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Increased global competitiveness and ongoing technological innovations create wave after wave of challenges for businesses trying to stay ahead of the competition. Over the next decade these factors will shape the future of work and impact key aspects of the workplace including workforce size, business strategy and management practices.
Here are a few predictions on how the workforce will change in the next ten years.
It’s a woman’s world
Ignore James Brown. A survey conducted by Booz & Company reported that up to a billion women are expected to join the workplace in the next decade. It’s thought that the increase will not only improve gender equality, but also encourage global economic growth.
To expedite the rise, companies need to facilitate educational and cultural changes in the workplace. Dr. Leila Hoteit, a principal with Booz & Company said: “Allocating capital for investment in women’s businesses is fruitless if women do not have the education and training to run a business successfully, or the cultural perception that they can compete economically with men. The measures needed to create change in each of these areas will vary according to a country’s level of economic development.”
There’s a view that the countries able to tap into entire talent pool will see higher growth, whilst world-wide research shows a clear link between empowering women and GDP growth, literacy rates, infant mortality rates.
Outsourcing: now is the time
Ten years ago companies were apprehensive to turn to overseas outsourcing providers, but nowadays its common practice.
In 2012 there was a significant growth in outsourcing, with clients seeking more affordable alternatives to their local operations. Recent trends show that outsourcing will continue to grow, widening the reach of the outsourcing market for various business processes
Britain is currently seeing an increased emphasis on outsourcing, as well as an increase in the use of temporary staff and joint partnership-working which has seen a rise in networked organisations. These strategies are used to reduce cost, but also help increase the number of staff with specialised knowledge and expertise.
As this continues, a variety of contractual agreements will exist between organisations and their employees. The future workplace is likely to accommodate a diverse mix of employees working alongside on the same project, but with different direct employers, each with their own terms, conditions and wage rates.
Changing demographics create new problems
The Baby Boomers are now entering their retirement cycle. The result of this is a reduction in the available staff with critical skills and experience in the workplace. Moreover, a multi-generational workforce can presents its own problems, including different communication styles and a potential technology divide.
In the below video, Dr Sammis White of the University of Milwaukee explains some of the challenges:
Yahoo recently announced plans to scrap its flexible home working policy , but home working is far from a dying trend, with studies showing that people who work from home are actually more productive than they are in the office. Furthermore, a 2011 study conducted by networking company Cisco, found young workers increasingly regard remote working a ‘right’ rather than a privilege.
But working remotely doesn’t have to mean working from your kitchen table or the nearest coffee shop. As remote working gains popularity, it’s thought more and more employees will explore the possibility of co-working spaces.
Worldwide, it’s a booming business. OpenDesks, a company that matches co-working spaces with individuals and companies, opened its 1000th location last February.
Here’s how one New York’s hottest co-working spaces got started:
Measuring human capital
A recent study from HR InSights revealed that human resources still lacks clarity on essential performance measurements. In order to ensure the rest of the organisation knows its value and achieve the board level status it has always strived for, HR will need to make huge steps to improve the way it measures employee performance.
It’s thought that in the future, this data will be critical to forming talent profiles required to specific roles. This will help shape training initiatives, recruitment drives and should help improve HR’s overall contribution to the bottom-line.
The following video, Cathy Missildine-Martin of the HR Examiner explains why now is the time for HR to start measuring its value:
The Future…
Over the next decade business leaders will need to be far more savvy in order to keep up with the growing demands of the future workforce. To help give you a few tips on how to leverage these change to your advantages, World Trade Group hosted a free webinar on Wednesday 27th February.
Presented by staffing and recruitment expert Ronald Kreugel, the webinar looked at the simple yet effective measures companies can take to ensure their workforce is fully equipped for the future.
The webinar is now available to view free of charge via www.wtg-ondemand.com
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