Building organizations for the future: From designing the new organization to actively building it now!

Building business

The pace of change within organizations is operating at a break-neck speed. This week we take a brief look at Rewriting the rules of the digital age: 2017 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends

“Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate and these innovations have completely transformed the way we live, work and communicate.”
– Josh Bersin, principal and founder, Bersin by Deloitte,
Deloitte Consulting LLP

Just five years following its inception, this is the largest and most extensive Deloitte report to date. It includes a survey of more than 10,000 HR and business leaders across 140 countries and reveals new concepts for leading, motivating and training people.
“This workforce is changing. It’s more digital, more global, diverse, automation-savvy, and
social media- proficient. At the same time, business expectations, needs, and demands are evolving
faster than ever before.”

The 2017 report sends a very clear message that organizational success will increasingly depend on building teams of people, instead of the traditional structural hierarchy. Recruitment and talent acquisition are integral to this shift, with HR departments on the frontlines. Their challenge will be to meet the ever-growing demands for talent as the pace of change escalates. The report lists the 10 trends in order of importance; we take a look at the top two.

Trend 1. The Organization of the Future: Arriving now

This trend speaks to replacing the traditional corporate ladder and its chain of command with networks of teams, newly empowered to take action. What is particularly noteworthy about this top-rated trend is that last year’s survey placed the emphasis on designing the new organization; this has now progressed to actively building it. In other words, in one year, organizations have moved from addressing the planning process to actual implementation.
The report supplements each trend with a table that compares the “old rules” that have guided organizational life, with the “new rules” mandatory to move each respective trend forward. These new rules affirm both the survey results and the practices high-performance companies have already introduced. Here’s a sampling from the table for Trend 1, for example:

  • Old: Organized for efficiency and effectiveness,
  • New: Organized for learning, innovation and customer impact
  • Old: Roles and job titles clearly defined
  • New: Teams and responsibilities clearly defined but roles change

Trend 2. Careers and Learning: Real time, all the time

This trend is very much in the air at Corporate Class. Organizations are constantly looking for learning and training that enables employees to build skills that advance their careers. We know Millennials’ expectation is that employers must provide opportunities to learn and progress.
As a footnote to this observation, learning and development (L&D) was in fifth place in Deloitte’s 2016 survey and has now moved up to second position.
Old rules versus new:

  • Old: Careers go “up or out”
  • New: Careers go in every direction
  • Old: Managers direct careers for people
  • New: People find their career direction with help from leaders and others

For all of us engaged in training and coaching people for workplace advancement opportunities, Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends is a fascinating precursor of where our industry is headed: Talent acquisition, performance management, pushing the boundaries of leadership with young leaders, diversity – all are addressed in a very easy-to-read format. We encourage you to explore this insightful undertaking.
Here’s the introduction.
Or, download the pdf