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Workforce Revolution: It’s here, It’s Now, and It’s Changing Work Dramatically
What If “The Way We’ve Always Done It” Didn’t Exist? Technology Doesn’t Care How We Like To Do Things
Graham Peelle
May 14, 2024
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Workforce Revolution: It’s here, It’s Now, and It’s Changing Work Dramatically
What If “The Way We’ve Always Done It” Didn’t Exist? Technology Doesn’t Care How We Like To Do Things
We’ve been hearing about changes in the workforce and that a “workforce revolution” has been coming for a long time. Well, it’s here. It has been for awhile, but what does that mean? It means you won’t be able to do things the way you have always done them forever, at least for many jobs. Most things will change over time, tech will change so much, and this is nothing new. This has been going on since humans have existed and ramped up innovation during points like various civilizations building the seven wonders, times of war, and in the Industrial Revolution of course. This article below sums it up for me, it shows everything about concerns being shared about AI now, is similar to what we said about cars, electricity, home appliances, cell phones, personal computers, and so on.
Advancement Trends
Progress is part of the human condition, it’s what we do, and in some cases it seems how long you fight progress or ignore it, is how long you get behind the movement that is happening, whether you want it to happen or not.
Technological advancements are what we do, and we pride ourselves on making the quality of our lives better, serving others, or providing opportunities for further learning and development as people. We strive for better, or more, and this tech movement allows for more free time and time spent in a meaningful manner, versus just work at work, and work at home. I won’t get into the various downsides of screen time, and social media, but yes, downsides occur with tech, and without tech, but that doesn’t make all tech good or bad.
The New Workforce
How does this apply to work, and what our workforce looks like? The shift has been dramatic recently and when you put the pieces together, you really start to see a significant change in our work-life, with the workforce changing so quickly, some may not grasp it, until their company or type of job is gone due to technology, or AI development.
Workforce Leverage
Work with increasing leverage is the result. This is knowledge and labor work supercharged by technology. Highly productive, more quality, with more knowledge and perspective, with a learning and iterative capacity that was only an imagination even a couple years ago.
Not sure what the leverage workforce looks like? Take a look at just some of the options available to send your work to a new level, or to acquire or develop talent in a new way:
AI
Immigration - bring in labor to take jobs that are open and not filled successfully by Americans due to the choice or skill of the workforce
Remote work spurred by the pandemic
Proliferated intelligence and workforce
ROI/READI/Multiple universities, colleges, and companies with workforce development programs (State of Indiana specific)
Independent contractors and consultants
What do we call this?
I refer to it as AI-Leveraged Workforce Integration. Still working on the moniker, but going with this for now.
You can’t stop innovation in a productive and safe way, but you can steer it. How do you steer it? You learn adapt, adopt, and iterate so tech works for you. The ostrich strategy gets your company closer to extinction, choose the opposite in some fashion, suiting your own business needs and culture. Use the technology and market evolution to drive positive change for your vision, as fighting it is often a losing battle, costing you your business.
Instead of the horse being replace by the car, describing our current period, could our headline read:
Pandemic jump Starts the Digital Workplace, and AI-leveraged Workforce Integration
Bonus Section
I’ll spend a dedicated weekly OpCo on this topic, but I’ll share a few raw thoughts here - Would love to hear your thoughts @gpeelle
Do people need organizational agility or do organizations need to be built better? Organizational advancement for modern business may look different than past organizations. Maybe the new way can learn from the Jack Welch and other thought leaders of the past…
We hear a lot about organizational agility in larger companies. Being able to navigate the inter-workings and relationships in a firm. How to play politics, get stuff done, use resources, and elevate yourself and the business for profitable gain.
What if we rebuilt and transformed agile organizations to serve the community, people and the business? All the stuff we hear about, but really do it. Companies have proven they can do both, this isn’t a far-fetched concept, but many either choose not to for various reasons, or others don’t know how- serving a profitable machine, but because of the good opportunity and service it provides.
Focus on our people development and clients
Less about serving the corporate structure and more about making a better place to work and build great products or services
Building profit through great people, serving great customers
Developing our people as owners, not as minions
Establishing and serving true partnership with clients, not transactional churn machines
When a business starts, it’s usually far off from the journey where it ends up in 2, 5, 10 years down the line, so why not reassess what’s important with the business, what works, what doesn’t, and set a revised path forward capitalizing on strengths and leaving.
Building a firm based on strategy with values, culture, heart, energy and innovation the core.
Cutting bureaucracy and useless systems is an art. Large structures are great at building an empire that can end up serving itself and not its people, clients, or communities. The best companies make insane profits, while driving significant value for its shareholders, associates, and customers through product, community, culture, commitment, and connection. Tech innovation, leadership, markets, all important, but all things equal, how companies respond, adapt, advance proactively with their people is what builds and sustains for the long haul. Everyone has some good ideas, everyone knows how to sell, change product strategy, drive new innovation, but not everyone knows how to bring their people (communities, associates, clients, and shareholders) along for the ride. That magic takes an intentional holistic approach.
Hopefully, this added a little value to your business or your career. Thank you for reading. Please repost or share with someone who may benefit from this edition.
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Scale through a holistic approach:
People/Process/Tech/AI Harmony
Cost Reduction and Optimization
Leadership Development, Strategy, and Growth
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