Well, since these words were uttered in the People Matters HRTech 2019 edition, little did we know what was in store for us –to come! 

COVID-19 has simply accelerated all the disruptions one expected, and boy, caught every one napping. And as Warren Buffet once said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked.”

We still do not know how long this uncertainty will continue, but one thing is for sure. The world on the other side –is surely going to be different. We now have several new buzz words too, new normal, social distancing, business unusual, asymptomatic, herd, etc  

Work, Workers and Workplaces have changed –much beyond our imagination, and in a jiffy.

As someone who has been in the Talent Acquisition business, for almost 3 decades now, I wonder.

1. Has the power of choice of careers has moved away from the Employer to the Employee? Yes, there was an era of lifetime employment. And as the IT revolution in the 90s-helped discern the quality of human capital, we see tenure of employment reducing fast. Increasingly it is becoming an alliance –as people stay with organizations –or vice versa, as long as the value addition is evident-in the age of networking. People are no longer talking of changing jobs, but also careers. And so we now have options like gigs and freelancing.
2. Technology was always available –but the single largest impact during the past few months –was the mindset –to adopt and adapt to the new ways. We now see work from home, remote working as a lifestyle now that could influence the choice for engagement from the employee side too.

In the past, if talent had to move to where the opportunities were, we are now seeing that opportunities will go where the talent is! Do we see more examples of near shoring (Companies are less fussy now of ‘work’ being done onsite- so what if done asynchronously?)

Now has technology kept in sync?

The talent abundance model was perhaps addressed back in the 90s-with the arrival of the internet, and people started changing jobs. We saw the emergence of job portals and Application tracking systems –a la Industrial Revolution era –resulting in automation and outsourcing.

Early part of 2000 saw the emergence of Social networking –and the penchant for communities, as people started enjoying working in cohorts.

We now see the intelligent economy –the rise of IoT, AI, ML, chat bots-and the use of data driven decision making to help companies thrive in a talent scarce model.

Once COVID made its presence, we have seen an amazing range of responses to the same stimuli. A large majority perhaps is still in the survival mode, focused on safety and hygiene of the employees, and waiting for things to get back to what we knew –was normal.

About 30% of businesses have shifted gears in the revival mode, by revisiting some best practices. Cutting costs, freezing hiring, laying off people, while keeping an eye on business continuity

Perhaps only 10% are in the thrive mode, very clear of making things happen, transform digitally, and navigate through the future of work

It would be wonderful to learn from those who are faster off the block this time

The 2020 conference will have an array of best practices being shared:

• How are organizations recruiting and onboarding a virtual workforce, managing the candidate experience, and managing the efficiency and scale of distributed employees?
• Given the predominance of the gig economy and remote, will skills and fitment be a premium compared to qualifications?
• Are there certain classes of roles –that will decide the future workplaces?
• Do we see an increase of hybrid hiring – a mix of part time, temporary, interim jobs?
• Now that there will be deferring international travel (the connected safety issues as well as perhaps anxiety due to quarantine etc.), will companies be open to hiring and managing remote teams?
• Will the focus of leaders be based on outcomes –rather in inputs? It is indeed time to reimagine work-breaking it into different tasks, and rewards & recognition?

More than ever, now, and more things change, do we see new business models emerging? 

Perhaps it is time to revisit the wisdom shared by Sumantra Ghoshal – it is all about managing Personal Human Capital comprising–

• Intellectual (knowledge, skills and expertise)
• Social (structure and quality of relationship networks) and
• Emotional (courage and resilience for taking actions)

And understand how technology can make us more efficient and effective.

People Matters TechHR 2020 will explore the Great Reset. Look forward to the wisdom and experience shared in Adaptable Now Sessions! 

Click here to register now!