Building a resilient workforce for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is blurring the lines between our physical, digital and biological worlds. Considering close to one billion people are yet to see the benefits of the second industrial revolution, such as access to electricity, the speed and scale of discovery in this new era is staggering.

However, innovation associated with ‘4IR’ is celebrated and feared in equal measure, especially when it comes to the future of work. New technologies bring promise of better products and smarter ways of working, but bring only worry to many workers as they search for their own place in our digital future.

One thing is certain — people will need to upskill to perform better in jobs they do today, as well as reskill for jobs that don’t yet exist. For business, this is both a competitive imperative and social responsibility. Companies need people with the right skills to realize the full potential of emerging technologies, but with advantage comes a duty to prevent a great social divide between those who are ‘technologically rich’ and those who are not. This challenge is so great that a handful of senior McKinsey partners are calling for companies to implement dedicated reskilling functions.

It’s not just about automation or even artificial intelligence

Today, much of the conversation surrounding the future of work has a kind of myopic focus on automation and its clever cousin, artificial intelligence. The impact of these technologies on employment varies wildly, depending on who you ask. A seminal 2013 study predicted 47% of jobs in the United States would face automation within the next 10 to 25 years, but more recent estimates have been much lower.

It’s clear that artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies will affect different industries to varying degrees. As Harvard Business School professor Gary Pisano writes for the HBR, companies need to strike a balance between technological innovation and broader business model innovation that will help them adapt to the technology of the day. Indeed, the prevailing technologies of 2030 may not have been invented yet.

Companies should equip employees to adapt and contribute to future innovation

We have already observed a global push for data science, development and other technical capabilities as the AI and automation wave plays out in the short term. However, if we accept that the future technology landscape is uncertain, equal focus should go to fostering ‘technology agnostic’ capabilities that will serve the vast majority of workers who will not learn to code.

The World Economic Forum’s top ten skills for the Fourth Industrial Revolution are mainly ‘soft’ skills, which is arguably a misnomer for what are, in fact, essential skills in any job. Critical thinking and complex problem solving are key to crafting effective business solutions and connecting the dots between disciplines. Creativity comes in many forms, can be learned, and requires special conditions to take hold in the workplace. (Expect more on this subject in our next article.)

Ultimately, the skills required in a given organization will depend on its strategic choices. For example, in some market conditions supply chain and strategic supplier management may prove more valuable than digital or design thinking — but each company has to work this out for themselves.

Practical steps towards a resilient workforce

Top management consultancies agree that upskilling will be an iterative activity that begins with setting a vision for future skill requirements. The list below, adapted from Boston Consulting Group, is a worthwhile starting point:

• Develop a strategic workforce plan. Assess the skills required now, and in the future. In a 4IR world, this is not a single event, but an ongoing activity that companies will need to revisit as the revolution transpires.
• Listen to employees. Use their feedback to determine which skills to develop, and how learning should be delivered. A human-centered approach empowers employees to own their learning and makes for more successful upskilling.
• Launch targeted skills programs. Develop interventions for skill gaps. Learning should be personalized to individual employees and incorporate leading practices such as microlearning, digital ‘nudges’ and gamification, to name a few.
• Embed a culture of continuous learning. Treat learning as an integral part of the employee lifecycle; build it into onboarding, daily working life, performance management, and even social structures. Reward continuous learning, and ensure senior leaders practice it themselves.

Here at Ignition Studio (part of Ex Machina Group) we’re interested in how live video can help to prepare teams for the future of work. If you’d like to join our discussion, find me on LinkedIn here or feel free to sign up for our webinars on this site.