Uma Ganesh | September 29, 2022 | Businesses would need to cope with a diverse set of workers
Covid-19 had brought in its wake a set of actions in the corporations, most of which have been centered around the capability of digital technology facilitating remote working, interactions like never before amongst people and increased surfing. This resulted in soaring businesses for those who had already put in place a digital strategy even before the pandemic hit them and for others presenting eye-openers on the potential that could be reaped with a robust digital approach.
Digital era and automation have brought in their wake the urgency to redesign work definitions and rethink roles people are currently performing. AI, sensors and cloud technologies have been invading the workspaces and have begun to disrupt the processes and workflows. With fresh talent coming into the organisations with digital skills and new abilities to learn and adapt, we should expect a sea change in the work environment.
Almost half the workforce is made up of millennials who have familiarity with digital technologies. New work and social contracts are emerging and businesses would need to cope with a diverse set of workers – full time, part time, freelancers, virtual workers, assignment based workers and robots. As a result the new work culture towards work and organisation require to be managed very differently from the culture built over a period of time, thus giving way to more transparency and democratic decision making.
The purpose of the business and its sensitivity in addressing the societal needs would become an important factor for decision making for choice of organisations to work with.
The four key factors that are altering the world of work are the impact of the aftermath of digital transformation, the new expectations of customers, the heightened social media influence and the widening socio-economic gaps between communities. Digital transformation journey is continuous and hence talent needs to be equipped with the capacity to learn and unlearn and be able to adapt to the opportunities that come along.
Social media is already playing a significant role in creating impressions about the brand and the culture. With metaverse it would be possible to provide new formats of engagement with the organisation even before joining. Businesses also need to engage significantly more with the under-represented segments like persons with disabilities, LGBTQ and women and make them mainstream.
These factors have implications for the employee journeys – right from where and how talent would be acquired to the talent engagement processes. Implementing the new blue print for the HR domain would require active involvement and support from the top and buy-in from all employees. The pathway ahead is fuzzy but exciting!
