Throughout your career, the benefits of being flexible in the work that we undertake have likely become apparent. We can see that climbing the corporate ladder can be hastened by taking sidesteps to learn complimentary skills before being promoted. I believe that developing new skills and giving employees the ability to move into different areas of expertise is the greatest gift that organisations can provide. In addition, this improves engagement and allows employees to get to know a different part of the business, which is of value to the individual, team, and organisation. The key when looking for opportunities is to find alternative jobs that require a similar skill set and train in the areas that are lacking. Ask to fill in a role over a leave period to expand the repertoire of skills that you offer your employer, or indeed future employers.
During times of downturn, the individuals who can quickly pivot to be indispensable in an organisation are the ones who will weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side. A palm tree has the ability to weather the wrath of a cyclone when many other trees and man-made structures are destroyed. The reason for the resilience of the palm is it flexes as it needs to when hit with a gust of wind.
When assessing talent, evidence of being able to change careers or streams is one of the best determinants of success, especially in a business where the ability to thrive in ambiguity is essential. Through economic downturns, it is those who most quickly pick up skills or show willingness to learn new skills that will survive. I learnt this firsthand during the GFC. I changed from Recruitment Advisor to Redundancy and Redeployment Specialist in a matter of days, reduced my hours to the minimum that I could manage and I have never looked back. The skills that I learnt in the following 12 months would broaden my skillset in generalist human resources, employee engagement and talent management areas that I have since developed a keen interest in. What I know for sure is that if an employee is openly flexible in what they can do, what they are willing to do and the hours that they are able to work, they will invariably stay in work during a downturn. Let's now bring this back to the palm tree analogy.
The roots of a palm tree are wiry and many, holding the tree securely to the ground. This likened to a person’s skills. A jack of all trades, master of none will have the security to fall back on many skills in times of crisis.
The trunk of a palm is able to bend up to 50° without snapping. If an individual is able to show 50° flexibility in their role as opposed to a colleague who is rigid in their approach, they will survive the storm without being blown out the door.
Palm leaves can be blown in such a way to reduce the resistance that the trunk must endure. We can think of the palm fronds as the different jobs that make up a career as we get more jobs under our belt. The trunk becomes bigger and stronger, and we can hold onto the one job, which is required to get us through the storm and release the rest of them if it is necessary.
The OECD has placed cognitive flexibility in the top 10 skills required in the future of work. Cognitive flexibility is the ability to apply knowledge or thinking to a different context. For example, the skills required to make someone at ease in a job interview can be applied when having a redundancy discussion. Improving cognitive flexibility enables you to shift jobs or careers more easily.
The X factor of FleXibility is that it runs both ways. When you are flexible in what you offer your employer in terms of you skills, roles you are willing to perform and pattern of work, it benefits the organisation, and when the organisation is flexible in what they offer you in terms of working from home, purchased leave, secondments, etc., it benefits you. I love flexibility and as I tell my yoga students, it is never too late to increase your flexibility, BUT REMEMBER, it isn’t about reaching your toes, it’s what you learn on the way down that counts.
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