Business culture and methods of work are changing in todays day and age, as the ageing population numbers are rising and their respective places are being taken up by younger individuals in the workplace. The article I read highlights the reasons behind this change, and validates why its not a bad idea for businesses to adapt to the change rather than oppose it.
A few years back, workers were expected to adapt to the particular business environment and work in relation with its specific norms. Today however, the situation is slightly different. The modern workforce as per the article has less loyalty towards their companies because the degree and number of jobs they change is quite high. If you dictate rules and regulations to the employee, the probability of him wilfully leaving would be much higher as compared to a few years back. The article explains that millennials want freedom to “redefine the way they work”. They may not want to come and work from 8 to 6, because they rather go for an early morning run, or they may not want to do a group project sitting in the office, rather do it over face-time. The point is organisations should set down the task to the employee and let him get it done the way he/she desires, as long as its done on time.
To conclude, it is important for management to shift from their authoritative and autocratic approach to a more democratic/bordering on laissez-faire approach, if they want to create an environment that is more welcoming to the employee as opposed to threatening.
However all said and done, the type of good and situation of the business, also play a key role in determining the approach of the manager to this changing business culture.