A- A+

Workforce Trends and Occupancy Study Playbook: Accelerate Your Organization’s Evolution to Succeed in the New World of Work  

The Workforce Trends and Occupancy Study Playbook is a talent-based resource created based on the results from a Greater Des Moines (DSM) knowledge workers study. The Playbook presents the findings of the study as well as detailed insights and actionable steps that can be taken to address the current and future needs of the local workforce. 

The Playbook lays out 13 work-plays on topics such as: 

  • Celebrating wins in a variety of ways 
  • Creating forums for reflections about the team
  • Delegating growth opportunities 
  • Creating business process maps 
  • Balancing preferences for work-from-home and hybrid models 
  • Finding meaningful opportunities for in-person work 
  • Ensuring effective meetings 

The work-plays are aided by real world case studies that were submitted by DSM business and organization leaders.  

Download the Playbook

Case Studies

The Playbook includes several case studies from employers in the DSM region. These studies cover a variety of topics such as employee productivity, how to best invest in employees and flexibility in the workplace. Each study demonstrates different insights that can be found in the Playbook. Explore each local case study below to learn how you can implement workforce trends at your organization. 

Beth Nigut of EMC Insurance: Flexibility Improves Retention + Productivity 

“As a company, we remain focused on allowing our team members the flexibility they need to have the best experience possible. That includes giving them the option to select the work arrangement that works best for them — whether that’s a full or partial return to the office or full-time work from home.” 

Joe Benesh President and CEO of The Ingenuity Company: The Socratic Approach to Adversity 

“I have heard from countless organizations that “we can’t compete with ‘X’ fast food place because they pay $2 more an hour.” The response is that you can — and I have seen organizations successfully do just that — using a different approach from the one that seems most obvious.” 

Ali Payne President of ethOs, a Holmes Murphy company: Investing Fully in Your Employees Matters 

“We fully believe that what we do starts with our employees who, in turn, invest in our clients, community and the industry, and that our outsides need to match our insides.” 

Kristi Knous President of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines: Crafting a Culture of Better Together 

“Creating the culture we strive for is intentional. It takes the entire team to develop and hold one another accountable.” 

Lisa Wolf of ARAG Legal Insurance: Humanizing the Employee Experience 

“It’s easy to establish words for your company values but the true effort comes in trying to execute and live them out each day. With those as our foundation, we consider the key pillars of our workforce value proposition: Culture, Career and Total Rewards.” 

Drew Harden President of Blue Compass: Blue Compass Takes Employee Appreciation to New Heights 

“While all positive acknowledgment is an essential key to having a great company culture, there’s a certain type that’s particularly effective: creative appreciation.” 

Tim Severson of Nyemaster Goode, P.C. Law Firm: Weathering the Change 

“We made a very successful transition to a hybrid working model that has been important in retaining staff and alleviating some of the burnout issues our attorneys and staff have experienced.” 

Amanda Young Senior Vice President of Bankers Trust: Prioritizing Employee Value Proposition at Bankers Trust 

“Throughout the process, we’ve learned that more than anything, people want to be met where they’re at and treated as unique individuals.” 

Melissa Ness founder of Connectify HR: Minimizing Employee Turnover with Tero International’s Diagnostic Tool – Skills and Interest Chart 

“Inherent within this is understanding where the leader can find growth opportunities that align with the interests of the employee and delegate/give more opportunities to that employee to enhance their development while tapping into their motivation and interests.”

About the study

In early 2022, The Partnership commissioned a study of knowledge workers in DSM. The DSM Workforce Trends and Occupancy Study provided DSM employers with insight into workplace and work preference styles of knowledge workers. The source of the data is hyper-local. The study included responses from 5,197 knowledge workers from organizations in DSM. The DSM Workforce Trends and Occupancy Study is the first-ever community-level study of its kind. 

Multiple subjects were addressed with this study. The Partnership along with the research teams at Bâton Global and Reworc crafted a set of questions to ensure the survey experience would provide robust data to make decisions with.  

The survey highlighted in this playbook covered five primary subjects including: 

  1. Work Behaviors: The types of things workers are actually doing day-to-day 
  2. Mobility: Where workers have been working and plan to work 
  3. Attributes: Key characteristics of their organization and the surrounding environment 
  4. Work Culture: Both current and desired—with the competing values framework 
  5. Downtown: The priorities, satisfaction and utilization patterns of workers 

To further understand evolving workforce needs for the region, the Greater Des Moines Partnership released the DSM Workforce Insights Study: Skills of the Future results. The 2024 Workforce Insights Study gathered data from over 1,500 employees across 22 regional organizations to assess the ongoing evolution and preferences of the DSM workforce.  

Key findings from the 2024 survey include: 

  • The most crucial skills for the future emphasize human qualities. Participants believe that human skills are the most critical for the future. Human skills are needed for highly complex and/or highly collaborative work activities. Examples of these skills include communication and active listening.  

  • DSM workforce members largely have confidence in their employer’s abilities to upskill them. Employers have opportunities for collaboration and upskilling through internal development and training programs, by partnering with a local institution of higher education or private training providers. 

  • AI is on the workforce’s mind. Participants said AI is the most important technical skill needed for today’s workforce. Employers can consider additional training and educational emphasis — both on the ethical and technical use of data, as well as the adaptation of AI in the workplace. 

  • Market opportunities for learning. Leadership should make room for learning in their organizations and consider how offerings are communicated and marketed internally among team members, while also increasing access to their offerings. 

  • Gen Z is confident in employers’ skill development efforts. Lifelong learning is highly important to Gen Z, indicating a cohort of the workforce that is ready to learn, sees value in lifelong learning and is confident in their employer's support. 

  • Different industries = different capabilities. Each industry represented in the survey had different skills that rose to the top, but all had a similarly high level of average preparedness across all skills.  

  • High value with room for optimization. More than half of the reported work time was spent on what participants deemed high-value activities. The study saw an increase from 2023 to 2024.  

  • Flexibility is critical. The balance of work and personal considerations continues to be a highly valued work attribute. Flexibility is cited as a critical benefit that the workforce has come to expect 

  • Straightforward management. Participants value clear and straightforward processes from their leaders. Participants look toward leaders to set clear expectations, be willing to listen and provide timely feedback.

  • Making room for innovation. Participants indicated that what has worked in the past can be innovated collaboratively and inclusively to succeed in the future. 

Learn more about the 2024 study here.