The Infhotep agency has summarised the 60-page report published last week by the French Minister of Labour and Orange HRD, Bruno Mettling, who worked with 13 consultants and thirty participants to study the impact of digital transformation on work and how to make the change successfully in France.
The first significant finding is the speed of this digital transformation and its relentless and disruptive acceleration, surpassing the technological phenomenon boundary to invade organisation and management.
6 major impacts of digital transformation at work
1 – The flood of new software and digital equipment in the workplace.
2 – The significant mutation of jobs and skills (first to be affected: sales, marketing, information systems) which will affect almost half of jobs.
3 – Increased workload and intensity, specifically for executives.
4 – The design and development of new work organisation models: home office, new professional groups, independence, project mode etc.
5 – Questions surrounding command & control management in its strictest sense with the appearance of new managerial approaches such as transversal, remote, innovation, online community and agile management of temporary teams.
6- The appearance of new forms of work outside salaried employment.
6 ways to make digital transformation work for you
1 – Develop digital education with formal and vocational training.
2 – Establish professional training structures and bridges between jobs.
3 – Update the legal and fiscal framework at work. The report highlights that just measuring working hours isn't enough anymore and we now have to "have systems to measure and monitor workload."
The document then focuses heavily on considering new forms of work. By way of example, it states that there was an 85% increase in freelances between 2004 and 2013.
Digital also involves reconsidering personal data management which can be used for hidden agendas, fraud and breaching privacy.
4 – Use digital transformation to improve quality of life at work. In terms of connection, the digital aspect should be a natural part of measuring and preventing professional risks (e.g. digital stress and FOMO)
In terms of workspace, the report insists upon a close bond between digital culture and upgrading premises and the working environment. Business premises should be reconfigured "with a focus on community and modular spaces so they adapt to the needs of teams." Is this the end of open offices?
5 – Establish co-construction and co-innovation strategies. This obviously means implementing more participatory management and opening the company to its ecosystem.
6 – Look ahead to understand and anticipate digital transformation issues by rolling out prospective studies evaluating how work has changed in each professional sector, the effects and supervisory systems for the work transfer on clients (passive or unpaid work) and the extension of social relationships in a large company.
The digital transformation or the 3rd Great Revolution is under way!
"Digital Transformation and Quality of Life at Work" report available to view here
