28 February 2008
How will tomorrow's employee behave?
Take a sneak peek into the future – 2028.
Personnel Today magazine is running a series of features looking 20 years into the future. One that might strike a chord with internal communicators is the magazine’s view of tomorrow’s employee, which could be a key driver of how internal communication operates in 2028.
Coffee anyone?
Speaking to the Hub earlier this week, Ian Pearson (pictured, right), futurologist with Futurizon advised that the nature of work will change dramatically, with many tasks currently performed by us being done by machines.
The good news for internal communicators, he says, is that the need for people skills will increase. Pearson thinks conventional office accommodation will change and is likely to be more in the form of “coffee bars”. “You’ll find a comfy spot to share time with people and discuss issues,” he says.
He also believes that current office-based staff will only travel if they have to meet people, but will work mostly from home.
The nature of work will change dramatically, with many tasks currently performed by us being done by machines.
Technology preferred over face-to-face communication?
“Internal communication is still likely to be dominated by briefings, which will probably come in text or video form,” Pearson says. “I’d expect a lot of video communications and we’re already seeing the use of Skype, webcams and video chats. You’d consider it the norm to have a video conversation.”
But he says there's good evidence that face-to-face communication will still be important and people will value it.
“The big screens we have all over the office will disappear and we’ll see much more convergence of mobile working,” Pearson says. “People won’t bother with desktop computers. Instead, they’ll use laptops and take them all over the house or on the road. In the long term, keyboards will be replaced by a projected image – a virtual keyboard.”
He adds, “Technology is getting better and cheaper all the time.” Thought recognition is also likely to be a possibility by 2028 and could be added into the communication mix. Imagine too, being able to bring a holographic representation of friends and colleagues into your living room. Or shrink a head up display onto your contact lenses.
More globalization, less full-timers
Most future watchers agree one of the biggest influencing factors on the world of work will be continued globalization. This will drive the need for people to be able to work flexibly across different cultures and languages.
The big question remains – which business ideology will be most dominant by 2028? The predicted rise of China and India (along with the other BRIC countries Brazil and Russia) to strong world business leaders could dramatically change the prevailing view of how internal communication is done.
Thought recognition is also likely to be a possibility by 2028 and could be added into the comms mix.
Indeed, will we still have the majority of our employees as full-time and salaried? People already want more flexibility in their lives, which might mean they choose to work for themselves and freelance for more than one organization. Could the days of the “9 to 5 employee” contracted to a single organization be over by 2028?
Have your say
Virtualization is already with us and many organizations have “virtual teams”. Real work and real learning are also regularly conducted in Second Life. Could we see Second Lifer internal communicators too?
Increasing numbers of Millennials (those entering the workforce from 2000 onwards) are currently joining organizations. They have very different expectations from internal communication – wanting it fast, wired, personalized, yet also networked. How will your organization respond to these needs going forward?
Discuss these issues with other comms practitioners by joining the Internal Comms Hub members' group on the Communicators' Network.
Other recommendations:
OPINION: India’s communication opportunities
A communicator's guide to Generation Y
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