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The Pandemic of Business Human Relations
I encourage all to read the November Trendcast Blog that showcases the 10 change agents that will rattle the U.S. marketplace in 2023.
If you have not reviewed them, here they are…
- High tech mid-life crisis
- Millennials shifting from “me” to “we”
- Metro out-bound migration — history repeating itself
- The working class labor movement
- The hybrid workplace
- David & Goliath brand transition
- Personalized craftsmanship
- Elevation of the in-store experience
- Emotional vs. functional home space
- Smart phone time-out times
The impact of these trends combined with activity taking place from Washington to Wall Street are clearing the stage for a set of challenges ahead.
Last week I attended a presentation made by Chris Clark, the president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Chris gave a great presentation that contain some startling numbers.
One set of stats showcased that by 2025, Millennials will represent more than 60% of the U.S. workplace and GenZers will represent another 20%+.
Many today still believe that Millennial live a life staring at a smartphone and living off access to their parents’ credit cards.
I laugh and help them understand that those are GenZers and not Millennials.
All that said, there are influencers ranging from those in the media world to those in the academic world to leadership residing in the halo clouds of the high tech world who preach about AI, virtual worlds and the digital world of the future who see the future of the Jetson’s unfolding in front of us.
And this mindset coupled with the new leadership filling the HR job slots that might place Washington and Wall Street in a new crisis mold not just in 2023, but for a number of years ahead.
Chris also cited how right now there are 3 job openings for every person seeking employment.
He went on to cite that by 2025, that number will increase to 5 job openings for every person seeking work. And by 2030, that gap might open up to 6 or 7 job openings per job-seeker.
If you refer back to the 2023 Trendcast above, the digital world right now is just trying to stay afloat.
And the last I checked, I don’t see any Artificial Intelligence (AI) humanoids filling those job needs.
AI might be able to drive the Amazon trucks, but last I looked AI cannot get out of the cab, grab the box from the back of the van and carry it to the front porch of the customer who made the purchase.
One of the exercises I suggest that those of you in. business leadership do is to go onto one of the job search websites and apply for a job.
Another option is to pull up the website of a corporation complaining that it as jobs it cannot fill and apply for a job on its website.
You will see where HR … now staffed with many Millennials and even some GenZers… have taken automation.
Not only has the human element been removed from the application process, but the even the simple mechanics of spending over a resume has been replaced with systems asking applicants to retype in their resumes to fit the formats of the HR department.
The human element is gone from the human relationship departments of America.
One of the Trendcast trends operating right now is the rise of the working class and its front and center role in driving the American economy.
If you doubt it, check out your preferred news channel and see what has been taking place in the White House this past week with American Labor Unions. Then check out the mix of where the layoffs are taking place. Then go and check out your State’s forecast of where the jobs need to be filled.
While the shirts they wear may not be in shades of blue, the working class fits the priority needs of our labor base and many don’t even have a resume to digitally file.
Starbucks is shifting to automation only to have indie coffee house steal market share and staff too.
Fast restaurants that elect to automate are losing out to the Food Trucks.
Even the grocery chains that cannot fill the cashier jobs and elect to automate self-check outs watch shoppers shift over to Trader Joe’s and Indie Mom & Pops who has only real people lanes.
When I hear about the drive for employees coupled with the rise of the working class coupled with trends shifting the business dynamics of retail and sales… American business leadership is in trouble.
And it’s not just HR or management on the client level that will encounter challenges in 2023.
The ad agency field that even in the midst of the digital world is also in trouble.
The agencies are beginning to learn how digital automation does not generate creativity. And automated digital onscreen popups do not function well with clients needing to make copy changes.
Just like many today make a commitment to live and work a carbon-neutral lifestyle, in 2023, EXPERIENCE is making a commitment to work only with leadership that has stopped using the automated, digital HR systems.
In 2023, EXPERIENCE will not team up with ad agencies that tout their digital and automated communications architecture.
We will turn down partnership with the firms who tout their commitment to Google Analytics and onsite digital exchanges.
Most of those firms haven’t walked outside their virtual office environments and removed their smart phone wireless ear phones to talk with real people.
If you haven’t applied for a job lately, do it.
And if you want to do well in 2023 and see your brand equity build, sit yank your HR team out of their digital alcoves, shove the wireless headsets into the drawer and go sit around a table at a coffee house and chat about how real people matter going future forward.
