The Changing Nature of Work: 30 signals to consider for a sustainable future

SIGNAL 16. New measures of success

The future of work will not just require transforming the way people work and define jobs, but also different ways of measuring and understanding what constitutes success on different levels, namely individual and corporate.

According to a 2017 McKinsey study, 50 percent of workforce activities are technically automatable by adapting currently demonstrated technologies. In its report, World Economic Forum (WEF) argues that 65 percent of children entering primary school today will ultimately work in completely new job types that do not yet exist. Today's children will probably be engaged in self-crafted, human-centred jobs that are currently unknown, but it is hoped that these jobs will not be tedious and will be enjoyable. To be successful at what they do in the future, people will need to rely not only on traditionally defined intelligence (i.e. IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ), but also on global intelligence (GQ) and digital intelligence (DQ). People will be focusing more on skill sets than on roles, and will need to work constantly on self-improvement, reskilling and necessary upskilling to be competitive in the labour market. Mastering compassion, connection, collaboration, curiosity, critical thinking and creativity will be necessary for a successful individual – someone who will also need to navigate machines that are good at processing algorithms.

Future jobs will contribute to transforming business ecosystems where the focus on productivity will be replaced by a new standard for business metrics – performance\. For example, more companies will focus more on results or outputs of their workers than on working hours spent carrying out specific tasks. Since outputs will be connected to performance, this will also encourage the establishment of a trust culture where employees will trust and be trusted. Furthermore, this will foster accountability and a sense that the workers are part of something more significant, such as the company's visions and goals.

According to McKinsey, many companies make the mistake of focusing too much on the costs and ignore the potential of new technologies to generate new revenue. Honest reflection will be needed on the capacity and quality of organizations’ learning and development units, and on the broader health of employees, notably its employee value proposition, in order to transform itself quickly. There will be an increase in new ways of measuring success and the impact of business ecosystems that go far beyond financial values. This is because redefined business success will increasingly consider the total societal impact, which consists of six dimensions – environmental sustainability, societal enablement, accessibility and inclusion, economic value, lifetime well-being, and ethical capacity. All of these dimensions are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Check out the next signal, #17: Social protection.

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The Changing Nature of Work: 30 signals to consider for a sustainable future

Work helps sustain livelihoods and largely determines the quality of life. Its changing nature is at the frontier of development. This report is the result of a broad horizon scanning by six UNDP Accelerator Labs across Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States.  They reveal 30 signals that shape the “where, who, how, and why” of the changing nature of work. From the impact of COVID-19 on the workforce to new work models and entrepreneurial ecosystems, the authors explore opportunities and threats, as well as solutions from local contexts that can be scaled up into positive answers to the challenges people around the world are facing.  Download the full report here.