It’s time for a new way of working

Press Release

Monday, June 17 2019

Costly restructures are obsolete, it’s time for a new way of working

START Now is calling on businesses to take up the challenge of creating a truly innovative workforce model.

New Zealand organisations who can tap in to the significant potential of their existing workforce will create profound value in our rapidly changing digital world.

This comes from Melissa Jenner, founder of Start Now, who this week launched a service called Human Innovation, designed for business leaders to create a more productive and sustainable workforce of the future.

The Human Innovation service designed by START Now, enables organisations to work differently with their talent base to effectively co-design the roles of the future – that will create new value for the organisation and enable individuals to realise their full creativity and purpose

Jenner is the first professional in New Zealand qualified in Stanford University D school’s model of ‘designing your life’, which enables people to use human-centred design to develop their own creative potential and forge a meaningful career path in large organisations.

“New Zealand organisations are evolving quickly in response to digital disruption, and embracing new ways of working, yet much more needs to be done to ensure they stay relevant. Now is the time to have a different and progressive conversation with employees about their future.”

Start Now’s research shows that 57% of people don’t believe their creativity is being utilised by their current employer, and 61% of people think their employers aren’t helping them to find options that will make it likely they will stay.

“We know that people are fundamentally disillusioned by not being able to create the jobs they want, and feel unsupported by their organisations.

“We believe the old model of ‘restructure and redundancy’ done from the top, to people, is fundamentally obsolete. It’s time for a new way of working together, a new dialogue, to unlock potential – both for the organisation and for individuals – to take more ownership of their future work direction, says Jenner.

The Human Innovation Service ensures a sustainable workforce by supporting organisations to move to a more productive dialogue model with employees, keeping top talent energised and enabling those who have jobs that might be automated to repurpose themselves to create more mutual value.

Leading NZ employment lawyer, Jolynn Bates, Partner at Brown & Bates echoes Jenner’s call to action for businesses.

“It’s been my view for some time that we are not innovating the way we are managing our enduring relationships with employees. This reticence stems from a very misplaced fear that efforts to discuss “change” might be misconstrued and lead to conflict and personal grievances. Employment law is not an impediment to the model START proposes, rather this model appreciates the basic legal principle of good faith and how that is intended to operate.”

If more companies can start to invite change by mutual agreement and change the thinking about when and how they are having these conversations, the less likely they are to end up in sticky complicated and costly restructures that often don’t serve either party well”, Bates says.

“A formal restructuring process should always be a last resort for employers who wish to retain talent and encourage innovation,” Bates says.

START Now is introducing their new service to a range of organisations across New Zealand in June, whilst continuing to work with individuals directly to design sustainable, purposeful careers.

ends

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