The future of work could be now
WHEN conversations about the future of work began to gain popularity in the workplace, several opinions were presented across leadership and management teams. In some sectors, employees wondered what this meant and what may be considered acceptable standards for enhancing operational efficiency. Now, as with many organisations across the world, our current reality has shifted to a more flexible and collaborative approach to work.
More companies are harnessing the agility, creativity and digital transformation that is influencing the adoption of the future of work while advocating for social justice and decent work for all as with this year’s theme for International Labour Day
For companies, an effective talent strategy forms the bedrock for success and like the popular saying – a company is nothing but its employees. The world of work is changing and nowadays, we can argue that employees are more productive when they are allowed to work the way they choose to, driven by shared prosperity for both the employee and the organisation.
In addition, society thrives on justice and the workplace is not excluded – the ability of employers and employees to come together to achieve one collective goal establishes the fact that every nation’s workforce truly determines its progress locally and across international communities.
When we break down the concept of the future of work, two main aspects stand out: the opportunity for long-term flexible working, and the evolution of jobs. Data from the Future of Work statistics highlighted that 85 percent of jobs that will exist in 2030 have not been invented and that 70 percent of the global workforce will work remotely at least five days a month in 2025. In some advanced countries, many governments are actively preparing for this actualisation, collaborating with the private sector to develop policies that can shape this concept, especially for jobs that are yet to exist. Upskilling and reskilling now become a major focus for employees to eliminate obsoleteness and constantly prepare themselves for the future of work while adapting the required technology to make this a success.
One of the UN’S sustainable development goals which emphasises decent work and economic growth accurately analyses the direct impact of flexible work, suggesting that it is a key investment towards improving the quality of life of employees in the workplace, whether now or in the future. The ability to identify and integrate new models to work reflects on organisations’ preparedness for future jobs, ensuring there are no gaps in overall operations and profitability.
As much as jobs will evolve according to research, traditional sectors will exist, especially those that contribute significantly to economic transformation. Banking, healthcare, manufacturing, and agriculture among others, serve as the engine of any economy and adapting these sectors to the future of work requires technology and automation. In the banking sector, for example, customer service for retail and institutional clients forms the core of the business for the different departments that drive efficiency. Innovation and technology have continued to enhance our business continuity, both from a customer and employee perspective. The ability to automate several tasks that would traditionally require the physical presence of an employee has been significantly reduced, further strengthening the concept of the future of work that fosters productivity from anywhere.
For us at the Bank of Industry (BOI), our focus is to consistently empower micro, small and medium enterprises for expansion, diversification, rehabilitation, and modernisation of their products or services. In the last five years, we disbursed more than N1.4 trillion to more than 4.4 million businesses. A major success we have recorded is how we have utilised technology to support talent transformation and modernise various departments as well as for our customers who are able to apply for loans without physical interaction. In expanding our human capital, we have also transformed the way we work by enabling employees to seamlessly transition between remote and onsite work, in a way that best suits their individual needs. We have further embraced the diversity and inclusion that builds successful organisations – that is diversity and inclusion in our recruitment processes, diversity in ideas, diversity in the way employees deliver work and even diversity in our employee relations. BOI also advocates strongly for women in the workplace, with female representation across the organisation at almost 50 percent.
From a broader perspective, my task as a human resource professional is to prepare our workforce and solidify our corporate strategy to fit the jobs of now vs the jobs of the future. We realise that technology may create more jobs than it phases out. As such, we have a shared responsibility as a government agency, to play a role in the transformative approach to work, ensuring an environment that supports policies for employees’ welfare, to promote organisational growth and future capabilities.
In terms of upskilling and reskilling, we have ensured that through training programmes, employee initiatives and committees set up for monitoring and evaluation, we are able to achieve significant financial growth, with our total assets reaching 67 percent at an impressive N3.3 trillion. Our profit before tax also witnessed a 177 percent surge, rising to N104 billion. This significant growth in our numbers further shows the value our employees bring in an environment where they can deliver their best in favourable working conditions and with fair and equitable compensation packages.
As we look ahead, if the jobs of today might not be the jobs of tomorrow, how then do we prepare? These are some of the questions that impact our strategy around training and employee relations to identify the needs, whilst working cross-functionally with the different departments to understand what areas are evolving faster than others to guide our approach.
As a key enabler of Nigeria’s industrialisation efforts, our employees are our priority as well as the small to large scale enterprises that benefit from the loans we offer to advance and revamp business operations. A part of our responsibility is offering advisory services and talent is not an aspect that we ignore, in terms of the major drivers of business efficiency. We think of the future of work as an end-to-end process, ensuring no stakeholder is left out and we know that it is happening now. It is not a programmed initiative and the more we embrace it, the more we remain competitive both for our industries and our workforce.