New Work - significance, opportunities and challenges
Why is the time ripe now?
The fact is that digitalization has changed the way we work. Processes that used to involve a lot of effort now run automatically. Thanks to digitalization and AI. Networking employees is much easier and collaboration across locations is no problem. Knowledge is becoming increasingly important. New professions are emerging.
This change has also altered the requirements and needs of employees: Hard factors such as income and status are no longer the top priority. Instead, values such as creative participation, meaningfulness and work-life balance are gaining in importance. In everyday life, the boundaries between work and private life are becoming blurred in a productive way. This is known as work-life blending. New Work describes this transformation of our working world.
What does this mean for your company? And why is it so important to tackle New Work now? You can find all the important information and support on the topic of change here.
At a glance
The most important facts and figures in brief
New Work describes the structural change in our working world - due to digitalization and the changing requirements and needs of the next generations entering the labour market. New work models are rapidly gaining ground, not least because they have become even more important as a result of the pandemic-related surge in digitalization.
For many companies, New Work means a completely new new mindset. Corporate cultures are becoming increasingly adaptable and agile. Factors such as the development of Employees' potential, work-life blending, flexible working arrangements (trust-based working hours and locations) and the involvement of Employees in decision-making are becoming increasingly important.
Companies that Stay fit for the future should address the topic of New Work now, as this is the only way to find and retain good Employees in the long term and thus increase both productivity and innovative strength. A clear necessity in times of a shortage of skilled workers in order to increase the attractiveness and reputation of your own company.
New Work workplaces offer plenty of space for creative but also concentrated work. Home offices, co-working spaces and digital nomadism are just as much a matter of course as on-site meeting rooms with post-its, whiteboards to paint on, etc., so that creativity can be fully realized.
Digital tools make it possible to Efficient cooperation of Employees, no matter where they are. In the office of the future, real and digital spaces will merge seamlessly.
Agile working methods accelerate the implementation of projects and promote the development of innovative ideas.
New Work also means New LeadershipCulture of trust and empathy replace strictly hierarchical management styles. The main task of the new managers is to empower Employees to take responsibility and to promote their strengths.
New Work: What is it and why is it important for companies?
Digression
The term New Work was developed at the end of the 1970s by the Austrian-American social philosopher Prof. Dr. Frithjof Bergmann. Today, it describes the structural change in our working world. The reasons for this include digitalization, globalization and the development of artificial intelligence, which open up completely new opportunities and possibilities in the execution and organization of work.
In many areas, jobs are being completely eliminated due to the automation of processes. At the same time, there is a considerable shortage of skilled workers for professions that did not even exist some time ago. This situation presents companies with completely new challenges. Only those who take the topic of New Work seriously will be fit for the future in the long term. What the actual implementation looks like depends on the individual company. After all, New Work is not a standard solution: every company has its own specific needs and challenges, which are defined by its customers, the competition, its products or services, its Employees, work processes and its own path into the future.
New Work: A completely new mindset?
Depending on the current culture and structure of a company, New Work can mean a radical change in mindset or already be part of everyday life. The following factors play a decisive role in "New Work":
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(Open) Innovation:
Innovative ideas are actively promoted within the company. The outside world is also included in the strategic innovation process. Internal and external knowledge is brought into relation with each other - with the aim of creating innovations.
(Cross-hierarchical) participation:
Employees should be able to contribute their ideas and contribute to projects with competence and passion. It is no longer structural conditions (title, departmental affiliation) that determine participation in projects, but interest and the necessary skills. Developing solutions for the future determines one's own actions and gives work a new meaning.
The focus is on the individual:
Self-realization and the development of individual potential are core values!
Sharing culture & community feeling:
Knowledge is taken out of silos and shared openly, because community and working in networks are must-haves for true new workers.
Work-life blending:
New Work should enable a successful symbiosis between private life and work. The trust shown by companies that freedoms will not be exploited strengthens Employees motivation - which ultimately benefits the organizations.
Coopetition (Cooperation & Competition):
An economy is emerging in which competition and cooperation are not mutually exclusive. The elbow fight is a thing of the past. Coopetition is a new type of market relationship: there is implicit cooperation while competition continues to exist. An example: two companies develop a product together, but later launch it on the market under their own brand names in competition with each other.
Mindfulness and New Work health:
Health and mindfulness are just as important as productivity and success.
Why New Work?
The shortage of skilled workers and the demands of the next generation, who are no longer motivated solely by money and status, make it clear that good Employees are worth their weight in gold. Finding and retaining them is becoming an increasingly important task, but also more and more a major challenge for companies.
Many people today are looking for a working environment in which they can develop and grow, where they are valued and feel part of a community. employer that do not offer this are struggling with increasing staff turnover, which is costing the company dearly and reducing productivity and innovative strength.
Companies that embrace New Work, on the other hand, are much more attractive. In other words, when implemented sensibly, New Work is a win-win situation for employer and employees.
This is also reflected in the change in priorities: The "New Future of Work" report[1] shows employees ' clear desire for a stronger focus on work-life balance. They want to better integrate the relevant needs into their way of working. Work-life blending enables more flexible time management and more self-determination, which has a positive impact on productivity.
47%
Time management in New Work
47% of study participants stated that, unlike before the coronavirus pandemic, they now prioritize family and private life over work.
53%
Focus on quality of life
53% would like to focus more on health and personal well-being.
57%
Flexibility through hybrid work
Where and how people work is a central question of New Work. 57% of Employees stated that they prefer hybrid working.
New Work enables efficient collaboration and networking
Without the technical possibilities, New Work quickly reaches its limits: Collaboration, networking and agile project development can only be spurred on by the right tools and technical foundations so that the idea of networking actually becomes part of the "DNA of the company". From social media and collaboration tools to project management solutions and financial software: digitalization enables Employees to network, relieves them of administrative work and thus creates time, flexibility and freedom to concentrate on the tasks that really lead to success. New Work and technology belong together: Collaboration and networking for a digital, effective and time- and location-independent work organization.
What does New Work look like in companies?
New Work focuses on the needs of employees . These are fulfilled by, among other things:
Flexible work organization flat hierarchies agile project management
new management methods Cross-departmental teamwork modern technology
employer benefit from growing innovative strength and increased Employees commitment. This in turn leads to better results in the long term: customers are more satisfied and the company's competitiveness increases.
Each company must decide for itself which aspects of New Work to introduce in detail. However, one thing is certain: if you want to remain fit for the future and grow successfully, you should take a close look at the topic of New Work.
The New Work Organization: an agile network
Traditional hierarchies are breaking down and making way for agile leadership and new structures. The new work culture change also means that the organizational design is changing fundamentally.
Departmental structures are being overcome, projects are being handed over tomixed teams in an agile manner and according to competencies. Diversity is also taking on a new significance: If Employees form a homogeneous mass, where are the innovative ideas supposed to come from? However, as the new world of work urgently needs these ideas, New Work promotes diverse teams and the courage to bring together Employees with different expertise and backgrounds.
Conformity and rigid structures are a thing of the past - diversity, agility and networking - that's New Work!
Employees as intrapreneurs: New Work promotes commitment and the development of potential
In a New Work culture, the role of Employees is changing from wage laborers with time cards to intrapreneurs with passion. Personal responsibility is the new way to go. Contributing your own ideas is no longer just allowed, but actively encouraged. Restraint and a "management will sort it out" mentality are part of old work. New Work, on the other hand, wants to empower Employees to contribute their talents and drive the company forward with commitment. Intrapreneurs take responsibility as 'entrepreneurs within the company' and show initiative and passion for the company. For gamechangers, New Work means making a difference.
What will the jobs of the future look like?
Offices à la New Work: Where the demands on work are changing and we are expected to work creatively, innovatively and participatively, new, inspiring, digital and analog spaces are needed. Companies that embrace New Work are also rethinking their office design. Modern employer not only offer places that enable concentrated work and thus promote flow, but also creative spaces for trying things out and experimenting. In particular, the mix of office forms meets the needs of the new world of work. Such a multispace offers various room options that can be used flexibly by all Employees . This supports both self-determination and creativity as well as team collaboration - whether in the home office or on site.
In terms of design thinking, this also includes meeting rooms with hybrid video technology as well as physical boards, post-its, colorful pens, materials for creating tangible prototypes or even Lego Serious Play. New Work needs space for open brainstorming - this is how the creative economy thrives! Trust-based working hours and locations, co-working spaces and digital nomadism are also conditions that help to promote a truly lived New Work culture. Because work doesn't have to take place at a desk, it can also take place at home, on the beach or in the mountains - wherever each individual's creativity can unfold. In this way, work is freed from a strict external context and becomes more flexible:
Home office
supports a healthy work-life balance and allows scope for creativity. Employees who are heavily involved in their private lives have more flexible use of their time. This lowers stress levels and binds employees to the company in the long term. However, working from home is only one part of a new work culture.
Co-working spaces
are also synonymous with New Work. Here, a wide variety of people come together in one place to work and benefit from interdisciplinary exchange and agile, creative spaces. This gives rise to new, innovative ideas.
Digital nomadism
is certainly an extreme, albeit not unusual, form of new work. However, since the coronavirus pandemic at the latest, remote working has become part of the new normal. People are digitally connected and do their work from anywhere in the world. So-called "workstations" allow employees increased flexibility - and convey a new feeling of work.
How is collaboration organized in New Work companies?
In addition to networking, working in the cloud and cross-departmental collaboration, agile working methods, such as scrum or design thinking, are essential to meet the challenges of New Work and Work 4.0. Agile methods and tools offer these advantages for companies and employees, among others:
Increasing efficiency
Agile project management works with short intervals in which projects can be driven forward more quickly: Rapid "sprints" and daily stand-up meetings, for example, replace rigid waterfall projects with project outlines and hour-long meetings.
Experimentation allowed
Instead of spending years tinkering with an abstract theory, agile working methods quickly produce prototypes and beta versions. This makes products and ideas tangible, which in turn enables feedback to be obtained quickly and therefore continuous optimization in small steps.
Focused on the customers
Agile methods incorporate regular feedback from the target group. As a result, new products are tailored directly to their needs.
Faster collaboration
Collaborative working speeds up processes - for example through short messages via chat or Slack instead of formal emails in endless loops.
Agile tools and methods accelerate the implementation of projects and involve all relevant stakeholders in the process. What's more, innovative ideas can be developed that would often not have come about in a linear and rigid working method. This often results in a drive that inspires creativity - and focuses on the needs of the customers . This not only improves the result, but also increases motivation in the team and therefore productivity.
Does New Work also mean New Leadership?
New Work also needs New Leadership or Leadership 4.0. Managers in a New Work company see themselves as coaches and moderators and no longer as an authority of "instruction and control". Strictly hierarchical management styles have had their day.
Control is being replaced by a culture of trust and empathy. A manager who cultivates an open culture of error, in which critical issues can also be addressed and the familiar can be questioned, comes much closer to a modern and agile form of leadership.
The advantage of this is that this type of leadership also leads to innovative ideas. This is because a corporate culture in which mistakes are seen as a learning process promotes independent action and encourages people to try out new things.
Role of the manager
The task of managers today is to understand the balance between leading and following and to empower Employees to take personal responsibility. At the same time, New Work managers work together as equals. It is no longer important - or even possible - to constantly demonstrate more expertise and specialist knowledge. Rather, it is about setting a clear vision and thus providing strategic orientation. This is new leadership.
According to Microsoft's "The Future of New Work" report, managers take on the following roles in a hybrid working environment in the context of New Work:
- "Champion": The manager stands up for their own team to external stakeholders .
- "Catalyst": The manager stimulates collaboration and innovation in the team.
- "Coach": The manager supports individual team members in realizing their full potential and achieving top performance.
- "Conductor": The manager ensures that the team works well and harmoniously together.
Depending on the work situation, whether virtual, hybrid or face-to-face, the manager takes on different roles. Hooijberg and Watkins (2021) call this form of new leadership multimodal leadership - and thus show how important it is to align one's own leadership style with the needs and framework conditions of a team[2].
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Implementing New Work: How to master change?
Can you really "learn" New Work - and if so, how? The good news first: yes, you can. The other side of the coin: it doesn't happen overnight, but requires a profound change in the company and in the mindset of each individual.
A hip office design or agile methods alone do not make New Work. Many attempts to introduce agility and New Work fail because the necessary change is not considered comprehensively enough. Cultural change is possible, but it takes time and authentic enthusiasm from everyone involved.
New Work as a synonym for failed organizational transformation?
New Work expert Carsten C. Schermuly has observed a dangerous trend when it comes to New Work. During the coronavirus pandemic, the vast majority of companies surveyed saw new work as working from home. But New Work is much more than that. New Work is psychological empowerment, New Work is mindset.
In his book "New Work Dystopia", Carsten C. Schermuly reports on how the organizational transformation can still succeed and how New Work can arrive in the company.
How to successfully introduce New Work
Anyone who wants to introduce New Work exclusively top-down is doomed to failure from the outset. The same applies to a superficial implementation that only relates to tools or methods, technology or office design.
New Work only comes to life when people, organization and technology are considered together! The introduction of New Work stands and falls with the corporate culture and in many cases requires professional support.
New Work Consulting can make a valuable contribution to successfully implementing the necessary change in the company. The involvement of employees in this process forms the basis for success. A first step: awakening authentic enthusiasm. Companies that manage to convince their Employees of the great added value for each individual team member and for the company's goals have laid the perfect foundation for the introduction of New Work.
Seizing the opportunities of New Work means staying fit for the future
New Work offers a wide range of opportunities to assert oneself in the new world of work and stand out from the competition. Companies benefit from numerous advantages, such as
Increased productivity through more passion,
higher Employees loyalty,
more innovations and
Market advantage through even more customer-oriented services and employees who are continuously developing.
Those who truly live New Work can create a win-win effect in the company. This helps us to successfully master the challenges of our time and shape our future in a positive way. Which aspects of New Work are already being practiced in your company? Which ones are you finding particularly difficult?
We are happy to support you in your transformation - through our range of seminars on the one hand and through New Work Consulting on the other.
New Work is seen as a miracle cure for a successful working world of the future. As a concept, New Work encompasses all those forms and models of work that enable Employees to work in a self-determined and meaningful way. Combating the shortage of skilled workers and increasing productivity within the company are welcome "by-products". This white paper presents the development of New Work and current areas of application.
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