Challenges of Future of Work Revealed in Survey

A global survey of HR Directors and Talent Managers conducted by Irish firm Harmonics and OI Global Partners (one of the world’s largest career consulting partnerships) has revealed:

• Two thirds of respondents say that adapting to change is the biggest people challenge facing their organisation, followed by attracting and hiring new talent. Retaining key talent is third on the list.
  • By contrast, in Ireland, the second and third biggest people challenges are employee engagement and managers lacking coaching skills.
• Collaborating with others is emphatically the most valued skill today (73%) followed by the ability to Embrace Change (63%) and Leadership Agility (62%)
• Surprisingly,38% believe new technologies (AI/machine learning) will have no impact on jobs in their organisation, 35% believe it will lead to more jobs and just 28% believe there will be a loss of jobs in the coming year.
  • However, in Ireland almost half of those surveyed believe that new technologies will result in a loss of jobs in their organisation.
• The top 3 most effective activities in developing talent are: leadership development programmes, assessments and one-to-one coaching with external coaches.
• Over a third do not have employer brand strategies in place

John Fitzgerald, managing director, Harmonics, said, “There is a direct correlation between the number one most valued skill and one of the key people challenges that organisations are facing – adapting to change. The speed of change in the global economy means employers are almost always in a restructuring and change mode. So, they are looking for people who excel at collaboration as they can possess an ability to adapt to uncertainty, normally communicate clearly and exhibit the leadership agility required in rapidly changing conditions.”

The Global Future of Work survey results can be downloaded here