Is your workforce future-proof? Here is what you need to know

The global business market has undergone a paradigm shift due to technological innovations such as Automation, IoT, AI, robotics, etc. As a result, businesses need to balance the pace of change in the workplace effectively.  

This raises some important questions –

What actions can businesses take to build the workforce of the future?

How can companies increase the chances of business survival?

How to stay ahead of the competition and meet global market demands?

Well, futureproofing the workforce is one of the best ways to remain agile and open to change in today’s disruptive environment. For that, organizations must build a continuous learning culture where they can encourage and engage employees in training/upskilling activities.

This will empower the workforce to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced world and position the organization for long-term success.

In this post, we have compiled the best strategies to help your organization survive and thrive in the future of work. Let’s get started.

Significance of future-proofing your workforce

Building a future-ready workforce should be a top priority for companies. Whether it is market disruption, emerging technologies, or new business objectives, future-proofing helps organizations blend well with the changes that occur over time. 

Here are some reasons –

• Adapting to new challenges

Futureproofing the employees will prepare them to face uncertain circumstances and adapt to the various trends. This will also enable them to respond quickly and flexibly to opportunities and challenges. 

• Technological flexibility

Emerging technologies like AI, ML, virtual reality, blockchain, etc., constantly evolve, resulting in new opportunities and innovations. As a result, futureproofing the workforce on the latest trends will make them stay relevant and up-to-date. Thereby gaining a competitive edge.

• Retain top performers

Top-performing employees often leave the organizations when they feel work stagnancy, lack of opportunities, no recognition, poor culture fit, etc. Future-proofing allows them to improve their skills, work on diverse projects, take up new roles, etc., eventually enhancing their engagement and retention. 

• Reduce costly hiring

Hiring or replacing employees is an expensive task. Therefore, future-proofing creates a win-win situation, driving employee engagement while securing the organization’s talent pool. Moreover, it saves a lot of time, money, and resources. 

Follow the below strategies to put your employees in the lead and ensure your business is ready for whatever comes next.

Five best practices to future-proof the resources

Before we go into details, try answering the questions below – 

• What kind of skills does your organization need in the next five years?
• Does your firm have a digital-savvy workforce to embrace new ways of working?
• How are you going to bridge the existing skill gaps?

If you don’t have proper answers to these questions, here are five practical ways to make your organization future-ready –  

• Predict future project demand and gauge the required skill set

Managers should track pipeline projects and estimate future project demand to raise timely resource requests. Based on the request, the resource manager can assess the pool to identify and evaluate the availability of these competencies. In case of skill shortages, they can create a plan to bridge it and fulfill the project demand. Thus, without a thorough understanding of the skill set required to meet the demand, organizations may end up allocating wrong fit resources.

• Conduct upskilling/retraining programs

Once the skills gap is identified, managers can create a customized strategy or Individual Development Plan (IDP) to upskill the workforce. It helps organizations close the talent gap while creating employee learning opportunities. In addition, firms can also implement other training methods such as – peer-to-peer coaching, online courses, reverse mentoring, blended learning, etc. to impart specific knowledge and skills. 

• Provide on-the-job training and shadowing options

Organizations can provide on-the-job training opportunities to the bench employees to increase the retention rate and billability. Additionally, an active shadowing program is an excellent way for new employees to gain exposure and grow within the organization. Such practices would help organizations train underperformers rather than firing them.  

• Enable cross-departmental and job rotation opportunities

When employees are given the same type of work or feel the monotony of the job, it will reduce their morale and demotivate them. Therefore, providing job rotation and cross-departmental opportunities regularly enables the workforce to leverage their skills in multifaceted projects. It also helps maximize their capabilities while preventing boredom and disinterest. In addition, such a work environment can help employees learn new skills and gain a more comprehensive experience.

• Proactive allocation of rolled-off resources

Once a project gets over, the rolled-off resources spend their time on the bench leading to lesser ROI, low employee morale, productivity issues, etc. To overcome this, managers can foresee projects that have completed the execution phase and have reached a closing stage. This will help them predict the ramp-down activities and proactively assign resources to billable and strategic work before they hit the bench. This practice significantly reduces the bench time and ensures competent allocation. 

Now, let’s see how a resource management tool is handy for organizations to make the workforce future-ready.

How does resource management software help to future-proof the workforce?

Saviom’s Resource Management Software entails advanced components such as forecasting, capacity planning, scheduling, etc. that help future-proof the resources. 

Managers can use the forecasting capability of the tool to foresee future project demands like the role, skillset, competencies, etc. Then, they can analyze resource capacity vs. demand report to identify if they have adequate resources to fulfill the requirement. Accordingly, they can implement the right resourcing measures to gauge the gap, such as upskilling and retraining.  

In addition, the tool provides 360-degree visibility of enterprise resources and their various attributes such as skills, experience, etc. This will enable managers to personalize IDPs and develop an effective training strategy. 

Besides, resource managers can use the robust tool to obtain ‘people on the bench’ reports and get insights into the resources that are not appropriately utilized due to a mismatch or lack of skills. They can train or upskill them to future-proof and make the resources billable.   

Conclusion

In the modern era of rapidly shifting employee expectations and market uncertainties, future-proofing the resources should be a top priority for organizations. The above practices will help futureproof your business and cater to evolving market demands and trends when coupled with a resource management tool. This will also enhance the productivity of your workforce and ensure the sustainability of an organization