Technology is driving more and more automation in business and in our personal lives. Things that used to be done manually are now being automated. Information is coming in at a much faster rate than ever before and industries are constantly going through change. This will obviously have an impact on what skills and capabilities people will need to have in the future. The ability to perform analysis, make decisions quickly and adapt to these changes are skills that organizations will need.
Technology and outsourcing changes have been disrupting the labor market for quite awhile now and impacted the skills that are required for success. For example, we used to have companies that had internal employees managing databases and coding programs. Once costs became a focus, then using cheaper labor was the priority. Hence, the world of outsourcing was introduced. This type of work was taken off-shore to India, China, Mexico and other countries where the work could be done for a lower cost and theoretically at night while we slept. In theory that is true, but it took a lot of work and effort to get the model to work efficiently. The internal employees had to change their skills to oversee, review and manage the processes instead of doing the work themselves. This was using a set of very different skills than they had done before.
In an article, called Here’s why companies should find talent as important as their balance sheets by Alain Bejjani shares that “our biggest challenge in future-proofing our business is ‘learning to learn’. Learning that is no longer driven by the specific requirements of a job, but by the imperative to remain productive and relevant in a world that is changing faster than our own capability to adapt.” Being able to continuously learn and adapt to all of these changes is something we used to call “learning agility.” Can you take what you know and apply it to different roles that you have or changes that are being implemented?
We used to say that “change is a constant.” Some people thrive in change and look forward to it. Others have a tough time moving along the change curve to a place where they are able to accept it. Some of that is just inherently part of who they are and what they have experienced up until that point. Going through changes on a regular basis does help you go through the process a little more quickly, but it doesn’t necessarily remove the anxiety you may have about it.
Technology will continue to change and evolve how work is done. Looking for people who have the ability to handle large amounts of information, make faster decisions, deal with change and ambiguity will be competencies to look for in candidates. These are the traits that will allow people to adapt with your organization, continue to learn and be able to manage their teams through the changes that are now the norm that every industry faces to stay competitive.