New Work is definitely a buzzword of our time. It shows up in very different contexts. Sometimes it’s about technology, sometimes about the free choice of workplace and time, and almost always about digital transformation. But what exactly is New Work? And what can it do for companies?
Digitization is not something that “simply passes by.” What many may have thought (or hoped?) at the onset has been all too clearly refuted. Digitization is here to stay, it’s advancing – and it’s changing organizations and their business models from the ground up.
Digitalization not only determines our everyday (working) life, it is also changing the entire business world. The associated challenges affect all companies: rapid changes and increasingly complex market requirements, strong competitors, and, above all, courageous disruptors who are breaking new ground with new technologies. Every company has the right prerequisites to not be left behind and to shape their own digital transformation. They just have to be recognized and used.
Cloud technology is unstoppable and changing the way we work together. But where does the human being end up when more and more data, topics and communication take place in the cloud? And does it make him more expendable – or even more important?
Digitization is unstoppable and one of those developments that certainly will not “simply pass by,” even if some may secretly wish that. It is a megatrend that will not only fundamentally change our way of living and working, but also radically transform business models and business purposes. So, what does it mean for organizations – and how is it related to the second big trend, the flexibilization of working models and structures?
There are a few prejudices that are seemingly inseparable from the term “job sharing.” For one, many people still think that job sharing is simply part time with a new, nicer name. Additionally, this model is consistently assumed to be much more expensive and, above all, more time-consuming than “normal” jobs. It’s high time to show that these prejudices are just that, and demonstrate the added value that job sharers bring to business.
Who actually decided that almost every task, every job, would fit best into a 40-hour full-time position? Who says that? And who can judge that?
Isn’t that an absolutely crazy assumption? Outdated? Generalized? And, on closer inspection, incredibly inflexible? Doesn’t this (hardly ever questioned) assumption of the ideal 40-hour work week mean that we, as an employer, tend to build in too much capacity for tasks that could be accomplished in a few hours – and far too little for those that clearly require more? Doesn’t it also cause us to force people into a scheme that is not guaranteed to be life-phase-oriented?
Can organizations even transition from being elephants to gazelles when they stick to this very basic thought pattern?
Robert Franken deals with Digital Leadership, Gender Empathy and New Work. As a speaker, moderator and author, he brings socially relevant content to the outside world and publishes it (among other things) on his blog, Digitale Tanzformation, as well as on the platform for Male Feminists Europe. He is committed to fair employment – for both women and men – and stands up for his beliefs. He definitely belongs among our #ChangeAgents.