The Workplace of Future

               The workplace of the future 

Industry 4.0 

 

The first revolution of the industry kicked off in the middle of the eighteen century, and was characterized by the invention of the steam engine and by the establishment of new facilities in which mechanical production was taking place. Around 1870s electricity power as well as the division of labour marked the dawning of the second industrial revolution. Moving on one hundred years ahead, the third or so called “digital revolution” took place due to the new capabilities that the advanced information technology and electronics had to offer. Over the last few years, we have been experiencing the onset of the era of “Industry 4.0”. The core conceptualization behind this new term can be detected in the idea of combining the benefits of the digital technologies with machines’ partial or full autonomy and self-behavior.

 

         Figure: Historical perspective of industrial revolutions.

 

The term “Industry 4.0” was enunciated for the first time during 2011 by a team which was constituted of representatives from diverse areas (industry, politics, etc.) and aimed to describe the “High Technology Strategy for Germany 2020”.However, over the last few years many other countries and big corporations have also been engaged in similar projects. For instance, “General electric” has developed the “Industrial Internet” project, which describes the interconnection of various machinery and devices towards achieving better control and planning of firm’s operations. Industry 4.0 converts manufacturing from “machine” to “digital” oriented.

Industry’s 4.0 objective is to reach high levels of operational effectiveness and automatization. Applications of Industry 4.0 can be met in both production and service activities, having a direct effect in business performance.

Manufacturing & Supply Chain   – Smart Factories/Warehouses 

The smart factory/Warehouse is a production and supply chain environment in which the production and logistics systems largely organize themselves without human intervention. Within these facilities, the different items that take part in the production process will be linked to the web, which will enable them to “work together” with other objects – within or outside the boarders of the firm- and  make intelligent decisions based on a huge amount of live available information. Smart Facilities, using the capabilities of the Industry 4.0 technologies will achieve high-speed, efficient and at the same time flexible operations which will enable them produce high quality products in a more effective way. This will consequently push upwards productivity as well as industrial growth. 

 

 

 

 

 

Figures: Technologies such as “machine to machine communication” and “artificial intelligence” will feature prominently .

  

These facilities will operate almost without the need of the human factor. However, a few well trained experts will be needed in order to implemented specific high value production activities as well as maintenance services. Augmented reality technology could be used for the purpose of training of the new workers who will implement these activities.Majority of the researchers consider “training” as one of the most important areas of potential usage of this technology. Additionally,after conducting an analysis of the integration of augmented reality solutions in the assembly workplace, concluded that the usage of the technology is more effective when utilized for providing in-situ instructions to untrained workers during their training period. 

Service Sector and Employees  

 

Over the next few years, the majority of the jobs will experience a hasty change. Industry 4.0 will lead to a tremendous alteration of the nature of income generating work. After twenty years, fifty per cent of current workplaces in the USA will be robotized. Due to the fact that business environment will keep changing in a faster pace than education,in the near future even educated people will struggle in finding a job. The core of these radical changes can be detected in the eradication of bureaucracy and hierarchies. The main levers behind this transformation  will be, i) ”robotization», ii) “information”, iii) “artificial intelligence” and iv)”cost efficiency”. The effects of these sharp alterations will not only be visible in manufactory as it had happened in the past, but also in the service sector of the economy. Possible service sector areas where robots will replace the need for humans are teaching, journalism, marketing and etc.

New Working Era

• Work (what): It’s likely that technology work increasingly will be performed by humans, machines, or human–machine collaboration; leaders should determine how to deploy people, bots, and algorithms separately and in partnership. Technology teams’ focus should turn from IT capabilities to work outcomes as they move from project- and process-centric operating models to those that prioritize products and outcomes. Cocreating value with business functions and focusing on customer outcomes rather than processes are part of a more fundamentally human and meaningful work experience. As teams shift their emphasis to combined business-technology strategies and objectives and are enabled by automation to trade manual and repetitive tasks for those requiring higher-order skills, it’s likely that they’ll find more meaning in their work.

• Workforce (who): Jobs and roles, talent and skills, and organizational structure will evolve. Employment models are already changing; businesses can access talent via a range of on- and off-balance sheet solutions. And finally, instead of being specialized technologists, technology workers can become collaborative cocreators of business value.

• Workplace (where): Technology workplaces are evolving from location-centric to relationship-oriented. The geographic location of the work will vary, and workspaces should be redesigned to maximize collaboration, productivity, and cocreation. When extended to a network of geographic locations, including virtual offices, coworking spaces, and traditional office spaces, seamlessly integrated technologies such as collaboration and digital reality tools can help facilitate and support connections among humans and machines.

Winners of the new era 

The ones who will survive in this new working era, could be described as “knowledge” or “innovation” workers. These workers will be the ones who have attended further and specialized education such as MScs and PHDs. The majority of these people will have to adapt in a new working relationship framework. The classic “employer – employee” relationships will give their place to contracts between big firms and “companies of one”. These contracts will be either short term or long term and will aim to “in – source” people (owners of “companies of one”), who are experts in one or more specific domain and will usually sell this expertise to one or more firms. These “workers” will luxuriate high levels of salary and job satisfaction and will have the capabilities to achieve high levels of productivity in a cost – effective way. At the same time, they will have full control of how to allocate their time between work and leisure, achieving better work – life balance. “Innovation” and “knowledge” workers as “pyjama workers”, due to their independency on “how”, “when” and “where” to work. 

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Increased Inequalities  

Although new technologies have triggered a significant increase in productivity, salary levels have declined. This wage inequality is expected to become even more visible within this new working environment. The majority of the “employees” will be “in sourced” by firms with temporary contracts. At the same time, with the usage of new technologies, the majority of value-added activities related with services will be done by distance. Significant proportion of organizations has already abolished (partially or fully) traditional offices. Thus, when organizations will try to use high-skilled labor, at the least possible cost, they will not have to consider factors such as geographical proximity. Since firms will be able to look for potential contactors who desire to sell their expertise anywhere in the globe, this will consequently squeeze down wage levels. These people as “the ones who missed the buss” and names them as “working poor” and “precariat”.  

Salary inequalities will keep increasing, obliterating the middle-income workers. This new reality will consequently affect the structure of the society, creating new social classes 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creativity and Innovation in the workforce of tomorrow  

 

 In today`s and, most importantly, in future`s globalized world, “creativity” and “innovation” are necessities in order for a firm to remain competitive. To put it in another way, profits will depend highly on companies’ capability to introduce innovation to the market. In order to formulate proposals for promoting innovation, first we have to analyse the two key elements which structure the working environment of the future, which are i)engagement with the digital workplace and ii) motivating people. 

 Engagement with the digital workplace

The employee of the new era, has to be able to work uninterruptedly within the digital workplace. Employees, in order to be capable of producing innovative and creative solutions, first of all have to fully embrace the new digital working reality.

“Good organization structure and process lead to better strategic alignment, which leads to the better management processes, strategy, technology, individual employee role and better technology implementation”

 

 Figure Massachusetts Institute of Technology Model. 

Considering all the above, we can come up with a basic framework a general guide for businesses, which aids them ensure that their personnel is able to effectively operate within the digital working environment. Employees’ engagement with the new digital working environment, consist a prerequisite for them in order to be able to be creative and innovative within this working environment. 

 

 

 

 

Motivating people 

How can we create workplaces where every voice matters, everyone thrives and finds meaning, and change and innovation happen naturally?. 

 

 

 

 As it is presented above, the core of innovation nativity in the workforce of tomorrow can be detected in two main factors, i) how engaged employees are with the digital working environment, ii) how motivated they are. The analysis shows that the recommended actions can be summarized into three, different but equally important proposals/steps