Next month, I’m speaking at another event organised by WiseAmigo, this time focused on developing people for the future of work.
Their event overview makes the point that people development is a topic that is overlooked while everyone gets excited about AI and automation. And I think they’re right!
The conversation around the Future of Work covers, amongst other topics – AI, robotics, automation, flexible or remote working and skills.
The latter however, skills, is often overlooked when it comes to innovation. But with research showing training and development to be the No.1 desired employee benefit, a complete look at the Future of Work requires a much sharper focus on how we develop people.
I’m not a big fan of firm predictions about the world of work – there are enough people out there telling us exactly how it’s going to be – but I’m confident that we’ll continue to see changes to how work is organised and that bring change.
So, my argument is that a core skill we need to give people is how to effectively deal with change – including setbacks, disappointments and periods of instability and ambiguity.
One great way of doing this is to build the skills of psychological flexibility – the capacity to be mindful, to have a helpful relationship with your own thoughts and emotions and to take meaningful action in line with your values.
This is a skillset that anyone can develop and research demonstrate its positive impact on wellbeing and effectiveness in the workplace. So while I can’t tell you if you’ll be seated next to a robot in the office in the next decade, I can tell you that how you interpret and act on this change will dictate how successfully you deal with it.
The event is free, takes place in Central London and you can reserve a place here.
And if you’d like to learn more about the concept of psychological flexibility and how it can help you and your organisation, you can access my free whitepaper here.