Changes in technology, processes and culture required for the future of work

We have known for a long time that digital adoption is essential to an organisation’s ability to be resilient, and this pandemic has really shown that to be true. Those who were already ahead of the game in this respect have coped much better, allowing productivity to continue, whereas others have been left behind and are playing catch up.

This is a time when the roles of digital technology leaders have been and will be pivotal in shaping the future of their organisations. Almost overnight they have been tasked with changing to remote working platforms, enhancing off-site security measures, moving consumer demands to digital platforms, reconfiguring supply chains and enhancing communication.

In the future it may be that the quick fixes and patchwork solutions adopted during the immediate response to the pandemic may not stand up to rigorous testing and the focus during recovery will be on stabilising and strengthening many of the solutions and processes rushed into place.

Northern Ireland has made good progress in recent years to forge new centres of excellence, including in Blockchain, Fintech and Cyber Security, and there is a strong need to continue to invest in areas of innovation and in technology to address new sectors of growth and science-based activity.

It is important that individual businesses look ahead to the future competitive landscape of their sector and understand what changes will stay and become the new normal and which ones will disappear again. We are encouraging our clients to reimagine their customer experience by focusing on human-centred design, to bridge the physical and digital worlds to deliver new value and establish trust as a key business value.

Empowering and upskilling workers in line with this vision will be key. Workers of the future need to be digitally savvy and for many in Northern Ireland, particularly in the public sector, this will require significant investment and a major culture change. Indeed many of those on furlough may have already taken advantage of the courses being offered through colleges.

I think there is a gap between the public sector and the private sector in terms of how workforce management is delivered. With the changing nature of work, public sector organisations including the Northern Ireland Civil Service need to find new ways to lead, manage and coordinate teams and talent. The notion of one worker, assigned to one area, to carry out a particular set of responsibilities for years on end is outmoded. 

To make the most of automation and technology investments, the NI public sector needs to consider redesigning talent strategies so a job is viewed not as an individual production function, but rather as a collaborative problem-solving effort, where a human defines the problems, machines help find the solutions, and the human verifies the acceptability of those solutions.

As we move to the future of work, in which working from home more often seems very likely, we need to ensure we have the right support and communication mechanisms for our staff in place. Working from home has presented its own challenges with isolation, and people need to have the option of being able to interact with their colleagues and clients on a face to face basis as well. 

Technology is of course a big enabler to a different and better way of working but so too are changes in culture and processes. Technology alone will not revolutionise work. We need to be realistic about what can be achieved in the digital realm and what will need to be managed in other departments to reach the best possible outcome for the future of work in every industry. 

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