While the majority of businesses recognise which capabilities are important for their future success, many are failing to take the actions needed today to build or even introduce them into their organisations. These actions include using data analytics to make workforce decisions and creating a compelling work experience for employees.
This gap will put them at risk in the future when it comes to attracting, developing and retaining the talent they need to succeed.
These are some of the key findings of PwC’s latest Future of Work report, produced in collaboration with Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School. The report is based on a survey of 1,246 business and HR leaders from 79 countries. It focuses on 45 capabilities and identifies where organisations are most ‘at risk’ by looking at the number of respondents who say a capability is important to the future of their business but indicate that they’re are not yet taking action.
Read More: Interview with Ben Goertzel, CEO at SingularityNET
Carol Stubbings, Joint Global Leader, People and Organisation, PwC UK, says:
“Technology and trends such as rising life expectancy, social and environmental pressures and the gig economy are transforming the world of work. Companies that understand and act on these workforce changes now will be the ones that thrive in the future.”
The untapped potential of data and analytics
The survey finds that companies are struggling to use data and advanced analytics to make better decisions about the workforce. The top three ‘at risk’ capabilities all relate to workforce analytics and their use in improving the working environment and people’s behaviours.
Although more than 60% of respondents say using data analytics in workforce decisions is important, only 27% actually use it. In addition, only 38% use data analytics to predict and monitor skills gaps in the workforce, while just 31% use sophisticated workforce planning and predictive analytics and only 28% use data analytics to help limit bias in hiring and to craft incentives tailored to individuals.
Read More: Palo Alto Networks Appoints Amit K. Singh as President
Participants in North America report stronger progress than their counterparts in other parts of the world, especially Asia and Western Europe. Almost all industries are finding it difficult to make headway with data and analytics. The exception is health where data is used in skills identification and tackling biases in hiring and reward.
Bhushan Sethi, Joint Global Leader, People and Organisation, PwC US, says:
“Companies are increasingly pursuing data-driven talent decisions, whether it’s to anticipate and remediate skills gaps, eliminate bias in hiring or performance and rewards decisions, or leverage business scenario planning to ultimately determine the workforce mix.
“The survey findings highlight the need for organisations to invest in digital tools to drive people decisions. We see this as a ‘no regrets’ move in preparing for the future. But this requires the baseline data to be accurate, and the challenge today is that jobs don’t reflect what people do. Many companies don’t have accurate data on who does what and where, and few have an inventory of their people’s skills for development purposes. This is where using data and analytics can make a real difference.”
Read More: Interview with Angel Gambino, CEO and Founder of Sensai
Creating the right people experience is vital
Six of the top ten ‘at risk’ capabilities relate to the people experience. One area organisations can do more is around managing workloads. While 76% of respondents believe this is important, only 50% say they are doing something about it – making this the #6 ‘at risk’ capability globally. This is particularly an issue in the Middle East and North America where it tops the list, and Asia where it ranks #3. It is much less of a risk in Western Europe (11th).
Many people work in extremely demanding work cultures. While the corporate response in recent years has been to provide company wellness initiatives, sustainable change will only occur if work itself is redesigned so that it delivers vitality and an environment conducive to maintaining productive energy levels.
Read More: Interview with Jeffrey Kofman, CEO and Founder at Trint
Organisations should also focus on easing concerns around the future of work. Carol Stubbings comments:
“With all the talk about artificial intelligence, automation and robots taking jobs, many people are anxious and forming their own narrative around the future of work. Organisations should take the lead and own the story, by creating and communicating a strong narrative that covers what the future of work means for the company and its people, and how they will be more transparent around plans and decisions based on purpose.”
Read More: The Top 5 “Recipes” That Give AI Projects a Higher Likelihood of Success
Copper hydroxide scrap buyer Copper scrap yards near me Environmental impact of metal recycling
Sell Copper cable scrap, Eco-friendly metal recovery, Copper cable recycling
Copper billet production Copper scrap industry best practices Metal separation services
Copper cable recycling steps, Scrap metal management, Copper scrap melting processes
Metal reutilization yard Ferrous metal recycling expos Iron recycling
Ferrous metal reclamation plant, Iron scrap reconstruction, Scrap metal insurance