A new study by professional service firm PricewaterHouseCoopers say that a rapidly evolving world of work will see machine replace much of human activity as technology plays increasing role in a digital world.
But how prepared are business leaders to keep pace with the innovation wrought on by such concepts as automation, artificial intelligence, green economy, rapid urbanisation, shifts in global economy, resource scarcity and climate change?
PwC urges business leaders to rethink engagements with their companies. In the new world of work, it is people not jobs that matter. Organisations cannot protect jobs, which are made redundant by technology – but they do have a responsibility to their people.
So business leaders would be best served to fashion policies that will protect people not jobs. Nurture agility, adaptability and re-skilling. Build a clear narrative. A third of workers are anxious about the future and their job due to automation – an anxiety that kills confidence and the willingness to innovate. How employees feel affects the business today, hence the need to start a mature conversation about the future.
Government leaders too would be denying reality to think the future is decades away, as these advances are already happening, and accelerating. The future is no more a fixed destination.
Pragmatic business leaders should plan for a dynamic rather than a static future. There is no need to recognise multiple and evolving scenarios. Business leaders need a more radical change than just a small step away from where they are today, says the sturdy.
