When all of this is over...

At the onset of the year 2020, we all had great hopes, plans, goals, targets, and aspirations that gave us optimism. However, the year had barely taken off when an unexpected factor began to throw a spanner in the works in the form of an pandemic like no other. 

When the coronavirus disease first emerged in China at the end of 2019, it was deemed as a regional virus that can be controlled hence was downplayed significantly. The rest of the world felt there was no reason for concern. COVID-19, the official name of the disease, has since become a global pandemic that has caused a significant devastation to nations, companies, and individuals as it brought global commerce and social activities to a standstill. One thing is sure, our world will never remain the same again when all of this is over.

I am optimistic that this will end… soon, albeit leaving behind a world of new norms and aftershocks that will persist for much longer. Of major concern to me is how this will impact people’s jobs and livelihood. Global economies that are being battered by the virus will affect companies and organisations. Businesses will take some of the heat and this may lead to an increase in the rate of job losses. Global unemployment as at beginning of April 2020 was approximately 190 million and it is projected to reach 300 million by the end of 2020.

Apart from impending job losses, other effects that we might have include a change in the demand and supply of certain services and the struggling of the fundamentals of national economies.

Not all gloom though. There will be concerted efforts at resuscitating national and global economies. There will also be new opportunities, new businesses, and new products. As this flurry of changes happen over the next several months, it will be essential for us as individuals to develop some important coping mechanism to help us tide over the season.

We need to be vigilant

Firstly, we must pay attention to our mental health. When situations begin to unravel, it will elicit a lot of feelings and thoughts within the individual and the effects of these feelings and thoughts can be far reaching. For example, someone who loses his/her job or business as an aftermath of COVID-19 will have some emotional uproar. How this uproar is handled will determine a lot of other things. An individual who can display a good level of resilience after losing his/her job or business as an aftermath of COVID-19 will have succeeded in positioning himself or herself for a comeback. If on the other hand an individual allows the negative event to overwhelm his or her mind, then such a person will be at a risk of mental health issues. Depression, anxiety, and panic are some of the situations that may be on the rise after now.

We all owe ourselves the responsibility to ensure that no matter how badly the aftermath of the pandemic hits us, we do not let our spirit to be broken. Depression is like a downward spiral into a dark hole. The farther one slips the more difficult it might be to come out of it. If one allows his/her mental health to deteriorate because of these unfavourable events, one may not be in an optimal state of health by the time this blows over and one is expected to bounce back. That may then be a sadder situation to be in.

Secondly, we must be ready to evolve as individuals and do our best to avoid the Dinosaur trap. Dinosaurs who failed to evolve with nature found themselves going into extinction. In contemporary times, the story of how Nokia lost its position in the mobile phone market holds a lot of lessons for individuals and businesses that we must display the agility required to evolve as the situation is changing.

In the last few years, one of the buzzwords has been “the future of work”. Most people were expecting that “the future” will take a while and probably creep over us over a period. However, we can now see that “the future” has sprung on all of us suddenly. Remote work and telecommuting are now rapidly being adopted by organisations to ensure they remain operational and to ensure they are in compliance with government safety guidelines.

These changes have made reliance on technology important than ever before as organisations have to ensure they have online presence whilst internet service providers work to improve data and bandwidth availability to ensure their infrastructure can cope with the new level of demand. Along with all these is the emergence of new career paths and professions that did not exist previously.

The World Economic Forum in its “Future of Jobs Report 2018” had posited that certain jobs would be among the top declining job families by 2022. It was estimated that the decline would be responsible for 75 million job losses. In that same research, WEF predicted certain job families to gain ascendancy by 2022 and provide up to 133 million jobs. These job families include Data Analyst and Scientists; AI and Machine Learning Specialists; Software and Application Developers and Analysts, Sales and Marketing Professionals; Big Data specialists; Digital Transformation specialists; New Technology specialists; Organizational Development specialists; Information Technology services.

What this means is that certain skills will decline in demand whilst some other skills will gain increase in demand. Skills such as manual dexterity, endurance and precision; memory, verbal, auditory and spatial abilities; management of financial, material resources; technology installation and maintenance; reading, writing, math and active listening; management of personnel; quality control and safety awareness; coordination and time management; visual, auditory and speech abilities; technology use, monitoring and control are predicted to be on the demand decline by 2022. Skills such as analytical thinking and innovation; active learning and learning strategies; creativity, originality and initiative; technology design and programming; critical thinking and analysis; complex problem-solving; leadership and social influence; emotional intelligence; reasoning, problem-solving and ideation; systems analysis and evaluation will witness an increase in demand. 

How to remain relevant in the unfolding revolution

Being vigilant would mean making active efforts to avoid being swept away in the evolution that is unfolding so that one does not get into the Dinosaur trap, it is imperative that one should pay attention to the following:

1.     Understand your space – the evolution is taking different shapes and dimension in different sectors and professions. The evolution in the financial services sector is different from that of the healthcare sector. The evolution taking place in the software development profession is different what is happening in the insurance profession. One must be in tune with the rhythm and know how the subtle changes will affect one’s position and continued relevance in the organisation or sector.

A sage once said, “a wise man foresees danger and takes steps to protect himself”. It is important that one does not live like an ostrich – hiding its head in the sand oblivious of happening around it. How will the introduction of technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and so on impact the work that you do? Are you quite dispensable that technology can easily take over what you do? Are you still at the operational and tactical levels on your job as that is where the most risk of redundancy resides, as against the strategic level which is safer? You need to be aware.

2.     Have a plan – building on your understanding of the space where you are at should prompt you to have a plan of how to position yourself rightly, away from the path of the tsunami. What do you need to do? Further academic studies? Globally relevant certifications? Self-learning? Apprenticeship? Career coaching? Developing a deeper professional network?

Understanding your space is knowing your destination, having a plan is charting the course that will lead you to that destination. Call it a personal development plan or whatever fancy name that you like, the most important thing is that you must create a plan that, worst case scenario, puts you at par with the evolution, and even better create a plan that puts you ahead of the evolution

3.        Execute your plan – your plan is at best as brilliant as your execution. If you know where you want to be at, and you have created a plan on how to get there, then get the journey started. This is where the rubber meets the road. This is where the work is. Enroll for that course or certification. Apprentice yourself to a more skilled person to get some important skill transfer. Read those books that you have been decorating your library with. Attend those networking events. Put yourself out there more than ever before. Join professional networks and be active there.

4.     Go for bigger opportunities – the impending situation will turn out to be a blessing in disguise for some people. They will be able to put themselves forward in consideration for some bigger roles, bigger businesses, and bigger deals. The big opportunities are not meant for aliens, they are meant for people like you and I so we must be ready and willing to try and grab those opportunities.

A wise man once said “fortune favours the brave”. Another one said, “what you define as luck is when opportunity meets preparedness”. So, if you have understood your space, you have created a plan, you have executed the plan, then please by all means do yourself a huge favour – shoot for those big opportunities. I tell you that you will be surprised at what you find at the end of your audacious attempts.

The situation is dire, but it does not have to spell doom for you. You can ride the waves and make giant leaps into success.

I will be here rooting for you, because I know all things will work together for your good.

Let us succeed together!

Tolu Otemuyiwa

Lagos, Nigeria

May 2020.