The world of work is undergoing profound and extensive disruption. Large-scale trends are transforming work, workforces and workplaces. The legacy of the pandemic has combined with a tense economic and social landscape, presenting businesses with significant challenges. How can businesses best navigate this increasingly complex environment? And, if you are in HR or have people responsibilities, what are the key strategic issues and areas of priority action for 2024 and beyond?
Advances in technology are converging with demographic changes, shifts in the geo-political landscape, a growing climate emergency and evolving social trends to significantly impact the world of work, creating new opportunities and challenges for businesses. In a period of rapid and dramatic change, it is more important than ever to adopt a longer-term perspective, to ensure that businesses are ready to adjust and reassess models and strategies to survive and thrive in the future.
This report aims to help you steer a course through these large-scale trends and identify the priority actions needed to respond. The report explores the impact of four key areas – technology, demographics, sustainability, and geo-politics – on the world of work and spotlights insights from a range of experts on key strategic issues for businesses to consider alongside a set of priority actions to help businesses respond, prepare and build organisational resilience in the years ahead.
The report considers:
• Understanding the potential impact of transformational technology…
… on society and the workplace
… on jobs and skills
• Harnessing the impact of shifting demographics…
… to embrace longevity in work
… on DE&I and evolving values
• Responding to growing focus on sustainability…
… to address the climate crisis
… to meet evolving social trends
• Assessing the impact of global dynamics and politics…
… to manage geopolitical and economic risk
… on the future direction of employment law and workplace regulation
• Organisational actions for 2024 and beyond
Margaret Heffernan, author, entrepreneur, CEO and Thinkers50 Hall of Fame 2023:
“There’s a difference between planning and preparedness. Planning is where you can see what is going to happen and you plan accordingly. Preparedness is looking at what are the high impact events that are going to make a big difference to our business and, when they do, what is it we wish we would be doing now.
Organisations need to be highly sensitive and attuned to early warning signals, bearing in mind that much of life will remain unpredictable.”