Making workforce future ready
HR’s endeavor is to build a culture of excellence wherein the workforce has cross-functional expertise.
“Today’s workers need to approach the workplace much like athletes preparing for the Olympics, with one difference. They have to prepare like someone who is training for the Olympics but doesn’t know what sport they are going to enter,”
Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century
Workforce without borders
There is a new world and economic order shaping up and world trade is being transformed. Developing countries are in the process of joining the Western powers as world’s largest economies. The new world and economic order in the VUCA world (VUCA is an acronym used to describe or reflect the volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations) dictates the need for permanently osmotic sharing of talent by countries and corporations. Instead, we are seeing that the changing geopolitical scenario is taking the world towards an increasingly protectionist business environment. We need to break out of the shackles of connecting Human Capital to Nationalism and to create an environment which defies this trend.
As votes are increasingly based on Jobs, our effort must be towards building a visa agnostic work environment. Such an environment is devoid of boundaries as country and nationality. Nobody should be able to contain people
It is in the interest of all stakeholders, of employees, of organizations and countries that our employees, their core competencies, skills are devoid of the word called limitations. They need to be able to work across cross cultural, cross nationalities workspaces and deliver results. It will also ensure that there are equal work opportunities for Human Capital resources irrespective of domestic business scenarios. Such people would be able to work in various latitudes and still deliver. A future-ready workforce also means equal skill development opportunities and equal job opportunities.
It will help in absorbing working populations of countries like India, wherein a majority of the population is work and employment ready into countries wherein employable workforce has plateaued or in a downward trend.
How to future proof workforce
Future proofing of workforce can be done by not only building a culture of excellence but also by increasing the multiplicity of engagement points with your employees. The Employee Value Proposition has to have a 360* basis and not appear superficial.
This means that the employees have to feel valued and know that what they are getting out of their workplace is more than just salary and kind words. A culture of respect has to be built wherein voices are heard on the basis of which real-time change is implemented.
Further to building a culture of excellence, our endeavor should be making Human Resources representatives accessible to everybody. This means a steady adherence to flatter organizations and responsible employees, which are not mutually exclusive terms by themselves. This can be done by maintaining a dynamic equilibrium, or a state of balance between continuing processes.
Nurturing thought leaders
The aim of every organization is to be perceived as the thought leaders in their perspective business domain. To attain that, we must encourage an environment where Thought Leadership is nurtured across domains and functions. The strength of Human Resource pool lies in having trusted sources who not only brings inspirational ideas onto the table but turn these ideas into tangible results. In their success lies the success of the organization.
Moving towards a truly global workforce
Every organization’s efforts should be aligned towards the movement that ensures creating a global workforce. This is essentially beyond taking your business overseas, it means building a workforce which is truly global in terms of skills, capabilities, and experience. It actually starts with getting the right people on board who can be nurtured and provided with the right opportunities and given the skill education that empowers them. It also means the employees engaging with different environments within their work ecosystem and taking up different roles which give them the opportunity to push their boundaries time and time again.