Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! Evan Signature
Evan Carmichael Top Header
Share for a Cause









The Future Workplace

Written by: Roger Ingbretsen

Article Overview: Where and how people work in the future will have little resemblance of what we have today. A crystal ball view of the future does not exist, but many forces will dramatically change the workplace. For sure, organizations will go through constant experimentation as they struggle to stay competitive. What will appear chaotic to some – specifically those presently employed – will seem natural to other, especially the “Y” Generation, our next American workforce.

Free Download - Stay Employed In A Down Economy By Roger Ingbretsen
Name: Email:

The Future Workplace

Looking at what is driving change provides a picture of the future. Words we use today such as agile, customer driven, fast, flexible, global, networked, team and knowledge-based, will continue to be the drivers of the future workplace. New concepts along with business, career and cultural necessities will also have a dramatic impact on how and where we work. Consider the following highly probable scenarios.

Organizations of the future will be “niche oriented.” The implications of this will be very lean organizations containing mainly or even exclusively only those individuals who possess the talent, skills and ability required specifically for their business niche. All jobs not tied directly to their product or service, will be outsourced.

As an example; traditional departments such as Human Resources, Training, Accounting, Information Technology, Public Relations, and Logistics will no longer be part of a manufacturing company. Banks will only hire finance people; stores will only hire sales people, trucking companies’ only drivers and airlines only pilots. Most if not all “support functions” will be outsourced. In some cases even the finance, sales, drivers, and pilots will be contracted out by the very businesses who consider these individuals to be key to their success.

Despite the angst surrounding outsourcing, it appears U.S. executives are well-satisfied with turning over nonessential business functions to outside providers. A survey by Capgemini reveals that nearly 73 percent of U.S. companies plan to step up outsourcing activities in coming years, with about 23 percent stating a preference to outsource "a broad range of functions and processes" that do not reflect core business activities. The survey of 288 executives found that most lauded outsourcing as a way to zero in on core business issues (57 percent), improve process speeds (56 percent) and provide immediate cost savings (56 percent).

Organizations will “no longer be in the benefit business.” Employees will be offered X dollars to purchase life/disability insurance, healthcare, childcare, education and other benefits from “outside providers” to fit their particular needs. Individuals will also be contributing to a 401k or equivalent retirement plan of their choice, rather than one selected by the organization.

Small to mid-size organizations will be formed to provide services being outsourced by the niche driven organizations. In many ways everyone benefits from this scenario. Economies of scale and expertise are leveraged by the “new niche providers.” Outsourcing eliminates the challenge of recruiting, hiring, training and retaining a large workforce not specifically dedicated to the product or service offered by the organization. Organizations can truly focus on “best practice applications” because they will be specialists in what they provide.

Employees will become job, occupation and business driven. Employees will keep their benefit providers as they move from one organization to another. Individuals will spend their time, money and effort on gaining only the knowledge and skills they need to stay productively employed and work at jobs for which they have the specific talent and desire. They will in essence be independent contractors getting paid for what they do best.

The new smaller, agile and focused organizations will be a more acceptable fit for the 65 million “Y” generation individuals as they assimilate into the workforce. The “Y Generation,” “Millennials” or “Echo Boomers,” those born between 1980 and 1995, see the world of work through a very different set of lenses than do the retiring “Baby Boomers” or “X Generation.” Fitting the young people into organizational boxes and then managing them will not work. Organizations must fundamentally rethink structure and provide coaching, learning, challenging, fast-paced and meaningful experiences for this new generation of American workers.

Successful young entrepreneurs and organizational leaders will emerge from the “Y” generation as they are eager to learn, confident, enjoy questioning the status-quo, like to work outside the dots, favor collaboration and teamwork and want to keep their career options open. As this generation seeks challenging work, mentors, and instant feedback, changes to accommodate them will be constant as they seek to enhance the work environment to fit their needs. The changes in the future workplace brought on by these new players will be more dynamic than at any other time in the history of the American workplace.

Collectively, these changes to the future workplace can not be taken lightly. “Niche organizations” will become a reality, “benefit packages” will be handled in a much more cost effective manner, and “age diversity” will be a major driving force for change. This will all combine to drive dramatic change in the future workplace.

Copyright Information:

You MAY reprint the information contained in this article as long as no portion of the contents are modified and it used “exclusively” within your organization. You must also give credit to information by including the tag line...

Roger M. Ingbretsen, Author, Speaker, Leadership Coach, Organizational and Career Developer. For more information, visit www.ingbretsen.com or call 509 999 7008.

Related Articles
  “Symptoms That Confirm Your Decision To Look For A New Job, From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Using Visioning Activities to Lead to Future Success
  The New Way of Work- Will It Be Meaningful Work?
  The Third Deadly Workplace Sin: Anger
  What do CEOs and turtlenecks have in common?

Home > Leadership > Roger Ingbretsen > The Future Workplace
Article Tags: accounting information, benefit business, business career, business employees, business functions, business niche, capgemini, company banks, core business activities, core business issues, dramatic impact, finance sales, human resources training, manufacturing company, networked team, outsourcing activities, support functions, technology public relations, traditional departments, trucking companies

About the Author: Roger Ingbretsen
RSS for Roger's articles - Visit Roger's website

Roger has a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership, from Gonzaga University, a dual undergraduate degree in Economics & Business Administration, from Park University, an AA degree in Business, as well as 1,500 certified hours of training in technical disciplines. He’s had over forty articles, numerous white papers and two books and two eBooks published.

Roger is a member of the International Coaching Federation. Additionally, he has completed many professional training programs attaining numerous certifications, a few of which include: The Harvard Law School “win-win” negotiation process, the Center for Creative Leadership “360-Degree Feedback” evaluation process and “Coach the Coach” program, the Zenger Miller “Team Training Certification Seminar” and “Executive Coaching” practices from the Professional School of Psychology, California. He is also a qualified administrator of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory.

 

 




Click here to visit Roger's website
Dashed Line

More from Roger Ingbretsen
Leadership Development is Key to Organizational Success
Leadership Career Development
A Talent Driven Organization
So You Just Got Promoted to Management What Next
A Knowledge Strategy For Your Organization


Related Forum Posts
Future Financial Corporation Future Financial Corporation - I've never heard of Future Financial Corporation is this a new company?
Re: How do you back up your computer? Re: How do you back up your computer? - Seems like backup has definitely hit a nerve. Evan, thanks for sharing your experience with the Backblaze service. Regarding the time it takes to backup: * The initial backup will take a little while (one to two weeks for most users) depending on your Internet upload connection and the amount of data you have. You can click the "How long will my first backup take?" link to find out the estimate for you. * Future backups will be very quick as Backblaze will only backup new files and the pieces of those that have changed. Thanks! Gleb
Workplace Warrior: Insights and advice for winning on the co Workplace Warrior: Insights and advice for winning on the co - Workplace Warrior: Insights and advice for winning on the corporate battlefield Kay Hammer 2000 From the inside jacket: Successful people don't get to the top without struggles. But few are willing to expose the failures and setbacks that have lined their paths through the battle zones of business. Kay Hammer is that rare breed. With startling candor and penetrating intelligence, this "very modern, very American heroine (Forbes) gives a frank and full recounting of her mid-career reinvention, from a linguistics professor alone to the President, CEO, and co-founder of Evolutionary Technologies International... Hammer's new life began with an epiphany - that nothing substantive in her life would change unless she made it happen. There would be no Prince Charming. From that moment on, she began a long, ardous journey to carve for herself in the youthful, male-dominated software industry-a journey which she likens to serving the apprenticeship of a medieval warrior... Her strategies are geared for battles on all fronts: not only for disarming foes, gaining allies, and winning battles in the boardroom, but also for confronting the internal enemies of self-doubt, fear of failure, and unresolved anger.
Patent Walk-Through Patent Walk-Through - Hello everyone! My name is Alex, I'm 18 years old and I'm constantly drawing up new ideas and inventing stuff. I sketch stuff down everywhere I go and on anything I can write on. I'm a big member of our local Future Business Leaders of America chapter (FBLA). In the future I hope to work my way up to being a Venture Capitalist. I think of myself as a pretty creative person who is very motivated. Some of the ideas and inventions I come up with are pretty far out but others I consider marketable and to have great potential. Being 18, I have little to no connections and no resources. I've been surfing this site pretty frequently for the last year and have finally decided to join the forum group. Anyway, here's my question... Basically, I have no idea how to get a patent together the costs and the overall process. As of now, I think I have a great idea that, as far as I know has not, ever been done before. I'm really excited about this idea. I'm a total novice at this and am willing to learn all that I can. Any information that you can provide me with would be great. Again the main things I want to know are: 1.Overall Process. 2.How Long It Takes. 3.Costs. 4.Anything That You Think I Should Know. 5.Tips/Experiences. 6.Confidentiality. 7.Must I Make A Physical Model of My Idea? Thanks guys! -Alex
Re: your personality type? Re: your personality type? - Hi Zac, If you're on the fence about 2 and 3, I'd think more about them. Big picture people tend to be oblivious to the detail of what is happening NOW -- the colors on a restaurant wall, the layout of someone's apartment, the color of people's shirts at a party, etc. They instead notice the "theme" -- an upscale restaurant (who knows what color), casual shirts at a party (not sure what style), etc. A "trendy" apartment, but who knows where the bathroom was. Gut feeling people tend to act w/o all the facts, and are comfortable following that instinct. "Thinker" people will choose something even if they HATE it, just because it "makes sense." Where as that makes no sense to a gut person. Thinkers are more "black and white" where as gut instinct feelers are more "gray area" people. But going with your selections... 1. Within 2. Big Picture 3. Gut Feeling 4. Spontaneous The Reflective Seeker of Truth. You are a passionate searcher of big-picture meaning and strive to help others with your empathetic listening skills. Socially, you are usually quiet, but can be a social butterfly when you feel like it, though it can be draining to do so for too long. You have a very silly and goofy side, enjoy people and need time to quietly reflect #1 Strength: Predicting Future Likelihoods #2 Strength: Expressing Social Feeling Predicting Future Likelihoods Predicting what is likely to happen, based on past events, themes, or what has historically been true. Deciding what will happen, based on past events. These predictions are usually spoken with con?dence and certainty. A thread or common idea is drawn from the past, and these ideas are used to decide what will happen in the future. Authorities and past situations are extremely important for deciding what will happen in the future. Expressing Social Feeling Setting an emotional tone, vibrant, energetic, or serious, etc. Concerned with the emotional environment as it?s happening -- the vibe of people at a party, the tone of a situation, other people?s responses. Setting the tone -- dramatic and serious, or lighthearted and a celebration. Emotional displays are important for knowing how others are feeling, whether bad or good. Someone talking in a monotone about feelings seems insincere. Feels should be shown, so they can be read by others. If that is your type, your #1 match would be... The Strong-Willed Go-Getter. You are a bold sculptor of the here-and-now in order to achieve immediate results following a logical system for making decisions. You add a fun, upbeat vibe to social events and are often the most gregarious person in the room. #1 Strength: Commander of Physical Space #2 Strength: Systematic/Rule Logic


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.



Featured Article


Bottom Footer
Share for a Cause












Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Popular Articles

LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!

The Value of Small Businesses

4 Steps To Hypnotize Your Business Prospects

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.