Consider how much the working world has changed in the last 10 years. In today’s hectic business environment of globalisation, high-speed technology and mass communications, the skills needs of organisations are vastly different. With change as the only constant, it is clear that HR professionals should be equipping themselves with a better idea of what the future may hold. We can’t predict or determine the future, but we can do more to create a vision of what challenges the workplace will hold in 2018. 

Jo Causon, director, marketing and corporate affairs, Chartered Management Institute

A recent study by the Chartered Management Institute, which analysed trends over the past decade and surveyed senior UK executives, identifies 17 possible scenarios facing managers and organisations in the next ten years. These range from a world run by robots, where advances in artificial intelligence gradually increase our dependence on technology systems, to an aging workforce, where changing demographics alter the needs of the workforce in terms of health and motivation. 

Across all the scenarios presented in the study one over-riding message is clear. HR management needs to do more than just embrace change, it needs to anticipate it so that organisations are building the skills and competencies to remain competitive in the future. 

Skills for the future

If advances in IT over the last ten years are anything to go by, then serious consideration to how technology will impact the future world of work is certainly needed. 

Although in the Institute’s research only a small proportion of respondents said that technologies such as holograms, robots and bio-chips will be used to drive business efficiency in the next ten years, 74% think that virtual business would be commonplace and 87% there will be increased virtual contact. Clearly this raises a whole host of management and development issues around the concept of virtual working. 

To be successful, organisations will have to provide individuals with the skills to cope in an environment where business activities and IT are intrinsically linked.  Issues like IT security for example will become a crucial part of the development programme as organisations’ dependence on systems increases the need to protect them from cyber attack. Enabling more remote working also raises the issue of how managers lead and motivate teams that are not physically present. 

Organisations will clearly have to step up training for managers in how to get the best performance from people in virtual working environments as this becomes the norm. 

The Institute’s study also found that as the speed of change intensifies, project work will become more commonplace.  Indeed, three quarters of respondents said that all individuals would need to have project management skills with 63% agreeing that ‘innovation and creativity’ would be key to most tasks. 

With this in mind, it is important that training and development programmes offer individuals the opportunity to build project management skills. Activities such as cross functional working or secondments to alternative roles within the organisation offer ways of allowing individuals to build skills to help them manage projects effectively. 

Individual needs

As well as thinking about the needs of the business, organisations will also have to think about individuals if they want to recruit and retain the best talent in the next ten years. The Institute’s study found that as personal and professional responsibilities increase, individuals will look for ways to integrate their personal and professional responsibilities more effectively. Indeed, over the next ten years, job choices will be increasingly influenced by private preferences, such as the option to work more flexibly. 

The future environment, where managers are working more flexible hours in remote locations, will also force organisations to change the way that individuals are measured. Rather than input of time and resources, managers will need to be judged on the output of their work and ability to deliver results. The onus, therefore, is on communication. 

For individuals to feel motivated and gain job satisfaction, they will need to make sure they fully understand what is expected and are confident that their goals are achievable. Organisations have to make sure that they are providing the correct level of support and professional development to enable managers to deliver these results. 

Clearly, these challenges are already present in today’s environment, but as the working environment changes, ensuring that managers and organisations are aligned in their goals will present an even greater challenge. 

HR must focus on building skills to address the business issues of today, especially in the current economic climate, but having the foresight to look ahead and prepare for the future will have an impact on future success. Change is inevitable so a greater degree of intelligence about how people work and their reactions to change will ensure that organisations are providing individuals with the skills they need to drive future performance.

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