Global Transformation

Over the past couple of years I have been an avid follower of Josh Bersin, who is the world-famous industry analyst, educator, and thought leader in all aspects of HR Leadership and HR technology. His views and insights have always been precise and futuristic and his analysis always easy to comprehend. In his latest blog (https://joshbersin.com/2020/10/the-big-reset-revisited-the-global-transformation-is-real/) he has harped on how "big changes only happen when big problems arrive" and how Covid-19 can actually be seen as a cosmic gift, one that is forcing society to transform for the better. He went on to explain that there are three transformations taking place right now (and which are real), and how they are all connected to each other and going to alter the way we think, work and live.

The first is the Economic Transformation, which Josh calls the emergence of “The Pandemic Economy”. The way to understand that is people still want food, entertainment, healthcare, and connection – so these services will be delivered in newer and innovative digital ways. Hospitals and healthcare providers have created an entire ecosystem of digital health, digital doctoring, and digital diagnosis. A wonderful example in India is how WhatsApp video call is replacing visiting ailing patients. So, while the patient is recovering, Doctors make WhatsApp video calls to the Patient’s Family and Relatives and help them connect digitally. It is not only safe but also saving time and money for travel and other logistics. Similarly, if you are checking into a hotel, it is all contact less (or almost). One can check in, go to the room, and avail room service without interacting with a person physically. Or, how the Airline check-ins have become more digital, contactless and paperless (the best part!).

The second transformation is about the Social Transformation. As per Josh we are all becoming nicer to each other. Every video call now starts with people checking in on each other and their families and neighbors, and we’re all forgiving when people have kids at home, power outages, or other family issues to deal with or even background noises be it the dog barking or a cooking whistle going off! Infact, as one of the “ten keys to transformation”, Josh and his team discovered in their research is “taking care of employees’ families” – a new part of HR that has now gone mainstream. And part of being more kind and forgiving is really listening to the issues of racial injustice, income inequality, and diversity. In the last few months, there has been more conversation on these subjects than perhaps it was ever before. It is not a comfortable subject and there is often friction, differences and hardlining - yet, it is important that this conversation continues and more of us become aware and sensitive to these subjects and accordingly see how we can recalibrate and transform employment policies and in general become more humane and understanding to All.

The third change is the transformation in global culture. In a world where global forces are unstoppable (Coronavirus, Global Warming), the theme of collectivism starts to grow. One can sadly argue about masks or impact of carbon on the environment, but they cannot argue with a fire, flood, tornado, hurricane, or pandemic. These problems are what the military calls “violent, asymmetric, unpredictable enemies” – so we need to band together globally in response. Every company is today telling stories of how people are more connected, working in cross-functional teams, and more focused on purpose and mission than ever. Also, performing acts of kindness and helping other people can be good for people's health and well-being, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. 'Prosocial behavior - altruism, cooperation, trust and compassion - are all necessary ingredients of a harmonious and well-functioning society,' said Bryant P.H. Hui, PhD, a research assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong. 'It is part of the shared culture of humankind, and our analysis shows that it also contributes to mental and physical health.'

The pandemic also highlighted vulnerabilities in businesses models that for years focused on efficiency. Organizations that were once efficient suddenly became fragile at a time when they needed to be flexible. Organizations were prepared for one type of future, but now must plan for multiple futures. It has been generally seen that Businesses that were smart pivoted to a more modular setup, creating a composable business. Composable business means creating an organization made from interchangeable building blocks. Gartner advises that Organizations must follow the four principles of composable business - modularity, autonomy, orchestration and discovery. The modular setup enables a business to rearrange and reorient as needed depending on external (or internal) factors like a shift in customer values or sudden change in supply chain or materials. The idea of composable business operates on four basic principles: more speed through discovery; greater agility through modularity; better leadership through orchestration and resilience through autonomy. Organizations that embraced, and continue to embrace, the building blocks and principles of composable business were able to successfully leverage existing digital investments and, in the best-case scenario, accelerate investment.

Finally, in some good news about the environment from around the World, Japan has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050 with an approach that will include new solar cells and carbon recycling. Airbus has unveiled three designs for the world's first zero-emission commercial aircrafts that would rely on hydrogen as a primary power source and could enter service as early as 2035. Collectively dubbed ZEROe, the climate-neutral, zero-emission concepts are designed to carry maximum passenger loads between 100-200 people for flights that range from short-haul trips to transcontinental journeys. A Hungarian tech company Platio is taking steps with recycled plastic waste to make solar panels built into pavements to power buildings and charge electronic devices in public places. The solar cells are protected with hardened glass tiles, which allow the pavements to carry the weight of vehicles. About 90% of world trade is transported by sea and the International Maritime Organization has committed to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from ships by 50% from 2008 levels by 2050. #GlobalTransformation

Sources: Josh Bersin & Gartner