The Future of Work is Human Nothing Works Without PeopleThe future of work is human. It’s a hot topic in the global business world.And with good reason. Despite technological advances substantially changing – even improving our lives and our jobs, it’s all for nothing without humans at the core.Without people – their commitment, engagement and purpose – no organisation can work, operate, thrive. In fact, tech giants, the organisations right at the forefront of the digital transformation, are investing generously in their employees to ensure the best ‘brains’ to do the job. It takes a brain to make a brain.Artificial Intelligence and Augmented RealityAI, AR and the huge range of solutions and apps that they bring are certainly having an impact on our work and life, taking over the repetitive tasks that we, humans, don’t much like to do. That means free time for us.But to do what? To become more creative, more flexible, more agile; to connect the dots and see the bigger picture. In short, to be more human. And this has clear benefits for the organisations we’re working for as well as for us as individuals.LinkedIn has just published its annual “Top Skills” list (1). The results from across the professional social network rank which skills are both in high-demand and low-supply.The report highlights that 57% of senior leaders on the platform today say ‘soft’ skills – the capabilities that robots and AI don’t have but that humans do – are more critical to their businesses than ‘hard’ technical skills.So, which were the most in-demand and hard-to-find soft skills in 2019?LinkedIn's In-Demand Soft SkillsCreativityPersuasionCollaborationAdaptabilityTime ManagementThese are all things that make us human, and that, arguably, has enabled us to thrive as a species not just thrive in business.Another recent report by Deloitte (2) has conducted an anonymous survey of 245 C-level executives across geographies and varying company sizes that have a shared vision of the future of work.The main conclusions, again, point to the relevance of putting people in the centre of the winning formula for success.Some Conclusions of the Deloitte ReportInternal Communications69% said how they conduct their internal communications, will have a critically important impact on their organization’s ability to realise its mission and vision.Innovation42% are allocating more employee time and resources to innovation, a uniquely human skill.Devolved Collaboration78% believe that generational differences in employees’ expectations will drive an increased emphasis on devolved collaboration. This is vital as by 2020 Millennials will constitute 50% of the workforce in the world with Baby Boomers working longer, often into their 70s and 80s. Effective and engaging management across generations remains as important now as it ever was, if not more so.With all the uncertainty in these very volatile times, putting the focus squarely on ‘the human’ means that businesses acknowledge the vital contributions of their people and are willing to invest in their development as a way of investing in their future.Brains for Businesses – A Real No-Brainer!For decades, much of the focus of organisations to maintain competitive advantage has been on operational and technological transformation.Now, with the increasing pace of technological evolution, it’s impossible for organisations to predict the hard skills needed in the future. IT solutions implemented today can be useless after just a few months. Or new systems can be deployed but if the teams responsible for using them have lost enthusiasm due to a string of constant changes, the implementation will simply fail.Ability to AdaptUnder these circumstances, organisations have just one option: develop to maximise the human mental flexibility, our ability to adapt and to reinvent ourselves and evolve, and with us, the organisations we work for.Finding new dynamic and effective ways of developing talent and how humans work together to achieve a shared goal is vital, not just for optimum performance but also for retention, cohesive culture and full engagement.A holistic and more human-centred business strategy is coming to stay. This can only make change easier, improve performance and boost profits.How Do We Achieve This?But how can this strategy from top management permeate across organisations?How can we embed it in all individuals?How do we train Creativity and Persuasion?How do we bring down walls to make real collaboration possible?How to make a business agile and nimble, able to adapt faster to constant changes?Human Brain PowerThe good news is, all we need to do is use the equipment we already have – our brains.While the technology world is ever-evolving and inventing new and improved ways to support our lives and our work, our brains have remained remarkably the same for millennia.We all know the saying: “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and our brains are far from broken.On the contrary, they are built to be the most creative, adaptable, collaborative and persuasive tool we have – in other words, they are exactly what business leaders say they need.The difference is that we are only now starting to consciously understand how they work, and that means we can learn to use them better.Natural LearningFor almost 30 years, Impact Factory has been creating and delivering training solutions that make use of our brains’ natural way of learning to make it stick.We have pioneered what we term Professional Personal Development, a unique experiential, strengths-based training method that puts the person, the human, at the heart of learning.All our courses focus on helping learners develop the much-needed human skills businesses say they need, and in a way that supports how our brains work. We don’t use a cookie-cutter approach, but we do use what we know works for our uniquely human brains.It’s All in the BrainTraditional teaching methods often involve telling people what to do but this doesn’t lead to lasting and sustainable behavioural changes.Our brains are creatures of habit – they haven’t changed in millennia, remember – so it takes more than just showing or telling them something different for them to do it.This is all about how we form memories, which turns into learning. The new information we are simply told is normally stored in our short-term memory, only to be forgotten almost immediately.At best, it might go into our working memory where we hold things for as long as our brain thinks we need them, before forgetting them again to make room for new more relevant information.Remember all that maths you forgot immediately after you took your final exam at school? You didn’t need it again, so your brain made room for the information you did need.Information RetentionBut we can make sure this information sticks for longer. Neuroscientist Gretchen Schmelzer (3) explains that information can shift from short-term to longer-term memory in three key ways:1. UrgencyHow important our brain deems the information to be will affect how long it sticks.2. RepetitionThe more we are given the same information, and the more we are called on to use it, the longer it sticks – practise makes perfect!3. AssociationThe more existing knowledge we can associate with new information, the more connections it makes in our brain and the stickier it becomes.Sticky LearningSo, in other words, to make learning stick we need to up the ante and motivation to learn, provide lots of opportunity for practice, and build on what we can already do.Impact Factory’s unique approach to Professional Personal Development focusses instinctively on each of these elements to ensure that meaningful learning takes place every time.Creating a Learning EnvironmentSo how do we create a sense of urgency, a motivation to learn, within a training room?There is, after all, no real urgency in this environment – on the contrary, we have sofas and unusual pieces of artwork to ponder at Impact Factory.But it is just this kind of unexpected surroundings that actually helps to support learning.Why? Because, while we may feel cosy and relaxed and looked-after at a conscious level, our brains are registering there is something unusual in our surroundings, and that makes us more alert.Five High Learning Potential StatesThere are five states in particular that we focus on creating to make it as easy as possible to leam on our courses, and neuroscience can explain why this work:1. CuriosityWe are wired to look out for new information that might be useful to us, and our brains will store this information as important, which makes it more likely to stick.By creating a sense of curiosity in our training environment and the way we run courses, we are priming our brains to be on high-alert to take in any new information more easily.2. High EnergyAll our courses are high energy and fun. By creating this kind of environment, we are helping to create positive emotions, which will then be associated with whatever is being learned.3. Healthy ConcernWe stretch people out of their comfort zone because we know that when we are feeling challenged, this releases noradrenaline which makes us more alert. When we are more alert, we learn more.4. Enthusiastic ConfidenceAlongside the stretch, there is the reward. We celebrate the small wins learners experience, we big up their strengths and what is already working for them. This releases dopamine and boosts confidence, so our brain stores the learning experience as something positive and something we should do more of.5. Reflection and CalmIt takes time for our brains to assimilate and consolidate any new information.Perhaps there is existing knowledge it can associate the new learning to, perhaps there are new ideas that have been sparked off. We leave time and space for this consolidation to happen across the training day with regular breaks, a good lunch break and time for reflection at the end.The focus is on identifying one or two really useful things, not trying to take it all in and change everything. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all, and neither were our brains!Why Our Approach backed up by neurosciences worksWe’re relevant and practicalPeople learn techniques they can use straight away in their work and personal lives…Small changes = BIG impactWe equip people with skills and knowledge to draw upon when they need to…We build on strengthsPeople respond best to positive feedback, so we make the most of what already works…It’s all about practiceWe help people find the way that works best for them and then explain why and how it does…We have fun!We make sure everyone has fun with us; life’s too short not to!References:1) LinkedIn: The Skills Companies Need Most in 2019 – And How to Learn Them2) Transitioning to the future of work and the workplace3) Understanding Learning and Memory: The Neuroscience of Repetition
