Evolving to the Next Phase

A tip of the cap to Josh Bersin for his recent publication of the "Welcome to the Post-Industrial Age" report. It takes a deep dive into the macro economic trends in the last 100+ years that have led us here - to what he and his team have termed the Post-Industrial Age. It speaks to the skill shortage, an increased focus on the skills-based organization, that workers (AKA people) have the power, and HR orgs need to rethink their delivery model and philosophy. The thought leadership is clearly there. But I, as an HR executive am a bit uncertain on next tangible steps that I should be taking.

The report ends with 3 questions that companies need to ask themselves as we move from the Information Age to something entirely different (I am looking at you AI!):

1. Is your organization dynamic? Are you able to adapt, reorganize, and mobilize at speed?
2. Is your leadership ready? Do they understand the people issues and are they willing to lead with a human centered approach?
3. Is your HR organization taking the lead? Are they able to help you enable, train, and facilitate your move into the future?

Totally! Yes! Great questions. But now we need to bridge the gap from "hmm that is interesting" to "let's get to work."

And the work comes when the data necessary to answer these questions is acquired, structured, and optimized. But what data? The questions do not mention data. But as we all know, data underlies the rationale and outcomes behind any business decision. You should not have recommendations without data -- and you should not have data without recommendations.

So out of these questions, with the help of AI, I broke out 30 key additional questions that a company can answer along key data points that would be necessary to answer those questions. And this is where AI will have a major impact on services-led business - leveling-up ideas, structuring action plans, and injecting food-for-thought.

As with any good question, any answer will just leave you with more questions. But a curiosity mindset is necessary to uncover value in places where previously no value was conceived. You can create value within your organization by sourcing the data, using it to answer the questions below, and inventing solutions and deliverables that were previously undiscovered. Let's dive in.

Is your organization dynamic?

Is your leadership ready?

Is your HR organization taking the lead?

Of course, very few if any companies have these answers at the ready - especially in one place. However this does not preclude the above lists from being helpful in preparing you for the future. Which of these should you have at the ready? Where should you start developing processes and structures? Given your organization's value, what customer-focused solutions could be generated based upon the data you assemble?

Now is the time to make your company resilient to a dynamic environment - and to uncover new ways of generating value.