New capabilities emerging in times of disruption (the future of work is today)
By Alexis Katigbak, Platform Product Manager at Ibbaka. See her skill profile.
Industry shifts trigger disruption and can happen at any time. Many amazing businesses will not survive this shift, some amazing businesses will find opportunities and new ways of working. We examined those businesses that have accelerated capability development to drive meaningful and valuable outcomes for our communities. At the center of these shifts are a combination of the sudden emergence of new skills and the strengthening of other critical ones like Resilience and Adaptability within the people that power these organizations and businesses.
At the head of our efforts are healthcare professionals of all kinds who are at the front lines in our struggle with COVID 19. These people have built over time the capabilities needed to save human lives, model pandemics and push the bounds of healthcare research to find treatments for the virus.
In parallel are the efforts of government leaders relying on the skills of experts to advise on strategies that will slow the spread of the pandemic and help their constituents mitigate the economic, emotional and social damages incurred.
But this post is dedicated to the innovative ways people in organizations used existing capabilities (and building new ones along the way) to pivot into new ways of creating economic, social and emotional value or what Ibbaka calls value drivers.
Those that support remote work
An extensive roster of collaboration tools have been made available for schools and businesses to support remote work or schooling. Among the more popular is Zoom, an easy to use video conferencing tool. The creativity of the human spirit has pushed the boundaries from the traditional ways these products have been used. We now have Zoom happy hours, virtual team baking sessions, fitness classes and family gatherings.
In some ways, we are all accelerating our learning around the adoption of digital remote-work technologies in our daily lives - not out of convenience, but out of necessity. If we are adopting digital skills at an accelerated pace, the standards around product availability, reliability, usability, security and privacy will be a new challenge for the people that conceptualize and build these technologies.
The organizations that provide for our basic needs
It’s no question that essential services play an important role in minimizing the disruption we may face to provide for our basic needs - food services, supply chain, waste management, pharmaceuticals, and more. At this time, these organizations have become hyper aware of the role they play within our society and have strengthened their commitments to maintain certainty for our basic needs in these uncertain and ever-changing times.
Companies like Cargill have doubled down on capabilities to keep their employees safe and healthy so that food can be delivered to families around the world. These companies may not be looking at an overall skill transformation, nor will they see a high number of net new emerging skills. Instead, we see a trend towards accelerated development of proficiency in existing capabilities in order to meet the challenges of increased demand and shifting social norms.
Large scale manufacturers that have pivoted
Large scale manufacturers with the raw materials and the scaled design, manufacturing, and distribution capabilities have been able to quickly pivot into supporting the creation of equipment for frontline healthcare professionals. Among these were Canada Goose, pivoting clothing manufacturing to the manufacturing of protective equipment, and Tesla pivoting to manufacture ventilators for hospitals.
The capabilities and infrastructure of these companies enable mass production of helpful equipment, but domain expertise was augmented by companies like Medtronic that leveraged their medical equipment design expertise to connect with manufacturers. Connecting capabilities within and across organizations will help accelerate the learning process and contribute to outcomes globally.
Small businesses serving local communities
An organization need not be global to pivot and contribute. Among the more interesting production pivots for local businesses are craft beer breweries pivoting to hand sanitizer and local fashion designers manufacturing protective equipment at a smaller scale. Others have taken in person experiences online, such as providing online fitness classes or learning about arts and culture online.
In these times, many of us are connecting while maintaining physical separation. Not only are these local businesses accelerating their digital transformation, again, we as consumers are adopting digital technologies at an accelerated pace. The expectations on the ubiquity and availability of digital experiences will be the new normal from the mundane (groceries, farmers markets, online shopping) to the entertaining (art appreciation, virtual orchestras and socializing). Businesses with dated business models will need to adapt as fast as the situation changes.
What does this mean for skills of the future?
In the HR technology space, we love to talk about the future of work - disruption in automation and artificial intelligence changing workforces in the near but distant future. These days, the future of work is today, and really all the succeeding days that follow. A workforce needs to be able to accelerate the development of skills in anticipation of when a disruption will shake their business or industry. Some skills are enduring, but many will change as the landscape does.
To each and every one of you that is contributing to the fight against COVID-19, whether that is by staying home or playing an active role in your communities, thank you for finding opportunities to push forward in these challenging times.
