• Sunrock

The Changing Face of the Workplace

Updated: Sep 9, 2019

The inevitable mechanisation of work suggests a new industrial revolution. The last such revolution must also have had challenges for workers and industry and agriculture - and man survived by adapting. The challenge facing us is, how should businesses prepare for the increase in mechanised or robotic offices and factories. Retailers in malls are already feeling the pinch with more people shopping online. Big shops can have dual shopping systems but what of the smaller businesses? As firms take the hi-tech road will they leave behind a landscape littered with the unemployed?

Preparing for the future

If companies prepare for the post humanism era boldly and creatively, this should be accepted as the way we naturally evolve. It need not be something to wring our hands in despair over. Besides who will buy the goods and services if the unemployed cannot earn a wage?

Why the emphasis on creativity you may ask? It is man that is responsible for creating the mechanised systems that we enjoy, not robots. We will need to be reminded that it is up to people, not machines, to continue to be creative if we are to survive mechanisation. Mechanical work should be done by machines, leaving people free to grow and become more productive. How then do we prepare for the future now?

1. Firms must look ahead to counter the possibility of mechanisation making people irrelevant, and that requires creativity.

2. Retaining good staff can be a challenge, especially with candidates who job hop, changing jobs regularly to the highest bidder. The answer here is incentive that is not only monetary.

3. The best incentive in this context is relevance. Show them the big picture where their future relevance is at risk.

4. Encourage creative innovation at all levels of the business.

5. Offer training that assists the growth and development of the firm, demonstrating always individual relevance.

6. More and more, clients will be looking for creative and innovative workers. A smart agency knows that to keep clients on their books they must convince the client that the people they recommend, fulfil the company’s needs for creativity and innovation.

7. There will always be work that man does better than machines, as in work generated from a brilliant idea and then the ability to turn that idea into a reality.

8. Working towards fostering a good relationship between client, agent and staff can only benefit everyone in the challenge of mechanisation.

9. Develop a culture that combines good ethics with a love for hard work that is satisfying and meaningful.

10. The real danger of people devolving into a meaningless and purposeless existence can and must be countered by good preparation and creative planning by both firms and individuals.

The future looks positive

The good thing about people is their ingenuity and the ability always to triumph over the most challenging circumstances. The same inventive talent that creates the internet, robots and space travel will find enough new work for all who are willing to grow and develop.

Want more?

Check out our previous posts, the most recent which include navigating office politics, mindfulness and talent is skin deep.

36 views0 comments