A couple of days ago, I attended a round table on 'The Future of
Work', organised by IBM's mid-size enterprise team. I was one of a
small group of people selected to discuss what the future workplace
would be like, along with a panel of four highly accredited
experts:
Whilst the results of the IBM research were not groundbreaking,
the discussions proved both interesting and enlightening. With
Julie highlighting the concept of 'individual capitalism' and Euan
citing 'conscripts versus volunteers' as a way forward, there was
much debate being had.
Julie's perspective on aligning ecosystems to economics got
everyone thinking; we've moved away from people being told what to
do, towards self-service and looking to work in the 'best'
workplace environments; people are also moving on to working
for themselves, eventually. She noted that in order to succeed in
today's business environment, David and Goliath have to work in
unison - the days of Goliath laying down the law are over, or at
least numbered. The rise of individual capitalism is upon us, aided
by the so-called disruptive technologies talked about by the
academic, Carlotta
Peres.
Last week I attended a lecture presented by Jeff Immelt (
see website) the CEO of GE, where he discussed how, in recent
years, there has been a management shift within his company from
'linear and personal' to 'lateral and connected'. This was a view
that was certainly echoed by the panellists. IBMs' Jackie summed it
up: businesses will have a much flatter structure, with the focus
on more collaborative leadership; teamwork will be short lived and
formed around specific issues for the duration of that particular
'project'. The use of social networking tools was also cited as
encouraging business collaboration and connectedness, something
which Access is also embarking on with the likes of Twitter (@theaccessgroup),
LinkedIn
and Yammer.
One fundamental theme of the debate was around the new
generation of worker being so different to those they follow, with
the emphasis now on 'Generation Z'. Quite frankly, whilst I agree
that the workplace is changing rapidly, I don't believe it's down
to new generations - that, for me, is just too simplistic (or
perhaps it's the old man in me)!
I believe the most salient points from this particular session
were around technology as an enabler for business and the changing
attitude to lifestyles. It is these two trends that show themselves
to be the driving force behind changing workplace environments.
Will hit the nail on the head when he talked about the rise of
'well-being' and the expectations of today's workforce. As Jackie
pointed out from the IBM research, we work 90,000 hours during our
lifetime with 4,500 hours spent commuting each year. When you also
consider that 42 per cent of staff are making decisions based on
the wrong data, that's a huge amount of time being wasted.
Social networking tools, the evolution of cloud computing and
technology in general will continue to increase the ability for us
all to connect with each other, and enable access to our businesses
information in a much more timely, cost effective manner - whenever
and wherever we happen to be.
Paul Druckman
Chairman
Q: How do you think the workplace will change in the
next few years? What will make a successful workplace environment?
How is your organisation changing to improve the way its people
communicate and collaborate? We'd be interested to read your
views.
Posted in
Business
Article keywords:
The Future of Work, IBM, Julie Meyer, Ariadne Capital, BBC, Dragon's Den Online, Will Davies, Said Business School, University of Oxford, Jacqueline Davey, IBM VP Business Partner Organisation, Euan Semple, Jeff Immelt, GE, Generation Z, workplace environments, Paul Druckman
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