Over the years, there has been a gradual shift in the way we work especially in the services business. These shifts are now being accelerated by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is getting rightly concerned about the future of work because we are all going to be affected by the phenomenal changes in the way we work or earn an income. This continuous change may lead to either the demise of some businesses or astronomical growth for some others depending on how business leaders react, predict, and adapt to the change.
Technology and the effect on work
Today, several tasks that fall within administration and operation are aided by the use of technology. Increasingly sales, marketing, and business development functions are benefiting from the use of technology. Projecting into the future it is safe to say that every function at the workplace that has a standard operating procedure can be carried out with algorithm-aided machines. An algorithm is a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer.
Globally, technology is advancing so fast that we now have artificial intelligence (AI), which is simply described as intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. The traditional goal of AI is to enable computers to perform abilities such as reasoning, knowledge representation, planning, learning, natural language processing, perception, and the ability to move and manipulate objects. These capabilities are shaping how work is carried out.
For a business, any force that affects the bottom line cannot be ignored, and here are five reasons why business leaders and owners should care about the future of work.
Heightening customer preferences
Customers hold the centerpiece for every successful business and businesses that put customers first like Amazon tend to be more successful in general. However, customer demands and preferences are not constant, each of us desires to experience better services at each engagement with our service providers. For example, if the time it takes to get a service is relatively shortened by one business, (e.g from three working days to 30 mins), the same customer will tend to expect similar treatment from the next business they engage with. How can businesses win given these ever-changing customer preferences and comparisons? There in comes to our friend – technology. Today, it is possible to harness advanced technologies such as automation, digitization, data, and artificial intelligence to offer preferential and personalized services to the delight of customers. Globally, businesses that are winning are using these advanced computer technologies to achieve customer success and grow the bottom line.
Every business that desires sustainable growth must redesign and redefine internal functions (work) to take advantage of capabilities offered by automation, data, and artificial intelligence to offer preferential and personalized services to the delight of customers.
The need to increase efficiency
Service improvements and the need for greater efficiency at the workplace have become big drivers of changes in the way we work. For a business, resources are not unlimited, hence achieving greater efficiency is a requirement for success. Improving processes and operational efficiency with process automation will reduce the cost of doing business in several measurable ways. Businesses that are harnessing automation and using the assistance of AI will invariably remain sustainable and also achieve greater sustainability and growth.
The forces of competition will compel several businesses determined to grow and move from merely surviving to intensify automation efforts and implement a series of strategies to achieve greater efficiency. Over the years, I have witnessed and been instrumental in the implementation of several workflow enhancements solutions in large corporations as part of efforts to reduce human error, expenses, and achieve service quality improvements. Nonetheless, I have also observed some businesses continue to operate mundane functions with a lot of human efforts and still maintain several processes that can be reduced to shorten the value creation and delivery processes. Good examples are the number of valuable services and offerings that can be experienced on mobile apps from savvy banks. Customers will rather patronize self-service offerings on an app than queue in a physical bank branch for the same service.
To embrace the future of work, businesses will need to increased efficiencies across several functional areas by the effective use of digital technologies, data, and artificial intelligence.
Employee Wellbeing
The wellbeing of employees cannot be ignored forever, businesses are now being confronted with challenges such as low productivity, burnout, and even resignations of top talents sometimes on a regular basis. Parenting demands and the aspiration for greater work-life balance is additionally posing new threats to the labour pool. Simply hiring new talent will deny businesses the opportunity to build on the existing wealth of knowledge of competent and top talent. It is necessary to leverage technology for improved work routines, create flexibility, increase general output and ensure efficient use of time to maintain a happy workforce.
Top talent should be equipped to embrace the future of work through reskilling in areas such as digital technologies, data, analytics, and artificial intelligence to ensure they can continue to deliver the required value for sustainable growth. Opportunities for hybrid work environments or full remote work should be embraced and valuable outcomes should be the objective of every work stream or functional area. Where possible, meetings by business stakeholders should be made more efficient by leveraging business intelligence solutions to reduce long hours of deliberations based on assumptions with a greater focus on strategizing from the results of actionable insights.
Your competitor is no more next door
The world has become one big global village with great changes in market dynamics. In the past, business competition was limited to similar businesses in the same geographies or location. However, the current competitive landscape is entirely different and extremely sophisticated. It is common to see new actors venturing into offerings in different verticals and launching new services (e.g FinTechs as a threat to traditional financial institutions) to ensure the entire disposable income of the customer is solely spent on their offerings. These trends have greatly changed the world of work. Businesses must think differently and develop several abilities to ensure customer retention, relevance, and profitability by embracing the advantages of globalization which is a big driver of the future of work.
The most valuable businesses globally are all driven by data and powered by AI. The future of work is greatly being seized by data-first businesses globally and they are able to unlock greater value and higher returns to stakeholders.
You have what it takes to be successful
It is not all doom and gloom, as a business in operations today, you have what it takes to remain competitive as the future of work unfolds. Fortunately, due to COVID-19, several businesses have embraced digital technologies and managed to keep afloat. The next step is to take advantage of data. Businesses have the very valuable asset of data ready for use in unlocking a myriad of advantages and sustainable growth. Data in its raw form can be synonymous with crude oil but the right analysis will unlock valuable insights to answer pertinent questions for strategic decisions and actions.
Business stakeholders need to be equipped with the new skills of harnessing data, unlocking insights, and taking data-driven decisions in all facets and across all functional areas to remain relevant and sustainable in the market. The future of work will favour those who can make good judgements from available data and visionary leadership. Upskilling the current workforce with these skills and freeing up time with automation will provide a win-win solution for both employers and employees as the future of work unfolds. At Superfluid Labs (superfluid.io), we are not only unlocking profitable growth for businesses, but we also provided guidance to businesses stakeholders through our Data Analytics and AI training program to equip leaders with the needed skills to drive business actions and better embrace the future of work.
In conclusion, remember the future belongs to those who prepare for it today (Malcolm X).
The writer is a Digital & Data-Driven Transformation Expert and Co-founder of Superfluid Labs Limited
