Work, and how and where we do it, is changing
With the increase in connectivity, work and the way people work will change. Lynda Gratton from the Future of Work consortium in her recent work discusses the hollowing out of work. There’s the high-skill, high-wage workers, and the low-skilled, low-wage workers, both roles cannot be performed by technology. While she predicts some of the roles in the middle could be replaced by technology.
Add to this the globalisation of some work. With greater access to education across the world global competition for work is a reality. And with connectivity professionals like designers, programmers and writers can already compete for projects through platforms like Elance and this way of working is set to grow. So the most talented and motivated individuals will be choosing the work they do and who they work for.
Meanwhile, working 9-5 and the other traditions of work are already things of the past for some workers and this trend is also likely to grow with technological, societal, and environmental issues changing the way we work.
Adapting to these new work trends will help businesses attract the talent they need to evolve and succeed.
You can’t rely on your history
A recent example of Kodak, pioneers of the hand-held camera and inventors of the digital camera went bankrupt this year after 90 years of business. Meanwhile, Instagram was snapped up recently for a mere £637m by Facebook after just two years of trading. It seems odd that Kodak, a business at the vanguard of photographic technology should have fallen foul to the technology it was a part of. Consumers are now asking for the best in class products rather than the most established in class.
We live in a world where businesses and brands can be created in back rooms, and reputations built relatively quickly and destroyed in an instant. To survive in this evolving world businesses have to change, move with the technology and times. Keep your heritage if it’s important but do not rely on it. Today’s customers need businesses to deliver, and deliver what they need now. Technology and making sure yours is ahead of the game will help you succeed.
Take advantage of the technology that works for you
There’s always a new technology or way of doing things – but is it the latest fad or is it the solution to answer all your business needs? Currently there’s a real increase in employees bringing their own devices to work, and increased connectivity allowing more people to work remotely.
But what are the opportunities that the likes of holographic teleconferencing or video walls, or the more imminent 4G services roll out will bring?. How appropriate and useful are they to your business? How can they help to improve your business and will it work with your existing infrastructure? Just some of the questions you need to answer while considering the future shape and technological make up of your business.
How Solweb can help
Knowing how to make solutions work for business is our business, we help businesses ‘do things better’. The technology of today and the future is amazing and plentiful but choosing the right ones to suit your business are critical. Successful businesses of the future need to attract and keep not only customers but also employees in a way that traditionally hasn’t been considered.
It’s about choosing what’s right for your business. Considering your existing infrastructure, the direction of your business and the needs of its stakeholders is all part of what we do at Solweb to help your business succeed in a changing world.
Whether it’s technology to free management time to spend on more meaningful work, enhance your remote teams ability to connect with your systems, or keep you at the vanguard of your industry we can help.
To find out how you can seize the opportunities of new and emerging technologies for your business and make it work for your business give us a call on 01202 232846 to talk about how we can help.
