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The Future of Work: Death of the Single Skill Set In The Age Of Automation

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The future of work is here today, and the nature of both manufacturing and knowledge jobs will never be the same. According to a McKinsey analysis of 2,000 different work activities across 800 occupations, automation will change virtually every job across all occupations. Specifically, McKinsey found that in about 60% of occupations, 30% of tasks could be handed over to robots and bots. “More occupations will change,” the report concludes, “than will be automated away.”

Other sources have predicted that automation of professional knowledge economy jobs in the United States will be more than 10 times as large as the number of manufacturing jobs automated to date.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock

Shutterstock

Needed Discussion: What Are New Skills In Key Job Roles

Much of the current debate on automation focuses on mass unemployment and rendering entire occupations susceptible to displacement. Instead, we need to focus on what new skills are needed by key job roles and then develop a plan of action to upskill individual employees and teams. Leaders must prepare for the future of work rather than just train for today's jobs.

So how does one prepare for this volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world of work?  I believe by understanding a simple fact: across many jobs there is a "death of a single skill set," and what has made you employable today will not be enough to ensure you are employable tomorrow.

The Death of the Single Skill Set

This death of the single skill set has been documented by David Deming, associate professor of education and economics at Harvard University. Dr. Deming argues that many jobs requiring only mathematical skills have been automated, but roles which combine mathematical and interpersonal skills (such as economists, health technicians, and management analysts) will be in demand. These findings are reinforced by a study conducted by Business Higher Education Forum and Gallup that examined the percent of employers who say both data science and analytical skills will be required of all managers by 2020. As noted in the chart below, this is predicted to be true for managers who span the functions of finance, marketing, operations, supply chain and Human Resources.

Source: BHEF and Gallup

This notion of developing cross functional skills is not new, in fact the notion of "T" shaped skills was first described in 1991. "T" shaped individuals combine both a depth and breadth of skills possessing deep functional expertise with well-honed social skills to collaborate across disciplines. Now, with automation impacting up to 60% of occupations, it is becoming more important than ever for individuals to demonstrate these "T" shaped skills combining uniquely "human" skills (executive presence, empathy, and communication) with technical ones.

Let's look at three roles: data scientist, recruiter, and business leader to see the growing importance of "T" shaped skills.

Data Scientist Leaders Combine Technical and Presentation Skills

One recent example of this need to develop "T" shaped skills is the newly designed MOOC developed in partnership between PwC and Coursera entitled Data Analysis and Presentation Skills: The PwC Approach. As Michael Fenlon, Chief People Officer of PwC, says, "PwC’s collaboration with Coursera is about more than creating a new course; it’s about helping people become more confident as they face the future." Their five course MOOC specialization focuses on both understanding and applying data analytics tools as well as crafting business presentations identifying insights uncovered in the data analysis.

What's interesting is that this MOOC is being offered to both PwC and non PwC learners. To date, over 14,000 PwC learners across 192 countries have enrolled in this MOOC, and another 71,481 non-PwC learners enrolled who are interested in enhancing their skills. The non PWC learners create an immediate talent pool of prospective employees who have mastered an important skill set in data science and presentation. These learners then have the option to opt into the PwC Talent Network to learn more about data analysis industry news and current openings at PwC. We will see more companies use upskilling as a recruiting tool to identify talent with the skills needed for success.

Recruiter of the Future: Technical and Storytelling Skills

Data Scientist is not the only profession to expand beyond technical skills. The job of a recruiter is also prime for re-invention, especially with the advent of artificial intelligence where an AI chat bot can evaluate resumes, schedule and conduct applicant screenings, and even congratulate you on your first day of work. Mya, one example of an AI powered recruiter, was launched in 2016 and is on pace to interact with over 2 million individuals by the end of 2017.  Mya uses natural language processing and machine learning to automate sourcing, scheduling, and onboarding new hires.

As artificial intelligence augments the role of a recruiter, the question is: what does the recruiter do with "extra time" to meet the company's talent acquisition goals? Brendan Browne, Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition, LinkedIn believes as sourcing, scheduling, and even on-boarding employees becomes automated, recruiters must focus on developing their storytelling skills. By this, Browne refers to skills focusing on telling the story of why a candidate should work for a company, and focusing on what makes the company unique as an employer. Storytelling will be increasingly important because people remember great stories, stories make ideas stick, they persuade us and motivate us, and in a world of increased automation, they are uniquely human skills. After all, says Browne, "people make decisions with their emotions, not just with a set of data." In addition, Browne believes recruiters can use this "extra time," to add more value to their business leaders and hiring managers. This can range from sharing market intelligence, the size and locale of talent pools, the competitive landscape and the overall speed and quality of a business to attract, assess and hire talent.

In the digital knowledge economy, a recruiter's breadth of skills including "storytelling," technical and analytical is what's needed to succeed in winning the war for talent.

Business Leaders: Leadership Plus Digital Literacy 

Let's not leave the future to the futurists.  Leaders today must be prepared to deal with VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) in the global marketplace. For many, this means recognizing the power of digital technology to disrupt their industry. The pace of change seems only to be increasing. According to recent research by MIT,  90% of executives believe their businesses are being disrupted or reinvented by digital business models, and 70% believe they do not have the right skills.

Let's take financial services as a point of reference. Citigroup research estimates by 2023 FinTech will account for 17% of consumer-banking services in North America, or $203 billion. Leaders in financial services see this disruption first hand with the launch of Sofi (short for social finance) and Betterment. This is causing a growing number of financial service firms to upskill their bankers, preparing them for a competitive environment where disrupters in the case of Sofi  has issued $20 billion in loans since inception in 2011 and is looking to become a daily utility in the financial lives of their customers.

One bank is doing something about this. Singapore-based DBS Bank began in 2014 to create hackathons for bankers to help change the culture and mindset, and encourage bankers to think and act like a startup. Their non-traditional approach challenged bankers to work alongside startups for 72 hours and propose new mobile banking solutions. To date, this process resulted in 50 prototypes of new DBS products, with 12 that have become actual products for DBS. The most effective leaders, like the CEO of DBS, Piyush Gupta, understand being a banker in 2017 means having both the technical skills needed for the job as well as digital literacy to keep pace with the current and prospective disruptions facing the banking industry.

How is your company addressing the death of the single skill set? Are you being proactive? What are you doing? Share your comments here.

Jeanne C Meister is Partner, Future Workplace, and co-author of The Future Workplace Experience. Future Workplace has created the first online course to train HR leaders in how to use artificial intelligence for HR, called Using AI 4 HR To Enhance The Employee Experience. To read her future posts sign up here.