My friend, Robert, and I talked about trust yesterday as we sat at lunch and figured out the state of the world. Trust is so important for us today, but it seems at an all time low. Politics. Government. Business. Everywhere we turned, the discussion got a little bit more uneasy.
The Paradigm Shift
Although we a bit unclear of what the future holds at first, Robert and I felt confident that the old way of doing business has reached a paradigm shift. The Baby Boomers have started to retire and the Millennials don't want to work like the Boomers. A full 72% of Millennials say have a job they want to quit, and 91% don't expect to stay in any single job more than three years. Given an unemployment rate about 2X average, it gives reason to pause.
Are the jobs we have so bad that people would opt out rather than go to work, day after day, just to get a paycheck? Salary.com say yes... 73% of people working today work because of the paycheck rather than the work being fulfilling. In fact, Manpower thinks that things will only get worse. According to their own study, 31% of employers can't fill positions because the employee base isn't there. As Baby Boomers keep on retiring, this problem will only get worse.
Shifting Values
What we are seeing is a shifting in values and a means for making it happen. Not so long ago mobile phones, the Internet, and websites you could do business on didn't exist. We saw things change more slowly in the "olden days." But now, you have to be on your game all the time if you want to be relevant. Business startups today are catching on.
That's where authenticity, trust, and leadership come in. Those companies that believe they can pull the wool over anyone's eyes will wake up one day and find that the only one they fooled was themselves. Then... they will go out of business.
Somewhere along the way startups, small, medium-sized, and a few large businesses that have started out with a clearer eye on things re-enable the workforce to come to terms of working the right way. People always wanted to work this way but were too afraid to ask for it.
Actually, I think authenticity works for all of us. As a small business owner and stroke survivor, I only want to do business with those people who will treat me right. People I trust. Don't you?