Reinventing jobs

Technology, digital media and robotics are transforming the world of work and jobs as we know it today - 65% of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist.

This means a challenge for organizations as they grapple with new ways of working and organizations need to undergo a radical shift in how their talent and work are organized.

The challenge is to understand how to add value to the organizations beyond a specific set of tasks and to constantly retool as work evolves.

At Willis Towers Watson, we are committed to understanding and helping shape the future of work and helping organizations work in ways that enable it.

Moving beyond the hype

To start applying automation, an organization should begin by deconstructing the work and identifying activities that can be automated. It’s also critical to define the problems automation can help solve. Will automation be used to reduce errors, increase productivity or transform a body of work?

Identify the target roles

Think about the broad roles you can deconstruct in order to leverage alternative ways of working in order to fill roles in talent shortage.

Analyze and deconstruct

This is an opportunity to define key activities and outputs of the job by thinking about the nature of the work, considering time allocation, costs and value of the work.

Review results and risk

Consider the risks of doing this work internally versus externally against the benefits of getting this work done through new ways of working.

Assess work alternatives

This is an opportunity to conduct research into feasibility of alternatives, documenting outputs in terms of speed, cost and risk associated with each recommendation.

Reconstruct the work

Think about how activities can be allocated going forwards and map out the path while recognizing that a transition period may be needed.

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People strategies that reflect the nuances of how work gets done are more likely to realize the benefits of automation alongside an engaged and empowered workforce. Leaders who involve employees in how work gets done in the future are most likely to land on the optimal mix of robotics, AI and people.”

Julie Gebauer | Global Head of Human Capital and Benefits