The Great Re-Negotiation: Re-Navigating for the Future

Throughout the course of the Great Resignation, it’s become clear that companies can’t continue with business as usual. It’s time for organizations to embark on a Great Re-Negotiation as a starting point for strengthening their people strategy… and in order to build a strong foundation for moving forward, I recommend that organizations revisit (and re-invest) in employer-employee relationships. It’s just good business.Going into 2022 and beyond, consider the Great Re-Negotiation as a framework for charting a new path for your future. It’s impossible to know exactly what’s coming in today’s VUCA business climate, but we do know that resignations are showing no signs of slowing down… and events like the pandemic, storms, and other turbulent market shifts will continue to affect business. That’s why, as part of this re-negotiation, it’s necessary to keep your eye on the long term and strategize around re-navigating for the future.

Future-proof your mindset.

It’s impossible to strategize, plan, or prepare for everything that the future will throw at your team and organization. This isn’t about making predictions about what’s going to happen… it’s about working from a mindset of strengthening your people and culture so that you are agile, resilient, and able to absorb and respond to shifts and challenges.My strategy for cultivating this mindset shift is to focus on the 4 P’s: Perspective, Purpose, Partnership, and Problem Solving.

Perspective

Re-navigating for the future means re-looking at who you are, and who you need to be moving forward. In the context of the Great Re-Negotiation, this will involve examining the way your team culture has always functioned, and how it needs to develop in order to maintain high-performing teams, retain and grow top leaders, and attract the best talent in today’s market.

Purpose

This is the big picture for your company. Do you have a guiding vision? How does that vision inform your day-to-day, and how you make decisions? The business environment has changed drastically even in the past couple of years, and without a vision, organizations can only react to events… instead of moving alongside market shifts, with a strong vision as your North Star.

Partnership

The employer-employee relationship is all about partnership. You want to partner with the best people, and your employees want to be partnered with a company that invests in their people, has a great culture, and a strong purpose. When you are bringing your people back to the negotiating table, center Partnership as the foundation of working towards a win/win scenario.

Problem Solving

Competitive organizations are boldly innovative when it comes to their culture and people strategy. Instead of doing things the way you’ve always done them, or recruiting people who closely resemble current employees, make it a priority to bring in a diversity of perspectives and ideas. From a practical standpoint, this is about filling teams with people of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and identities – and cultivating inclusive policies in order to strengthen every voice. This will help your organization solve problems in a more innovative, people-centered, and forward-thinking way.The 4 P Matrix will look different for every organization and industry… but it’s helpful as a conversation starter and strategy development tool. Going into 2022, recognize that we are now in the “new normal”… as in, we can now be sure that business and the talent market will not go back to the way it was “before.” That’s why it’s time to seize this opportunity to begin a Great Re-Negotiation, and chart a new path for your organization. The 4 P’s will help you bring your people into alignment with your organizational vision, strategy, and goals for the future.Read Part 1: Making the Case for a Great Re-NegotiationRead Part 2: Revisiting the Employee-Employer RelationshipSuccess Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.