The New World of Work - A South African Story

Photo credit: Markus Winkler

It is an indisputable fact that the world of work changed irreversibly with the advent of the global pandemic in November 2019. Covid-19 resulted in many lives and livelihoods being lost, many businesses having to close their doors, many employees being laid off, many employees having to work short-time or staggered shift configurations, many employees having to work from home, or on a hybrid basis, and many employees having to change or reinvent their job roles and responsibilities.

The job role landscape has changed dramatically in the past eighteen months or so. In my article, Changing Global Job Role Landscapes, I wrote:

"...the pandemic, juxtaposed with the acceleration of AI globally, has resulted in a number of job roles becoming obsolete, having been replaced with so-called new norm employment categories, or roles.

Businesses around the world have had to shift their recruitment focus, seeking nowadays to harness the talents of AI specialists, robotic engineers and cyber security experts, roles that were largely non-existent a few years ago".

An interesting, if not concerning dynamic currently manifesting in South Africa is that with the gradual easing of Covid-19 related restrictions and regulations, more and more people are considering emigrating. This rather disturbing state of affairs will further exacerbate the already seriously low skill and talent pool levels in the country.

“More South Africans will likely quit their jobs and emigrate in the coming months", says Georgina Barrick, managing director at Network Contracting Solutions, AdvTech Resourcing Contracting Division.

“Events of the past 18 months have forced us all to rethink our futures – from what we want to do, to where we want to live and how we want to live our lives. In South Africa, the added worry of recent unrest is going to push some of our brightest talents to seek out opportunities offshore as the world reopens,” says Barrick.

Of course, not everyone either wants or is able to emigrate. Those who remain, however, have to realise that the new world of work is well and truly upon us and that there is no going back to the way things were prior to the pandemic.

“Whilst radical, dynamic, and ongoing changes create daily challenges for leadership, it’s also true that they present unique opportunities to recalibrate and move forward positively, with an understanding of the changes, challenges and the strategy that will be required,” says Barrick.

“Resilient and change-fit leaders will emerge victorious – and those trying to turn back the clock to the way that things were will undoubtedly flounder.”

Barrick outlined some of the clear trends emerging now, which show the new direction of the world of work.

High employee turnover

Employers need to brace for higher turnover in the short term. “As the pandemic wanes, pent up lag in the system will see many people quit, move jobs or emigrate,” says Barrick.

“Events of the past 18 months have forced us all to rethink our futures – from what we want to do, to where we want to live and how we want to live our lives. In South Africa, the added worry of recent unrest is going to push some of our brightest talents to seek out opportunities offshore as the world reopens.”

It is vital that employers ‘think outside of the box’ when retaining and accessing talent “...from how we can nurture our teams and make them feel valued right now, to changing our thinking about how, and from where, we access talent. As an example, changing cities or countries doesn’t have to mean changing jobs.”

Hybrid work model

The remote work model adopted in 2020 is slowly (but surely) being replaced by a hybrid home/office work model representing the best of both worlds. Challenges, however, remain for leaders, particularly in accepting a hybrid work model as the new status quo, and not just as a stopgap or pro tem solution.

“To make hybrid really work, the first step is for leaders to set clear, consistent boundaries that apply to all in order to avoid inequality, exclusion, division or unconscious bias”.

“Work also needs to be done on building the right culture for hybrid teams. A culture that uses technology and positive internal communication to align all team members and bring them together, irrespective of where they may be based”.

Finally, thought needs to go into creating ‘pull factors’ for office space to encourage social interaction and active engagement so that time spent in-office is about collaboration on team-based projects, while solo tasks that require more introspection or quiet time are done at home.

“Ultimately, hybrid work is about holding people accountable, without the need to micromanage”.

Shifting towards a flatter organisational structure

Spurred on by how technology has improved information flow, more companies are adopting flatter organisational structures and are enjoying the benefits of lower operational costs, improved communication, and increased motivation.

“The role of the leader is also changing. The idea of a ‘hero leader’ who holds all expertise and single-handedly leads the company is outdated. Successful leaders of the future are collaborative, change-agile, and adaptable. Instead of leading from the front, they believe that their role is to articulate the vision and inspire their teams to achieve”.

Need for continuous development

“Post-Covid, ongoing and rapid change, evolving technology and ever-increasing information will make continuous development a must, not only to outsmart the competition but also to fill inevitable skills gaps”.

“To be properly agile and adaptable, we need to gear continuous learning towards the right blend of hard and soft skills, developing traditional left-brained thinking (quantitative analysis and logic), while supporting and promoting right-brained thinking”.

“To succeed, we will need people who view the world differently and who can see what others can’t imagine”.

Evolution of a non-permanent workforce

“As turnover rises and the skills gap widens further, non-permanent workforces will become central to company talent strategies”.

Specialists who can deliver on short-term projects, deal with the issues of today, or supplement talent gaps, outside of the traditional permanent payroll, will be in demand”.

“Recently, we have seen an increase in requests from offshore companies looking to set up contracting teams in South Africa to deliver on global projects,” said Barrick.

“We predict that the need for ‘on-demand’ talent will continue to rise over the coming years as some companies expect that up to 40% of their total workforce could be non-permanent,” she added.

Sustainable pace is non-negotiable

“The hard truth is that the relentless challenges of the past 18 months have worn us all down. We’ve all had to gear up to cope and steer our business’ through recent storms, working long hours at a brutal pace. And, in the post-pandemic world, things are likely to be unstable and unpredictable for a while yet. Leading through a prolonged crisis is exhausting. Even time off work won’t substantially take the edge off pandemic stress” says Barrick.

“The only real long-term cure for an unsustainable pace is to create a sustainable pace. This means picking projects carefully, mastering the art of saying no, building time into your diary for downtime, and quitting things that aren’t working, early”.

The new world of work requires employers and employees alike to make paradigm shifts in their collective thinking, mindsets, behaviours, and attitudes. It also requires leaders to be change-agile, adaptive, receptive, inclusive, intuitive, resilient, and empathetic.

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