Managing Tomorrow's People: The future of work to 2020

December 2007 from PricewaterhouseCoopers - "Organizations operating in today’s world are facing some of the greatest people management challenges in the history of business: the talent crisis, an ageing workforce in the Western world, the rising demands for global worker mobility as well as the organizational and cultural issues emerging from the dramatic pace of change in the past ten years. But how will these changes impact businesses over the next decade, and what other social, economic, environmental and demographic factors will have an impact on the world of work?"

180 View (written by Lawrence Young) – As we usher in another new year, the eighth in this the third millennium AD, it’s only fitting that we look ahead at the year to come. But perhaps we should be looking much farther out in time when it comes to certain trends that will have far-reaching implications on our daily lives.

In this extremely illuminating 31 page report, international accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers reports on the results of a major research study that they conducted in July, 2007. Author Michael Rendell, PwC’s Partner and leader of Human Resource Services at PWC, says that the study was sparked by:
1. The rising profile of people issues on the business agenda
2. The talent crisis
3. An ageing workforce in the western world
4. The increase in global worker mobility
5. The organizational and cultural issues emerging from the dramatic pace of business change in the past decade.

Rendell and his team “wanted to explore how these issues might evolve and how organizations need to adapt to stay successful”. So they interviewed nearly 3000 ‘Millennials” – new graduates from the United States, China and the United Kingdom who represent a generation just joining the workforce – to understand their views and expectations on the future of work.
Based on the data they gathered, the researchers saw several strong themes emerging:
1. BUSINESS MODELS WILL CHANGE DRAMATICALLY-the pace of change in the next decade will be even greater than what we’ve seen up to now.
2. PEOPLE MANAGEMENT WILL PRESENT ONE OF THE GREATEST BUSINESS CHALLENGES-by 2020 the radical change in business models will result in companies facing issues such as the disappearance of the boundary between work and home life.
3. THE ROLE OF H.R. WILL UNDERGO FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE-perceived to be at a crossroads today, it is projected to follow one of three very different paths.

Amongst the things that caught our eye was the researchers’ vision that come 2020, three very different worlds of organizational structure and business models will likely co-exist.
While some of PwC’s findings confirm current views on the future of work, a number of themes are clearly emerging that defy conventional thinking. If you want a ‘heads-up’ and some very valuable insight into this critical area of your business going-forward, you must invest some time to read this eye-opening report.