Most pre-pandemic predictions put the 'future of work' at a comfortable distance, but COVID-19 changed that. The future of work is here, earlier than expected. As calendars turn to 2021, organizations are asking what's next?
Looking back at 2020, e-commerce experienced nearly ten years of growth in just three months, remote work at scale went from experiment to business-as-usual, the hybrid workplace and work-from-anywhere models grew in prominence, and '15-minute cities' could emerge to challenge the urban-suburban fabric. While these and several other trends have emerged, are they here to stay? Is it time to look beyond the trends to reimagine the new future of work? Is it time to create the future we want to see?
Here are six areas organizations must focus on, as they explore what lies ahead:
[1] Prepare for a pandemic influenced world of work
Just as we saw increased global security protocols post-9/11, we are likely to see the pandemic influence the future for work, worker, workplace and more. And, while we have new hope through the vaccine, heightened employee 'health and safety' imperatives, will continue to remain a top priority for employers in the years to come. Features such as temperature screening, touchless interfaces, voice-activated or sensor-based technology could become ubiquitous. Automated office ergonomics and meeting rooms that remember personal preferences, mixed reality environments that allow on-site and off-site teams to collaborate, and digital workplace tools could become the norm.
Companies are already taking action. For example, Mercedes and Microsoft have teamed up to develop virtual maintenance technology for the coronavirus age allowing virtual and in-person teams to collaborate. Beyond the office, the pandemic will also impact how people set-up their homes. This could mean larger home office set-ups, better connectivity, ergonomics, sound proofing, etc. The transition to home working is making us re-think the office commute, and a new vision of urban living is fast emerging – the 15-minute city. As these changes take shape, people will enjoy more flexibility than ever before. Effectively managing an anywhere + anytime workforce will be the next challenge for organizations.
[2] Supercharge the 'anywhere + anytime' workforce
With the success of remote work, many organizations have begun experiments to redefine what the work week means. In fact, a study of more than 50,000 firms by Autonomy suggests that a carefully designed four-day week could be introduced that benefits both the employer and the employee. In fact, companies are already experimenting with this idea and finding success. Microsoft Japan introduced a four-day work week and found that productivity jumped by 40%. Unilever New Zealand plans to test a four-day working week, giving staff a chance to reduce hours by 20% without hurting their pay.
The traditional 9-to-5 work day could transform to a '3-2-2' schedule, where employees work for three days in office, two days remotely, and enjoy two days off. Google is already testing a hybrid work model that allows employees to choose where and when they work.
As this work-from-anywhere model gains wider acceptance, employees will have more choice. For organizations, this redefinition of the work week will mean pressures to create high-quality consistent employee experiences. In the war for talent, workplace experience has traditionally been the secret weapon for organizations. But in the post-COVID era, organizations will need to take on more, and employee experience will mean more than just the physical workplace experience.
[3] Recalibrate experience for the space-time continuum
The pandemic has decoupled the worker from the workplace. Over the last twelve months, it has been demonstrated that remote work can be a success. Surveys suggest that people working from home feel happier and more productive than before. But there are questions around the long-term effectiveness of remote work. This means companies are gravitating to a middle of ground solution, one that incorporates digital spaces, virtual environments, the home, co-working spaces and more.
While this provides flexibility to employees, it increases complexity for companies. Adding to the complexity of space, is the dimension of time. Microsoft Analytics of Teams data indicates that people's workdays have changed through the remote working shift. Individuals and teams are choosing to work asynchronously (at different points of the day) to accommodate their schedules. Therefore, as the lines between work and life blur, companies will need to think beyond workplace experience alone.
We have already seen employee mental health become a major focus area for companies, as physical distancing, lockdowns, and isolation take their toll. Organizations will therefore need to move from managing just the workplace experience to managing the whole life experience of their employees. As employees choose 'where' and 'when' to work, asynchronous distributed teams must change how they work to be effective. Equally, organizations must develop new networks and connections to ensure peak performance.
[4] Develop and strengthen new organizational connections
The pandemic has challenged organizational resilience. Developing greater resilience will require organizations to be highly elastic and foster a culture of agility. To achieve this, delivery frameworks will move to be more modular, and teams more cross-functional and autonomous. The old paradigm that viewed organizations as machines, is giving way to a fresh perspective that views organizations as living organisms.
In many ways, the business model of the future will resemble the organic structure of the human brain. The brain’s ability to grow and change in response to experience i.e. its neuroplasticity is what makes it resilient and agile. The stronger the connection pathways between neurons, the faster is the response to stimuli. Strong synaptic connections are formed in the human brain between neurons through repetition of desired behaviors. In simple terms, repeated action creates connections and codifies behavior.
Just as the human brain is an amalgam of neurons, so is the organization an amalgam of teams. The connections between teams are akin to the synaptic connections within the brain's neural network. Deliberate and frequent interaction will make these connections stronger. These strong connections, in turn will translate to greater resilience and agility. In a future that remains uncertain, agility requires strategic investment. Companies are already looking to accelerate digital transformation to enable change and empower people.
[5] Accelerate digital transformation to empower people
We are already seeing the long-term acceleration of businesses moving to digital services, including increased online work, education, medicine, shopping and entertainment. To support and empower human performance in a digital world, one area of exploration for companies is augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). These technologies allow teams to explore beyond the 2D experience of video calls, and help create richer immersive experiences. In fact, innovation in video communications could allow people to use avatars to have one-on-one conversations during group calls.
We are also likely to see accelerated investment in the areas of robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI). Plug-and-play RPA systems can be rapidly set up to meet surges in demand and can be reconfigured when needs change and, AI can help bridge the digital dexterity gap with just-in-time learning on the job. For example, Hitachi introduced AI in its warehouse operations to guide workers and aid continuous personal improvement.
These new workplace tools not only allow for greater transparency to build trust, but also allow people to make new connections, collaborate better, and enhance on-the-job performance. Research indicates that employees who are satisfied with their workplace tools are about twice as likely to have maintained or improved their productivity. Employees are already expecting greater digital technology support from employers. And, organizations that recalibrate their business models to be 'digital first', accelerate digital transformation and empower their people will find success.
[6] Deploy adaptive real estate strategies
In an increasingly virtual world will location matter as much? If people are remote most of the time, what purpose does the office space serve? Through the next twelve months companies have the opportunity to realign their space footprint to meet business and workforce preferences.
Last summer, Morgan Stanley predicted that 30% of US workers would work from home after the pandemic, double its pre-Covid estimate. Future talent strategies will therefore need to be far more dynamic in response to accommodate the demands of the liquid workforce. And, to support this distributed + dynamic workforce, organizations will need to deploy adaptive real estate strategies. For example, Standard Chartered recently signed a global deal with IWG that will allow its staff access to 3,500 IWG offices around the world for a trial period of 12 months.
Real estate strategies of this nature incorporate flexibility - people can choose where they work, and companies and companies can optimize their footprint to match demand. Companies will also need to rethink workplace strategies to meet the needs of the post-pandemic office. The office will be more about collaboration with colleagues and less about individual work. This means a recalibration of office space components to include more collaborative or social space elements, and less individual space elements. We could also see the rise of modular workspaces that take a 'Lego-Blocks' approach, pop-up space components, and mixed reality work environments, as a new era of 'always on' transformation takes hold.
Create the future you want to see
In the last twelve months most of us had to react to the new challenges brought about by the pandemic. Further, many expect that even when the world returns to ‘normal’, the legacy of Covid-19 will have significantly transformed work, worker, and workplace. With no precedents, it is difficult to predict the degree of change, but change is certain.
Forward-looking organizations have recognized this as an inflection point, and 2021 as a transition year. Is this the moment to shape the post-pandemic world? The moment is yours to seize. As authors of the future, create the future you want to see.
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My mission is to illuminate the path toward humanity's exponential future. If you're a leader, innovator, or changemaker passionate about leveraging breakthrough technologies to create unprecedented positive impact, you're in the right place. If you know others who share this vision, please share these insights. Together, we can accelerate the trajectory of human progress.
Disclaimer:
Ram Srinivasan currently serves as an Innovation Strategist and Transformation Leader, authoring groundbreaking works including "The Conscious Machine" and the upcoming "The Exponential Human."
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