When we talk of the workforce of the future, we’re talking about people AND the things they need to do the work, be that for commercial gain, or in service of other people.
What is clear is that talk of the future is not a singular story. Not one thread. Not just advancing technologies or increased automation. So we should talk of futures – plural. A range of potential options that help us prepare – because planning for such uncertainty is not just hard, it may be futile – for whatever choices, options, and challenges we face in that range of scenarios.
No doubt that in evolutionary terms, our biggest challenge is our ecological stability. Whether you deny or believe in climate change – and indeed the emergency we now refer to it as – there are some potentially catastrophic scenarios for the future of our planet. What appears to be wrong is the debate on whether it is man-made or not. Though polluted seas with plastics are undeniably man-made. What scenarios we should focus on, is what can the human race do to mitigate, overturn and repair as part of our continued work and business ventures.
Then we have social injustice and division. A negligence on supporting each other – human to human – whatever our heritage or situation.
And we also see that Governments alone are not able to fix the issues we now face.
We need people in a societal sense, and organisations in a business sense to create the forces for change through sustainable business and a more humanly world of work that we believe will shape the workforce in the coming years.
At the heart of the current economic system – in which the 20th century evolved into – is the continued desire for profit. Yet, there are emerging, and competing forces, as the capitalist systems are being pitted against a higher sense of purpose, activism and impact. We are seeing business transformation at an accelerated pace, in large part, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Organisations are being re-designed to future-proof their existence in a world where profit is not everything – accepting it is a tangible result still – and where purpose is a more powerful determinant to a broader sense of what success is.
The workforce of now is more aware of a connection to that higher sense of purpose.
We see this in the B Corporation community as one example of businesses deliberately diversifying into more soulful, conscious, and sustainable ways to operate.
What we are emerging into is a new sense of activism and inclusion. Not just political but societal, commercial, and ecological systems that need us to not simply partake in them, but reimagine and reinvent them.
A workforce of consciously minded, creatively spirited, activist-leaning individuals, all united in a common purpose?
We are aware that this sounds idealistic and even utopian! It would be naive to not recognise that these trends in our workforce will not be without challenges.
The futures we project all point to a workforce that is more diverse. Because our world is diverse and organisations, as a microcosm of our world, should be diverse. Diversity has benefits that cannot be quantified. Diversity brings a difference of opinion, of understanding, of perspective; and in turn, respect.
And within all of this, we’ve barely touched on the potential for digital technological advancement with quantum computing, robotics, and machine learning-based Artificial Intelligence (AI).
To go full circle back to the need for respect for our planet, and our people. The futures we conceive mostly point to organisations being more humanly. Where purpose and profit complement, powered by people who have an entrepreneurial spirit in complex and more flexible systems of work.
We already see businesses being designed with ‘sustainability’ at the core. The workforce of the future will have seen the planet change, as a result of our actions. They will be determined to correct wrongs. They will act consciously and collectively to do so. They will be enhanced by AI. But they will be human.
And they will be purpose-led activists.
So our question to leaders – and the people profession is – are you ready to prepare for a series of futures and this rise of people-powered activism?
About the Authors
Perry Timms
Founder and Chief Energy Officer
People & Transformational HR Ltd
Kirsten Buck
Chief Impact & Culture Officer
People & Transformational HR Ltd