The financial workplace of the future series

Transition to the future of work
The days of full-time employees who sit in your building are fading fast. Traditional structures are becoming obsolete as the workforce shifts in its composition, demands, and expectations. To capitalize, organizations need to be proactive in understanding how work will be done in the future and what the workforce and workplace should look like.

Activate the digital organization
Technology change is visible, dramatic—and only part of the picture. The organization must transform in step with the tools it uses. When a company can organize, operate, and behave in a digital way, it can create a workplace that doesn’t only equip teams but also empowers them. To do that, organizations must understand and activate their "digital DNA" and develop leaders who know how to act, think, and influence according to new patterns.

Create the "simply irresistible" experience
Who’s chasing whom? Members of a generation of wired workers who can sell their talents anywhere are not necessarily lining up at your door with hat in hand. As much as pay and title—maybe even more than that—today’s workforce demands an experience. From the physical workspace to the digital workplace, from the leader to the front-line employee, and from performance management to incentives, a simply irresistible experience puts employees at the center, helps them feel engaged, and keeps them in the fold.

Optimize the human capital balance sheet
Workers live on both sides of the balance sheet—they’re assets, not just a cost of doing business. That’s good because human capital is often the biggest component of any profit and loss (P&L). But it’s a challenge because employers need to navigate changes in health care, pension reform, immigration regulations, tax laws, and workforce composition in order to make sense of the master cost-benefit equation. The stakes? Not just red and black numbers, but also an organization’s corporate and employment brand.

Sustain organizational performance
This is the capstone that brings the other pillars together. "Playing defense" against disruption isn’t only a weak response—it’s also a fleeting one because while you’re celebrating your defense, the disruption never rests. The biggest organizational challenge is to stay ahead of the pace and never flag. To continue to grow and outperform the market, organizations must constantly adapt and invest in new capabilities so they can take advantage of the rapidly developing opportunities around them.