Is Your Workforce Future Ready?

Ever wondered why everything is built on at least 4 Pillars? Is it necessary that only a total disruption should condition the minds of leaders to take strategic SOS calls to look at what needs to be altered/changed in an organization? Is it possible for companies to evaluate the specialist skills spread across their workforce and invest in education to prepare employees for future challenges? Should workforce strategy be embraced and included as business strategy instead of a support function?

Let us explore the 4 forces to find answers to these brewing questions.

SSRH-Specialization, Scarcity, Rivalry & Humanity.

A report from 普华永道 shows how past experience can help companies prepare for future challenges.

Some of the mentionable challenges seen in last 3 years includes not limited to employees navigating carefully through new ways of working, workspace, policies and procedures. Pandemic accompanied by recession annihilated normal client statistics and patterns for all companies globally. Increased demand of workforce in concentrated industries such as manufacturing accompanied by staggering resignations.

Specialization: Classic example, many small in-house businesses turned to and relied on 亚马逊 to enable sales globally. In early 20th century, Ford was able to produce one car every 10 seconds by building in an assembly line. It was easier to break a task into small units and train an individual with limited skills to be an expert at that small standardized task.

Specialized workforce today such as Data Scientist, Cyber Security Experts, Software Engineers are building the economy to be disruption proof, one project at a time.

Scarcity: At one end of the spectrum, automation creating redundancy rather forcibly and at the other end workers leaving for better opportunities. Scarcity within organization can also affect which can be resolved by investing or importing/outsourcing for example 64% of companies said they were increasing investment in security technologies in 2021, more than double that invested in the previous year. Scarcity outside can also affect hence creating possible opportunities to fix the scarcity to a large extend creates harmony.

Analyzing the skills required based on predictions followed by training and development of staff to fill this gap.

Rivalry: Someone wise once told me that the way to respond to your rival is to be happy! Embrace diversity and inclusion at all levels of the hierarchy, build a culture by bringing a coaching environment. Your strategy might depend on your being able to attract and retain a workforce with a very different set of skills than you have today—to support your move into adjacent businesses.

Humanity: 普华永道 quotes The Renaissance that took place in Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries (and that arose from the aftershocks of the global pandemic that preceded it) brought a rebirth of humanism and the early flowering of the scientific method. This set the stage for the Enlightenment, and a reimagined?social contract?between citizens and the state.

Leaders need to unlearn and learn again about the cultures we are building together. We also need to think deeply about organization's purpose that resonates with people consistently.

Future: