Introduction
“The Future of Work” is a phrase that has been thrown around quite a lot in recent years. Employees, managers, and entrepreneurs are all wondering how the changing nature of work will affect them in the future.
From digital transformation, technical upskilling, to navigating remote/hybrid ways of working in the post covid world – companies have a lot to contend with. Fortunately, there has been a massive effort made to assist businesses through this transition, in particular the launch of our own new initiative Future in Tandem.
While there is no definitive answer as to what this “future of work” means for everyone, one thing is clear: businesses can’t and shouldn’t do it alone.
Let’s take a look at some of the challenges facing businesses today and why they are important to get right…
Importance of Upskilling
Firstly, let’s go over what exactly is upskilling?
It is essentially the process of training existing staff in the necessary skills to utilise new technologies or new ways of thinking in their fields. As technology advances rapidly – it only makes sense that companies and employees must advance their own technical knowledge and skill sets in order to keep up with it.
With the introduction of new technologies, the job requirements begin to shift – this leaves companies with two options:
Option 1: They can either hire new workers who already possess the skills they need
Or
Option 2: They can invest in the upskilling of the employees they already have.
Upskilling has become a popular choice among companies in recent years. This is because it offers many benefits for both the employer and the employee.
Employer Benefits
- Saves time, money and energy
- Increases employee loyalty
- Fosters a workplace culture of continuous learning
- Allows companies to leverage new technologies
Employee Benefits
- Increase their knowledge base and skillset
- Improves motivation and productivity
- Higher confidence in their abilities
- Improved sense of belonging at the company
- Better prepared for change in their role
Importance of Digital Transformation
Digital transformation can be defined as the adoption and integration of digital technologies into all areas of a business (which fundamentally changes how the business operates and delivers value to the customer). Companies are using this process to remake their businesses from the inside out in order to be more efficient and more profitable.
In this modern age of constant technological innovations; customers have higher expectations for the products and services they seek out. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to adapt and grow with these technologies in order to continue to meet their customer’s needs – and ultimately remain competitive in the modern era.
Digital transformation offers many benefits for businesses such as:
- Enhanced Data Collection
- Data-driven customer insights
- Greater resource management
- Increased agility
- Better overall customer experience
- Increased profits
- Improved productivity
Navigating Remote/Hybrid Working
Remote working is stepping away from the traditional office environment and allowing employees to work from home or wherever they can access a secure internet connection. While a hybrid working model is a combination of partly working remotely and partly working from the office allowing the employees to gain the benefits of both.
The global pandemic has changed the way people work forever. While initially, the remote working model was adopted out of necessity for businesses survival, it was perhaps seen as a temporary fix.
However, many employees have seen the benefits of this way of working – offering them greater flexibility and avoiding the long commutes – and they want it to become a permanent option.
A 2020 survey of 500 Irish workers found that 76% of people believed greater flexibility about working from home would be essential for the future of work. This is becoming an expectation of todays employees and businesses must adapt to meet these needs in order attract the top talent.
The last 18 months has propelled this way of working forward forcing business to work through the growing pains – and their initial resistances. The remote and hybrid working models can offer many benefits not only to the employee but also to the business such as:
- Reduced business expenses
- Increased productivity
- Access to a larger applicant pool
- Greater employee satisfaction and retention
- Reduced Carbon Footprint
Technology Ireland ICT Skillnet – Future in Tandem
The world of business has changed dramatically over the last 18 months and in order to meet these new demands we have developed our new business engagement model “Future in Tandem”.
Through this initiative, we seek to assist Irish businesses through this transitional period as they adapt to the new opportunities, skill sets and operational models that are required today.
Under this initiative, we are launching new pathways to assist organisations to transform, to scale, and to increase digital leadership and competencies.
We kicked off in June with the first in a series of innovative pathways, “Strategic Growth Sprints”. The Agile Sprints for Strategic Growth programme is now taking place every month and can assist your business in developing your growth strategy.
It consists of 3 sprints as follows:
- Sprint 1: Transforming Strategic Outcomes
- Sprint 2: Managing Business & Digital Disruption
- Sprint 3: Executing Innovation & Change Projects
Soon to follow will be the launch of focused pathways for:
- Digital Transformation
- AI
- OpenSource, InnerSource
All of these pathways have been developed working closely alongside Irish industry in order to meet their modern needs. This new Future in Tandem initiative is underpinned by our Human Capital Strategy and our existing portfolio of accredited programmes.
Final Words…
Irish industry is facing a very different landscape to what they knew pre Covid. With the massive uptake in the adoption of new technologies across the globe, it is essential that Irish businesses adapt to these new expectations. Whether this be through;
- The upskilling of their staff to better prepare themselves for new technologies and ways of working
- Digital transformation in order to deliver the quality services consumers now expect
- The adoption of a fully remote or hybrid working model to meet the demands of Irish workers today.
This might seem like an impossible feat especially off the back of a very difficult 18 months for the global economy. However, it is important to remember that Irish businesses do not need to face these challenges alone. There are many initiatives available to assist in this process and we are here to help you every step of the way through our “Future in Tandem” initiative.
Your lifelong learning journey is our journey and we look forward to working in tandem with you to build your Future.
If you would like to find out more about our “Future in Tandem” programmes get in touch today!
Or if you are looking to upskill yourself or your team through one of our many accredited programmes see our full list of upcoming courses in 2021