“People judge you on your performance, so focus on the outcome” - Steve Jobs

Traditional approaches to work based on time are running out of time:  

• Companies experimenting with 4-day work weeks without loss of productivity and output remind us that indeed, work often expands to fill time.
• The rising share of work undertaken by ‘gig economy’ workers who deliver what is expected of them for repeat engagement and compensation shows what’s possible when rewards link to outcomes.  
• Accelerated by COVID, many companies have adopted hybrid and distributed work models, making it impossible to measure how many hours people are working.
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‍Shift from Hourglasses to Milestones:

So, what do we need to keep in mind as the sands shift to outcome-based work?  

What Employers Expect

In an outcome-based work environment, employers expect employees to:

• Be self-directed and motivated. Work independently and meet deadlines without close supervision. Be able to prioritize the right tasks to meet expectations, achieve targets and build trust.
• Communicate to influence. Be able to communicate persuasively with team members, managers, and clients to drive change as digitization remakes businesses.
• Collaborate effectively to achieve common goals and unlock the best ideas from a set of diverse minds.  
• Problem-solve with agility. Be able to identify and solve problems independently and faster than the competition. This requires a sense of initiative and urgency, and to be able to think critically.  

What Employees Expect

In an outcome-based work environment, employees expect to be able to:

• Have more flexibility and autonomy. Employees want to be able to work the hours that work best for them and have more control over their work.
• Have more opportunities for learning and development. Learn new skills that help them be more productive, communicate effectively and be able to grow their careers.
• Have a more positive work-life balance. Balance their work and personal lives, so they feel accomplished and satisfied with the outcomes they are achieving instead of feeling overwhelmed by what they are not getting done.  
  

With a plethora of benefits for both sides, it begs the question: why do many employers still resist the way the world of work is changing?

The resistance might be rooted in the soil of fear - fear of the unknown, fear of letting go of a familiar system. But it is this very change that sets the stage for innovation and evolution. Be the change to drive change!

How can we help?

Hardskills helps employers and employees make the transition to an outcome-based work environment by helping them develop the mindsets and behaviours needed to achieve successful outcomes. Our critical soft skills courses teach employees the skills, behaviours and mindsets they need to be confident, focused and achieve balance while driving exceptional outcomes, including:

• Goal setting and time management. Managers are taught how to set clear goals and expectations, improve their listening skills and how to make sure they are understood through mastering clear, concise and complete communication. Employees get trained to focus and prioritize what matters the most to deliver on goals, so they manage time effectively.
• Communication and collaboration. Employees learn how to communicate effectively and persuasively, and how to collaborate with an open, inclusive mind to achieve common goals.
• Problem-solving and critical thinking. Employees learn how to identify and solve problems independently, think critically about what will work best and bring solutions to customers fast.  
  

Hardskills’ programs are delivered online, which means they scale to any team member anywhere in the world. No one gets left behind. And, to reduce administrative and delivery friction, all our programs are delivered as training-as-a-service 24/7 by our global team. Our model bundles learning pedagogy and content along with all the activities required to rollout such a strategic initiative - from marketing programmes to enroll employees, to on-going engagement throughout rollout, to facilitating live discussion forums and right through to certification and personalized feedback for everyone who completes the training.  

If you are an employer or employee who is interested in learning more about Hardskills' critical soft skill training programs, visit our website or contact us today.

The shift to an outcome-based work environment is here to stay. Don’t get left behind. Make the transition to an outcome-based work environment today by training growth mindsets.

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