Bryony Gibson, managing director of Bryony Gibson Consulting, considers the new ways we are working and the skills we will need to succeed.
It is obvious that the world of work is changing but, in truth, it has been changing for some time. Driven by continuous digital innovation, we have been witnessing a shift in workplace culture for many years. The speed and scale of this global pandemic has simply accelerated it beyond belief.
The way we work, the places we work in, and the skills we are going to need to be successful in business must all be reconsidered. Homeworking is the new norm, with many people’s uncertainty around this as a serious long-term strategy superseded after seeing the productivity gains that can be made when people are encouraged to fully integrate their work and personal life.
The trust required to do this has been forced in many cases, but it is something that will be in high demand long after this crisis, which means employee engagement must also become a priority.
Employee engagement and productivity have always gone hand in hand, no matter where people work, and, with flexibility in high-demand, organisations must do all they can to help managers develop the skills they need to lead a dispersed team. Whether through training or regular communication, it is important to get everyone involved as much as possible. You will also need to find a way to routinely monitor your team’s motivation and level of commitment if you want to retain them in the long-term.
Contrary to investing in people, the idea that machines are going to take all our jobs isn’t something new but does seem more prevalent than ever due to the complexity and constraints around people and space.
Big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, automation and global connectivity are just some of the solutions being fast-tracked by businesses, with advances in these fields offering the opportunity to transform the way they operate and make costeffective productivity gains in the process. However, this does not have to have the knock-on effect of mass unemployment.
If we focus not only on the application of new digital improvements but also on how these advancements will affect jobs and talent in the workplace, it is possible to adapt working practices so that they help people to develop the skills they need to thrive alongside machines, rather than be replaced by them. Most jobs consist of around 20 to 30 different kinds of activity and, while some may be easily replaced by technology, it’s unlikely that every aspect will be, so rather than be made obsolete, it could be that most jobs will simply change.
This means if you’re a business leader or manager, you have a responsibility to begin redesigning the way your company not only works with technology but the environment in which people operate and the way you recruit and manage talent. How will your working models change when there is no longer a need for physical proximity to colleagues? Will you join the growing number of companies who are crowd-sourcing people with the skills they need for a particular contract? Perhaps you’ll utilise the more and more skilled people who are choosing to work as freelancers so they can pick and choose projects they are passionate about?
Whatever you do, it seems that, in the future, successful careers will most likely be built around learning and skills rather than specific jobs and, if that is the case, we will all need to be recruiting people who not only have the right attitude and outlook but who can also solve problems, lead well, communicate expertly and have excellent technological skills.
Emotional intelligence, empathy, curiosity and the understanding and creative application of what we can do with the information that computers create will also be critical to the new way of working, which is also going to mean companies have to operate in a nimble and agile way – thinking big, but acting small.
