What Does the Future of Work Look Like?

What Does the Future of Work Look Like?

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If senior executives could have accurately predicted the full scope of the 2008 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic, or any of the other difficulties the economy has faced, chances are the market would look a lot different than it does today. While no one can predict with certainty what lies ahead, strategic readiness is paramount with leadership success determined by your ability to skilfully play out the hand you are dealt.

The dynamic landscape of the future of work is rife with challenges, driven by technological advancements, societal shifts, and other global factors, and the trends we are seeing now are likely to have a lasting impact on what is to come. Rialto research into growth areas, senior-level strategic priorities, and the macro factors impacting today’s market has identified the following trends and areas of future focus for senior executives:

• Increased Organisational Complexity & Strategic Transformation: As Automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics are reshaping industries and transforming the nature of work, efforts to reimagine and reconfigure how businesses operate will increase. Within the next year, companies that have not integrated and adopted a digital strategy may find themselves unable to compete in the evolved market.

To remain relevant and competitive, organisations need to ensure more time and effort is invested into creating a robust executable future-of-work strategy. This includes a greater need for strategic thinking around business imperatives such as data analytics, sustainability, marketing and leadership including the approaches, tools, and resources needed. Personal interfaces, virtual collaboration and new media will enable global and real-time communications requiring different environment thinking focused on facilitating the flow and exchange of ideas, providing greater autonomy and transparency.

• Shifting Workforce Demographics: With people generally living and working longer, the complex dynamics of accommodating five generations within the workforce are often underestimated. This is further influenced by both the potential rise in the retirement age and a potentially lower entry age.

The expectations and motivations of these different groups vary, presenting multifaceted challenges for recruitment, retention, and engagement. With younger workers expressing a preference for more flexible working models, employers will likely need to rethink their traditional stances on in-office work. This could also lead to more diverse workforces, as remote work expands the talent pool globally.

For business leaders, this potential diversity necessitates the creation of alignment across generational and geographic boundaries. Achieving this alignment may require adapting employee experiences, fostering a strong corporate culture, and strategically matching skills to specific roles.

• Skills Driven Hiring: Having the right skills will be paramount to success in the future of work. We are already seeing a shift towards skills-based hiring over experience, as employers have come to recognise that a candidate’s past job titles matter far less than that candidate’s ability to bridge knowledge gaps and adapt to new challenges

This shift in perspective will give rise to a workforce that’s not only recruited based on existing skills but also on their capacity to acquire new capabilities. Those ahead of the curve will nurture talent not only to open doors to business expansion but also to fuel personal career development.

However, this transition isn’t merely about shifting from one hiring approach to another. It’s also a profound transformation of workplace structures. The traditional, pre-pandemic, role-based hierarchy is increasingly at odds with the skills-based hiring model. As titles take a back seat and skills and capabilities become the primary currency, we predict the workplace’s meritocracy will undergo a significant shift.

• Balancing Human and Digital Productivity: As we peer into the future of work, the convergence of productivity and efficiency considerations encompasses both the human and digital workforce. The strategic integration of advanced technology to elevate organisational capabilities offers immense potential, particularly when underpinned by a commitment to practicality, ethics, and risk management.

In the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report, respondents predicted that 42% of business tasks will be automated by 2027. To benchmark, current estimates indicate that approximately 34% of all business-related tasks are performed by machines. This implies that a substantial 10% growth in automation is on the horizon over the next four years. This estimate is more conservative than others have made, and while it is hard to predict exactly where AI development will reach in the next several years, the fact is that it will have a transformative impact on the future of work. The rapid evolution of robotics, Cloud infrastructure, Generative AI, and more have already generated major operational efficiency and productivity gains for those who have adopted them, and as technologies develop and AI becomes more intelligent, there is only more to be attained.

• Purpose-Led Businesses: Finally, we expect to see both organisations and their operations becoming more globally transparent, which will require more purpose-driven decision-making in the future. This will require a genuine commitment from leadership and a deep understanding of the organisation’s purpose, values, and the societal and environmental challenges it aims to address. Both customers and employees alike increasingly want to associate themselves with social causes that align with their values and share their sense of long-term social and corporate responsibility. Successful organisations will be those with a clear focus on their mission who champion it effectively through both their actions and their words.

Looking ahead, we recognise that predicting the future of work is a complex task but preparing for it strategically is within our control. The trends we’ve explored all point to a future where adaptability, agility, and a joined-up focus on talent and technology will be paramount. For senior executives, embracing these trends and proactively aligning strategies with them will not only help to weather the storms but also seize the opportunities that lie ahead. The journey is uncertain, but by keeping a firm focus on the future as we navigate the now, leaders can guide their organisations toward continued growth and resilience.