BC Business
In 10 to 20 years, the Vancouver workplace will be guided as much by today’s emerging ethical priorities as by new technology. The upcoming generation of leaders will place ethics and sustainability at the top of their list of priorities, alongside revenue and profits. As for technology, the convergence of computers and telephones will be seamless, smart buildings will be the norm and intelligent robots will be so commonplace that they may finally disappear from futurists’ projections.
BCB_BigIdeas_250.jpg
Here’s a look at how these developments will filter down to the workplace in B.C. Job responsibilities will be shaped by the guiding principle of caring for our province and our world, and business strategies will be defined by their capacity to shape and influence future outcomes. All routes will lead back to ethics, as consumers and shareholders push companies to focus on integrity as well as the bottom line. Workplaces will be less likely to operate in ignorance or with prejudice and will have to accept the many alternative outlooks, lifestyles and career choices that will continue to change their structure. Standard benefits will include care for dependents and reduced insurance rates for healthy lifestyle choices. The workplace will be even more diverse, thanks to optional retirement plans and ever-broader-reaching multinational recruitment. Career planning and education will take on new meaning when it comes to the millennial generation (those born after 1992), who will adjust policies and best practices according to their familiarity with a high-tech world. Managers who are comfortable with multi-tasking and working more collaboratively than previous generations will create new HR platforms. Mobile, on-demand personalized media will help the new bosses meet their driving need to do things their way. There will be a growing challenge to find qualified workers in every industry segment, from skilled workers to management and executive positions. Creative and innovative approaches to employee retention will be needed to not only reduce employee turnover but to attract the top talent. We will see advances in translation software that will give access to worldwide talent pools (with an emphasis on Asian/English talent for B.C.). New skill-assessment compensation packages, along with professional certification programs, will lead to a host of emerging careers such as life experiences director, VP of global outsourcing and professional optimist. Live webcasting of resumés and interviews will change the HR landscape when working with these global talent pools. There will be a shift toward a global educational standard and a life-long learning model in order to help ease worker shortages. Support will advance for workplace education and learning vouchers will be provided to employees to use as they choose, as life-long learning becomes institutionalized in businesses. Credits – in the form of government tax breaks or employer incentives – will be demanded by firms that run fleets of more than 50 vehicles using alternative fuels, and will also be given to employees who commute using alternative fuel or a hybrid vehicle. More high-performance buildings will emerge in the next 20 years, changing building codes to incorporate more energy-conservation measures. With the advancement of the 24-hour global business, organizational, family and corporate values will be closely examined, and human resources will continue to create new benefits around vacation leave and flex days to handle work overload, long commutes and corporate travel. Robots and other automated machinery will be commonplace both in and outside the manufacturing sector, and will include the building and construction industry. Expert systems (artificial intelligence) will soon be developed and can be expected to surpass human learning. The language of communications will change as the fusion between telecommunications and computation becomes seamless. By 2025, 40 per cent of the white-collar workforce will be conducting work outside the traditional workplace. Businesses of the future will continue to increase productivity, while providing more attention to the value of the individual and to the impact of the overall working environment. In doing so, the future will see the creation of the “humane economy.” Ann Coombs is a futurist specializing in workplace issues and program develpoment, and the principal of Coombs Consulting Ltd. in Vancouver (thelivingworkplace.com).