Change the tires or drive the car?

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, an IBM talent management expert was talking about responding to today’s magnitude and pace of business change. She then referenced the complexity of simultaneously managing through internal workforce challenges: changing procedures; assessing, hiring and retaining talent; incorporating new technology; applying analytics and improving the employee experience. Offering a great visual for global business leaders in the current environment, she said, “You’re basically changing the tires while you’re driving the car. And yes, that takes agility.”

In this Industry 4.0 environment, where artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, augmented reality, robotics, blockchain technology and the Internet of Things are all influences changing the future of work, “agile” is the preferred state. The organisations that will emerge most strongly will be those that incorporate agile practices, building a workforce of empowered people who can fluidly access information, manage projects and issues, and change course quickly to meet challenge and opportunity.

Workforce Transitions
The McKinsey Global Institute’s report, Jobs lost, jobs gained: Workforce transitions in a time of automation, estimates that between 400 and 800 million individuals could be displaced by automation and need to find new jobs, or upskill for a changing one, by the year 2030. But the news is not all grim: the report states that “more occupations will change than will be lost as machines affect portions of occupations, and people increasingly work alongside them.”