It’s no secret that COVID-19 has forced billions of people around the world to adopt a drastically different lifestyle in both their professional and personal lives. Inevitably in the corporate world, one of the biggest changes was the embracing of remote work.
In ways that have never been seen in recent history, the coronavirus has laid bare the realities of decoupling location from work. In other words, location is no longer a key consideration when providing services or expertise to customers. The last 12 months have pushed this envelope further and further. That’s why the impact on how we will work in the short and long term is going to be felt so broadly.
There’s a perception that the future of work is going to be different only for white-collar workers, while blue-collar workers are going to be immune. But the reality is that it’s going to be across the board and is going to affect employees of all stripes.
If the last 12 months are anything to go by, they proved that the biggest catalyst of this paradigm shift will be technology. When we look at what will shape the future of work in a post-pandemic world, the two main factors that we need to understand are the virtualization of resources and the automation of the process and decisions.
Virtualization of Resources and Automation of Tasks
This de-coupling of work from location will result, among other things, in the ability to provide access to a skill or resource from virtually anywhere. This can be a receptionist welcoming visitors in several cities, a specialized mortgage advisor ready to provide services to customers in remote areas, or much more. The possibilities are endless.
Through the power of virtualization, a business can greatly increase the utilization of its workforce and cater to customers’ needs with more flexibility.
Automation, on the other hand, creates an algorithm for a mechanical and highly repetitive process. This algorithm is then able to complete the task or make a decision in a presumably accurate and timely manner. Artificial intelligence will increase the scope in which automation can take place, pushing the boundaries to more sophisticated tasks.
Not only will this – done right – result in increased productivity, reduced risks, and more consistency; removing such tedious and repetitive tasks from your employees’ job description is likely to improve their experience and job satisfaction. It will also allow them to focus on other important, more personal elements of their job, the kind that will hopefully help a business show differentiation.
Both virtualization and automation will, and already are, having a huge impact across all spectrums of workers so much so that I believe it’s going to create a completely new reality of ‘work’ as we know it today. That reality is not without challenges considering the resulting change to employment, re-skilling, and the economic and social changes that it is likely to drive.
Re-imagining Customer and Employee Experiences
It’s all well and good to think that the future of work is going to be based solely on each companies’ inside-out culture as a corporation. Realistically, that’s not the only factor that is going to change what the corporate landscape is going to look like in the long term.
One element businesses simply cannot afford to leave out of the equation is the customer, and what they want.
With one eye on the future, the entire experience needs to be re-engineered with the customer’s needs firmly at the forefront. Gauging whether or not a client is more comfortable dealing with someone from your business virtually or physically, for example, is one question you might have to ask yourself.
Businesses should strive towards serving a newly imagined customer experience. They should also strive to provide fresh and innovative solutions for their employees and the experiences their staff are going to have to work for them
In order to reap the benefits of this shift, we need to reimagine customer and employee experiences, re-engineer services and roles, and pay attention to non-technology-related issues. These can be issues such as the legal framework, labor, and fiscal policies, social implications, corporate cultures, and country competitiveness among others.
The bottom line is that our customers’ and employees’ preferences are changing, and so are their expectations. It’s vital for the business to re-think their structures and their role in the light of automation, virtualization, and the de-coupling of location from work.
Governing the ‘new normal’
The work environment of the future is going to throw up multi-faceted issues for C-level executives, and it’s essential that they have the right answers to those problems.
The role of government regulations needs to be seriously taken into the equation as well. We are slowly seeing how countries around the world are reacting to this monumental change of direction when it comes to work and employment.
We’ve entered an age where a global workforce is constantly pushing the boundaries of virtualization, remote work, and automation. Over the last year, these lines have been stretched far more than most business leaders ever expected. But when the dust settled and businesses began adjusting to the new normal, C-level executives came to a realization: the new normal not only works, but it’s also sustainable.
Armed with technology, the ball is now in their court to navigate through these unchartered waters we find ourselves sailing in, and shape the future of work.
Don’t Go Back
There will be a lot of tough decision-making when you get to that transformation stage where you’re eager to do things very differently and stand out from your competitors. But there is one big mistake that executives are already making in this process.
There are times when playing the waiting game is the right thing to do. But this isn’t one of them.
COVID-19 has brought with it changes to the corporate world that are here to stay, and the quicker decision-makers accept that the better chance they give themselves of excelling in the long run. Waiting for people’s habits to go back to where they were 18 months just isn’t going to cut it. The future of work is now.
