What will the future of the workplace resemble?

1. What according to you, will the workforce of the future look Like?

Location constraints are now a thing of the past. For workforce of the future, it will be important to operate in a boundary-less environment. It will be important to build teams where the talent is. There will be a high focus on dynamism, learnability, engagement, and change. Employees must be open and flexible to learn new skills and adapt to new ways of working. As we embrace these changes, there will be new opportunities to innovate on products and processes that did not exist before. This presents an important opportunity for employees to upskill and stay relevant in the job market. Some of the ways to keep one job-ready are:

1. Embrace technology and digital literacy and sharpen competency
2. Leverage critical thinking and challenging status quo
3. Learn the ‘creative know-how’ of solving complex problems
4. Have a product mindset and focus on simplification, while working backwards from customers

2. When we look at the workplaces post-pandemic, what will the new normal resemble? What are top of the mind issues/priorities for key stakeholders – HR and employees?

As businesses evolve, the HR function is also going through a transformation. It is moving towards a technologically advanced set of talent practices. While there is a lot of focus on automation, the workforce expects HR to have a higher EQ and more empathy. From my experience, once the operational part of HR is automated, there will more time to spend with business teams on strategic issues that require touch. Here are some top issues for HR professionals and employees:

1. Automation and Artificial Intelligence will become more visible across processes, levels, and functions. HR must continue to leverage technology to stay connected with the workforce
2. Traditional ways of performance measurement might not scale. It is important to innovate on ways to effectively measure performance and engage with our employees
3. Travel will continue to remain controlled and monitored. This will make it imperative to efficiently use resources to connect with teams virtually
4. Corporate responsibility would become even more important as a strategic business imperative
5. Finally, HR professionals are culture champions. With growing technology and scale, its ability to maintain the fabric of the company will be crucial

3. What has your experience been like with digitization, AI & Robotics in HR? Is India ready for such a huge transformation?

The important aspect is to acknowledge that digital is the way to go and is no longer an option. Amazon is a tech company at the core, has innovated with technology not just for our customers but also for internal users. From chatbots to answering employee queries to predictive solutions that support our talent programs, we strive to make our workforce comfortable with technology. Since we started this journey, we had the opportunity to start small and make incremental improvements based on learnings, with efforts directed towards becoming a more scientific HR organization. Business leaders are looking at a holistic approach that leverages human presence as well as AI-driven chatbots to operate at scale. Companies that are embarking on this journey now will need to scale the learning curve much faster and India will be at the forefront of this transformation.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members