What does the Future of Work look like?

For the last year, I’ve been reading a lot of articles in HR magazines that almost scare companies for not being “future-ready”. But I couldn’t really find a good definition of what “future-ready” meant in the first place – it’s obviously impossible to predict the future, what I was reading ended up confusing me more. Here is an extract from an article that I struggled to break down into actionable steps:

“Future readiness is about getting ahead of the curve. Future readiness brings together the right mindset and skill set to constantly get ahead, supported by having context relevant business and operating models which they review and revise constantly.”

 I have no idea what this means and what it actually will look like…

Words like “paradigm shift”, “reskilling” and “optimization” were thrown around without context or explanation, making it difficult for me to actually see this workplace of the future or understand how “work” as an activity was going to evolve. How did all these people know?! And what if that wasn’t all? Which approach to “work” was I supposed to focus on – the one that was allowing me to get stuff done right now or a style of work that probably would fit in a few years down the line but seem alien right now to my coworkers, bosses and colleagues? Would it make sense to start doing those things now?

I still felt like a lot of this talk was fluffy-up-in-the-air with no clear way forward – it sounded like all people needed to be doing was focus on continuously training themselves for something that was about to come, and then keep training and learning and getting ready for what was coming next. It all sounded a little “Interstellar” or “Star Wars”-ish!

So I ran a little experiment on my own for a few months earlier this year to see what exactly people thought was going to change, and what trends were cropping up almost organically to see how companies were reacting. I paid attention to what sort of language was being used in job postings, how companies were describing roles (“marketing manager” versus “passion for making Indian brands come alive”). I listened to what candidates coming for interviews at my company described as their motivation for looking for a change or a new company. I heard staff at tea breaks and lunch talk about how things have changed at my workplace over the last ten years, what sort of people are joining now. What I found was a set of six broad themes that allowed me to make sense of how things were changing, and gave me the time and space to start making sure my actions as a leader, manager and contributor in the workplace aligned with these upcoming changes.

The future of work is Meaningful – The Triple Bottom Line will truly come alive in the Future of Work. I first heard this term in 2007 when I was studying in the state of Vermont in the United States, home to Ben & Jerry’s, the famous ice cream chain. A new concept to me at the time, I thought larger companies wouldn’t possibly be able to align People, Planet and Profits on such a large scale. Today, employees demand this of companies. Culture (the actual, genuine one which values employees and not just brings in beer and barbeque on Fridays) is one of the biggest demands that companies need to meet in order to retain their staff because paychecks won’t be enough. With economies of scale and vastly more choices than their parents’ generation, today’s – and tomorrow’s – workers will have higher expectations for their employers to fulfill. While some say it’s too late to reverse climate change, people are holding their employers responsible for byproducts of business leading to some significant U-turns by companies who understand the value of aligning their employees’ values with their business purpose. Companies who don’t will still make the profits but probably struggle significantly to stay relevant and attract great talent down the road.

The future of work is Flexible – The definition of “workplace”, “employee”, “compensation”, “impact” have all changed over the last few years and will continue to change. 9-to-5 isn’t expected anymore, neither is being in the same room to work on a project together. “Part-time” isn’t seen as a negative trait, neither is “freelancer” or “consultant”. The realization that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to where, when and how to work has started changing the dynamics of the workplace as well as team and people management, and has necessitated a new kind of leadership – one that recognizes and welcomes all aspects of an employee’s life and finds a way to make work work for them, instead of the other way around. Flexible work arrangements are the single largest demand in all employee surveys across the globe and a prime factor for candidates agreeing to take possibly a lower paying job for greater flexibility. The idea that there is more to life than work will drive significant changes in how things get accomplished in the marketplace, but probably play an important role in improving the quality of life for many people.  

The future of work is Ethical – There is definitely a cost of doing business in a country like India that very few can escape - even Ratan Tata, known for his high ethical standards, has acknowledged this. There is, however, a difference between costs of doing business and pure greed, which many Indian companies and business owners have fallen prey to over the years and ended up falling mightily from their pedestals. While the stories of the likes of Vijay Mallaya and Naresh Goyal are still etched in people’s minds, there seems to be a collective revulsion growing towards excessive greed in business today especially with a rising crop of young entrepreneurs and business leaders who are motivated by socially responsible business models. Young leaders are also entering politics and bureaucracy in higher numbers, changing the face of what Indian government looks like, and how government will support business. The hope is that India’s moral compass shifts the needle somewhere back to the middle and makes money the right way. 

The future of work is Futuristic – Technology is here, whether we like it or not. The relevance of a job role will be measured not just by what it does but what value it adds to business. A number of companies have full time positions that are purely data entry or generating reports, both tasks which can today be done automatically. These sorts of roles will probably be the first ones to be made redundant as companies look to “streamline” their operations, which gives people in these roles some time to upskill, or find a way to add additional value by interpreting – not just entering – data. Collaboration is another aspect of work that will probably move online primarily as not just employees but companies and vendor partners or other stakeholders interact more frequently across the globe. Data will overwhelm us, at the start. Not all data is good data – sifting through tons of useless spreadsheets will probably force us to examine what we want to achieve and then identify the data points to use, instead of grabbing data and trying to find trends.

The future of work is Hybrid – The beauty about the Future of Work is that we don’t know what it’s going to look like! So we can’t hire for a specific role anymore – what we can hire for are skills and learning. No matter what role employees are engaged in, organizations expect them to be able to interpret data, leverage technical tools, apply their insights and work in partnership with other teams to present the big picture. People with multiple skillsets as well will allow companies to use them as and where needed, and deploy them cross-functionally – they will spend more time and resources hiring fewer but more diverse employees, which also makes more business sense! In simple terms, generalists will find themselves to be more popular than those with limited soft and hard skillsets, or those who are unwilling to work on themselves in areas lacking.

The future of work is Human – I spoke with an industry mentor a few months ago who, when I asked him what roles were going to be the most important in a few years’ time, said “when everything gets automated, make sure you can do what’s left behind.” The hard work of collaboration, people management, leadership and culture building can’t be done by chatbots or AI – it will still need emotional intelligence, empathy, passion and a keen understanding of human dynamics. The most important skills, then, will be people leadership, critical thinking and communication skills – skills that currently don’t always get prioritized or overlooked in favour of more hard and technical abilities.

As of now, these six themes guide me in my daily interactions with my team, managers and peers and drive me to build these competencies within my teams as well to make them “future-ready”! Today, we live one lifetime with multiple careers. The world is literally and figuratively becoming a smaller place each day, and the chances for learning are endless.

The Future of Work seems more humane and connected than the eras gone by, but holds higher standards and values from those in power, which could make it a very powerful force for change!