DIGITAL SPECIAL.... Cos should embrace digital to attract, retain top talent

Cos should embrace digital to attract, retain top talent

Adoption Of Tech Will Make Workforce Borderless, Agile

In 1965, Gordon Moore, then director of R&D at Fairchild Semiconductor, told the Electronics Magazine that the power of computing would roughly double every two years on the back of advances being made in the nascent field of semiconductors. Three years on, Moore founded what we know as the Intel Corporation and the world hasn’t been the same since.

The technology of today is decentralised, pervasive and quickly becoming more intuitive. At an inflection point of this digital disruption, businesses face a future of promises, opportunities and challenges. This transformation has redefined concepts of technology, data, connectivity, customer expectations and experiences. Most importantly, it is redefining how we view collaboration. The impact of this rapidly evolving digital reality is also disrupting talent attraction, retention and our concept of work.

A ‘future-ready’ talent force: 

Workforce transformation is being driven by two powerful forces. The first is the compulsion of digital technologies and ecosystems that are creating new paradigms. With automation making some positions redundant (and creating newer ones), work and skill redistribution assumes greater urgency. This has resulted in increasing skill gaps and calls for changes in every aspect of talent management.

The second is the changing face of the workforce pool. Millennials have emerged as the largest contributors to the global workforce. Driven, individualistic and non-conforming, these ‘digital natives’ hold the aces in terms of skill and technology acumen that the future-ready business is seeking. Plus, the rapid looming of the freelancing and gig economy will change how organisations will find and deploy talent.

Clearly, companies that aim to lead the way in attracting and retaining the best talent will need to embrace new workforce strategies.

The liquid workforce – agility for adaptable success:. 

The paradigm of work is changing — the new model would meld the essential with the peripheral, while having a designated role for the contextual specialist. The liquid model would work as agile project-oriented groups with an inherent culture of collaboration and skill-sharing. This digitally-powered group rewrites not just what their organisations do but even how they do it.

With technological collaboration enabling telecommuting and virtual teamwork, the liquid workforce enables a framework that allows each participant to play a uniquely critical role, regardless of where and how they work.

Boundary-less work spaces for the borderless team:

Winning in the future of work hinges on enabling every employee to work in the right place at the right time. The liquid workforce is truly borderless in their way of work, and organisations need to provide the right workspaces for such blended teams.

An open workplace with a mix of collaborative zones, hot-desking, conference rooms and quiet areas can provide full-time employees the right environment to collaborate and achieve heads-down work. A work environment that offers flexibility, empowerment and tech enablement is one that will ensure the success of all stakeholders, be it a full-timer or a gig worker. Additionally, intelligent use of analytics can ensure accurate prediction and efficient management of work spaces. For organisations that get this right, an agile, fluid and borderless workforce will prove to be a key strategic advantage.

By Paul Dupuis

The author is MD & CEO, Randstad India.

TOI  23MAY18