From nearly every angle, the world of work is changing. Businesses are focused now more than ever on achieving a truly agile state, driving executive leaders to undergo digital transformation efforts as a way to spark value across people, processes, and data management. In addition, a Future of Work-driven “talent shift” is contributing to new human capital strategies, especially as both digital staffing and the continued rise of non-employee labor serve as catalysts for flexible talent acquisition approaches. And, as demographical changes dictate how companies execute long-term workforce planning, the pressure is on the contemporary business to adapt to these transformative shifts in how work is done. Otherwise, they risk being unable to thrive in the globalized, future state of work.
**The “Big Shift” and the Future of Work **
The world of work is in the midst of a transformational shift that spans the scope of talent, technology, and transformative enterprise thinking. For years, businesses across the globe functioned on traditional modes of operation, from full-time equivalent (FTE)-based workforces to a heavy reliance on manual-led processes. This, of course, changed as technology became more accessible and played a bigger role in how companies structured their overall organizations. And, in regard to the workforce arena, there is an even bigger change occurring that crosses into the realm of the Future of Work, which Ardent Partners defines as the optimization of work accomplished via the transformation of business operations, talent, and seamless and holistic solutions, as well as flexible enterprise thinking. In essence, the “new” world of work revolves around the concept of new talent acquisition models, enterprises being innovation-ready (as opposed to innovation averse), and, an overarching corporate willingness to keep pace with a shifting and dynamic market. The “big shift” is not a new line of thinking, but rather the view that, in order to thrive today and in the months and years ahead, businesses must tap into a series of agility-led strategies and solutions, including: