Nobody knows the future of the economy because the future of work seems pretty unpredictable. No one has any idea of how future wars, illnesses, and technology will affect work. All you can do is speculate, and part of you can pray that everything goes well. However, you will have to do more than just assume and hope for a future of certainty; instead, you need to take the necessary actions and be prepared. You have to do something that will make you precious. That said, you need to prepare for a future of work that goes beyond speculation and hope. Besides, it all depends on how you control your future.
By Team Savant
How to Prepare for the New Future of Work
For people in the current workforce, delayed retirement is becoming a significant consideration, especially with improved longevity. This can be primarily due to the job market changes. It is therefore vital to stay ahead of the game. The following are ways you can prepare for the future of work.
Hire Smartly
According to a Google study, there is no visible correlation between how a candidate does on the job and how they did in the interview. So, instead of looking for measurable pointers, employers should hire people for their potential. Look for some of the essential qualities in your candidates, for instance, problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity.
Workplaces in the future should see the business case for fairness and attract and retain individuals from all ages, backgrounds, and stages of life. Diversifying allows employers to improve work. The future workplace should also be where everyone can thrive, regardless of their age, gender or background.
But this is just the beginning; for the world of work to be a better place that values humanity; people need to focus on more than just the policies, simple employment agreements, and business actions. Instead, employers need to be transparent and honest about the opportunities and the challenges.
Nurture Lifelong Learning
According to a survey, lifelong learning is a significant part of a business’s talent strategy. It can increase employee satisfaction, retention as well as engagement. Therefore, people need to keep learning new skills to increase their skills, knowledge, and competence in these times. Unfortunately, according to recent studies, as much as employees are willing to learn new skills or even retrain entirely to improve their future employability, very few of them actually get the time to do so.
Well, you can blame this on the urgency of work that usually trumps the luxury of learning. Therefore, as an employer, you must provide an environment where workers can learn as they do their jobs. If not, employers need to find more chances to learn while working as a practical way to accelerate life-long learning in the company. Besides, as an employer, you can involve the apprenticeship offered by groups and skill mentoring accessible. Get your employees the chance to work on earning different credentials while still on the job.
Embrace Delegation As A Tool For Preparing Employees
When your company is going through a disruptive digital change, you might not feel comfortable delegating tasks to your workers. However, it is essential to note that failure to delegate tasks to your employees only robs them of the opportunities to grow professionally. This also means that your workers will really miss out on acquiring skills and knowledge that would help them in the future workforce hence reducing their future employability.
According to many professionals, delegating tasks offers an excellent way for your team to build skills. Besides, it can be precious to share some insights into how the organisation makes decisions and plans for the new technology venture.
Avoid micromanaging and encourage your workers to take responsibility for their assignments. Let them understand that their improvement ideas or any suggestions are welcomed. Keep the communications open for them to ask questions or share their thoughts or worries about how they see digital developments altering the work world. Besides, it can be essential to ask them what you can do to ease their process and help them become better and thriving in the future.
Beware Of Tech-Related Stress In Your Workforce
Digital transformation can be fascinating to your employees; however, it tends to put a lot of pressure on your organisation together with the workers. Besides, many employers have reported that over-relying on technology has had a negative impact on their workforce. Therefore, it is vital to pay more attention to the employees who feel stressed by the technological changes and the other advancements that are being introduced.
Also, ensure that you emphasise the constructive features of the digital disruption; for instance, highlight how some technological advancements can help your employees interact and engage with their co-workers and help solve business issues in the future.
It is also essential to understand that too much or too quick digital transformation can be harsh to some workers. This will result in decreased morale, poor productivity, and job satisfaction. And if most of your workers start feeling that way, it can hinder the establishment's organisational culture.
All employers need to manage technological advancements and digital transformation properly to avoid poor productivity and increase job satisfaction.
Let Your Workers Know They Can Make It
For some workers, getting ready for the future of work seems like an impossible task, mainly if they are always uncomfortable with digital change. However, you can help them by motivating them and reminding them that they have what it takes when it comes to their ability to adapt and embrace change. After all, workers are the ones who started the BYOD revolution. Workers also made companies take social media seriously and enable safe contact during holidays.
Remember that workers at all levels have already adapted to the significant technological advancements, which is future evidence that digital interruption is just as talent as technology.
Bottom Line
In a world where automation, robots, and gamification are the new normal, every workforce has to be prepared. You must look for ways to sustainably support and get the best out of your workers by embracing lifelong learning, hiring smartly and using a recruitment agency, embracing delegation, and more essentially, beware of tech-related stress in your workers.