WHAT WORK WILL LOOK LIKE IN 2035

MOST organisations will not have large, companysponsored physical offices by 2035, but instead will lease chains of interconnected hubs for both full-time and contract employees to work and meet when they need to.

This kind of flexibility will, however, have its down side. Thanks to the rise of the Rateocracy pioneered by websites like Yelp!, customers will evaluate your products and services in real time and will expect concerns to be addressed immediately.

We must also contend with unprecedented diversity.

As of this year, there will be five generations in the work force, led by many traditionalists (born before 1945) and baby boomers

(born 1945-63) who are determined to contribute to their organisations beyond the typical retirement age.

Due to the small size of Generation X (born 196479), the millennials (born 1980-95) are moving into leadership positions an average of 10 years earlier than their predecessors and require extensive learning and mentorship to be effective managers.

The oldest members of Generation Z (born 19962012) are now graduating from college and arriving in the work force, expecting to wield technology for instant business impact.

Organisations that want to keep top Gen Z talent must provide tools that allow them to do their jobs with maximum efficiency.

Members of all generations who wish to be gainfully employed will come face to face with a different set of hiring practices.

For instance, your competition for jobs won’t simply be in your back yard but will be all over the world thanks to virtual and remote work and larger populations of working-age people in China and India, which will shortly become the leading exporters of qualified talent.

In the work world of 2035, team work will be of a shorter term in nature and involve high levels of human and machine collaboration.

Constant innovation will be a given, meaning that if you want to keep pace with technology and use it to drive business results, you can’t wait for a vendor or consultant to hand you a solution. You must take development into your own hands.

So if you’re a leader, how can you prepare your organisation to compete in this very different world?

The answer is simpler than you might think.

Focus on your best people, in all generations from all backgrounds, and with various work arrangements – and empower them with the right tools. – Alexandra Levit, author, speaker, consultant

This article was originally published on Quickbase’s Fast Track blog.