Perspectives on the Workplace of 2020

This morning I delivered the theme address at the CEO dialogue where Sanjay Kapoor, Chairman Micromax and Sundeep Malhotra, Founder & CEO of Home Shop 18 spoke and discussed the future of the Workplace of 2020.

For me, as a Business & Human Resources leader/practitioner, worry centers around the fact that organizations around me are not thinking enough about what needs to be done to cope with the future that is nearly here.

The challenge is to go beyond the conventional and truly understand the facets of the Workplace 2020 that will impinge, willy-nilly on leadership practices and management practices.

And nope, the challenge is not centered around managing the millennial. The challenge is about managing the millennium.

I believe that three major challenges in managing the workforce of the workplace 2020 are technology, health and not the least, performance management.

The first workplace challenge is the one posed by technology . While tech tools are available for collaboration and for a real time exchange, today technology is posing a significant challenge to human interaction and to a personal interface. It is also likely to reduce sensitivity in customer management while making people centric services more expensive to the consumer and therefore, completely impacting competitive edge of businesses and organizations.

The challenge of technology no longer is nor will continue to be the existential HR dilemma to be or not to be an organization that allows social media access but rather on how to manage the excess. A significant retraining of our people may be necessary - train to reduce dependence on the mobile . To even train people to talk to others face to face or is it going to be an art soon? To not allow social media to become a deadly tool of rejection based on Facebook profile and chats.

The challenge of technology is also the intrusive interface on personal time and space. One which seems to be calmly accepted by the millennial even while said millennial is keen to have flexibility and work life balance.

A whole organizational culture gets created where work depends on the movement of emails. Will it eventually erode the ability to take ownership and responsibility?? Will it allow for people to be mail pushers while saving sent mails in folders as evidence of work done?

Organizations will have to find ways and means of tackling so called feedback by disgruntled elements on social media. Recently, a candidate who was rejected in a technical round, devoted a Facebook post to our rigorous screening process while of course damning it. It is insidious and unfair to us as employers. How will my organization deal with this in 2020 when there may be more vociferous and vitriolic attacks online? How will I, as the custodian of the employer brand, deal with the vulnerability of it?

The second challenge is one of health. As fitness routines become a routine casualty of long working hours, as lifestyle linked diseases rise, as India rules as the world’s epicenter of diabetes, as the number of people who encounter cancer in their own bodies or in their life rises in our country, will organizational practice change to accommodate this??

The young are not made to feel responsible for their own health at any time. Yet the incidence of heart disease amongst the young – those in their 20s and 30s is on the rise. As competition increases, as stress increases, what I wonder, will happen to the workforce of 2020?

As our elderly fall sick and as more younger people become a part of the sandwich generation, what will be the organizational norm that will allow the workforce 2020 to cope with crises at work and at home. Shrinking families, nuclear families and urban islands of medical support will continue into the next ten years in this country. How then will we as leaders manage and balance the humane with the practical, the necessary with sharp competitive practice? Will we fire all those who are ill or coping with illness in their families, at home? Will organizations continue to give or part pay for medical insurance??

Another aspect of health is our resilience, our ability to remain purposeful and motivated in the midst of routine, setbacks and failures. As the Workplace of 2020 changes, support systems within the organization and in society are likely to be more diluted. While peer support will rise, support from nuclear families, support from the larger social landscape is likely to come down. How will the workforce manage its setbacks and disappointments? Will management practice go back in time to becoming more patriarchal or will it move forward and become cynical while replacing those who are affected?

The third challenge is that of sustaining performance management. In a workplace where technology tools are poised to take over performance management systems, the first impact is on performance dialogue.

The millennial is more determined to have flexibility, to have work-life balance. Does it mean that different employment formats will need to emerge?? Such as part time work, shared roles and sometimes, even resources shared across two or more organizations. How will this impact compensation and rewards??

Expertise in new forms of technology is recent. My talent acquisition practice will need to move away from experience measured in years to experience measured in skills and expertise. Some forms are new and many to be left behind in Jurassic Park.

I do know and would like to work towards a more flexible people practice within my organization. I am convinced that I will have to do all this and more to remain competitive and strategically relevant to attract and retain talent.