COVID-19 has acted as a reset for a great many aspects of modern life, so it’s perhaps no surprise that a new paper from Mercer and the World Economic Forum makes the case for a similar reset to the agenda surrounding the future of work.

The authors argue that before the pandemic, much of the debate around the future of work was linked to the threat posed by automation of the workplace, but while this will remain a factor, the pandemic has brought things such as how and where we work; the ways in which workforces are organized; and the employee-employer relationship to the fore.

The report highlights that organizations have been busy during the pandemic, with both investments in technology increasing but also in the reskilling of the workforce.

“With the arrival of the pandemic, companies changed their operating practices essentially overnight, prompting many to re-examine how well their employees were prepared and supported to carry out their duties,” the authors say. “While prior to the pandemic organizations were already undertaking initiatives to support and equip their workforce with the right types of skills, jobs and tools, many were doing so at a pace not aligned to the accelerated speed of change brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution and other global trends.”

Resetting the workplace

As with so many aspects of life, the authors believe that COVID-19 has provided organizations with the opportunity to reset and rejuvenate their approach to work, the workplace, and their workforce to make work a more enjoyable, meaningful, and productive place.

Of course, while the report highlights the apparent investment in technology during the pandemic, the majority of this has been on what can broadly be characterized as business continuity tools.  Think of the introduction of zoom, remote working platforms, and a degree of cybersecurity to help ensure the new remote workforce are secure.

What a great many organizations aren’t investing in is the kind of technologies that have been typically associated with the future of work, such as artificial intelligence and robotics.  Indeed, research from the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) found that those organizations that were investing in such technologies grew their headcount as a result of the heightened productivity and profitability those investments enabled.

Nonetheless, the WEF believes there will be five imperatives for re-shifting the future of work:

1. Transform organization design and work design – Transition into a more simple and agile structure, moving away from the traditional, multi-layered organization
2. Align new technology and skills – Embrace the necessary integration of technology and skills to transform the workplace.
3. Build human-centric leadership – Adopt a people-focused approach when connecting with workers.
4. Cultivate health and wellbeing – Support employees with dedicated and targeted programs for physical, social, and mental wellbeing.
5. Embrace stakeholder capitalism – Create a socially responsible and sustainable ecosystem by ensuring equitable sharing of risks and rewards between employees and organizations.

While there isn’t really much to argue with in the report, there’s equally nothing there that’s especially insightful or novel.  As ever, the key will be just how much change actually materializes, as to date, the notion of a digital transformation of how we function has been rather over-sold.