Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to cause organisational restructuring amongst firms in the professional services, according to the newest report from global HR think-tank Reventure.
The Industry Insights report finds organisations in the legal, accounting, management and engineering services are just some of the sectors that will be impacted by increased AI presence.
Redefining the meaning and purpose of work for employees will be a crucial role for HR in the face of increasing automation and artificial intelligence, a global HR think tank says.
The latest Industry Insights report from Reventure looks at the challenges for HR strategies in five specific industries: professional services, tourism, education, healthcare, and aviation.
It stresses how important it is for people to value their work (and feel valued) during times of technological change, and suggests that the overall implications of the new wave of technology will have far-reaching financial and cultural effects.
For instance, AI in professional services employers, including HR management and recruitment consultants, will replace and streamline human effort, and require a shift to more technical expertise for competitive advantage in the legal fraternity.
According to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at Reventure, lawyers and accountants, for example, are likely to see entry-level roles such as paralegals and bookkeepers disappear with AI, leading to flatter organisational structures.
"There will also be changes to what organisations... look for in candidates and technological aptitude will be high on the list," he says.
HR solutions for 'meaningful' professions
However, the downside of a workplace centred on technological advances is the need to continually motivate people, the report says, and money will not be enough.
"Leaders need to be able to identify and articulate the way in which an individual employee's role contributes to the achievement of the common purpose," McMillan says.
"This includes fostering an understanding of how the individual's personal attributes, such as their interests, abilities, values and personality, uniquely equip them to do their work well.
"Employee satisfaction will be superficial if there is a lack of congruence between the outlined purpose and the internal realities of the workplace."
Encouraging employees to co-design their own purpose within the organisation requires a 'servant' style of leadership, the report notes, meaning leaders will need to demonstrate humility, and appreciate and communicate the value of employee contributions.
Industry-specific insights
n dedicated sections on the four other industries it covers, the report notes that health and aged care is undergoing regulatory changes, and faces ongoing staff shortages with an ageing workforce.
Its new environment requires a shift from government compliance to customer focus, and communicating and implementing these changes will ideally involve workers.
"Career construction is a key tool used to help individuals develop a narrative that identifies their purpose and sources of meaning at work," the report states.
Allowing the employee to be an author of their own career, and having a clear succession path will benefit retention and engagement, it says.
Meanwhile the most pressing issue in tourism and hospitality is its skills shortage, with an estimated 38,000 unfilled roles.
Recruiting the right candidates is about developing 'job landscapes' rather than job descriptions. This means creating a list of goals for each employee, and then examining how these interconnect with other staff goals, the report says.
Leadership training should also focus on the soft skills of transformational change.
The education and training sector is rapidly growing, and expected to increase by 12 per cent to 1.1 million workers in the next five years.
Four principles can assist in creating a healthy relationship framework within education: inclusion, development, engagement and life enhancement, the report says.
"This involves showing a genuine interest in the people around you at work and creating a culture of creativity where mistakes are allowed."
The report also notes that more innovation is required from state and territory departments as major employers, including carefully selecting teachers within a team for projects to ensure workers collaborate and learn from others with different skillsets, or encouraging 'workplace huddles' for short bursts of creative internal input to solve problems.
Finally, in aviation, workers should be regarded less as 'inputs' and more in terms of the 'whole relationship' in fostering a culture of respect.
Job crafting can give employees a greater sense of agency to redefine and reimagine their roles, for example by allowing them to make changes to their tasks, or reshape relationships by finding mentors or colleagues with complementary skills.
Three university graduates have developed an innovative use for artificial intelligence, just as professional services are being made aware of the wide-ranging impacts such technology presents to their industries.
University of Newcastle graduates Sahil Harriram, Nathan Bartlett and Luke De Bono recently launched their company Elite Robotics, following their development of an autonomous lawnmower.
Why will the current pyramid structure of companies likely face disruption?
Because Artificial intelligence (AI) will begin taking over the repetitive, mundane tasks from everyone’s job, according to the lead researcher at Reventure, Dr Lindsay McMillan.
Casual workers “put up and shut up” about workplace bullying because they are afraid of losing their jobs, according to a pilot study into bullying in the Australian hospitality industry.
Indeed, employees with insecure, casual employment were under increased pressure to tolerate bullying because they needed the work, according to Professor Michael Quinlan from the UNSWBusiness School.
A leading academic has called on employers to deliver greater workplace purpose to their employees, saying it drives not only engagement but also productivity.
“An employee that understands the organisation’s goals is more likely to enjoy coming to work which will lead to a positive workforce and organisational brand,” said Dr Lindsay McMillan.
The most effective approach for getting employees to promote their workplace is by aligning their role with the organisation’s narrative, according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at A future that works.
It’s McMillan’s belief that happy employees with purpose and meaning in their work will be the best advertisement any company could possibly hope for.
“Giving employees genuine purpose and meaning in the work negates the need for employee advocacy,” he said.
“An employee that understands the organisation’s goals is more likely to enjoy coming to work which will lead to a positive workforce and organisational brand.”
McMillan added that it is important that staff feel like they are valued and contributing to the goals of the business.
“If employees know how their role fits into the broader organisational objectives, they will be happier and more productive,” McMillan said.
“It may sound like a basic step – but it is surprising how often business leaders take this for granted, especially when the results are extremely beneficial.
“An employee that does not understand how they are contributing to a broader goal is more likely to be disengaged and unhappy in their job.
“This isn’t good for them or the reputation of the business.”
CASUAL workers are succumbing to bullying because they are afraid if they speak up, they will lose their job. A pilot study of the hospitality industry by University of NSW Business School finds workers who have insecure, casual employment are under greater pressure than permanent employees because they need to keep their shifts.
Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at human resources think tank Reventure, says workplace bullying is a major concern, as one in 10 workers in 2016 experienced verbal abuse or bullying.
“Bullying has a devastating effect on the mental health of victims, especially if their claims are being dismissed by senior management,” he says. “However, this new study has found that many casual employees are not even getting to the point of telling their managers.”
He says it is the responsibility of business leaders to create healthy workplace cultures and to not treat casual workers as second-class citizens.
“The casualisation of the workforce means more people have less job security, and that makes people afraid of making mistakes or stepping out of line, because they feel expendable,” he says.
“Regardless of what contract an employee has with an organisation, they need to be afforded an opportunity to have a meaningful and purposeful experience at work.”
In 2012, the cost of workplace bullying to the economy was estimated as being up to $36 billion a year.
Telstra Young Business Woman of the Year winner, Kester Black founder Anna Ross. Source: Supplied.
Head of workplace thinktank Reventure Lindsay McMillan says these kind of staff-inclusive plans can work, but only in cases where the engagement is genuine.
“This is all largely being driven by emerging generations that are saying, ‘my life is not just my work, it’s all my other interests’,” he says.
However, the challenge for businesses with a “startup culture” is the demands of the job might not be in line with a shorter work week or irregular hours.
“The counter point is companies are responding to the calls for flexibility as the best they can, but the overarching imperative is the job still needs to get done,” McMillan says.
This can result in the agreed upon system being betrayed, by either the employer, who piles on work when staff are supposed to be off the clock, or the worker, who can’t resist checking in even when they’re going over their allocated hours.
9 September 2017
Adelaide Advertiser Newspaper, Adelaide
Section: Careers • Article type : News Item
CASUAL workers are succumbing to bullying because they are afraid if they speak up, they will lose their job. A pilot study of the hospitality industry by University of NSW Business School finds workers who have insecure, casual employment are under greater pressure than permanent employees because they need to keep their shifts.
Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher at human resources think tank Reventure, says workplace bullying is a major concern, as one in 10 workers in 2016 experienced verbal abuse or bullying.
“Bullying has a devastating effect on the mental health of victims, especially if their claims are being dismissed by senior management,” he says. “However, this new study has found that many casual employees are not even getting to the point of telling their managers.”
He says it is the responsibility of business leaders to create healthy workplace cultures and to not treat casual workers as second-class citizens.
“The casualisation of the workforce means more people have less job security, and that makes people afraid of making mistakes or stepping out of line, because they feel expendable,” he says.
“Regardless of what contract an employee has with an organisation, they need to be afforded an opportunity to have a meaningful and purposeful experience at work.”
In 2012, the cost of workplace bullying to the economy was estimated as being up to $36 billion a year.
A pilot study of the Australian hospitality industry has found casual workers “put up and shut up” about workplace bullying, because they are afraid of losing their jobs.
Professor Michael Quinlan from UNSW Business School found employees with insecure, casual employment were under increased pressure to tolerate bullying because they needed the work.
Have you ever stopped to think about what your digital footprint says about you? What story does the lineage of images, posts and conversations you’ve had over the years on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram… the seemingly endless list of social channels most of us exist play on… how has our engagement on them shaped the way we are viewed by those who know us, those who don’t and some who may be looking to in the near future.
It’s no secret too that happy staff make for a better work environment, are more productive and are ultimately committed to the cause. And the flow on from that can often be even more powerful. The collective ‘story’ that your staff tell about your business is often the biggest determinant of brand sentiment in market. There is no more powerful brand advocate than those who work within the organisation day in and day out. They, willingly or not, are living and breathing representatives of your narrative… and to the earlier point, those stories are now playing out in so many ways and on so many different platforms. Imagine the reach if every one of your staff shared the business' inspiring story on every platform, every day!
A study of the Australian hospitality industry has found casual workers are fearful of reporting bullying to their bosses because they are afraid of losing their jobs. With more an more people entering casual jobs, and as traditional workplace roles change, this is a significant concern.
Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher of global HR think-tank Reventure said workplace bullying is a major concern, with one in ten workers having experienced verbal abuse or bullying in 2016.
“Bullying has a devastating effect on the mental health of victims especially if their claims are being dismissed by senior management,”he said.
Casual workers “put up and shut up” about workplace bullying because they are afraid of losing their jobs, according to a pilot study into bullying in the Australian hospitality industry.
Indeed, employees with insecure, casual employment were under increased pressure to tolerate bullying because they needed the work, according to Professor Michael Quinlan from the UNSW Business School.
Moreover, Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher of Reventure, said that workplace bullying is a major concern, with one in ten workers having experienced verbal abuse or bullying in 2016.
“Bullying has a devastating effect on the mental health of victims especially if their claims are being dismissed by senior management,” said Dr McMillan.
Nearly one-fifth of US workers say their workplace is hostile or threatening, according to new research.
The study, which was co-authored by Harvard Medical School, surveyed 3066 US workers, but these findings are largely consistent with the situation in Australia.
A “disturbingly high” number of workers in the US have reported working in hostile or threatening workplaces and these findings are largely consistent with the situation in Australia.
The US study found nearly one in five workers say they face a hostile or threatening environment at work, which can include sexual harassment and bullying.
Workplace stress is the great scourge of modern society, with too much research showing just how prevalent it is. But although stress is increasing, there are plenty of steps leaders can take to ensure stress levels at their workplace remain low.
Reventure Australia is a think tank that conducts research and stimulates public debate about workplace matters. Managing director Dr Lindsay McMillan, a respected Australian academic, leads its research program.
Research that he conducted in 2016 found that the way we work is changing, largely as a result of a more interconnected global economy and the ever-increasing rate of complexity at work.
According to Reventure Australia’s research, more than half of all Australian workers agree increasing change and complexity at work are leading to job dissatisfaction and more frequent high levels of stress at work.
Microchipping employees for greater work performance would be the ultimate micromanagement, according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher and campaign director of a future that works at HR think-tank Reventure.
“Microchip implants are used to replace swipe cards or keys, but having one for work means your employer could have a digital record of all your movements,” said Dr McMillan.
“It is vitally important that workers don’t feel pressured to adopt drastic and invasive measures such as microchipping.”
Microchipping employees for greater work performance would be the ultimate micromanagement, according to Dr Lindsay McMillan, lead researcher and campaign director of a future that works at HR think-tank Reventure.
“Microchip implants are used to replace swipe cards or keys, but having one for work means your employer could have a digital record of all your movements,” said Dr McMillan.
“It is vitally important that workers don’t feel pressured to adopt drastic and invasive measures such as microchipping.”
Global HR think-tank Reventure discovered that 77 per cent of millennials “are looking for purpose and meaning in their employment.” Damn straight we do. So where exactly can this meaning be found? Is it a particular career path, or a state of mind?
Reventure’s lead researcher Dr Lindsay McMillan reckons that we shouldn’t even call them mentors anymore, because what millennials in the workforce need is so much more. Instead, he suggests that we find a ‘meaning maker’.
“Meaning makers are more than just mentors,” he says. “They are in the workplace and they are the people who can say ‘This is why we exist as an organisation and this is why it matters. A lot of people gain valuable knowledge and advice from a good mentor, but it’s not your mentor’s role to then say, ‘Okay, how does that fit into your life goals and your personal mission?’”
