© 2019 by astd dba association for talent …...• big data: extremely large data sets that are...

© 2019 by ASTD DBA Association for Talent Development (ATD)All rights reserved.

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ATD Product Code: 791903-WP

e-ISBN: 978-1-949036-87-9

Publication Date: May 2019

ATD Editorial StaffManager, ATD Research: Maria HoManager, ATD Press: Melissa JonesResearch Analyst: Shauna RobinsonInterior Design: Shirley E.M. RaybuckCover Design: Shirley E.M. RaybuckProduction Manager: Dirk Cassard

The Future of Work Whitepaper 1

About the Sponsor

A Note From Allego

The discussion of technology’s enormous influence on the world of work has moved beyond cor-porate planning and into media headlines. Because people generally fear change, the tenor of the conversation is mostly negative. But comparing today’s work life to the longer, more dangerous, more repetitive, and less secure environment our grandparents faced just a few generations ago reminds us that technology generally marches in a positive economic direction. Wearables, 3-D printing, VR, big data, and AI promise to make work even more productive and individually reward-ing, yet they will also create disruption.

The ability of today’s leaders to make their organizations future-ready will go a long way toward determining whether their employees will benefit or suffer from the accelerating pace of technol-ogy change. Being future-ready starts with the reinvention of training and development—yester-day’s model of formal education followed by a career peppered with occasional training classes is a recipe for stagnation and obsolescence. To keep up with the technical evolution, companies must provide modern learning tools that couple brain science with mobile, video, and peer tech-nology, so employees can learn continuously on the job. Modern learning enables employees to leverage advances in big data and machine learning to supplement their skills, a concept known as augmented intelligence, rather than just artificial intelligence.

Freud famously defined human happiness as the ability to work and love. Ensuring that the rising tide of technology lifts employees instead of overwhelming them is greater than just a business imperative.

About Allego

Allego’s modern sales learning and readiness platform ensures that reps have the skills and timely knowledge to make the most of each selling situation. Instead of traditional onboarding and sales training marathons—which are rapidly outdated and quickly forgotten—sales enablement and training teams use Allego to deliver the fresh, bite-sized learning that reps need to close deals in

2 The Future of Work Whitepaper

today’s dynamic business environment. Content is personalized for individual sellers as well as their selling situations, and mastered through reinforcement, on-the-job coaching, and peer collabo-ration. Nearly 150,000 professionals use Allego to onboard faster, deliver consistent messaging, rapidly adopt best practices, coach and practice more frequently, and collaborate more effectively. For more information, visit www.allego.com.


Executive Summary

Major changes are expected to shape the workforce in the coming years. The adoption of new technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things will undoubt-edly affect how employees perform their jobs. Technologies such as these may take over a few tasks employees perform as part of their jobs—and, in some cases, jobs may be replaced entirely. Klaus Schwab (2016) estimates in The Fourth Industrial Revolution that 47 percent of total employ-ment in the United States is at risk of their roles being automated over the next two decades.

But with these predicted changes come new opportunities. The World Economic Forum (2019) estimates that the 1.37 million workers in the United States whose roles are expected to be fully dis-placed in the next decade may be reskilled to different roles. Additionally, technology is expected to bring new jobs to the workforce. The growing role of big data, for instance, is predicted to cause a shortfall of up to 250,000 data scientists in the United States in the next decade (Manyika 2017).

While it is difficult to predict the extent to which these changes will influence organizations across all industries, there is a clear need for talent development leaders to consider how their organiza-tion will be affected and start making plans to prepare their workforce.

In The Future of Work: Technology, Predictions, and Preparing the Workforce (hereafter, the Study), ATD examined how talent development leaders are preparing their workforce for the changes expected to come in the next five years.

For the purpose of the present Study, the following definition for the future of work was used:

Future of work refers to how advances in technology and transformations in the workplace will affect organizations and industries in broad, sweeping ways and on multiple levels over the next five years.

Technology advances include big data, artificial intelligence, automation, the Internet of Things, and 3-D printing. Potential organizational consequences may include creating or eliminating jobs, changes in job roles, changing busi-ness models, competition from new industries, changes in customer needs, or changes in market performance.


The Study also used the following definitions when referring to specific technologies:

• Big data: extremely large data sets that are too big or complex for tra-ditional data software to process (such as data from companies, sen-sors, governments, and social media).

• Artificial intelligence (AI): computers and devices capable of per-forming tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as speech recognition, decision making, and visual perception.

• Automation: the use of electronic devices that function automatically, without manpower.

• Internet of Things (IoT): everyday items embedded with software or sensors that share data over the Internet (such as smart thermostats, smart security systems, and wearable technologies like health trackers).

• 3-D printing: manufacturing a three-dimensional object from a digital model.

ATD Research surveyed 444 individuals about their organization’s preparations for the future of work, including plans their leadership has made, technologies their organizations are using, and how these technologies are being used. Just 24 percent of respondents believed their organization’s workforce was well pre-pared for the future of work in terms of skills needed.

The Study identified several practices associated with improved future-readiness. Future-ready orga-nizations were significantly more likely than all other organizations to have formal discussions about the future of work.

At nine out of 10 organizations, leaders are involved in formal meetings or discussions about the future of work. This speaks to the key role leaders play in preparing employees for what’s to come.

“You can never underestimate the importance of leaders who know how to communicate with impact,” says Adrian Stevens, vice president of learning and professional development at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), an information technology company that provides enterprise products and services. “Leaders need to take responsibility for developing their bench strength while also helping to support their people in developing the skills they need to become ready for future responsibilities.”

24%of organizations have a workforce that is well prepared for the future of work.


One way organizations have begun preparing for the future of work is by adopting new technolo-gies. Nearly half of organizations (49 percent) have already acted on plans to begin using, experi-menting with, or developing new technologies. The Study found that organizations are currently most likely to be using big data and the Internet of Things.

The Study also identified how use of technologies was expected to grow in the next year. Big data was expected to see the biggest increase, with 26 percent of respondents reporting that their or-ganization will increase their use in the next year. Automation will also see an increase, as reported by 20 percent of respondents.

ATD Research also held discussions with talent development executives about how their organi-zations were preparing for the future of work, how they expected technologies to influence their workforce, misconceptions about the future of work, and other topics. These executives offered advice and recommendations for how talent development leaders can better prepare their organi-zation and workforce for the changes ahead.

Section 3 of the Study includes detailed interviews with the following individuals:

• Tara Deakin, Chief Talent and Development Officer, TD Bank Group

• Tamar Ekleles, Chief Human Resources Officer, XCOM

• Dana Alan Koch, Global Lead of Learning Research and Innovation, Accenture

• Adrian Stevens, Vice President of Learning and Professional Development, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).


Whitepaper

While much is still unknown about how technology advances will affect organizations in the next five years, there are certainly ways talent development leaders can ensure their workforce is ready to meet these challenges.

“We have a lot of forces that are happening externally,” says Tamar Elkeles, chief human resources officer at XCOM (a wireless technology company). “But we have a big responsibility and an oppor-tunity to embrace technology, to look for ways to have human-machine partnerships, and to look for ways to engage our workforce to continue to add value and develop themselves.”

Indeed, engaging, developing, and retaining talent will continue to be crucial for talent develop-ment professionals as they help employees navigate change. As the Study shows, however, there are also specific practices associated with future-readiness that may help talent development pro-fessionals further increase their preparedness.

About the Research

The Study surveyed talent development professionals with knowledge of their organization’s strat-egy for the future of work. About three-quarters of respondents were managers and above.

Respondents were most likely to come from organizations with between 500 and 9,999 employ-ees. About a third (34 percent) were from organizations with fewer than 500 employees, and 26 percent were from organizations with 10,000 or more employees.

Future Readiness

Overall, most respondents thought that in five years’ time their organization would be perform-ing the same as or better than most competitors. Just under half of respondents (46 percent) be-lieved their organization would perform better than most of their competitors in five years (Figure 1). Equally as many thought their organization would be about the same as most competitors. Just 9 percent felt their organization would fare worse than most competitors.


FIGURE 1:Competitive Outlook How competitive do you think your organization will be relative to its competitors and industry in five years?

Better than most competitors

About the same as most competitors

Worse than most competitors45+45+109%

46%

46%

Respondents were less optimistic when considering how prepared their workforce would be in terms of the skills needed. While 24 percent of respondents thought their workforce would be well prepared, the majority (69 percent) said their workforce would be somewhat prepared, and 7 percent predicted their workforce would be not at all prepared (Figure 2).

Respondents who predicted their organization would perform better than most competitors and that their organization’s workforce would be well-prepared were considered employees of future-ready organizations. This Study often compares the practices of these organizations with those of all other organizations to identify practices associated with future-readiness.


FIGURE 2:Skills Outlook How prepared do you think your organization’s workforce will be (in terms of skills that are needed) in the next five years?

Well prepared

Somewhat prepared

Not at all prepared24+69+77%

24%

69%

Key Findings

Some key findings of the Study are:

• More than half of respondents (57 percent) reported that individuals in their organization have had informal discussions about the future of work. Nearly as many (55 percent) re-ported that individuals in their organization have discussed the future of work formally. The Study found that future-ready organizations were significantly more likely to have had for-mal discussions about the future of work (p < 0.01).

• Three preparation practices were significantly correlated to future-ready organizations (p < 0.01):

» developing working groups to discuss or plan for the future of work

» having internal or external experts talk about the future of work at meetings or events

» paying for outside conferences or classes on the future of work.

• Big data was the technology most likely to already be in use, according to 46 percent of respondents. This was followed by the Internet of Things (38 percent) and automation (33 percent).


This report often notes whether the difference between two groups was significant at a level of p < 0.01 or p < 0.05. A significance of p < 0.05 implies a less than 5 percent probability that the difference was a result of chance, and one can be 95 percent confident the results represent a statistically significant relationship. At a level of p < 0.05, it would be very likely to observe the same results if the research were repeated. A significance of p < 0.01 implies a 1 percent probability that the difference is a result of chance.


Conclusion and Recommendations

While most respondents thought their organizations would perform about the same as or better than most competitors in five years, they were less confident about the state of their workforce. With 24 percent of respondents predicting that their workforce would be prepared in the next five years in terms of the skills that are needed, it is clear that most organizations have some planning to do to ensure their workforce is prepared for the future of work.

Recommendations

Based on the findings of the Study and interviews with talent development leaders, ATD Research offers the following recommendations.

Have Formal Discussions About Preparing for the Future of WorkThe Study found that future-ready organizations were significantly more likely than non-future-ready organizations to have formal discussions about the future of work. Other practices associ-ated with future-ready organizations included developing working groups to discuss or plan for the future of work and having internal or external experts talk about the future of work at meetings or events.

These discussions can help leaders start thinking about what organizational changes may need to be made for the next several years.

“Challenging yourself to make talent decisions today based on future needs versus current needs is paramount,” says Tara Deakin. “What I sometimes see in the talent or HR space is people who as-sume all the old tactics will continue to apply in the future. Fundamentally, technology is changing the landscape for talent, so we must adapt as well.”

Identify Reskilling NeedsTalent development professionals should consider what jobs may be affected by automation or organizational change, and look for other internal positions employees in those roles may be suit-ed for. Accenture’s reskilling team identified affected roles and held one-on-one interviews with each employee in that role. Through this process, employees were given the option to reskill to


transition into different roles in the company. TD Bank Group, meanwhile, identified employees whose jobs were at risk of being automated and used capability mapping to pair these employees with different roles within the organization based on their skills and experience.

Develop Employees in Future SkillsWith automation predicted to take over some of the routine tasks that employees perform, Dana Alan Koch believes that soft skills will continue to grow in importance.

“Teach people uniquely human skills, like complex problem solving and habit formation,” Koch says. “Give them opportunities to teach each other, teach them how to learn, and set the precedent about how we can continue to be relevant as we grow skills.” Other future skills Koch’s research identified include curiosity, storytelling, creativity, and emotional intelligence.

Adrian Stevens recommends using a simple question to start the process. “One of the things we encourage is starting with ‘How might we?’” he says. “As these challenges arise, whether it’s to solve a problem, to tackle a stretch assignment, or to begin to reskill, if we can encourage our people to start with ‘How might we?’ The question helps tap into their levels of creativity and fast tracks the surfacing of ideas to embrace something new and something that’s a little bit different.”

Focus on Culture to Retain and Engage TalentWith change on the horizon, one of the most important steps talent development professionals can take is ensuring their organization has a culture that drives employee engagement.

“The ability to engage our people and create a climate that they are going to be able to enjoy and thrive in despite all the change is going to be vital for any organization,” says Adrian Stevens.

Focusing on developing a culture around engagement can help retain employees and make them feel comfortable with the changes ahead.

“There are forces that are under our control and there are forces that are not,” says Tamar Elkeles. “It’s important for us to understand what we can control. Some of the market demand is out of our hands; we can’t control that. But a lot of the pieces around culture and engagement, we can. Those are elements that we, as talent professionals, can leverage, ensuring that we’re engaging people and creating environments where people want to stay.”


References

ATD (Association for Talent Development). 2014. Big Data, Better Learning? How Big Data Is Affecting Organizational Learning. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

-----. 2016. Building a Culture of Learning: The Foundation of a Successful Organization. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

-----. 2018a. Personalized and Adaptive Learning: Shaping Employee Development for Engage-ment and Performance. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

-----. 2018b. Upskilling and Reskilling: Turning Disruption and Change Into New Capabilities. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

-----. 2019. Is the LMS Dead? Learning Management Technology in Today’s Organizations. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Bersin, J., J. Mariani, and K. Monahan. 2016. Will IoT Technology Bring Us the Quantified Employ-ee? The Internet of Things in Human Resources. Deloitte University Press. www2.deloitte .com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/people-analytics-iot-human-resources/ER_3104 _IoT_Human-capital_vFINAL.pdf.

Carson, B. 2017. Learning in the Age of Immediacy: 5 Factors for How We Connect, Communi-cate, and Get Work Done. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Jesuthasan, R., and J. Boudreau. 2018. Reinventing Jobs: A 4-Step Approach for Applying Auto-mation to Work. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Manyika, J. 2017. “Technology, Jobs, and the Future of Work.” McKinsey Global Institute. www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/technology-jobs-and -the-future-of-work.

Pew Research Center. 2018. “Millennials Are the Largest Generation in the U.S. Labor Force.” www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/11/millennials-largest-generation-us-labor-force.

Vazquez, E., M. Passaretti, and P. Valenzuela. 2016. “3D Opportunity for the Talent Gap: Additive Manufacturing and the Workforce of the Future.” Deloitte, March 24. www2.deloitte.com /insights/us/en/focus/3d-opportunity/3d-printing-talent-gap-workforce-development.html.


Schwab, K. 2016. The Fourth Industrial Revolution. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.

World Economic Forum. 2019. Towards a Reskilling Revolution: Industry-Led Action for the Future of Work. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum.


Acknowledgments

ATD gratefully acknowledges the following subject matter experts for their time, insights, and expertise.

• Tara Deakin, Chief Talent and Development Officer, TD Bank Group

• Tamar Elkeles, Chief Human Resources Officer, XCOM

• Dana Alan Koch, Global Lead of Learning Research and Innovation, Accenture

• Adrian Stevens, Vice President of Learning and Professional Development, Hewlett Pack-ard Enterprise (HPE)

ATD also acknowledges the members and leaders of the following groups for their contributions.

The ATD Forum is a consortium of more than 50 companies that provides a confidential environment for the exploration and sharing of innovative talent development practices to generate business results for our members. The Forum co-creates innovative learning and fosters exclusive relationships that affect organi-

zational results, while leading and giving back to the profession. The Forum partners with member organizations to host learning labs to explore and collaborate on challenges and opportunities faced by the industry. Learn more at www.td.org/forum.

CTDO Next is a private, invite-only network connecting the world’s top talent development executives who are shaping the future of the profession. CTDO Next operates as a think tank exploring the implications of emerging ideas and practices such as artificial intelligence, the future of measurement and analytics,

the responsibility of talent development in the adoption of new technology, and the future of learning and work. Learn more at ctdonext.td.org.


About the Author and Contributors

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s larg-est professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees, improve perfor-

mance, and achieve results for the organizations they serve. Originally established in 1943, the as-sociation was previously known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).

ATD’s members come from more than 120 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD supports talent development professionals who gather locally in volunteer-led U.S. chapters and international member networks, and with international strategic partners. For more information, visit www.td.org.

ATD’s researchers track trends, inform decisions, and connect research to practice and perfor-mance. By providing comprehensive data and insightful analyses, ATD’s research products, which include research reports, briefs, infographics, and webcasts, help business leaders and talent de-velopment professionals understand and more effectively respond to today’s fast-paced industry.

Shauna Robinson is the research analyst for ATD and served as the author of this report.

Maria Ho is the manager of ATD research services and served as an editor for this report. She provides oversight and direction for all of

ATD’s internal and external, industry specific, and market research services.

Melissa Jones is the manager of ATD Press and served as an edi-tor for this report. She edits and manages the production process

for ATD research reports and books.

Shirley E.M. Raybuck is a designer for ATD and served as the designer for this report.


Appendix: Survey Overview

Target Survey Population

The target population for this Study was talent development professionals from organizations of various sizes and industries. Overall, 444 unique participants completed the survey.

Survey Instrument

The survey was composed of 33 questions, including those focused on the demographics of the participants.

Procedure

ATD Research distributed a link to an online survey to the target population in November 2018. The survey closed several weeks later. Online and telephone interviews with subject matter experts were conducted in December 2018.


Developing New ManagersDeveloping New Managers: Key Elements for Success is a new examination of first-time manager development. The Study found that many organizations were achieving strong results in developing new leaders; further, most participating organizations offered struc-tured development programs or individual training assets specifically for new managers. However, it also revealed issues and missed opportunities that could, if constructively ad-dressed, enable talent development professionals to better prepare first-time managers for the challenges they face. The report looks at first-time people managers, sales managers, and technical managers. For more information, visit www.td.org/newmanagers.

2019 State of Sales TrainingThe 2019 State of Sales Training focused not only on benchmarking organizations’ annual sales training expenditures, but also on identifying best practices of high performing organi-zations. In addition, the report examined the barriers to effective sales training, distribution of annual sales training content hours, and delivery methods, as well as the distribution of annual budget and frequency of sales training. Included are insights and recommendations from subject matter experts on how sales training professionals can overcome key chal-lenges to improve their efforts. For more information, visit www.td.org/sales2019.

Is the LMS Dead?Is the learning management system (LMS) dead? Of course not, but the question has been asked across industry media time and again, raising hackles and fueling debate among talent development professionals and learning technology providers. Is the LMS Dead?: Learning Management Technology in Today’s Organizations reports on the current state of the LMS and its prevalence: 83 percent of surveyed learning professionals confirmed current LMS use. For more information, visit www.td.org/LMSReport.

Emerging TalentIn Emerging Talent: Developing Early Career Employees, ATD Research found that most organizations aren’t effectively developing emerging talent. In fact, just 12 percent of participants reported that their organizations were highly effective at career development for emerging talent. This report examines how talent development professionals navigate the challenges associated with emerging talent, as well as how TD professionals can better work with emerging talent to help them accomplish their career goals. For more information, visit www.td.org/emergingtalent.

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2019 ATD Research Topics

• State of the Industry, 2019• Developing New Managers• The Future of Work• 2019 State of Sales Training• 2019 State of Finance Training

• 2019 Healthcare Survey• 2019 TD Salary Report• Global Trends in Talent Development• Measurement and Evaluation

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© 2019 by astd dba association for talent …...• big data: extremely large data sets that are...

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