Producing digital leaders after Covid-19

AS THE coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to impact the nature of work, digitisation and talent management need to change to accommodate the new normal.

As we try to predict the future of the business world, conversation often shifts towards the most critical enabler of all: preparing leaders for tomorrow’s talented and digitised world.

Human resources practitioners are not only forced to evaluate people by traditional measures, but also must get ahead of the talent curve in anticipating future skills. The truth is traditional skills may not be sufficient to weather an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world buffeted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Management teams are being forced to consider new talent that will disrupt organisations and identify new capabilities that will enable success in our “new normal”. Therefore, preparing leaders and workers of tomorrow is one of the most important jobs for the leaders of today.

The business world is fertile ground for innovation. Virtual work has gone mainstream and the myths about working from home have been debunked. The time is right to harmonise processes, shift resources to areas where scale matters and put a laser focus on new skills, including the critical ones to boost productivity and economic reconstruction and recovery.

Some of the critical skills required for our new reality include:

◆ Information technology (IT) and telecommunications directors;

◆ IT specialist managers;

◆ IT project and programme managers;

◆ IT business analysts, architects and systems designers;

◆ Web design and development professionals; and

◆ Programmers and software development professionals.

There is no doubt that attracting the skills the public and private sector need is vital if we are to increase productivity and economic output to get the economy back on track after the devastating impact of the pandemic.

Productivity is a key factor driving long-term economic growth and increasing living standards. In terms of the labour market, productivity growth is essential for creating quality jobs, since increased labour productivity can lead to higher wages, better working conditions and more investment in human resources. It therefore provides a sustainable route out of poverty.

Without a workforce that is continuously acquiring new and improved skills, it is difficult for a country to be competitive globally. Therefore, a prerequisite for sustained economic growth and development is sufficient investment in education and training, especially to deal with critical skills.

The new normal has underscored the many benefits of a more focused, flexible and aligned operating model.

Every organisation needs to evolve and quickly redeploy resources. That will mean accelerating the re-skilling and up-skilling agendas beyond hardto-find roles to ensure participation in the new normal. We are experiencing a new form of agility, but to what end?

I foresee major shifts over the next several years, including redesigning the nature of work, all-round digitisation of work processes and a focus on the new face of workplace engagement.

The new and future normal has placed a great strain and challenge on all of us to not simply survive in this current challenging and complex business environment, but to marshal our energies to think ahead and plan for the future by producing future digital leaders, so as to emerge with the greatest competitive advantage.