As the world of work changes, so too must the approach of those who design, build and maintain our physical and/or virtual offices. Accordingly, how those who are in charge of managing the teams who occupy these physical and virtual spaces is also in a state of flux. With four generations in the workplace for the first time in history, we also need systems, processes and offices that support and adapt to the needs and talents of the entire cohort, fostering constructive interaction and collaboration across generations. We've shared a few posts recently about the future of work, including digital workspaces, human capital trends and driving culture change. Continuing on with this 'future of work' theme (because a good offence is the best defence), this week's HR Blog turns an eye to the practical solutions for managing the future of work, workplace and the performance of your workforce.

According to research reported by MIT's Sloan Review, the term 'ecosystem' occurs 13 times more frequently now than it did a decade ago. Now, we all know that buzzwords and jargon tend to get overused and aren't always included in the appropriate context. In the modern business lexicon, the word 'ecosystem' has been used to refer to support functions, product portfolios, service bundles (the list goes on). Behind these linguistic applications however, there is a bona-fide new phenomenon evolving in the marketplace. That is the rise of dynamic, multi-company (eco)systems that provide the foundation for new ways of doing business. These digital ecosystems are comprised of companies, people, data and processes that are connected by the shared use of and intersection between digital platforms. In building these ecosystems, businesses foster collaboration and provide mutually beneficial relationships between all parties involved. If it is true that mastering digital ecosystems are one of management's next frontiers, how can HR professionals take the lead on managing these ecosystems as part of the digital transformation of HR?

Every year, Deloitte conducts an extensive study on the emerging and prevailing trends in human capital and the future of work. Each year, the post we write on our HR blog about that report is always one of the most popular. In 2019, the Human Capital Trends Report highlights an intensifying combination of economic, social, and political issues impacting HR and business leaders. These factors continue to put pressure on businesses to operate in a more socially oriented manner (a continuation of 2018's trend, which we covered in a previous HR blog post), and to reinvent their organisations around a more human focus. Let's take a look at the highlights of this year's report and how to prepare for the future of work.

Our capacity to analyse HR data is, like most other aspects of the workplace, undergoing continuous transformation and maturation. That change can be illustrated in the trajectory from 'descriptive' to 'predictive' analytics, and word on the street is that this process will eventually become 'continuous' analytics. Predictive HR analytics is tending towards the mainstream, with more organisations using statistics or data mining techniques to create insights that will support their decision making. The Deloitte Human Capital Trends Report 2018 showed that 70% of their respondents are in the midst of major projects to analyse and integrate people data into their decision making. So for more businesses it is becoming true that they are breaking the wall between descriptive and predictive analytics. 

According to HRD's annual research, CEOs across the Asia-Pacific are empowering their HR teams with increasing budgets to purchase HR tech platforms and systems. 74% of HR professionals surveyed said they were planning to increase their spend on HR tech over the next 12 months. With more virtual working arrangements and tech savvy employees than ever before, HR departments are working to keep up with the pace of change, looking to tools like technology to help manage that change. However, HR technology can bring with it a set of issues that HR professionals are (and will continue to) grapple with, including AI, machine learning, implementation and how to manage future workforces. This HR Blog will examine the HR tech issues you need to consider in your business and how to mitigate them going forward.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, building a successful career required young people to learn core technical skills for an occupation, and gradually broaden their skills and experience over time. This is what it meant historically to be ‘work smart’. Today, automation and globalisation have led to a loud, compelling and quite different narrative about the future of work, and it is fair to say that career paths appear more complicated. Media reports warn on an increasingly frequent rotation that “robots are coming to take your jobs”. Parents, carers and young people read these reports with rising concern: what occupations will be around in 2030 that a student today can train for? According to the Foundation for Young Australians, today’s 15-year-olds will likely navigate 17 changes in employer across 5 different careers. They will sometimes be self-employed, at other times working with and for others. Clearly, we need a new understanding of what it means to be ‘work smart’ and that new understanding doesn't just apply to today's students, it applies to all of us. This week's HR Blog explores multiple perspectives from which to consider and prepare your organisation for the future of work.

Have you noticed that there seems to be a bit of more serious, considered reflection about the role of technology in our lives taking place lately? As AI and algorithms become more ubiquitous, and our lives become inextricably linked to our devices and our digital footprint, there has been a call from some quarters to pause to consider how we can ensure a future where technology serves us and not the other way around. One of the most significant technological changes driving digital transformation in the workplace, is the focus on solutions designed to work the way employees do, rather than forcing users to change. The 'force fit' methodology that was prevalent in early tech was surprisingly common in the past, and the users had little choice but to convert their processes (and habits) to match the technology. Those types of systems won't have a long shelf life and it is more clear than ever that organisations which do not provide a user-centric experience won't be able to keep up as the future of work unfolds.

Management Guru Peter Drucker famously stated that culture eats strategy for breakfast. In a business environment where culture is more important than ever, developing your organisational culture is more than just having a set of values and a vision. Everyone in the business needs to live and breathe your culture and set the example. It needs to be part of everything you do, and it should act as a set of rules to help guide and empower your people with decision making. It is only when values are taken off the wall lived by all employees in word and action that you can say your organisation has a strong corporate culture. Reduced to its essence, culture = values x behaviour. In this week's HR Blog, we look at why it is important to ensure values and behaviours align, and culture is a lived experience not just a slogan.