Crowdsourcing technology is evolving to connect people, ideas and insight in a virtual and socially-distanced world.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, in many ways, ushered in a new renaissance for leaders to envision a new working world. In 2021 the focus will shift from tackling the current crisis, to recovery. How agile organizations and their workforces can be in responding and adapting to new challenges will determine who thrives. Across the board, organizations will have to decide whether the technological behaviors they adopted during the pandemic, from video conferencing to remote working to distance learning, will slip away or stick.
A pivotal piece of this is the recognition that a traditional “tone-from-the-top” approach is no longer enough to create a positive and dynamic workplace. Every voice needs to be heard.
Studies on inclusive leadership suggest employees are three and a half times more likely to contribute to full innovation potential and 39% more likely to be engaged if they are heard.
Employee engagement
3.5xThe increase in likelihood that employees will contribute to innovation if they are heard.
Example in practice
In 2020, the EY organization tapped the power of crowdsourcing to connect leaders of companies who were envisioning their return to physical work strategies. As initial lockdowns lifted, it was highly beneficial for leaders to share perspective, contribute to insight generation and connect with each other to understand how best to keep their employees safe, well and at the center of all decision making related to the organization’s response to COVID-19. In total, over 4,000 participants shared their voice and perspective.
Crowdsourcing technology, with the right support behind it, benefits the objectives of the entire C-suite.
Now, as we begin to envision the future of work, crowdsourcing has a critical role to play. Collaboration and connection can unlock new insight and perspective that business leaders can use to build trust, foster innovation and deliver long-term value.
“Crowdsourcing technology, with the right support behind it, benefits the objectives of the entire C-suite,” adds Fealy. “Chief Executive Officers can use it to chart a new course for their organization, reinventing and regularly adapting their strategy for long-term value creation based on what the crowd is saying. Chief Human Resources Officers can be better connected to the people they support, optimizing the employee experience to address the widening employee experience gap. Chief Technology Officers can access new data lakes containing insights that transcend the transactional and Chief Marketing Officers can leverage the same insights to better understand the needs of their markets and deliver an enhanced customer experience.”
As leaders look to reimagine the working world, crowdsourcing’s ability to enable new ways of thinking and to unlock new insight should not be overlooked.
Summary
Unprecedented disruption has reshaped nearly every aspect of the working world. Enabled by technology, humans have come together to reshape and reimagine what’s next. Through crowdsourcing, there is opportunity to bring together hundreds, even thousands of voices to unlock new ideas and insight that can build a better, more just, sustainable world.
