We’re moving toward a system of work design that will profoundly change the roles of organizational leaders.
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Recent Awards
June, 2020 Herbert Heneman Jr. Career Achievement Award August, 2018 |
As organizations plan for a future where COVID-19 is no longer a health threat, leaders are setting the stage for what is sometimes called “return to work.” Fluid work can empower or exploit workers, and COVID and other disruptions have accelerated and starkly illuminated the difference. Will fluid work evolve on a solid platform that offers empowerment rather than exploitation? A solid platform for fluid work can preserve the options that the crises have created for organizations, society and workers. Or, those options may be lost in a race to protect workers by reclassifying them into traditional jobs. Important choices are being made now, often with little or very poor data and evidence. Those choices are happening within the frameworks of social, regulatory and policy actions, accelerated by today’s disruptions. The COVID crisis has revealed how remarkably workers apply “hidden” capabilities their organizations never used before, shifting quickly to their most pivotal contributions.* What may be less obvious is how this has accelerated melting traditional jobs into fluid work. The phrase “fluid work” captures how work has melted, released from the confines of a regular full-time job, just like water released from melted ice. This reveals important patterns behind today’s celebrations: The crisis has shown that work and workers are more “fluid” and work won’t just refreeze into the old shape when the crisis abates. Should work automation replace people? This is a debate as old as the dawn of technology, famously illustrated by the Luddites who opposed automated textile manufacturing machines. As the COVID crisis accelerates work automation, crisis-driven imperatives may lead to short-term decisions, such as replacing humans with automation. Costs may go down, risk may be reduced, and patients and customers may enjoy the novelty … in the short run. The current paradox requires effectively managing the crisis, AND looking beyond today’s accomplishments to take actions now, that will sustain the vital lessons for the future. These four questions help guide the journey through the paradox, to create the most pivotal value for the future of work… Does HR really make a difference when it comes to the future of work? How involved are HR leaders when making decisions about AI or robotics using gig workers? Our latest research indeed shows that too often, HR isn’t involved in crucial, organization-shaping choices—but it also suggests playing a bigger part in making such choices could lead to significantly better outcomes for both the HR function and the company at large. New research using AI to match patent language with work shows that AI may reinvent high-skill work sooner than you think. |
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