Employees expenses form the biggest expense in every organisation’s budget. And business leaders recognise that. After all, employees form the arms and legs of the business – conducting research and development, marketing and selling products or services, and running the day-to-day operations. In today’s dynamic business world, this same workforce holds the key to growth and innovation opportunities for the business.
As businesses move into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where the fusion of technologies blur the lines between digital, physical, and biological worlds, organisations need to engage its existing workforce in order to capitalise on this opportunity. In fact, talent and technology are inseparable.
Workers are constantly up-skilling and cross-skilling
Technological advancements have shaped the way organisations function today. In order to keep up with the latest technology trends, workers need to equip themselves with new skills or risk losing their jobs to automation. This change in the workplace environment has also created a paradigm shift in terms of workers’ career development. Gone are the days where workers rely on organisation’s training programmes to grow and advance in their career. In fact, workers today are seen as hungry and eager to pick up new skills in order to remain relevant in today’s competitive talent market. Statistics from BCG’s Decoding Global Talent report shows that 68% of workers globally are ready to retrain to new careers to stay competitive. This thirst for knowledge and new skill sets offer workers fresh ideas and new connections in which they could potentially bring to the business.
Workers today heavily influence the trajectory and trend of the business
Business leaders today are increasingly placing more emphasis on building a strong employee value proposition and creating high engagement levels. Numerous research had shown that a robust and well-communicated employee value proposition translates to a highly-engaged workforce and builds a strong employer brand. Take for example, Merck, which has been consistently recognised as one of the best places to work in, garnering numerous accolades including Glassdoor’s 2021 ​​Employee’s Choice Award and Forbes’ 2021 America’s Best Employers. It has built a strong employee value proposition along with comprehensive benefits to its employees, such as paid parental leave, year-end shutdown days, and a global recognition program.
Similarly, an engaged workforce generally stays with the organisation longer and delivers a healthy level of commitment for the business. These group of engaged workers are likely to be the ones that contribute to the sustained long-term growth of the business.
Workers today are more empowered to make critical business decisions
Open and transparent communication within the workplace is critical to the growth of the business as it encourages the exchange of new, fresh and innovative ideas. And gone are the days where workers keep opinions to themselves out of fear or embarrassement. Workers today feel more empowered to voice out their opinions and feedback in order to influence business decisions. After all, workers themselves are the ones who have to bear the effects of these business decisions. When employees feel empowered to make critical business decisions, this creates diversity in terms of ideas and solutions that cater to the entire workforce.