When it comes to the future of work, HCL Technologies offers some considerable thought leadership.
C. Vijayakumar, President and CEO of HCL Technologies [pictured below], discusses the disrupted workplace and outlines five themes that will define the future of work.
Massive disruption will impact every aspect of our lives
In an article for World Economic Forum, HCL's leader details how technology will shape life post the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Every aspect of our lives, from wellbeing to work, and everything else in between, will be massively disrupted in the coming years, thanks to technology," comments HCL's CEO.
"Specifically, the way people work and interact with their workplaces and the way companies operate will see tremendous changes."
HCL's CEO outlines five core themes:
- Work from anywhere - Location-independent jobs have become de-facto in the current pandemic wherein modern tools, technologies and telecoms have provided the ability to work from anywhere.
- Work for all - With a greater number of roles enabled for remote delivery, a wider slice of the population can participate in the active labour pool that was otherwise location restrictive and disproportionately tilted in favour of large cities and economic hubs.
- Work at will - Gig economy platforms enabled by digital technologies are empowering individuals to take on short-term and on-demand positions, and freelance work. Additionally, millennials like having the flexibility to choose when and where to work. They also enjoy the freedom of improving their work-life balance by being more in control of their work schedules.
- Work smarter - Work will become ‘smarter’ as Artificial Intelligence and human-machine collaboration will take over repetitive and routine tasks, thereby freeing employees to focus on more meaningful work.
- Work for planet - With greater urgency for environment protection action, I believe that companies, communities and countries will rewire their policies and programmes at scale to protect the planet and people alongside their need for profits.
"The pandemic has given us an excellent opportunity to transition from designing workplaces for efficiency to designing for effectiveness, inclusion, resilience and sustainability," explains the CEO.
"It is imperative for all of us to realize that all this is not some ‘far future’ crystal gazing, but rather change is already happening and accelerating. If we don’t acknowledge, own and act on change, we will become victims of it and we will be scrambling to adjust rather than being in a position to shape things," he adds.
"To paraphrase an old proverb - the best time to start was yesterday, the second best is right now!"
Read the full article here.
Read about the concept of the 'Liquid Workforce'
The liquid workforce is a powerful re-imagining of how organizations get work done. The concept breaks with decades of tradition, where organizations came to rely on skilled people with tightly defined roles and skillsets. As the COVID-19 pandemic forces virtually every industry around the world to rethink how to maintain productivity, the liquid workforce concept provides a roadmap.
So, what exactly is a liquid workforce? Simply put, in a liquid workforce, organizations source needed skills from multiple places, both within and outside the organization, and constantly train and upskill to fill in any gaps. Organizations are starting to embrace the concept and consider a decentralized workforce. On the surface, the liquid workforce is a vision for flexibility and adaptability that helps a business get the right minds working on a given challenge. Looking deeper, the liquid workforce requires a more conscious approach to employees, one that expects companies to take a closer look at issues of change management, employee sensitivity, security and how to reskill employees to increase their capability and agility within the organization.
The liquid workforce is a vision for flexibility and adaptability that helps a business get the right minds working on a given challenge. The approach is not new - Accenture coined the term "liquid workforce" in 2016. The mix of skills today in most companies is already a fascinating mashup of the old and the new. But it is something many more companies need to explore.
Be part of the future of work at HCL
A further quote the HCL CEO is known to have stated is: "If you deliver any task given to you with passion, with an emphasis on delivering with perfection, that's what will drive you to do better; and that will get you recognised." This is the CEO's team mantra - and it provides a pretty clear indication of the high motivation and determination that is valued at HCL.
Search and apply for an exciting job vacancy with the company.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.