BML Munjal University launches Future Of Work & Human Challenges report at 3rd Leadership Summit

The report explores how the Future Of Work is going to be shaped by technology and reveals findings from a survey with HR leaders on business sentiment, the existing skills gap especially with soft skills and the role of higher education institutions to prepare a future, more employable workforce.

BML Munjal University (BMU), a Hero Group initiative, hosted the third edition of the Leadership Summit at the university campus in Manesar. On the sidelines of the summit, BMU released a report titled Future Of Work & Human Challenges: Technology & Beyond (FOW). The report explores how the Future Of Work is going to be shaped by technology and reveals findings from a survey with HR leaders on business sentiment, the existing skills gap especially with soft skills and the role of higher education institutions to prepare a future, more employable workforce. Padma Shri Sh. Kiran Karnik, Chairman, IIIT Delhi & Former President, NASSCOM was the keynote speaker at the Summit and unveiled the report along with the dignitaries at the event.

At the summit, BMU hosted three-panel discussions around a) future of work and technology b) future of work beyond technology and c) future of work and human challenges with C-suite speakers from Capgemini India, Adani Group, NASSCOM, Microsoft, Datamatics India, Google Cloud, and many more. The discussions examined the intersections between technology and control in a variety of work contexts, using both quantitative and qualitative lenses and also focused on the fundamental human challenges that lie ahead with the future of work that go beyond technology.

Dr. Kiran Karnik, while speaking at the Summit said “There could be various alternative scenarios of the future, as related to technology and jobs. One could well argue that the future is not about jobs, but about livelihoods; that the current concerns about “quality” jobs which assure social security benefits is ill-founded. Instead, we need to look at livelihoods, with part-time, fixed-period and gig work being predominant – supported, of course, by a universal system of retirement, pension and social security guarantees. Also, there is no cause to look at Artificial Intelligence (AI) or robots as threats: the future will not be a man or machine dichotomy, but a man plus machine model.”

Despite the global outlook, HR Leaders are confident about the prospects of business growth of their organization over the next 1 to 3 years. 89 per cent say their organizations should experience strong growth but market instability (36 per cent), inflation (21 per cent), and future Covid-19 variants (23 per cent) are the most likely to play truant to this. Only 13 per cent cite talent or skills shortage to be a challenge to growth.

49 per cent of the respondents say IT / mobile / data analytics / R&D are the business areas that need to address potential skill gaps the most, followed by executive management and sales & marketing at around 12 per cent each. 43 per cent of HR leaders state that reskilling employees is, therefore, their top priority followed by hiring talent at 26.6 per cent. Nearly 18 per cent say that helping employees navigate workplace challenges is a conscious strategy to help retain talent especially in a post Covid-19 workplace that is defined by change and uncertainty.

Freshers (38 per cent) form the largest cohort of talent that HR Leaders are looking to recruit to address the skill gap in their organizations followed by those in middle and senior management at 30 per cent each. A new work order is giving way to the importance of soft-skills. 38 per cent say that the importance of soft skills cannot be overemphasized as it allows talent to adapt quickly to a changing economy and needs. 31 per cent state that a lack of soft skills among candidates can limit the company’s productivity.

A new work order is also evident in how organizations are choosing to reward and motivate employees. HR Leaders say that both effort and achievement are celebrated equally to motivate employees and not just the latter. Further, 25 per cent also say that failures are celebrated that furthers the importance of putting in the optimum effort.

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