The Future Of Work

The Future of Work has been a debate that has been trending over the last few years, however, COVID-19 has brought it to the forefront of conversation, with change accelerating at an unprecedented level.

Deloitte have broadly defined ‘the Future of Work’ as “The growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace, and the expansion of the workforce to include both on- and off-balance-sheet talent.” [1]

The Future of Work and the acceleration impact of COVID-19

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a clear change in companies, with many companies now encouraging or encouraging their employees to work from home. Moreover, 98% of people surveyed said they would like the option to work remotely for the rest of their careers. [2]

HR will have to lead the way in structuring and organizing the work workforce to best support businesses in this new environment. The change in how work is done is fast, and it's not just in the workplace, but also in business and government.

In the World Bank's vision for work's future, it sees a need to manage the dislocation caused by changing skills and new business models that accompany new technologies. It includes developing retraining strategies to help the ones whose jobs get disrupted by a pandemic, for example, or the ones who are trying to return to the workforce where they face being replaced with automation.

What the Future of Work could look like

Companies like Twitter have embraced the future of work following the hastened nature resultant of COVID-19, and have told it’s staff they can work remotely “forever” if they wish.

Twitter stated:

"The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from home and they want to continue to do so forever, we will make that happen." [3]

While to some organizations this is a new concept, to others like Automatic Inc, this is in the company's DNA. Automatic owns Wordpress.com, the 15th most trafficked website in the world. It’s entire workforce of over 1000 staff are all remote workers. From their success we can see this is a viable model for the future of work, with many resources available to help you effectively manage your remote teams.

The Future of Work and Employee Engagement

As we continue to navigate the coronavirus pandemic there will be a lot of transformation ahead for staff as well as their HR counterparts trying to manage high rates of change. Progressive companies will take advantage of this environment to adapt to the “new normal”, attract new talent and create the future processes to use people and technology.

Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School summarizes this as “Despite the changing context of work, people’s desire for ‘good work’ – defined as work with purpose in an environment that is nurturing – has remained remarkably consistent over the years. It is imperative for corporate leaders & HR counterparts to embrace this concept and focus on crafting a great people experience in the context of, but not distracted by, wider trends such as technological development.” [4]

Qualee and The Future of Work

As the Future of Work is flexible in terms of location, it is crucial to choose solutions that avoid on-premise installation. Qualee's customizable journeys are Cloud-hosted and mobile enabled, making them ideal for securely onboarding staff remotely.​Furthermore, configurable actions, content libraries, secured messaging and calendaring help geographically dispersed teams thrive, enabling powerful real-time engagement.

Available on iOS and Android, the Qualee App for staff allows an engagement experience only achievable through a native app. An intuitive design interface puts everything where it should be, with real-time notifications and access to your latest content, available from virtually anywhere

If you would like to learn more about how Qualee can help keep your teams engaged and strengthen a sense of belonging within employees, visit our website www.qualee.com and download the Qualee Starter Plan for FREE today!

[1] https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/technology-and-the-future-of-work.html#

[2] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/coronavirus-covid19-remote-working-office-employees-employers/

[3] https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2020/keeping-our-employees-and-partners-safe-during-coronavirus.html

[4] https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/people-organisation/pdf/pwc-preparing-for-tomorrows-workforce-today.pdf