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Then, Now and Forever

What has shifted and what remains timeless in the workplace
Al Lopus | Outcomes, Jan/Feb 2007

Editor's note: Al Lopus, president and co-founder of Best Christian Workplaces Institute (BCWI), conducts surveys and studies trends in Christian organizations. We asked him to reflect on changes in the workplace he has observed in the last 30 years.

As I look back over the last three decades, a few things really strike me about shifts in the workplace.

Shift #1: Automation and technology have revolutionized how we work and communicate in the secular and Christian workplace.

My desk today provides testimony to this. I still have a landline phone (thankfully, I'm not sharing it with anyone else). My PC sits on top of my desk and, hooked up to the Internet, makes an infinite amount of data available to me in seconds. My cell phone lies next to my "regular" phone.

It's absolutely amazing the ways we can get a message out these days: e-mail, streaming video, etc. Do you remember when there were only three channels on television and we all watched the same thing? We now have hundreds of options. Technological advances have changed our culture and workplace in a major way.

This rapidly changing technology is impacting the way we communicate. Clearly, the expectations for employees to "be in the loop" and to be involved in decision making are revolutionizing the workplace.

Shift #2: We're experiencing a much higher level of employee involvement. In fact, this is the most drastic change I've noticed impacting Christian organizations.

Most managers have little control over the next technological advancement. But, managers do have a hand in employee participation and satisfaction.

More than 30 years ago, employees were shaped by their work. When I started in the workforce, the prevailing attitude was: "This is your job. We don't expect you to receive personal satisfaction." Today, having a job isn't enough. Employees want their jobs to be shaped around them and to derive satisfaction from their work.