 'Live and Work Anywhere' policy helps attract global talent seeking flexibility and choice.

They explained that recognizing flexibility, autonomy, and choice has led to achievements both for employees and companies.

However, discussions about future work styles suggest that flexibility will remain at the center of ongoing power struggles. David Sax, author of the book Things Digital Cannot Do, said in a June interview, "Workers gained tremendous freedom and power over their time and bodies when remote work began during COVID-19," and they are reluctant to give it up easily. This 'power struggle between labor and management' continues to this day.

'Creativity'... Why Rest Has Become More Important Than Long Hours

No one would say that 'Creativity' is unimportant. Microsoft (MS) described in a report last May that "creativity is the new productivity era." Creating work environments where employees can express creativity is the top priority for all corporate executives.

The pandemic drew corporate executives' attention to the four-day workweek precisely because of creativity. As knowledge industries develop, producing creative ideas in shorter working hours is a more effective way to increase productivity than simply sitting in the office for long hours. Even as employees want to work less, executives are increasingly joining experiments with the four-day workweek. A UK company participating in the world's largest four-day workweek experiment by the nonprofit 4 Day Week Global said, "Creativity requires rest. You cannot always be creative sitting in front of a computer."

[Image source=Pixabay]

This year, with the global surge in artificial intelligence (AI), the awareness that companies and humans must secure creativity to remain competitive has strengthened. Developers of generative AI technology explain that when applied to work, machines will handle repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on engaging and creative work. This raises hopes that unnecessary work hours will decrease, enabling a transition to a four-day workweek.

Can creativity emerge from uniform work styles where everyone works in the same way? How should we work to generate creative ideas one after another? Companies and employees worldwide are expected to continuously ponder these questions.

In 2023, the first year of the endemic phase, our workplaces are still changing. Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Zoom still demand employees return to the office and clash with them. Domestic conglomerates like Naver, which fully adopted remote work, Woowa Brothers, which has a flexible workplace policy, Samsung Electronics, which partially introduced a four-day workweek, and Hyundai Motor, which offers workation benefits, are all undergoing changes. The question of 'how to work' may seem to have ended with the conclusion of COVID-19, but it has not. Based on the values of diversity, flexibility, and creativity, the world must continue intense discussions endlessly.

Today, we hope that somewhere there exists 'N offices' where N employees can each deliver their best performance and work happily.