Your Future is Bright...

How is the world of work changing – and what can you do to prepare your people?

Your Future is Bright

If you’re reading this article there’s a good chance you are similar in many ways to the copywriter who’s sitting and typing these words…a professional, comfortably settled into a career, a decade or two of experience under your belt.

You may be in a management role, or hoping to step up to one soon. If you have a family they are probably teens, or nearly so. The sparkle in your eye has seen a lot of changes, and perhaps dimmed a little in the face of routine and frustrated ambition…?

Wherever you are in your career, one phrase I know you’ve heard (at work or in your personal life) is that time flies – and you should enjoy it while you can!

I know, it’s a cliche – but we’ll keep saying and hearing it because it’s true; time moves by, and though a day might drag, the years (or decades?) are gone in a flash – and the world evolves and changes, whether we’re ready for it or not!

Some organisations or sectors can feel like those wheels of change grind slowly; a cumbersome beast, led by people entrenched in “the way we do things here” – which can mean that their grasp on up to date approaches has been left behind. In these teams, your more senior leaders and managers seem very wary of rocking the boat, or of embracing new technologies, or even hearing ideas from their younger employees that could benefit the organisation…

Though few things are guaranteed in life, change is inevitable – and resisting it can see you stumble on your own journey to success, whether that’s individually or for your entire workforce.

Do you want your business – and more importantly, your people – to keep up?

Since 2019 PwC have shared their predictions for the future of business, carrying out a huge annual survey and exploring a vast range of data they get from businesses all over the world. From the technologies and lifestyle shifts that might impact your people to the Leadership models and behavioural changes they anticipate, it’s always a great insight into what we can expect in an increasingly global working world.

Their latest survey results share the changes they predict – and we know how important it is for your Leaders and Managers to be prepared for those changes, or risk losing the most talented and experienced people in your teams to somewhere that is ready…

Change is the focus of the latest PwC survey - with 77% of respondents stating that they are ready to adapt to new ways of working...but are you?

So just what did the survey predict…

…and what do we recommend your Leaders should do?

The results are broken down into three key topics:

Leading through Transformation

Unleashing the power of GenAI

Fuelling Performance Through Upskilling and the Employee Experience

I know: reading those headings does feel a little…heavy on the Corporate Jargon bingo board! But when you keep reading, those buzzword headlines are broken down into more palatable explanations – so let’s look at what they really mean, and how it applies to your future, as Leaders and for the people you lead.

Leading through transformation:

Lead in new ways to build resilience among a stressed-out workforce
Engage employees on change to drive transformation

If you invest in the skills, development, growth and future career of your people you not only improve their work performance, and get better outcomes from the work they do; you also get people who feel secure, valued and confident in the work they are doing. Work that they can do autonomously, because their Leaders and Managers trust them to perform well, and to find their own path to solutions if challenges arise.

Traditional Leadership often looks like one suited person issuing instructions, while their subordinates follow those orders mindlessly – and we all know how much job satisfaction that brings (to both sides!)…

More people than ever are looking for more autonomy, more trust and active participation and say in their own work, and in the way their organisation is going. People aren’t motivated simply by earning their salary – they want to do work that matters. That gives them a sense of achievement far beyond material gain. Leaders need to see their teams as a community, and develop a culture where the people within it feel supported, seen and secure.

Don’t just tell your people what to do; listen to them. Engaging employees means accepting that they might know more than you do about some things – and if your culture allows people to make suggestions, to request changes, and to access development and training that enhances their skills, you benefit from that growth.

Communication should go both ways – and a great leader should listen more than they speak, trust that their people are experienced, expert in their specific role, and can guide the direction of their work and the wider organisation as a result. Make space to share ideas, and really listen to what your people have to say – they might just have the key to a much brighter tomorrow!

Unleashing the power of GenAI:

Help employees lead on innovation
Instill confidence in GenAI

GenAI (or Generative AI) is a controversial topic in many ways – and especially for those in creative industries…but as with all tech, there’s only one way the world is going. Rather than try to fight it, learn how these developing programmes can be utilised as a tool – rather than to replace your creative team, or the work they do, as just the latest development in technologies that can get the ball rolling. Perhaps it’s to outline a concept for your designers, or to turn your key words into a first draft that shapes your next piece of copy.

The sooner you embrace the potential of new technologies, the more scope you have for determining the direction they develop – and the ways that they can benefit your people, your output, and your organisation’s workload or success. Don’t let fear of change get in the way of your own advancement.

Fuelling performance through upskilling and the employee experience:

Recognise how critical skill-building is to workers
Prioritise the employee experience for performance

For obvious reasons, this is the part we are most passionate about!

There may no longer be a culture of ‘a job for life’ – and people are far more likley to move around, change jobs, join a new company or find themselves in a career or role that’s completely different for the one they originally trained for.

There are a lot of benefits to this – but it can also mean that the best people in your own team have one foot out the door because they have that drive to grow, to expand their skills and experience, to advance beyond the work they are currently doing…and if your organisation doesn’t offer them that development, it’s no surprise that they’ll find somewhere that does.

If you want to keep the best talent, and benefit from their skills and experience, you have to invest in your people. In the training, learning, advancement, growth and ambition they each have – and in the individual goals that each person brought into their team.

People don’t see their job as something to plod through, just to pay the bills – they want more. We spend such a significant proportion of our lives at work, and in a world that’s overflowing with new experiences, opportunities and potential, your people want to work somewhere that provides that wealth and variety of possibilities.

Investing in their development – in improving the skills they have, adding new ones, building on what they can do and listening to what they want to do – will not only mean that you benefit from their improved performance. It also shows that you value them – that you want to invest in their future, to offer them job security and satisfaction, and that you appreciate the work they do.

The best businesses are those with a culture that embraces the individuals in their teams; where your people know they matter, and thrive in an environment that proves that they do. Not with gimmicks or token gestures, but with legitimate investment into their experience, the culture and community, the behaviour and environment, the way people communicate, the access they have to support, and the way that you celebrate their successes.