The Twelve Days of Workmas Come to Life
JESS VON BANK
Global Leader, HR Transformation & Technology Advisory | Analyst | Global Community Leader | Brand Strategy & Vendor Solutions
For those of us who hang our festive hats on the Christmas holiday, we’ve just wrapped The Big Day and are sort of evaluating how it all went down. Did Santa deliver? Did wishful (and wistful) lists come to fruition?
At the same time, we’re counting down the final days of 2019 and anticipating the dawn of a new decade and all that it promises. Here at Leapgen, we’re reflecting on something we talk a lot about: employee experience, or the ideal and elevated experience of our workforces. It’s a conversation with a lot of PROMISE and HOPE. So what it it delivered? What if your employees’ Christmas lists actually came true?
The Twelve Days of, errr, Workmas, might have looked something like this:
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On the First Day of Christmas, My Employer Gave to Me….
Work-life harmony. We’re so stressed trying to work like we don’t have lives, live like we don’t work. We just want harmony.
On the Second Day of errr, Workmas, My Employer Gave to Me….
Work we care about. And it doesn’t take much to make me care! Share the company’s mission, values, the direction we’re heading, why it all matters, and share it often. Give us something to rally around!
On the Third Day of Whatever We're Calling It, My Employer Gave to Me….
Leaders who lead. And we mean LEAD, not track and manage and direct us. Lead with intention and heart, and you’ll win our hearts. Retention solved.
On the Fourth Day of I Just Wanna Say Christmas, My Employer Gave to Me….
More holidays. Or just autonomy to get our work done where, when, and how we get it done best. Providing autonomy actually pays for itself.
On the Fifth Day of That Thing, My Employer Gave to Me….
REAL CUL-TURE! (shouted with emphasis) Top-down, meaningful, Employee Value Proposition-come-to-life kind of stuff. Don’t put a ping pong table in the break room and call it culture; we want the good stuff.
On the Sixth Day of Christmas at Work, My Employer Gave to Me….
Team collaboration. The support, shared creativity, and collective brainpower of teams is critical. Provide easy ways to crowdsource success and we’ll eat our competitor’s lunch.
On the Seventh Day of Working Christmas, My Employer Gave to Me….
Job variety - amiright? Gone are the days of working the same gig in the same company for decades. We crave growth, challenge, and opportunity - give that to us and maybe we WILL work for you for decades. But you gotta make it interesting.
On the Eighth Day of Hanukkah, My Employer Gave to Me….
Easy ways to learn. Listen, you’re digitizing and automating our jobs and you have to. Good! Take the mundane off my plate so I can be more strategic. But that means keeping my skills current and giving me new stuff to do; if you don’t make it easy for me to learn and reskill, I’ll die on the vine. Don’t do that.
On the Ninth Day of Christmas in Stores in October, My Employer Gave to Me….
Engagement and productivity! Oh, did you think that was a gift we’re supposed to give to you? If only we could. Our engagement and productivity sort of depends on you; the business owns that. We’re happy to unwrap it, though.
On the Tenth Day of Christmas Wrapping, My Employer Gave to Me….
No more lords a-leaping: equal pay for equal work! I can’t believe we still have to say that. Moving on...
On the Eleventh Day of Work Happiness, My Employer Gave to Me….
Flexible ways to work. That’s where creativity, innovation, intrinsic motivation and passion is unleashed. I need room to work autonomously, and that includes the tools you provide and environment you create. It’s 2020 - make it feel that way.
On the Twelfth Day of Workmas, My Employer Gave to Me….
Just one drummer drumming. One mission, one goal, clear direction and organized management. I know it’s a lot to ask, but it really does matter. Sort it all out above our heads so we can KEEP our heads in the game.
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It’s not a bad Christmas list, actually. What if we all believed? Can you imagine if you put all the elves to work on this in 2020? What a year you’d have.
Here to help,
Leapgen / Santa / practically the same thing ;)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jess Von Bank is a 17-year industry veteran and impassioned evangelist of the modern employee experience. As both a former recruiting practitioner and an expert in bringing HCM vendor solutions to market, Jess looks to broaden executive mindset to better design and deliver a workforce experience that exceeds the expectations of talent and the needs of the business.
Jess is the Head of Marketing for Leapgen and runs FuelWork, a global community for digital transformation of workforce experience. Jess is an active community emcee and ambassador for women’s and girls’ organizations in Minneapolis, where she raises her 3 daughters.
ABOUT LEAPGEN
Leapgen is a global digital transformation company shaping the future of work. Highly respected as a visionary partner to organizations looking to design and deliver a digital workforce experience that will produce valued outcomes to the business, Leapgen helps enterprise leaders rethink how to better design and deliver workforce services and architect HR technology solutions that meet the expectations of workers and the needs of the business. Contact us to get started.