Every morning without fail, my team and I scan the news together and highlight key headlines that would impact our clients and our business. If I think about what I’ve read over the years, the talk about digitalisation and automation started a few years ago, but has only reached the height/peak of discussion last year. There was a rapid spike in the number of conversations that appeared on my Linkedin feed, about tech in HR and tech in organisations; and it seems that no one wants to be left behind.
Singapore has been identified as one of the 25 countries that are well positioned for Industry 4.0; or the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is essentially a digital revolution marked by a fusion of technologies that blur the boundaries between the physical and digital spaces. What’s visible here is that the breadth and depth of these changes have not only impacted all industries, but also prompted the creation of emerging ones.
However, it’s also been recognised that at this point in time, no organisation is fully ready to harness the full potential of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report, only 12 percent of the Fortune 500 companies from 1955 are still in business, and last year alone, 26 percent fell off the list. This is evidence that as much as technology has progressed, businesses have not kept up with the speed of disruption.
The question of “Will I be replaced by a robot?” may well be the question that’s most asked in the 21st century workplace. Prompted by this question, employees and organisations know that there’s a need to rethink and reskill, to have paradigm shifts about innovation and digitisation. There’s therefore an urgent need to review the nature of our work.
In my interactions with various organisational stakeholders, one of the common challenges I hear about is that everyone has a different definition of what digital transformation actually means. This translates to a different understanding of the change, and adds to the complexity of different speeds in adopting new technology at the workplace. As artificial intelligence, mobile platforms and social collaboration systems accelerate the pace of our work, the urgency of having alignment is causing a lot of stress. Deloitte’s research shows that employees and organisations are more overwhelmed than ever!
Amidst the complexity of tech changes, it’s more important for leaders to look at it simply and create inclusion through these three E’s:
EnVISION
“A picture is worth a thousand words."
We know how powerful visuals are in helping us understand something. Imagine a beautiful travel brochure to some exotic land; visuals have the power of attracting people to want to take action and get to this destination that's being promoted. Whenever I see a poster of Norway’s idyllic countryside or of its iconic fjords, it makes me want to teleport there immediately!
A visual connects with our emotions and attitudes, spurring us on to confront and navigate through the challenges of current reality to get to the place of promise. When it's about staying inclusive, painting a picture of unity in a shared future becomes all the more important.
Are you able to paint an exciting and ennobling picture in the mind’s eyes of your people so that they are able to see a future with technology that realises for them, things closest to their hearts?
“What will continue to be meaning AT work and meaning IN work for you?”
There's a difference between a painting that one admires, and a painting that incites excitement and desire to own it. We can paint a very pretty picture of the future of transformation, but unless employees can see a part of them reflected in it, there won’t be a desire to own or participate in it.
Do you know your employees enough to know what excites them personally? Are you able to integrate their desires into this painting of a shared future?
To effectively enlist, leaders will also need to address changing expectations in the workplace. These are the silent barriers that will create confusion and disillusionment. Do you set expectations for your people that are based on their current and future role to help them transit? Or are they still operating on expectations that have long been outdated and irrelevant? If the intention is moving forward into the future, how can we also help others to reframe and prepare their minds for that? One of my favourite quotes, ’We think therefore we are,’ reflects the powerful role one’s mind plays in leading us to our future selves.
“When everything makes sense, what's really relevant?"
Enabling others includes building a culture of continuous learning and agility for their personal development. In doing so, we encourage our employees to unlearn, learn and relearn. We might also persuade employees to jump on the bandwagon of reskilling or upskilling without helping them to prioritise what’s truly relevant. With the speed of change ever increasing, deciding what skills are most relevant to their work now and in the future is of key importance to help them survive and navigate this digital world.
Enablement also means that systems shouldn’t be an obstacle in transformation efforts. Leaders can garner feedback, not only from a functional point of view (the “What”) but also from a user point of view (the “Who”).
In this regard, I think that the Singapore government has done well in championing communications for the “Smart Nation” campaign. I enjoy the inclusive online platform that offers local businesses and citizens opportunities to create and be empowered by technology; with the goals of improving quality of life, creating economic opportunities and building a closer community. This is one prime example of how technology has been leveraged on to facilitate wider reach and enable stronger education and engagement for a shared future that aims for the common good of everyone.
“In PACE, we think about issues, technological and otherwise, not just in terms of the structure and processes,” says Jean Lee, General Manager of Organisation Development. “We apply a systems-thinking perspective and consider the implications on people as well. How can we make the whole employee experience more meaningful and memorable for them? Discover our approach to helping clients do this: