10 key trends that will change your future of work (1 from 2)
The future of work asks us to consider the biggest questions of our age. What influence will the continuing march of technology, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) have on where we work and how we work? As a consequence will we need to work at all? What is our place in an automated world? Many purely focus on technology and the role that automation will have on jobs and on the workplace. In my opinion contrary to this the real story is far more complicated.
This is not only about technological innovation, but merely about the manner in which humans decide to use that technology.
The changes in society related to the technology disruption will lead to a significant amount of changes in the way we work.
To set the scene and a foundation for a series of more detailed blogs on technology, future of work and leadership I will provide you with a summary of the 10 changes I consider to have the most impact.
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”- Peter Drucker
The rise of the employee experience.
Customer focus has been a key area for companies in their strategies. With the war for talent and new skills being necessary in the workplace companies have to realize that employee engagement (like salary) is just a temporary trigger, as employee experience is the only way to have employees commit for a longer time. Although incentives as flexibility are surely nice, the biggest driver will be to have employees buy in to the “why”.
A recent Korn Ferry Global Study has shown that:
- “Majority of CEOs see more value in technology than in their workforce
- Two-Thirds of CEOs believe technology will be their firm’s greatest competitive advantage
- Nearly half say Robotics, Automation and Artificial Intelligence will make people ‘Largely Irrelevant’
Given these results a radical cultural change is necessary in most (larger) organisations which were build around shareholder value and efficiency. As a consequence this needs to be driven from the board as this cannot be delegated to HR. This goes far beyond having a table football on every floor, building more flexibility in work hours and locations and some fancy furniture in collaborations areas. This is a fundamental shift in the way a company looks at the most valuable assets in the company, being the employee.
“Throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.” – Dale Carnegie
The leader as coach.
Managers will become more and more coaches who guide employees instead of guiding and coaching them. With less jobs being repetitive and routine through automation this requests a significant change in leadership style. Managers will be more and more focused on employees to help building their careers and providing them with the appropriate guidance on the “why” instead of the “what” and “how”.
Teams work more and more in smaller self-guiding entities meaning the role of the manager will change.
This goes far beyond the yearly appraisal cycles and ones a year objective setting. In order to do this right this needs to be a continuous process. It is key for the usually busy manager to do this right and claim the time for this. This should never become something that needs to be done on top of, like is happening currently in a lot of organisations.
“The way your employees feel is the way your customers will feel.” –Sybil F. Stershic
Soft skills will be the differentiator
Hard skills become less important as they can be overtaken by automation, or these skills change so fast that people need to be very flexible to keep up with these hard skills. The organizations will become flatter and more network orientated to create agility. This means the manager will focus less on control and coordinating. Employees need to find their ways and build meaningful relationships with other employees, freelancers and other stakeholders in the ecosystem. If you compare the number of people you have contact with in your job with 20 years ago that number has exploded, meaning social skills will be key.
“Soft skills get little respect, but could make or break your career” – Peggy Klaus
Working with robots and AI
Repetitive and routine manual and later on also cognitive tasks will more and more be subject to automation. This means employees will work more and more alongside AI (artificial intelligence like robots) and other new technologies. Machines and robots will replace employees who execute repetitive tasks. Their jobs will undergo upgrading as they will focus on streamlining processes and increasing efficiency. All with the objective to contribute more directly to the direct success of their companies.
The real impact of automation is subject to a lot of discussion about what will happen to the number of jobs. Consequently this could worst case lead to erosion of middle management, society imbalance and unemployment. On the positive side we can use technology to augment and improve our societies and the way we work. I will cover this in a separate blog.
“Embrace technology but do not become it!” – Gerd Leonhard
Rise of Millennial culture
More and more millennials (age 25-35) will determine the culture in an organization. For millennials work-life balance does not exists. As a consequence millennials integrate work and life seamlessly in their lives sometimes to the amusement of other generations. Next to that millennials have a strong need not to just work for money, but also to contribute to a higher purpose. Leaders who do not come from that generation need to understand that. They need to guide and coach them, as millennials can be impatient.
Above all, the great art of storytelling will help leaders and managers to give that meaning to their work by providing them a “why”. Simon Sinek has provided great insides on millennials should you want to read more. Furthermore leaders from my age and above (>45) can use millennials for so-called reverse mentoring. Senior leader get in an informal way more insights in this generation that was brought up with technology. Consequently millennials can show them how natural digital intuition can speed up developments in companies.
It is interesting to see that most CIO conferences are dominated by white men who are above 40 years old. During these events we talk about millennials, but how often do we include them in our discussions and initiatives?
“Millennials expect to create a better future, using the collaborative power of digital technology” – Mal Fletcher
Summary
Every aspect of work is evolving. Above all, it is key for leaders, managers and game changers to understand what is going on and actively act on this. Understanding the future needs or people and organizations is instrumental for future growth. The companies that can adjust to the work evolution will be the ones who are most prepared and competitive in the future of work. The above 5 developments out a total of 10 will change the way we work in lead in the coming years.
In my next blog I will cover the remainder of the 5 trends
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CIAO, Carlo
Carlo Schreurs is business group CIO and digital officer, trendviewer, speaker and regularly writes on digital and technology, the future of work and leadership in the digital age. Through short 5 minute blogs he provides busy people with key insights. You can follow Carlo on Twitter and Facebook.
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