Navigating the New Way of Working

What does new collaboration mean for employees? It means collaborating within your immediate scope as well as outside of the lines of what you’re typically doing, said Rose M. Velez-Smith, Global Vice President, Human Resources, Business Groups & Workforce Services, Pitney Bowes.
 
A study done with 400 HR leaders at various companies found that 14 percent of positions are newly created every year.  
 
“What does that mean for you? Opportunity,” said Velez-Smith, adding a pipeline has not yet been created for those positions. Eighty percent of the leaders had their scope changed or increased.
 
“You have to shift and maneuver quickly. So you need to be able to work in the world of ambiguity and adapt to change,” she said.
 
Velez-Smith was joined by Christopher Johnson, president, Global Financial Services & Payments, Pitney Bowes and Kevin Martin, Chief Research Officer, i4cp.
 
Collaboration will only accelerate, said Johnson. “It’s about understanding, and being a problem solver,” said the Bronx-born Johnson who has worked around the globe in such places as Hong Kong and Japan.
 
The definition of a leader is focused more around influencing collaboration, "and that’s a trend younger people need to wrap their minds around,” said Martin. Think about how to build strong networks, and the experiences you bring to understand and value the perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds. That brings value, he said.
 
Martin urged attendees to read an article in the Harvard Business Review entitled “Collaborative Overload”, based on research his company just concluded. The research found the real strength of one’s professional network is the ability to use it for optionality and flexibility. “It's not the size of the network, it’s the strength of that network, especially for people in their first three years in a firm.”
 
The definition of collaboration shared with attendees was “an essential component of organizational agility and leadership effectiveness.”