Rethink and reorganize work

Digitalization and new work options like gig workers and internal talent marketplaces are presenting us with opportunities to re-envision work. Do you have the necessary tools?

How can we build a workforce strategy for an unknown future? 

The emergence of new business models has created opportunities for many sectors to change how they operate — automating jobs and creating new opportunities for the entire talent ecosystem. As work roles are reconfigured to embrace AI and robotics, organizations must rethink the critical skills they need and build talent platforms that provide maximum agility.

Organizations seeking to transform work face a number of challenges:

  • Reinventing work to ensure it is meaningful and sustainable — taking into account increasing digitization and AI
  • Enabling faster decision-making, agility, innovation and growth to help deliver workforce strategy goals
  • Navigating the new world of work by integrating employees, gig workers, machine learning and other emerging trends

To break out of the rigidity of existing organizational structures, leaders must reassess and craft new operating systems. These should support work transformations that better enable agility, fluidity and sustainability. This involves:

  • Starting with the work (current and future tasks), not with existing jobs
  • Combining people and automation
  • Considering the full array of work arrangements (such as full-time employment, gig and freelance working, alliances, joint projects and other alternatives)
  • Allowing talent to “flow to work” rather than being dedicated to fixed, permanent jobs
#1 people priority in business? Defining future workforce needs and/or restructuring.

Prepare for the future of work

Respond proactively to the new opportunities, and redesign jobs for an optimized and sustainable combination of human and automated work. Designing for the future is not hard with Mercer’s proven methodology and innovative AI-driven digital platform.

Deconstruct jobs

  • Analyze the tasks and activities that underpin jobs and workflows.
  • Identify tasks that are best suited for automation or redeployment to alternative talent.

Redeploy tasks

  • Determine which task delivery can be enhanced through automation or other means including gig work, internal talent marketplaces, outsourcing, shared services and more, and understand the impact on your organization.

Reconstruct work

  • Create new jobs and workflows based on the new work options.
  • Discover the skills you need for more efficient and sustainable operation.

How do you get to the desired state?

To break out of the rigidity of existing organizational structures, leaders must reassess and craft new operating systems. These should support work transformations that better enable agility, fluidity and sustainability. This involves:
  • Starting with the work (current and future tasks), not with existing jobs
  • Combining people and automation
  • Considering the full array of work arrangements (such as full-time employment, gig and freelance working, alliances, joint projects and other alternatives)
  • Allowing talent to “flow to work” rather than being dedicated to fixed, permanent jobs

Why Mercer?

We deliver hypothesis-driven and evidence-based transformation, underpinned by industry benchmarks and deep analytics to demonstrate the return on investment. Our approach has a number of advantages over traditional and emerging competitors.

Human-centred and empathetic. We believe transformation only works when it’s people-centred. Empathy is our core competency for activating each and everybody for the change.

Senior adviser guidance. Our senior consultants observe, listen and challenge the status quo. They guide by leveraging decades of experience and globally recognized thought leadership.

Enablement for self-sustainment. We become an integral part of your team, activating people around us. Working closely together, we transfer knowledge and digital assets while building the capabilities you need for a successful and sustainable journey beyond our engagement.

Radically rethink and reinvent work design

Become skills focused and future ready

Work has changed dramatically over the decades. Status quo is no longer working — and it no longer has to, if leaders are ready to radically rethink the way work is performed.
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