Authors – Dr. Ajayya Kumar, COO, Emircom and Mohamad Abou-Zaki, CEO, Emircom
Our lives and our businesses have been transforming rapidly, sometimes overwhelmingly much and fast. As we stand amidst this chaos, how can we create some order and what should we expect about the future of work?
In 500 BC, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that Change is the only constant”. Millenniums later, this statement still resonates and sound so true.
Our lives are going through so much change, that we are often not aware of it anymore and dont realise how it is impacting us. We have to be extra diligent and cognisant when it comes to changes in business and the industry, so that we can can take the necessary actions and adapt accordingly. Because in business, missing the bus is often equivalent to awaiting the fate of dinosaurs.
The world we have been living in over the past 15 months has made us realise that major changes will happen in the workplace, on workers and in work. We are entering a brand new world which can have both an immense potential or dramatic perspectives.
What are those changes? How do we reimagine work in the 21st century? How do we plan to make the best out of the new trends? Lets take a look
- Digital transformation
This is probably the most obvious one on the list. Business landscapes have been changing dramatically and almost all operations are going digital. In the new era – specifically in the post-pandemic era with almost every aspect of human life would have shifted to a virtual world – leveraging the opportunities offered by digital technologies is not just a way to scale your business or to accelerate growth, but the only way to continue in business. Of course, transformation is not easy. While turning around the ship, you might see your growth slowing, sometimes even receding. Costs could be heavy, and you might have to tread the rope carefully. In a recent Gartner 2021 Priorities Survey of CFOs, Controllers and Heads of FP&A revealed that they will focus on digitalization imperatives and that they intend to fund more digital business initiatives in their organization. For many businesses, this is disruptive in nature. But the customer demand for increased technological capabilities is only going to rise in the coming months and therefore, the digital transformation road cannot be avoided if you aim to make it big.
2. Not experience, but upgraded skill sets will matter
In 2019, JP Morgan Chase announced that it would spend $350 million over five years to support training and skilling programmes across the world. J P Morgan isnt alone. A part of the $2 billion invested by Walmart for training and wages is going into helping workers develop valuable soft skills. According to a Gartner report, by 2028, the most high-value work will be cognitive in nature, and employees will have to apply creativity, critical thinking and constant digital upskilling to solve complex problems. According to the report, the demand for digital skills has grown by 60% in the past few years. The new era brings new requirements, and our experience in solving old problems will only help us up to a certain point. Whilst experience does matters, so do the skill sets you possess, and its is therefore impossible to upgrade the business without investing in the skill sets and capabilities of its people.
3. Innovation will become a part of the work culture
Gone are the days when a business could simply offer its traditional products/services and sustain its brand name. We are all familiar with what happened to Polaroid. Famous for its instant films and cameras, it barely had any competitors. So they forgot to innovate and explore new territories, and the result? Digital cameras took over the sector and the company, established in 1937, went bankrupt in 2001.
Directing your business strategy and resources towards innovation will not only help you from going down but also bring in immense benefits like
– Edge over your competitors
– Better utilisation of resources