Source: Accenture website. The image illustrates the essential skills needed for the workforce of the future, highlighting technical proficiency, adaptability, and problem-solving abilities.
A recent report by Accenture Strategy emphasizes that in the rapidly evolving digital world, CEOs need to prioritize reskilling their employees to ensure they remain competitive and adaptable.
The report, titled “Harnessing Revolution: Creating the Future Workforce,” argues that CEOs should prioritize their employees and place them at the center of transformation to build a successful workforce for the future.
This has significant implications for companies, workers, and society at large. Developing essential human skills like leadership, critical thinking, creativity, and emotional intelligence could significantly reduce job displacement from automation. A survey of 10,527 workers across ten countries, including Australia, India, Japan, and Turkey, combined with Accenture Strategy modeling, revealed that doubling the rate of relevant skills development could substantially decrease the number of jobs at risk from automation.
Ellyn Shook, Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer at Accenture, points out that “human” skills like leadership and creativity will remain essential, and successful companies will find the balance between leveraging technology and empowering their workforce. She highlights that workers are not just optimistic but understand the need for new skills, and digital tools can facilitate learning by integrating it into daily work.
The survey revealed that 84% of workers are optimistic about the impact of digital transformation on their jobs. More than two-thirds believe technologies like robotics, data analytics, and artificial intelligence will improve efficiency (74%), provide new skills (73%), and enhance work quality (66%).
87% of these workers anticipate parts of their jobs becoming automated within the next five years, with the percentage ranging from 93% for Millennials to 79% for Baby Boomers. Among those expecting automation, 80% foresee more opportunities than challenges in how it will shape their work experiences over the next five years.
Further Accenture research indicates that artificial intelligence alone could potentially double annual economic growth rates and increase labor productivity by up to 40% by 2035 in the 12 developed nations studied.
Furthermore, the values of today’s workforce necessitate a shift in the rewards, benefits, and support offered by companies. According to modeling by Accenture Strategy and Gallup, non-financial aspects like well-being, engagement, quality of life, and status are as important, if not more so, to employees than salary and benefits.
Mark Knickrehm, Group Chief Executive of Accenture Strategy, emphasizes that building the future workforce is the responsibility of every CEO. Leaders who prioritize their employees and understand the urgency of this task will be the ones who achieve significant growth and innovation.
Accenture Strategy offers several recommendations for leaders to navigate and shape the future workforce:
Accelerate Reskilling: Invest in both technical and human-centric skills, including creativity and judgment, across all levels of the organization, recognizing that 85% of workers are willing to dedicate personal time to learn new skills in the next six months.
- Leverage digital technologies for reskilling, such as wearable technologies that provide real-time support and intelligent software for personalized training recommendations.
Redesign Work: Create role-based, project-focused employment options to meet employee demands for diverse experiences and flexible work arrangements. Develop platforms that offer resources and services to both employees and freelancers to build a strong community and retain top talent.
Strengthen the Talent Pipeline: Address industry-wide skill gaps by supporting long-term, collaborative solutions, including public-private partnerships for widespread skills training. Collaborate with educational institutions to design curricula that develop relevant skills from the start of the talent pipeline.
Accenture used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods to analyze how responsive and responsible leadership can contribute to creating the future workforce. The research program involved a survey, econometric modeling, an index, and secondary research, supplemented by interviews with experts from universities, startups, corporations, and government organizations. The online survey was conducted from November 26 to December 9, 2016, and included 10,527 workers of varying skill levels and generations from the US, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Italy, India, Japan, and Turkey.