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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.

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.

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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.

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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



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