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Global Future of Work Survey Reveals Skills Most in Demand

Future of Work Survey reveals key workforce challenges and skills

Harmonics, the Irish partner of OI Global Partners (the world’s largest career consulting partnership), has released the results of a proprietary survey of HR professionals representing over 500 organisations from Europe, North America and Australia. The goals of the survey were to understand the following:

  1. the skills employees must have to be competitive today;
  2. the most significant people challenges currently facing organisations;
  3. the most effective ways to develop talent; and
  4. the roles most at risk.

Clients of Harmonics and their counterparts with OI Global Partners across the globe shared their first-hand knowledge and insights in the Future of Work Survey.

John Fitzgerald, Managing Director of Harmonics, said, “The results are really interesting. Despite the differences in location and industry, there are common challenges and risks which our clients are facing and they are implementing solutions that are effective in managing a changing work landscape.”

Among the key findings of the survey, respondents indicated that the skills employees must have to be competitive are:

  1. strong communication ability;
  2. leadership agility;
  3. eagerness to learn;
  4. emotional intelligence; and
  5. understanding analytics.

John Fitzgerald noted, “Being open to learn, with strong leadership skills and possessing solid reading, listening and thinking ability are seen as valued skills. This can be seen as a reflection of how organizations are going through such rapid change and are looking for employees to adapt to change and take more ownership of their career paths and learning so that they can bridge the growing skills gap.”

The most significant people challenges currently facing organisations are:

  1. adapting to change;
  2. employee engagement;
  3. attracting and hiring new talent;
  4. the lack of coaching skills by managers; and
  5. retaining key talent.

“Inevitably, adapting to change is the key people challenge being faced by organizations worldwide.  Disruptive technologies and organisational change are having a significant impact on the workplace.  Organisations and their employees are struggling to address or keep up with the pace of change,” said Mr Fitzgerald.

The most effective ways to develop talent are:

  1. career conversations;
  2. internal leadership development programs;
  3. assessments;
  4. mentoring programs; and
  5. one-to-one coaching, with external coaches.

Commenting on these talent management strategies, John Fitzgerald noted, “Professional coaches are a resource for developing an organization’s leaders to sharpen skills, engage employees and improve team performance, prioritize and address pressing organizational issues, to manage strategically and capitalize on new opportunities. When you engage a coach to train your managers to build their coaching skills, they conduct more effective career conversations leading to clarity in goal-setting, stronger employee engagement, excellence in performance, and retention of the best talent.”

The roles most at risk are:

  1. administrative roles;
  2. manufacturing & production jobs;
  3. middle management;
  4. finance & accounting; and
  5. support staff.

“This is a reflection of the automation of roles – mobile internet, cloud technology, processing power, big data and the Internet of Things are all drivers of change,” commented John Fitzgerald.

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Blog

Interview with Justine Negri on 4 Aces Masterclass

4 Aces Masterclass Series

Last February, John Fitzgerald wrote a blog called “4 Aces Hold the Key for the Future of Work” which looked at the new rules to succeed in the New World of Work. It received a huge reaction and prompted Bank of Ireland to ask how the concept could be brought to life for their employees.

Here, Justine Negri tells us how Harmonics developed a two page blog into a Masterclass Series which was rolled out to all Bank of Ireland manufacturing employees across Ireland and the UK over a couple of weeks.

 Q. John’s blog focused on four key criteria he believed were necessary to succeed in the Future World of Work. Why do you think there was so much interest in this concept?

Justine: In the Masterclass, I highlight how the traditional and rather predictable career model of the past is no longer relevant in today’s rapidly changing world of work. In the traditional model, you graduated from college and through hard work and loyalty alone you could progress up the corporate career ladder. But there’s a new model in town, the self-directed career management model, which implies that the onus is now on you to proactively develop and manage your own career.

Career development and career progression is showing up on Employee Engagement surveys worldwide as being of huge interest to employees. The world of work is being disrupted and organisational change is happening at an exponential rate. Because this model is relatively new, employees want tools, tips and techniques to stay ahead and succeed in this rapidly changing world of work.

 

Q. How did you go about developing the concept into a 45 minute Masterclass?

Justine:  I’ve been working in the career management space for over 15 years now and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with individuals from many different cultures and levels in an Organisation from graduate to CEO level. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet hundreds of Bank of Ireland employees over the past 3 years through the facilitation of the My Career Best workshop, coaching or the implementation of the online career management portal. To make this Masterclass as relevant and practical as possible to Bank of Ireland employees, I tuned into the pulse of emerging themes, needs and wants that I’ve been hearing over the past 3 years so that all participants were leaving with tangible and applicable insights and takeaways.

I introduced participants to the key ingredient that I genuinely believe, if applied correctly, can help us all advance in our careers and that is curiosity. This formed the main component throughout the talk and helped bind the 4 Aces – Awareness of Self, Awareness of the Environment, Adaptability and Anticipation – in a fun, engaging and insightful way.

I also wanted to make sure that everyone left with key learnings that they could apply immediately, so each participant received their own deck of 4 Aces career cards to take away. Each of the 4 Aces has a deeper meaning and will serve as a navigational point to guide them at any stage in their future career journey. The 4 Aces cards, with provocative coaching questions, offer a rich takeaway they can keep in their side locker or wallet to help them prepare for future career planning, performance, interview or career conversations.

Q. What kind of feedback have you received to the Masterclass Series?

Justine: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I met approximately 1,700 people across Ireland and the UK over the past couple of weeks and the general consensus of praise has been the practical nature of the talk. Numerous people mentioned how they could really identify with the challenges, opportunities and expectations that this self-directed career management model presents and how tangible the 4 Aces are in helping them to plan and prepare for their future career. Participants also worked on live examples during the talk so they got a chance to be truly immersed into this new concept and experience the 4 Aces for themselves.

Q. Do you expect to be delivering this Masterclass again?

Justine: Yes. At Harmonics we are constantly researching the future of work and gathering data from the various Organisations we work with by adapting any masterclass or workshop to ensure it is relevant for every client we work with. This is a new model and it’s here to stay for now, so it’s important for employees to be aware of how they can take control, navigate and stay ahead in this rapidly changing world of work.

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Blog

Employee Engagement During Organisational Change

CIPD Mid West Event Addresses Employee Engagement Challenges During Exponential Change

Veteran CNN Reporter Gina London and John Fitzgerald, MD Harmonics Group, were the guest speakers at a recent CIPD Mid West event focused on the importance of driving employee engagement during organisational change.

Sponsored by Harmonics, it was the last CIPD Mid West seminar for 2016/2017 and featured an end of year BBQ social which was enjoyed by over 50 HR practitioners from across Limerick, Clare and North Kerry.

John Fitzgerald, MD Harmonics Group and Executive Coach outlined the significant impact disruptive technologies and organisational change is having on the workplace. He described how the ‘liquid workforce’ now demand rapid career growth as well as a compelling and flexible workplace but HR processes are failing to meet their needs. John presented a business case for HR Practitioners on why a new approach to employee engagement is required to address the exponential change that is now happening within traditionally linear work structures.

International campaign strategist and corporate consultant Gina London explained why employees believe organisational change means ‘more work plus uncertainty’ and shared some tools to improve communications and move relationships forward so that employees trust leaders more and buy-in to the change that’s happening.

Speaking about their sponsorship of the event, John Fitzgerald said “The speed and amount of change being faced by employees in the workplace is unprecedented. We were delighted to sponsor this event and have the opportunity to share with the HR Community in the Mid West some of our insights on how to improve employee engagement and the employee experience.”