Rethinking the future of work
According to Lynda Gratton, global expert in the field of organizational behavior and the future of work, by 2030 a third of current tasks performed in 60% of jobs will become automated – and between 20 and 50 million digital jobs will be created. Read this article to discover how to anticipate and prepare for the future of work with Lynda Gratton, who will also be leading an exclusive 3-day live Masterclass on September 28-30: WOBI on Talent Strategy.
Today we live surrounded by technology. For the routine part of our day-to-day life, machines and new technologies are a great help and make our work more enjoyable, but technologies are not programmed for the non-routine part that requires our human brain and our manual dexterity.
Technology is not the only trend that is shaping the future of work. The second is the increase in life expectancy that is growing every generation by 2 to 3 years. But as this is happening, the birth rate is also decreasing, so the population is aging.
We live in a world where technology is changing many jobs and creating many new ones. A world that at the same time is changing the perception of our lives and the passage of time. As we think about the future of work, we have to think about how we are going to prosper. To do this, we need to focus on three fundamental points:
- What is the narrative of your life? We are at a time when the narrative of our life is no longer traditional. We used to build our lives along one possible path. Now life has become much more complex and this has led to the development of a multi-stage life, in which we have many possible “I’s”. We must create a narrative that allows us to reinvent ourselves, maintain a healthy life and keep a broad perspective at all times.
- How do we make exploration and education not something that happens at the beginning of life, but something that occurs throughout life? Health is very important in order to control our aging process. Health has a lot to do with work, since work influences our mood and how we feel. Healthy living will be very important in the narrative of our lives and will allow us to explore our possible “selves”.
- What does work mean in terms of relationships with others? This aspect is also very much related to taking a long-term perspective on time. The mistake is in trying to satisfy one’s needs in the present, forgetting about the future. You have to change your perspective and prepare for what may come in the future and what may be convenient for you.
The jobs of the future will be combined jobs for where human skills will be crucial:
- Social skills: emotional intelligence and ability to teach others.
- Content skills: active learning.
- Cognitive skills: creativity.
- Process skills: active listening and critical thinking
As mentioned above, the narrative of our lives is no longer the conventional and traditional one, based on three stages in a row one after the other: education, work and retirement. We now have a multi-stage narrative that may include multiple stages such as: education, exploration, working in an organization, creating one’s own business, retirement…
This pandemic has made us realize that we are all part of a community and that we are not isolated. And by this Gratton refers not just to one person’s own relationships, but to a much larger circle with which we share many connections.
In conclusion, the keys to anticipating and preparing for the future of work are:
- Try to act in a preventive and future-oriented way.
- Explore our possible “selves” – different paths – with a malleable spirit.
- Accept the transitions, which many times will come in an unexpected way.
If you want to learn more, don’t miss Lynda Gratton in WOBI on Talent Strategy, where she will teach us how to transform the future of work through effective talent strategy.