Keep Your Team Together in the Gig Economy

We have transcended to the digital era, and the critical thing that needs to happen is a full digital transformation. Unfortunately, many large and medium corporations are still working on a traditional business model. The best organisations have made this transformation not just in terms of upgrading technology but also in terms of the actual root, which is leadership.

Organisational culture comes from the leaders, and many leaders are not trained to manage in the digital era. The reality is that 2019 will be the final year before the pressure gets put on organisations to get on board.

In 2020, we will see a massive increase in the workforce. Gen Z will be joining the workforce. The Millennials and Gen X will be getting more leadership roles. More people are at work and need to work for longer. It’s down to the new leaders who will comprise of Gen Y and millennials. There is a sense of urgency with all the factors coming together in 2020 to create what I like to call, the perfect storm.

I just completed research where I found that Asia is the most progressed region in digital leadership. Asia’s hierarchy is flattening out, and new leadership skills are emerging. Asia is leapfrogging ahead of traditional Western organisations of the 1950s to 1990s. The Western organisations have grown step by step over the decades but from a digital point of view, emerging markets in Asia, especially China and Japan, are able to learn quickly and not go through that journey anymore.

What limits the Western countries?

A lack of awareness for these transformation needs, a lack of leadership skills and an apathy towards leadership.

Leaders are just not owning the process of what it takes to be a digital business. Similar to the US and the UK, Australia is not performing as compared to its Asian counterparts. In Europe, immobilisation is an added issue. The organisations in the Eurozone have consistent policy and procedures in place, but they are slow to change the rules and regulations. It takes years to get anywhere, and as a result, countries in the Eurozone are lagging behind everyone else in the world. They are even lagging behind countries in Europe that are outside of the Eurozone.

So, what is Asia doing that everyone else isn’t?

Asia is marrying both Western and Eastern practices.

It’s not that Asia is doing things differently, but Asia is applying learnings by looking outside and shaping the way that they work to adapt to the requirements. While the West is focused on its own ways, Asian countries like China and Vietnam are marrying success stories from both the East and the West.

For instance, China has aspirations to go global, and they can already see how communications is able to do that. This aspiration helps them implement changes, and they are able to break out of the traditional ways of working in both the political and commercial sense. State level factors also impact the behaviour of leaders.

It helps that Asia has authoritarians that are not controlling. There’s a directive where it's needed, and that brings with it clarity, direction and speed of action. There’s a lot of freedom within that.

Country differences aside, the next worry in the digital era is whether there’ll be enough jobs for everyone globally. Are people going to lose their jobs?

There will be job losses and casualty, but there will be more job creation.

The fear of job loss due to technology has been occurring throughout history. In the 1500s, William Lee invented ways for cotton mills to make 5 garments in the same time that it took to make 1 garment. The Queen of England said that technology would take the jobs away. This happened again in the 1800s and once again in the 1960s where you have the revolution of increased automation, computers and machines.

All the fear of losing jobs was nonsense because it created way more jobs that no one even knew about yet. The media is focusing on the negative, they are focusing on The Terminator and making automation seem like it’s replacing humans. The media claims that 47% of jobs will be eliminated but completely ignore all the new industries and jobs created.

“Leveraging human capital is the bank of the future.”

There will be a massive acceleration and growth of the independent workforce. It’s all about how we will leverage both human resource and technology. Traditional enterprises today model the old organisational mindset and culture, but in the digital era, there needs to be disrupted ways of working.

The traditional organisations are behind the curve while new organisations have embraced this much more. The Ubers and Airbnbs of the world are marrying both digital and human factors, and that is where people are winning.

So, how can you be a better leader in the digital era? There are some mindsets which are critical to have. Once you've internalised these mindsets, you'll find that you can be better at leading in this digital era.

Embrace the Future of Work

Consider working in huddle spaces and embrace new ways of working. Today, it’s also all about the competitive advantage of where you flatten things out, so you know where your competition is from. The future of work is about being more attuned with the digital era while maintaining the human touch. Leverage on human capital in a new way.

Be open to having fewer permanent staff and more freelancers or part-time staff. The reality is that the shared economy is evolving and it’s time to look into freelance workers for a more flexible business with fewer overheads. We need to be okay with some of our staff holding 3 jobs at a time.

I was in a company that was innovating externally, but internally it ran in a very traditional and hierarchical way. Personally, now for my business, I have decided to reduce permanent staff and move more towards freelance teams – which is the new way of working. Only my client services is internal. Everything else is outsourced. What I learnt quickly as a leader is that it takes a different approach to managing such teams. This needs to be communicated to the rest of the organisation.

Communication is vital because it reinforces clarity and helps flatten out the organisation a bit more so that managers are leading and aren’t focused on executing. Communication comes with reinforcement and direction. Feedback is important so that people feel like they are a part of the change and this leads to a more collaborative approach.

Ultimately, communication is the human glue that will give you the edge in the digital era.

Assess Yourself

Some people don’t realise they need to improve their leadership ability. The best leaders are embracing, shaping and training managers to manage in new ways. They are changing the ways that employees engage and how that impacts the speed and benefits externally.

Ask yourself some deep questions first. Many leaders are looking tactically at the transformation coming ahead, but it’s not an overnight tactical move. It requires new systems for HR processes and new ways of thinking. It will take time and commitment to lead in this manner. It starts with the mindset. The will to do this helps you win.

Externalising

As a leader, you must engage with the customer or client and understand what is happening in the marketplace so you can keep up with the competitive threats of today. You need to have a more operational understanding of what is happening on the ground both internally and externally so that you can develop better strategies.

Since technology is taking away all the baggage, through artificial intelligence and other technology, there is more time and energy to focus on the business and the people. Which is why I emphasise that the human touch is more important than ever before.

Be Committed to Leading Differently

Embrace the new agile way of working. Come up with new ways of leading in terms of how you manage, motivate, measure and reward the independent, freelance or part-time workforce so that they see the value in working with you.

The mistake that people often make is that they start to do this and then they stop. They go down the path a little and think it’s too hard, and they give up. Short-term thinking comes into play here where they think of focusing on other things first instead of addressing this type of leadership, and the cycle then repeats.

You need to have a long-term strategy and not a short-term tactic. You have to make the time to do it.

Part of the strategy in the digital era is to have a diverse workforce where you have a broader mix of people who are working with you from all parts of the world and have a different culture. Your resources don’t have to be local anymore. You can be culture free, but you need managers to lead this diverse nature of people.

Find Out Their Emotional Drivers

Make your staff and freelancers feel that they are highly valued members of the team and not just a part of it. Spend time with them and understand what motivates them. Be sure to attend to both their rational and emotional drivers.

When your staff, especially freelancers, have a sense of belonging, they are more loyal to you. 80% of the people I have led, came with me when I moved into another business. You need to find ways to recognise and reward them. It can be through financial incentives, presenting something on stage, or offering them other rewards. About 90% of the time, freelancers are working on their own, so they appreciate when you bring them down to be recognised at an event or in front of others.

Barter Trade

Once you’ve learnt what your staff are driven by, put something in place to achieve that. You don’t just get loyalty, you should be able to phone any one of them for a favour without having to pay for it.

You, of course, have to do the same for them. It’s about how you can help each other, almost like a barter trade. If you can open up your resources to them or offer expertise in some area, that would be great. I do this by actively providing referrals so that they can grow their businesses, which also means favours in return.

“They don’t work for you, they work with you.”

Come away from the thinking that they work for you. You have to see them as partners, working together. Bring them value as you work with them.

Confidentiality of Gig Economy

As part of the digital expansion, you need to know what your privacy and security policy is. Organisations are now moving away from WhatsApp because it’s owned by Facebook which uses and sells data for advertising pursuits.

Slack is a great platform to consider in terms of confidentiality because it's a paid app that protects your data and doesn’t sell it to anyone. Slack serves as a team collaboration tool which allows you to create various channels to communicate with various functions of the company. It's easy to use, enhances communication and most importantly, keeps your data secure.

The other aspect of confidentiality is with your freelance or part-time staff who may work for competitors or engage in some form of data sharing. It’s nearly impossible to create a contract of exclusivity in the service industry. Many organisations are finding their way around that, and they are being bitten by it because of conflict of interests. At the end of the day, you need to focus on building relationships and loyalty to protect your information. You have to find ways of working with a contingent workforce that can work with you and generate mutual advantage, while protecting your space.

Lead Through Apps

Now you may have the intention to lead better in the digital era, but you need the right systems in place. Use it carefully and differently from social platforms.

“You have to create the rules of the road.”

You can’t spam on the chat or allow the conversation to be diverted. Devise a timeline and how to use the chat. You can state that at the end of the month, the chat would be used for a specific purpose, and that it isn’t for social interaction. Perhaps the chat is only for posting interesting opportunities. If others want to post something, they can come to you, and you can validate and post it. It’s a sharing platform, not a social platform.

Again I would recommend that you consider apps like Slack that are more secure spaces for file sharing. On Slack, you can share more openly than WhatsApp without having to go to other messaging apps. This works well where other organisations have sort of married these groups.

It’s essential that you lead and be in charge of the group instead of letting the groups run themselves. Plan what will happen in the space and plan the benefits of the communication app. Be sure to remind your team to use that app instead of another platform.

1. Create an Action Plan

Assess where you are as a leader. Do you manage digitally? Do you engage freelancers? How do you usually lead? Do you set the rules of the road? What are some tools you plan to use and how will you use them? How do you intend to reward your staff for loyalty? Write all your answers down and come up with a detailed plan of how you will execute this.

2. Change Your Organisational Structure

Look at your existing organisation chart and ask yourself what can be changed from a permanent headcount to a freelance role. If you’re looking to hire a full-time role, consider converting it to a freelance role and look at freelance platforms.

3. Download Slack

Download Slack and explore the functions it has to offer. If you have a team under you, start adding them to the app and allow everyone to be familiar with the app. Then start creating various channels for the purposes you need.