Future organization workplace is about the perfect combination of people, organization and technology. Ideally it consists:
Firstly, workplace flexibility arrangement, which means creating a balance between work and life for employees, work from home is an example. The work environment that companies have provided for the past are increasingly unsuited and are inhibiting workers from performing to their full potential.
Companies recognize that in order to attract, recruit and retain good employees, an evolution of the workplace is a must. Leaders who are able to balance their employee's needs with their business needs can be a step ahead of the competition in the race for talent. These companies were found to be creating competitive advantage and building up their brand positively. Technology makes flexible work arrangement possible, it keeps connectivity, connecting is anytime, anywhere. An effective workplace solution that enhance productivity, quality, innovation and engagement is highly important. Of course, there are downsides and upsides which leaders need to balance on a case by case basis.
According to a study in US, more than 40% of millennials would accept a lower-paying job with more flexibility than a higher-paying job with less flexibility.
Secondly, characteristics of the workplace that people consider desirable refers to the design and settings. For example, Google offers free lunch at their cafe, rest place and game room, employees do not have to stick with their desk and can work freely anywhere in the office or even work on the bed.
Last but not least, a future organization should contain talent pool from all over the world as the use of technology increases, which means that the nature of jobs will change. Greater connectivity means we will have greater access to talent literally all over the planet. A new form of labor pool and market where individuals, project teams, or even entrepreneurial companies (that are really just teams of teams) from all over the world will bid on high-value tasks and opportunities. This new dynamic will not only increase the efficiency of organizations, it will also change the notion of what “managing” means. It will create competitive pressures for organizations to embrace global languages and cultural awareness as a way to appeal to the most talented workers.
The Future of Organizational Culture
Why people wanted to work for a certain company? Organizational culture is definitely one of the most influencing factor in attracting and retaining employees. It is the key for the company's future. The company's physical settings, people, philosophy, values, beliefs -- they all reflect organizational culture. Building a productive culture means creating an open environment that fosters collaboration, engagement, morale and creativity.According to a study in US, over half of the millennials would choose a job whose value match with their own, even if it is paid less. 89% of the millennials want work to be social and fun. 50% of them would rather have no job than a job they hate.
Collaboration and teamwork will thrive. It means that the old fashion top-down, command and control management will no longer be viable.
Companies need to employ people who display agile traits and characteristics towards company culture, which means the willingness to change, ability to change and nimbleness people exhibit as they adapt to change quickly.
Exploding Freelance Economy
With the exploding freelance economy, it drives changes in the way work is done conventionally, it also changes how companies and workers interact. The freelance revolution happened as many work goes mobile, work can be done as long as people have the tools and systems in place. For employers, they do welcome for this change as freelancers are a variable cost to them instead of a fixed cost.
What Kind of Problems that Companies Address in Future Organization?
- Demographic change
- Globalization
- Environmental concerns
- Technological innovation
- Work design
- Mentoring employees rather than classroom instruction
- Employer-employee relationship
- Evolving business structures for long-term success
The Pivotal Role of People Leadership in the Future Organization
People leadership in now and future organization must understand the strategic issues of the business and strike a balance between being an employee advocate and being a strategic contributor.- People leaders must know the financial, strategic, technological and organizational capabilities of the business. People leaders must have the ability to understand the business issues.
- People leaders must be able to manage the changes taking place outside the organization and mirror the changes inside it. As a change agent, the people leaders will be able to diagnose problems, solve problems and implement goals.
- Insight and understanding of the realities that influence business on a macro scale (outside the organization) as well as on a micro scale (inside the business).
- Future supply and demand for employees.
- People leaders to provide company policy and clear expectations to staffs.
- Regular activities be organized which encourage open communication, transparency and holding each other to account.
- Establish mutual trust between employer and employees as more freedom and flexibility will be given.
- More and more employee training will be done through internet rather than face-to-face interaction to serve talents from all over the world.
- Challenge of cultural differences of employees.
- Major responsibilities including the development of employees to ensure high performance.
- The importance of people leadership function is to provide and maintain organizational competitiveness and for that purpose people analysis and effective performance assessment must take place.
- People leaders need to be seen as much more than a supporting function and instead, must be viewed as integral to the organization's change management strategy.
It is under this premise that this year's summit intends to address the following critical challenges of people leadership in shaping the success of future organization
- Globalization has resulted in many positive developments but it has left many concerns for people leaders. What people leaders main concerns are?
- The most important aspect for people leaders is to understand business acumen and organizational metrics. This tells us that organizations are expecting people leaders to be more strategic and more attuned to the pulse of the business. What are the challenges that people leaders are facing? And what kind of value-added training do they need?
- What core competencies will be critical for people leadership team?
- What kind of training will people leaders provide to the staffs that enable them to identify and manage cross cultural differences?
- How to develop a corporate culture that attract and retain the best employee for the organization?
- What would be the challenges for people leaders to find the right fit for their respective organization culture?
- What will people leaders do to compete with other companies in obtaining talents?