HR Executives are facing a Post-Industrial Economy where Skills and Workers are scarce !

??Today, nearly every company is worried about a shortage of skills, a shortage of workers, and a shortage of leaders in the management pipeline.

We have entered an era where the scarcity of talent is one of the biggest problems companies face in the Post-Industrial economy. The shortage of workers, obsolescence of skills, and new level of employee agency is not a temporary thing - it's defined as the “Post-Industrial Age.” Most importantly, most companies are not ready for this transition.

While executives are aware of these issues, many leaders still operate in the industrial mindset. They push for productivity and innovation, but they’re not sure how to get there. And they still believe that hiring is the most important way to grow, but three solutions has emerged: there is need to create an enterprise that is dynamic and agile, maximize leadership in a world where talent is scarce, and shift to Systemic HR, including harnessing AI to build and fully exploit new talent intelligence. The key is not just using AI, but redesigning our companies, our products, and our services around it, the according to a new interesting research/Whitepaper published by The Josh Bersin Company entitled "Welcome to the Post-Industrial Age" using internal data from several years.

?Definition of "Post-Industrial Age"

Researchers believed that in the new age of "Post-Industrial Age", coming in the era of AI, is one of continuous worker shortages, a scarcity of talent, and a highly flexible, hybrid, and gig-oriented workforce. People are hired based on skills, not just credentials; we engage and develop people as investments, not as expenses.

In the Post-industrial age, researchers believed that the job description, level, title, and competencies were fixed, designed by a specialist, and expected to outlast the worker.

?From Agrarian Age to Intelligence Age

Researchers look at the 4 major phases of Global Economy and they compared the business model applied as well as the talent models available at each era. They realized that there has been a profound change over decades in these 4 ages:

1?? Agrarian Age: We had a largely agrarian and merchant economy. People made a living through craftsmanship, mercantilism, and farming, typically employing their family or others to help.

In order to make more money, businesses grew by hiring. Farms, shippers, merchants, and other tradespeople hired employees as apprentices. As they learned the trade, their value went up, and the business grew by hiring more staff.

?? Talent was abundant and replaceable.

2?? Industrial Age:

In the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, we started to build machines. The steam engine, followed by electricity, motors, autos, and other machines, enabled leaders to build organizations based on industrial scale.

??Workers, seeing organizations as lifelong career opportunities, flocked to these companies. And CEOs and HR leaders responded by creating “pre-hire to retire” career models to train, develop, and support people throughout their careers.

3?? Information Age:

Suddenly, in the 1960s, information technology changed the game. Computers, information processing, and the growth of the IT department took us into a new business era.

As the internet emerged (around 1997), another disruption took place: employees could look for jobs online.

??As the demand for IT systems grew, companies could not find enough information workers, so they started to build internal universities, IT career programs, and more focus on digital and technical skills in hiring. Organizations realized they had to “build skills” not just “buy skills,” so they invested in technology-based training, and later advanced headhunting tools to find and attract technical talent in the market. People started to get ahead by “job hopping;” i.e., moving around from one company to another. This newfound power in the hands of workers eliminated the “pre-hire to retire” employment model, and companies started to worry about employee engagement, benefits, and retention

4?? Intelligence Age:

Today, we enter a fourth era, researchers call it the “intelligence economy,” a time when skills, employee creativity, information, and AI define our companies.

While AI is still new, this research shows every industry is redefining itself in a new way.

?Redefinition of Industry in the Intelligence Age:

Researchers believed that each industry are trying to redefine itself and industries converge and business models shift to intellectual property, services, and a new family of science:

??Tech companies have moved to cloud services.

??Auto manufacturers are becoming software and data companies.

??Oil companies are moving to solar, batteries, and other new energy sources.

??Pharma companies are reinventing themselves around biotech.

??Retailers are delivering healthcare

?? With this situation, we face a new and different issue: a global shortage of workers.

This shortage of workers means economic growth will be limited by productivity growth, which forces us to grow our businesses with fewer people. Those who are available will be older, more mobile, and more demanding.

After studying these issues for several years, researchers see three strategies for success:

1?? Creating an organization that is dynamic and agile

Researchers believed that organization need to change their internal operating model. Rather than relying on a jobs-centric hierarchy, companies have to shift to what they call “the dynamic organization.”

The industrial model of business, designed around scale, was organized into functional silos. New products and services were often isolated in the R&D organization, skunk works, or a product design team. We separated “execution” from “innovation.” That no longer works.

Dynamic organizations, those thriving in this new age, innovate everywhere, all the time so researchers listed below some new programs and strategies for Dynamic companies:

? Work-centric organization design, with project leaders who are not necessarily functional owners, and job architectures that are flatter and less functional in nature

? Project transparency, team-to-team transparency, and sharing of ideas, innovations, and inventions

? High levels of inclusion and diversity, enabling leaders to operate in a “skills meritocracy,” rather than hiring the “most-liked,” most educated, or politically popular individual

? Talent mobility among leaders and staff, enabling individuals to try new things, move around the company, and develop “full stack” skills through experience

? Continuous investment in skills development, training, and professional development at all levels of the company

2?? Rethink Management with Human-Centered Leadership:

Researchers found that there is need to maximize leadership in a world where talent is scarce.

Rather than focusing on “execution first” management tools and traditional leadership models, post-industrial leaders practice what researchers call “human centered leadership.”

In the post-industrial age, there is a need for leaders who understand the people issues in their organizations, creating execution through inspiration, mission, purpose, collaboration, learning, and of course accountability.

??Instead of people being a “means of production,” people “are the product.

3?? Rethink HR: The Systemic Model

Researchers believed that on the Post-Industrial age HR doesn’t just “hire and train” people, it operates as a consulting and product organization, bringing innovative programs and platforms to help the company and people adapt.

HR professionals are cross-trained, work together, and are highly skilled and researchers call this “Systemic HR,” and it represents a major shift away from HR Service Delivery models focused on cost reduction.

Leaders need to run their companies as irresistible organizations, designing HR programs to help every person do more, grow, and maintain their level of energy and commitment.

HR itself is no longer an expense center, but rather a function like R&D that must build and invest. Since employees are no longer considered “replaceable parts,” Organizations need novel, new ideas to build skills, create alignment, motivate performance, and maintain fairness and inclusion.

?What about AI ?

While the AI market is still young, companies are already starting to see its ability to drive scale without hiring people at a linear rate.

The key is not just using AI, but redesigning our companies, our products, and our services around it. This has many requirements:

? A hard look at organization design

? Training people for new roles

? Moving them around in the organization

? A new leadership model

? New, systemic HR practices

? Continuously rethinking how work gets done

To summarize, researchers recommend 3 solutions that organizations should focus on now:

?? Creating an enterprise that is dynamic and agile,

?? Maximizing leadership in a world where talent is scarce, and

?? Shifting to Systemic HR, including harnessing AI to build and fully exploit new talent intelligence.

Finally researchers demonstrate with this study that it's the time to redefine everything including jobs, skill development, team-centricity, recruitment, and leadership, while also considering the business possibilities and challenges of AI technology advances.

Thank you ?? The Josh Bersin Company researchers team for these insightful findings: Josh Bersin Kathi Enderes

Dave Ulrich George Kemish LLM MCMI MIC MIoL

?? Follow me on?LinkedIn, and click the ?? at the top of my profile page to stay on top of the latest on new best?HR, People Analytics, Human Capital and Future of Work research, become more effective in your HR function and support your business, and join the conversation on my posts.

???Join?10,000+?people and subscribe to receive?Weekly People Research

Everyday, I share a new research article about?People Analytics, Human Capital, HR analytics, Human Resources, Talent,….

#skills #postindustrial #hr #leaders