Carryn Dewing — The Future Of Work

And once again, it is another edition of What's Involved, always good to have you along with us. I got a special guest at this time. And I'll first introduce her and then I'll tell you why we're going to be talking to her. Okay. Who am I speaking about? Karen Dewing. She is the head of internal communications at New Media. And why are we going to be telling to is they've just released a report called the changing world of work. And I was thinking to myself, I need to figure this out because man, a lot of stuff has happened. So before we get into all of that, Karen, welcome. Good to have you along with us. Good morning, David. Thanks so much for having me. It's an absolute pleasure. So before we kind of dive into this report as such, let's just have a little chat about who is Karen and how did you get to be the head of internal communications at New Media? Who is Karen? It's an excellent question. I was born in school in Joburg. I studied journalism at Rhodes University and worked in the UK for a number of years before returning to the sunshine in South Africa and settling here in Cape Town where I started working almost immediately for New Media, one of the country's foremost content marketing agencies.

We have a very proud history of working with brands to tell the stories that really matter to their audiences. And fast forward about a decade and I now head up New Media specialist internal communications division. Our team really has the privilege of working with some of the most progressive and forward thinking businesses in Africa to engage their employee audiences and really to connect them at a very meaningful level to their company purpose and to each other. It's a very rewarding space to work in and busier than ever, as I'm sure you can imagine. I certainly can imagine and this is why I find this so fascinating and I love the bit you talk about. You help companies and corporates to tell their stories because the one thing that I've noticed over my years in broadcasting is that it's stories and it's stories that we need to share and tell and it's the how of doing that that is so critically important. I was chatting to somebody a little while ago in fact and then we were talking about corporate South Africa and I mean essentially in terms of that I was told many years ago that in terms of a corporate job I am unemployable. Something to do with the fact that I don't play well in the sand but with other children. But the thing that used to get to me is we had it was an incredible patriarchal kind of management structure through a lot of the corporates in this country and you weren't encouraged to question anything. You were expected at least in my day that you finished school if you were going to do your military training you had to do that and then you would set out into the world of work if you didn't study further and even if you did then you would get one job and you'd be very grateful for that one job and you would stay there forever. And then the world started to change and more recently it's changed a lot in terms of Covid and also employees starting to ask questions.

So let's before we dive into that you should have

published this report called the changing world of work. Why was such a report necessary? What's been happening? Well I mean David you hit the nail on the head. The past two years have really just seen unprecedented changes for almost every industry, every business around the world and as internal communicators our team we've really had a kind of privileged perspective. We've seen firsthand how these waves of lockdowns and office closures, the social distancing, this global work from home experiment. We've seen how it's affected employees and really shaped the way they're experiencing work and during that time internal communications really became and is still a lifeline very much for employees who they're grappling with daily change, they're navigating this new normal that we're all supposed to understand but we don't and we're really in desperation looking to our employers for clarity and security and honesty and transparency. There's been a lot of disinformation, a lot of fake news floating around over the past two years and employees have really turned to their employers as a place that they can trust for honesty and for clarity and security and so yes I mean all the while through these two years this workscape around us has been undergoing these massive shifts as we've discussed and we're in the middle of this very important but very messy transformation into something new and we've been left reeling I think by the fact that this future of work arrived much earlier than any of us had anticipated and forced this huge rethink on the part of employers and employees and that's really what prompted us to compile this report. It was an opportunity for us to catalogue and contextualise importantly the huge changes that have been taking place and to unpack them in a way that helps us understand which of these changes are likely to leave a lasting impact and how that's going to shape the way employees engage with the companies that they work for moving forward and importantly how their businesses will engage with them. I think that's a huge question that a lot of businesses are asking at the moment is how do we engage with employees now, the rule books being thrown out the window and what do we do next? Yeah and I mean that for me is so fascinating. We sort of run our own small business so you know we get to make quick decisions decide what we're going to do when we're going to do but the bigger corporates I know some people that are right at the top of some of the bigger corporate ladders and when COVID hit it drove them insane that there was this concept of work from home because they equated work to the amount of hours they had bums in seats and you know you could not release your employees out into the wild and trust them to do anything and yet others people seem to go okay well this is what we're going to do let's do it and we sort of muddled our way through all the lockdowns and we understood what was happening and eventually we got there. I mean in my experience most people ended up working a lot more while we were on lockdown purely I think because they were worried that the boss was going to transpire and then tell them that they weren't doing enough so they ended up doing a whole lot more but this is something and I want us to get into this report in just a little bit but that's been some of the things there's been this this zoom fatigue this being online 24 hours a day and you know the concept of work from home initially to some people sounded absolutely fantastic and I know others you cannot wait to get back into the office so I tell you what when we come back let's chat a little bit more about that we are chatting to Cara Dewey head of internal communications at New Media we'll be back with her in just a bit this is what's involved and we're back with Cara Dewey my special guest head of internal communications at New Media so we've set the scene you've released this report the changing world of work tell me Cara what does it sort of look at and have we gotten some insights from it? Yes definitely I think importantly David we do not profess to have the answers to any of these big questions that have been thrown up over the past two years we can certainly you know we can certainly look at the trends and we can certainly offer insights from as our privileged position of working very closely and with some very big corporates in this country to engage their employee audiences and it's through those kinds of conversations that we have with our clients on a daily basis as well as a lot of research into and interviews a lot of sort of white papers and you know that we've been able to compile this report and to look at the kind of areas where we've seen the most significant changes so we've considered things like the employee experience which is something sort of really important and has come through I think in the past two years as kind of the most important focus area for corporates moving forward and then looking at the world of work which you know is the kind of when and where and why of work and how that's changed and employee well-being which is has certainly is more top of mind now than it ever has been for for most corporates and necessarily so and leadership and how that is changing this new breed of authentic leadership and that's expected of employees and it is expected especially of Gen Z's who are sort of moving into the workplace now and we've looked at inclusion at Davosian inclusion it's hugely important one of the biggest trends and certainly according to the Gallagher state of the sector report published last year it is one of the key topics that most internal communications teams will be focusing on in 2022 and we've looked at technology and the role that that's played in this kind of warp speed transition into the into the future and we've looked at multi-generational workplace you know the the number of different generations working in and in one space and time and and how that how that's affected the way companies put together their engagement plans and then of course sustainability and climate change which is another huge trend and a very important topic the employee of the future and how we imagine these changes that we've seen over the past years will forge this new breed of employee that is more empowered than ever that is more discerning than ever and that has really found its voice and is ready to ask for the things it needs to live and work to its highest potential. Well that certainly is an in-depth report but let's talk a little bit about this because I know some of the questions that that I've been asked and I've been asked to put to to various business leaders or guys in the HR department is what do you see happening in terms of work from home going back to work full time is there has there been a little bit of a swing in any particular direction I know some people are now doing sort of a hybrid kind of model. Yes and the hybrid model itself is you know means something slightly different to every employee in every organization and you know it's the very nature of the word is that it is fluid and it's flexible and so yes I think a lot of employers are opting to go the hybrid route at the moment and I think they're realizing that forcing employees to return to any kind of quote-unquote normal is it could be very harmful in the long run. We have seen examples from big companies the Googles and the Amazons of the world who try to enforce return to office and because of backlash from employees were forced to U-turn and renegotiate with employees which again speaks to the fact that you know employees have more voice than ever they really are active participants in this conversation and you know it is a conversation more than it ever has been. So definitely I think the trend that we're seeing certainly with our clients is towards hybrid or blended working where employees you know will have a mixture of working from home or working remotely and being in the office some in some cases for a mandated number of days a week in other cases employers are really happy for teams to decide what works best for them but I think at the at the base of all of that is really this unprecedented level of trust that's required between employers and employees you know and I think really employees have done a lot to earn that trust over the past two years and we made enormous sacrifices and compromises and to keep you know the lights on and to keep business to business as usual as much as we could and you know I'm thinking of people reimagining their homes as offices you know and and I think that that really showed an investment on the part of employees they wanted to be there for the long haul they wanted to prove to their employers that they you know that could be counted on they could be relied on and so I think they've done a lot to earn that trust and I think employers would be wise to acknowledge that and to afford employees the freedom that they've earned as a result.

Well because I mean as I said in my experience which is a very limited sample pool I certainly found people working a lot more when they were working from home I mean they were putting in more hours being more productive and I even saw a bit of a swing where because suddenly they were able to have more output the corporate leadership was going well if you can do more at home then you need to keep on doing more and more and more and one of the things that I've seen with also quite a few people is in terms of their mental health their mental well-being that's become a challenge as well now your report talks to that too doesn't it? Yes yeah absolutely it does employee well-being as I say is one of the kind of biggest sort of trend areas and that's you know that was something that was certainly on our radar sort of three years ago but has absolutely been pushed into the limelight thanks to COVID and you know and I think I think you're absolutely right David productivity there were a lot of reports that came out in the early days of the pandemic around how productivity had spiked and I think as you say I think employers were thrilled so we're thinking well gosh we thought this was going to be you know like pulling teeth letting people work from home and here we are you know recording highest productivity levels on record but what we've seen two years down the line it might have taken some time but is that that productivity came at the expense of people's well-being people's emotional and physical well-being and so yeah there's a big there's a concerted push I think on the part of employers to start talking to employees about ways that they can support a healthier lifestyle for employees both emotionally as I say and physically and I think yeah I think that we can see that trend continuing and it's more than just benefits programs and it's more than just you know the occasional you know how to lead a healthy lifestyle have you you know have you spoken to somebody have you been to counseling or spoken to somebody about your experiences over the past years it's more than that it's really normalizing conversations about sensitive topics like lack emotional well-being it's normalizing those conversations in your organization that's really going to go a long way to instilling a culture of openness and transparency and allowing employees to feel that they're in a safe place they can show up every day as their authentic selves and you know warts and all and that that is something that I think leaders have had to learn quickly I don't think that was a particularly comfortable space for most corporates two years ago you know the idea of a leader sharing you know personal and sensitive information about loss and grief you know and their own emotional struggles you know I think that's you know that was considered out of place you know not too long ago and that has certainly changed in the past two years we've seen leaders becoming more and more candid and more and more empathetic I think because we've all experienced some level of loss grief disruption over the past two years and I think it would be I think it would be unfair to everybody to to ignore that and to not learn from it and to not take that opportunity to start bringing these conversations into the workplace which is wonderful I mean it's one of the reasons that I said to you know that I don't play well in the sandpit with other children because I'm very much somebody who wants to know the why of things and I've seen over this time and I speak from from you know earlier experience when I did spend some time in the in the corporate world it was all about as I said bums in seats you have to be there at nine from nine to five your productivity was measured by that and if you ask but why are we doing this we would get very autocratic responses because that's the way it's always been done but now we're talking and I've noticed this I actually noticed this even before COVID hit is it seems that the world is transitioning we are becoming more human everybody was afraid that this fourth industrial revolution we're going to become less human and lose all our jobs to the robots but we've become more human and this caring and empathy is amazing but now when we talk about this you were saying and maybe I'm jumping around but you were saying that you know leaders have to do this and we're now looking at multi-generational people in the workspace and a lot of these new people coming into workspaces are the youngsters you said the generation where which generation are we at now x y z or gen z well actually we're already gen alpha but gen z's are entering the workspace now yeah and and these are not people like myself that we've taught that you have one job for life and you keep it and you shut up and you're grateful for it these people are looking for more so I think what would be a good thing to do when we come back is have a little bit of a chat about how this leadership with the old school the new school coming in just talk about how that's going to be working as well this is what's involved my special guest Karen Dewing head of internal communications at new media we're talking about the changing world of work it's a report that they've just released and one that I found fascinating we'll be back in just a bit and we're back with my special guest Karen Dewing head of internal communications at new media they've released this report called the changing world of work so just before the break Karen we said I've asked you the question about the newbies or the newer people coming into organizations that have a certain idea and a lot of these guys it's about so much more than just having a job and shutting up and being grateful for it and we we were talking leadership so this must be a challenge because there's multi-generational now how are things looking there yeah absolutely I think it is a challenge but I think that it's one that um leaders can really can really grab onto and learn from because authentic leadership is really becoming it is really a trend in the workplace and and that focuses around it it sort of flips that idea of servant leadership it's around that idea around that concept but it's really you know we mentioned before it's really leaders who are candid who are transparent um who are really open about their sort of you know about their own experiences their own backgrounds and who are really um open to listening um and that I think will go that that sort of you know that culture will go a long way to making employees of any generation of any culture of any gender um feel a sense of belonging in the organization and that's really what leaders at the moment are are trying to achieve um is kind of re re wiring their culture re wiring the way they communicate um and the way they they form communities within their organizations you know the past two years I've seen us working just you know in this distributed model a lot of some people in the office some people out um and it's quite difficult then I think for for us who are you know used to the kind of all the way of working it's difficult to to imagine a cohesive culture in that kind of environment where some people you never see and some people you only see on screen and some people you know so I think that that leaders are grappling with that kind of thing um and that's you know at at the base of that really what they're trying to do is is reimagine their uh their work their their their employee community and and and certainly as I say I think the way to do that is to is to be open to be honest and to be really um transparent about the things as a leader that you know the things you have answers to the things that you don't know um and then to to follow up with questions to really uh to really listen to your organization at all levels um and that's certainly something that we're seeing a lot of is um employers polling and surveying their companies more than ever um you know we joke about survey fatigue I mean I feel like every time you click on a new website or you you know complete the transaction or something you're asked to complete a survey but I think um our CEO recently said you know she she doesn't think people could ever be pulled enough about their feelings about work about what's working for them what isn't working for them what could work better um you know people are people are really clamoring to have a voice in this conversation um at all levels that you know in all generations um and I think yes I think you know the the accepting everybody creating this culture of belonging and authenticity um I think that'll go a long way to helping ease any of those kind of um you know pain points that perhaps older or younger employees might feel coming into an organization and it is it is true and that you know this new generation gen z's are definitely more demanding and they do expect um as I said earlier a level of transparency and candor from their leaders that um I don't think boomers would have would have asked for as you as you've said there you know we were all you know there was a generation where people were just felt very lucky to have a job and nobody questioned and nobody um you know everybody accepted the hierarchy um and now um you know gen z is you know coming from a place where they all have their own networks you know these are people who are creators in their own right they have social networks they have um you know they have online presences and then they're used to challenging authority they're used to asking questions and getting immediate answers um you know this kind of corporate neutrality has no place in their world um and I think it's a very healthy and refreshing um thing to to ask of your of your employer I really do um I think it can only lead to greater transparency um and and that in itself can only make people feel safer and um and more valued um and really reinstall that that feeling of trust which is so important for us transitioning into this world of work where we are likely um to be away from each other for extended periods of time where we are likely to not see each other all the time I think that that that trust is really going to be the bedrock that that builds and successful businesses well just going back to something that that I can relate to in terms of the radio station um I've been working there for a good number of years my life has been spent in many radio stations but mix I've been there for a while and I was firmly always of the opinion that in order to make great radio you had to have bums and seats people sitting opposite you in the studio and that way you could you could interact with them now because I was forced to change I'm going but hang on you know we've all learned about this and this is an audio medium and I don't necessarily want to have to travel that distance to go to a radio station make people come out at night etc etc but there is still and there has still been a fear of but hang on you know radio we're all a bunch of sociable social people I'm not seeing them I'm not talking to them all they hear is my voice um I'm not part of the the group the click at the station what is my job security going to be like and I think you know that's something that's very very important because and you mentioned it you know you might not see the people is this Karen somewhere where you guys come in in terms of what you offer to your clients really where in terms of the storytelling and and you know helping people tell the stories yeah absolutely David I mean that's that is exactly what we do is we we partner with our clients to understand um firstly the purpose that they're trying to convey um to their employees um the purpose of the organization the purpose of the individual roles within that organization and then also to to help them understand their audience better to help them understand exactly um who these personas are within their employee group um you know because as we've just discussed you know it's a lot more it's a lot more complex than okay we've got guys on the shop floor and we've got some guys in the c-suite and we you know we need some comms that are relevant for them and other comms that are relevant for these guys you know it's a lot more than that it's understanding what those factors are at play in their in their environments that are impacting how they experience their work how they're experiencing their interactions with their employer um and so yes you know I think we definitely we help our clients to shape um strategies um and communications um that help them to to tell those very important stories um why are we here like who are our people you know what is our purpose every day what is that common um goal that we're all rallying behind you know and that is the most important story that is that is the most important um you know thing that employees especially need to be reminded of at the moment I think after all of this change and um you know after these these years of uncertainty and disruption we're all primed now for something positive we're primed to respond to something you know a rallying cry that kind of we can all get behind something positive that we can pull towards um and I think this there's a golden opportunity now for employers to to really tell that story and to tell those emotive um kind of stories that really resonate with employees at different parts of the business um and the best way to do that is obviously to reflect employees back to themselves is to show is to tell stories that um you know that are representative um to speak to those diverse groups within the organizations to make sure that those voices are being amplified through the communications um you know and and we are as I say really giving people the voice that's the best way to tell this most powerful way to tell those stories is to let employees really tell them for themselves absolutely and I mean it does it seems to me that there's this groundswell in terms of business and the way business gets done in that it is more human centric and it's it's more about people and you feel that you're you're not just a number when we come back Karen uh how about we chat and we draw a picture of what the employee of the future may look like so we'll do that when we come back this is what's involved my special guest is Karen Dewing head of internal communications at new media also some good news about the report that we have been talking about I'll share that with you when we get back our back what's involved great to have you along with us uh my special guest Karen Dewing head of internal communications at new media we're talking about this changing world of work a report that she's been issued and we'll find out a bit more about that but before that the employee of the future Karen who would the employee of the future be what would they need to do what would they look like well the employee of the future David you know is forged very much by um by what's happening now um by these these many sort of shifts and changes in the world of work that we've been discussing um and really what I think we will see um or what I'm almost certain we will see is a more discerning more empowered employee um with certainly that's certainly more demanding it certainly has higher expectations um but that overall just has a desire to see business do and be better um they want to work for businesses that um you know that whose purpose aligns with their own and that makes them feel the sense of fulfillment and purpose um and I think really um there are a couple of factors that are going to come into play there I think you know as as employers start looking to recruit this new generation of employees this new um this future employee um they're going to be you know they're going to need to ensure that the the people that they're targeting or rather the way they're targeting people is speaking to the values that are important to them and those are things like flexibility um you know the ability to up skill and reskill on the job um as we've said you know these are discerning people and they will ask questions about your value proposition as a business about your sustainability initiatives and your goals about your um inclusion your inclusion policies as a business and so I think employers should expect to to be ready you know be ready to tell those stories and be ready to have compelling evidence that these are things that they've thought about as a business and that are important to them if they're really serious about um you know attracting this this level this this kind of talent to their businesses um you know the influence of the future is um they're inclusion advocates they are they are people that um expect to see um you know more diverse people included in the workplace um and in their communications they will ask about um company culture and inclusion policies in their interviews um there they tend to be activists you know something we know as well about um gen z employees or gen z as a generation is that uh you know they they speak out about causes that are important to them and they are activists and more and more we're seeing that they expect their employers to have a voice about important issues and whether that be environmental human rights and you know and we saw you know during during 2020 and 2021 we saw this massive support from a lot of corporates for the black lives matter movements um you know we saw we've seen companies speak out recently more recently about you know the conflicts in the war in in Ukraine and you know we're seeing that employees are really expecting that from their employers they they want to know that they're working for a business that doesn't just make money um but you know really cares for the communities that it operates in really cares about the lasting impact that it's leaving in the world um and then of course you know um the future employees will be um they will they will be more likely to be gig um gig minded and so they will probably see themselves as being able to be sort of multi-focused um not just an employee that rocks up and does one job every day you know one day after the other and these are people who will probably have side hustles they will probably freelance or or you know contract their skills to other organizations and and that's something that can be beneficial for both employers and employees um you know they'll have an entrepreneurial mindset and that's a very healthy thing for employees to have um it encourages that sense of ownership and investment in the business and then of course you know they they are all we are all um you know we are all fair with social media that this is a generation that will have grown up on social media and these are people who are creators in their own right um so we can expect them to want to have a voice in company dialogue we can expect them to want to you know um to advocate for their businesses um you know on their social um on their social networks um you know and I think something that we can really look forward to is that they they will be looking to work for businesses that are authentic um that value connection over perfection um that are that are really there to to tell meaningful stories that resonate with people and that um you know that encourage this feeling of everybody is welcome here this is the business that we you know this is the the the lasting impact we want to have in the world if your values align with us you know we want you on board we want you to work with us and I think that's very much how um organizations will approach talent attraction um in the next couple of years now what's amazing for me if I think back to to my time is you know you were expected to go to work in uh smart pants smart shirt at the very least and collar and tie and uh you know you were supposed to do things properly and it was as though they were trying to stamp out this mold of what the perfect employee should look like um and you know that just the fact in my day if somebody said they wanted to go to work in jeans people would be horrified you know so what kind of a weirdo are you um and I like the idea of this this concept that diversity and inclusion is is is growing because it does it takes all sorts of different kinds of people uh to to to sort of just make this whole world world work and and people should be comfortable to be who they are you know um I was chatting to somebody the other day uh also fairly young and he reckons that this whole title thing is absolute nonsense because all we are all of us are content creators that's what we do we create content and sometimes we sell it sometimes we don't so I thought okay it's one way of looking at things but now okay before I let you go um my passion is is small and medium sized businesses you guys work with the big boys now I'm looking at this game you know small businesses also can grow and we need to look at this kind of thing as well whether we've got two employees or 200 or a thousand employees we need to be looking at this as well but uh this report has been released what do we have to do to get our hot little hands on it so it's that we can take advantage of some of the insights uh well david it is available on the new media website so that's newmedia.co.za forward slash 2021 internal communications trains tracker that's that's our kind of name for it um so it is available there um and i'd be happy to share a link with you as well if you'd like to share that with your listeners um and the good news is obviously that this is not a once off um you know that this as I mentioned was an opportunity for us to assess the landscape um really catalog and contextualize the changes that we've seen over the past two years and to look at some of the trends that we believe are going to carry us into into the next wave of change which is inevitably coming our way um and um our plans are now to follow up with a report um in the middle of this year that will focus on sort of some case studies around um businesses that have embraced hybrid working how it's working for them and that will also look at um you know kind of how these trends have these ones that we've kind of predicted being parts of the future workscape we're going to look at how they're kind of you know putting roots down um how they've kind of entrenched themselves and and and another look again at how the employee experience has undoubtedly changed from six months ago um because we know you know that the the only constant now is change um and you know we need to we need to look at these things in in depth regularly to really understand what the forces are playing into employee psyche playing into um you know leader psyche um and really prompting the decisions that we're seeing being made um in the corporate world so yeah so we can look out for that as I say in the middle of the year would be a follow up to to this initial report wonderful stuff well I've got a link here that I'll I'll uh drop into the podcast uh as well but it's basically newmedia.co.za forward slash 2021 dash internal dash communications dash trends dash tracker so internal communications trends tracker put dashes between the words you've got it the good news is not going to cost you anything for a small to medium business um the guys at new media have been kind enough they've put in all the work we can benefit from it uh Karen if somebody's listening and maybe they are in a corporate and they go hang on a second we could we could use somebody like you guys on our team um can they get hold of of new media and who do they get hold of yes absolutely David we'd love them to reach out um they can get hold of me directly um my name is my my email address is karen.duing that's c-a-double-r-y-n dot d-e-w-i-n-g at newmedia.co.za and yeah we'd be happy to hear more about your business the challenges you're facing and how our team can support you in navigating this this new normal of ours wonderful stuff Karen thanks man I really appreciate you taking out the the time out and having a chat just about this it's a fascinating report we didn't dive in nearly as deeply as we could have um there's a whole lot more we could have talked about in terms of technology and diversity and inclusion and multi-generational workplaces but uh who knows maybe we'll get a chance to chat again but for now thank you so much we really do appreciate it thank you David it's been lovely to chat and yes always happy to chat again in the future there we go my special guest Karen doing it wraps it up for this edition of what's involved to each and every one of you look after yourselves take care and thank you for listening