From Corporate - Edition #22

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If you’ve been scaremongered that the workplace might automate your role, then this week’s newsletter will reassure you. 

Despite the headlines, McKinsey research suggests that only 5% of current roles can be fully automated. But that in most roles (60% to be exact), 30% of tasks within those roles are fully automatable.

Opening you up to spend more time doing the parts of your job that actually count. Now isn’t that a workplace you want to thrive in?

In this week’s newsletter, we dive into the benefit of automation and other practices that will improve, or perhaps impair, the modern workplace.

Insight

Automation and the future workplace

Research analyst McKinsey Global Institute has studied the intersection between technology, jobs, and the future of work. Even without automation, job sites such as Upwork, Uber, and Etsy have challenged the constraints of how work is undertaken. How will this further be affected by automation? Here are some important insights:

• Due to the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, market incomes have stagnated or fell for two-thirds of households between 2005–14.
• Despite increased productivity in advanced economies, wage shares have fallen, suggesting that increased productivity does not lead to increased income.
• 40% of employers state “lack of skills” as the reason they cannot find entry-level employees, including technical skills such as STEM subject degrees but also soft skills such as communication, teamwork, and punctuality.
• The primary countries demonstrating automation are China, India, Japan, and the United States
• It is estimated that it will take two decades before the automation of tasks is implemented for 50% of all automatable work activities. 

How to

Use technology to enhance your internal communications

This study, shared by the Institute of Internal Communications, suggests we are in a “Communication arms race” to equip employees of the future. With the main difficulties faced being budget and overcoming the shackles of legacy systems and IT impasses. 58% of businesses claiming they do not currently have the right technology to communicate effectively across the business and 78% of employees admitting to using “banned” software or websites like WhatsApp to communicate every single day. 

Quote

"A number of organizations take the practice of ending on time very seriously. Some companies’ conference rooms — Google has been known to do this at times — feature a giant timer on the wall. The timer counts down the time remaining for a particular meeting or topic and is visible for all attendees to see."

—Steven Rogelberg's TED talk on the power of 10-15 minute meetings

Guides

Adapting to the longer-life employee

The proportion of those aged 65+ is growing thanks to advancements in modern medicine, meaning that the employee of today is now experiencing a longer working tenure. What does this mean for the workplace of today? As well as having all that seasoned experience to hand, it means learning how to equip the older generation with new-age tools and technologies.

Communication techniques for leading remote teams

If there’s one word that we hear frequently around the virtual water cooler, it’s “remote”. But whilst more companies are adopting remote work, many are struggling with transferring in-person communication skills to those only reachable online. Which is why we took a few nuggets from this article on communication methods, specifically for virtual teams.

The danger of digital transformation

In a time where every organization seems to be racing towards digital transformation, this podcast episode from ScreenCloud’s Founders looks at what the dangers may be. Like how today’s workers are interrupted more and more, and just how difficult it is to truly switch off from work.

Why your Meet the Team page might show your lack of diversity

This video is an interesting exploration of workplace diversity in today’s world - or the lack thereof. Through Meet the Team pages, filmmaker Travis Wood looks at the worrying lack of diversity and how a company’s doggos are more likely to make the page than people of color.

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Thanks to Domenico Loia on Unsplash for the great photo 👍🏻