At the recent Future of Work Conference, a Whitepaper was released that included expert commentary from Rowena Barrett, Professor and Head, School of Management, QUT Business School.
The paper quoted a survey of over 5, 000 Australian professional workers and included the following findings:
54% indicated mundane and inefficient processes distracted them from more important tasks
61% would change jobs for less paperwork
75% said processing data into meaningful insights is the key to managing value.
83% of respondents considered productivity was slowed by outdated ways of working
87% said their organisations are moving to performance based management systems where outcomes are the key driver
100% indicated they would spend more time using technology if it was easier to use
I was personally encouraged as this evidence supported the views I have held for many years.
For almost 20 years I have successfully removed inefficient HR processes distracting people from more important tasks, replaced paperwork with web-based alternative processes, turned data into meaningful insights, helped remove outdated ways of working, implemented performance based review and assessment systems and have made the using technology easy.
My personal experience also matches the broader finding in the paper; that by addressing these issues significant business outcomes including increased productivity, profitability, engagement, retention and compliance can be achieved.
The Future of Work is already with us.
To me the only question is:- are you an early adaptor and will you be dragged screaming and kicking into the future?
I encourage you to be an early adaptor as getting dragged and kicked is painful!