siliconindia | | April 20146opinionin myI remember a time when the unemployment rate in Tijuana, Mexico, where Plantronics has its largest facility, was only 0.2 percent. We had fifty job openings, and overnight we had 2,000 people applying for positions just through word of mouth. There is a fundamental truth that people need jobs to make a living, but they want careers and an opportunity to contribute something meaningful. Yet several surveys in the U.S. and globally indicate that many people are not finding those meaningful careers and that in fact, fully 70 percent of workers are either not engaged or worse, are actively disengaged, from their employers. We are hiring knowledge workers to bring us forward and as leaders if we are not getting their maximum contribution, we are failing. How did we get here? I submit that outdated managerial practices tied to an unyielding view of where work must be done have contributed to the spiritual malaise of many employees. Traditionally, people's responsibili-ties have influenced where they work, and the workplace has evolved accord-ingly. People who farm for a living work on farms, people who manufacture things work in factories. This makes sense ­ that's where their work is. But when it comes to today's knowledge workers, many are working in office environments that are not very different than those of the clerical workers who predominated the workforce 60 or 70 years ago. For the well-being and vitality of our economy, our companies and our people, it is time for leaders to evolve the workplace to meet the needs of today's employers and employees. The tools and resources those office workers of yesterday needed to perform their jobs ­ such as typewriters, telephones, company data and customer accounts -- were physically located in only one place ­ at the office. In the past 20 years, technology innovation has enabled us to virtually access all the information we need to do our jobs regardless of location. During the same time, the workforce has also changed dramatically with the automation of clerical work making way for knowledge workers, who now make up the majority of the workforce in many countries. Despite all these changes, the notion persists that work is best produced in a shared physical office environment, with a desk, computer and phone for every employee. Just as technological advances have upended where resources are located and the type of work people do, they have also laid the groundwork for a new, more flexible approach to work that is more concerned with what is accomplished, rather than where it is performed. A shift in thinking about work as an activity and not a set location would mean more engaged employees and more successful companies ­ not to mention cost savings from smaller offices, lower utility use and a tangential but important boost for the environment. It does not happen overnight. Establishing a new model and phasing it into practice requires you to think deeply about the people whose skills your company needs to attract and retain, the values and behaviors you want to perpetuate, the capabilities of your management team and the organization's capacity for change. Because change is hard, it is important to understand the fundamentals that make it worth the effort. If you want to hire the best people, you need to offer outstanding opportunities for them to achieve something. If you're leading the Work is What You Do, Not Where You ArePlantronics (NYSE: PLT) is a leading electronics company developing audio communications devices for enterprises and consumers. The firm, based in Santa Cruz, CA has a market cap of $1.9 billion.By Ken Kannappan, President & CEO, Plantronics, IncKen Kannappan
< Page 5 | Page 7 >