Strategic Career Thinking

How are organisations making the most of three game-changers: automation, gig economy working practices and diverse talent?

Capitalism has got out of hand in recent years, due to its short-termism. The voice for taking the long-term view is growing louder. Those companies that take a long-term position outperform their peers in earnings, revenue and market capitalization.

The US president wants to bring jobs back to the US, but pundits anticipate the continued destruction of jobs due to automation.

Algorithms that predict stock-price movements have transformed Wall Street. Algorithms that chomp through our web histories have transformed marketing. Now this data-driven approach is set to transform HR practices.

Some people say: ‘Careers are dead, we all just have jobs now’. But the other day, commenting on the disintegrating job market in the recession-hit West, someone made this striking comment to me: ‘In future there will be no jobs, only careers’.

Predictive analytics uses data to forecast individual behaviours. Companies are using this data to intervene, and and trigger new behaviours, but is this an invasion of privacy?

There’s an emerging HR competency on the block – paradox navigator. The ability to manage a long-term vs. short-term focus, centralised vs. decentralised operations, and an internal vs. external perspective may be desired, but it's hard in practice.

Make the most of the ageing workforce. By actively managing late-career workers, and recruiting older workers, you can close the skills gap.