Has Digital Automation Affected The Demand For Permanent Placement?
Existing jobs across the globe are going through asea change owing to the disruptions in the digital world. While some jobs are becoming redundant, there are other skills which are growing rapidly and are in high demand.
These rapid changes are having a profound impact on the employment landscape. Permanent placement too has been affected by it. The demand for permanent staffing solutions has decreased over the years. Companies are looking for contractual and temporary services over permanent placement services.
How does the future look for permanent staffing agencies? Is it the end of permanent employment agencies? Are more candidates taking up freelance positions in this gig economy? Will permanent placement agencies rise back? The list of critical questions is endless.
One thing is sure, the staffing industry will have to anticipate and prepare for the current transition. There is a ray of hope and we believe that the worst scenarios for permanent placements is over and the journey from here is only towards upwards.
RAY OF HOPE
Digital transformations are often seen as a threat to the workforce. People fear to lose their jobs to intelligent machines. However, the case is not true.
Historically, generations of employees and employers have adapted to turbulent and disruptive changes in the work world with persistent effort and intelligence. Whether it is industrialization era or advent of the internet, the examples are many. Today with so much knowledge available freely at disposal and superior work infrastructure, companies can definitely sail through the digital wave.
It will be interesting to see what measures corporates will adapt to adapt. One thing is clear, that employees will have to learn new technologies and un-learn a few old ways of working. There is no point in hiring new candidates for every new innovation in the industry. If we do that, there will be no end to adding to the workforce. The solution definitely lies in re-training the permanent employees to acquire new skills.
However, un-learning and learning have never been an easy change to manage for the HR managers. People at all levels will show resistance and might become insecure. The trick is to play the right moves and strategically win over the upskilling challenge.
ACCEPT
The first step to winning the race against rapid digital transformations is to accept it as the new normal. Artificial intelligence, robotics, automation are here to stay. The sooner we accept them as the new norm the faster we will be able to adapt to them.
Every permanent employee at the workplace, right from the top management to the shop floor worker, should know and agree that upskilling and learning new ways of doing things is for their own benefit besides company’s profit. Create a culture where people accept technology advancement as part of normal. Once they accept, it will be easier for them to adopt and adapt the digital transformations.
APPROACH
We need a new and fresh way of thinking and a paradigm shift in our approach to handling the changes around us. Companies and permanent employees will have to understand that technology and teams work for each other not against each other. The day we embrace this the fear and insecurities will settle down. Automation is here to support the permanent employees not replace them.
ASK
Brainstorm and discuss new ways of consolidating your teams and departments to adjust to the new technology innovations. Ask yourselves pointed questions on the change will work for your business and people.
How can I chart the future based on my current skills? How do I map technologies against my current processes? Can I meet the future employment demand by retraining existing workers or do I need to hire new ones? What are the financial investments required? Do I need to partner with a technical and staffing expert to manage this change?
Once you have questions, it is more likely you will seek solutions to them. That is how you will have clarity of purpose and evolve clear targets to achieve.
ACT
The only way to realize the productivity dividends from technology investments is to make permanent employees adopt it as part of their work culture and routine. Organizations should hand hold employees to transition through this difficult phase of retraining and upskilling oneself to fairly new and unheard of technologies that too when the change is this rapid.
Act to build a robust strategy around upskilling, create foolproof plans to re-train permanent employees and work towards execution capabilities to meet the technological needs of customers.
ACCESS
You need access to superior IT infrastructure for your permanent workforce so that they get hands-on learning. Support your employees by providing access to these technologies either in-house or through a partner. An able partner like Collabera invests hugely in state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and constantly upgrades to newer technologies. You can access the best digital programmes and digital education by collaborating with similar companies.
ASSOCIATE
We should not try solving problems of this magnitude in silos. It is a good idea to partner with an expert in people management issues and training to achieve your goals. Staffing companies like Collabera offer services related to hiring, training and deploying. Their IT Managed Services can take care of your technological needs when you focus on HR issues.
Try to focus on your core competencies and outsource other tasks to a trusted advisor and partner. Create a multi-stakeholder partnership with agreed digital skills strategy and targets. This will allow you to include the wider canvas of digital skills and inputs.
The above recommendations can help you to handle the digital transformations with ease. It is always better to prepare than panic.