I read through this article from the World Economic Forum that looked at the 8 most wanted jobs by the year 2020. Here's a few of my reflections about the content of the article:
1) Manufacturing and Administrative Jobs Hardest Hit
Based on their survey results of hundreds of executives throughout the country, the job families that are expected to take the biggest hit are administrative/office management, and manufacturing. Nothing too surprising there: labor has been falling in manufacturing for the past two decades or so, as updated technology and vastly improved machinery displace job categories inside plants.
The trade off for manufacturers is that the people who remain will be even more important, and will need to have higher skill levels than prior employees displaced by advancing technology. Manufacturing will need to be smarter and more intentional about their benchmarking (understanding the needs of the job) and their selection (understanding what the person brings to the job).
For the admin positions, I think this is probably a bit misleading. I do think that large, complex businesses will push to replace administrative level positions to save on labor costs, but I think that many smaller businesses will still need administrative positions. The key for smaller businesses is to have exceptionally talented office managers and executive assistants who can leverage technology to make some aspects of their job more automated and routine, freeing them to have more capacity to do other important tasks.
2) A Rise in Specialized and High Performing Sales People
Another observation in the report is there is a 'growing need for specialized sales people who can explain the company's offerings to a wide range of clients.' This is very interesting and I think it's accurate. Like any high performer, a top tier sales person has many different layers: they have the right behavioral disposition to work in a flexible, people-oriented, competitive environment; they're motivated by finding new business, building relationships, and keeping an eye on the bottom line; and they have excellent skills and experience.
We are continually telling our clients to pay attention to their top sales people, to use them as benchmarks for other hires, and to continually screen new sales people to look for the right combination of behaviors, motivations, and skills. This is only going to grow in the future, as competition increases. Some folks would argue with me, but I still believe that sales is fundamentally relationship oriented. So you look more at the personal characteristics of the person instead of their technical abilities. It is much easier to teach technical knowledge than reshape a person from the ground up.
3) Rise in HR and Organizational Development Positions
The contention is that the work environment of the future will require different skills than the current environment, so it would make sense to see a growth in HR and development positions.
This ties into an article I read last year (if I can find it I'll link it later) about the changing nature of HR. Broadly speaking, for many years HR was concerned with labor management, compliance, and regulation. But the future of HR has shifted to include a very large role in talent management and strategic vision for the company. A comprehensive talent management program ties into the strategic vision by hiring, preparing, and developing the human capital of the company, easily the company's biggest expenditure. Compliance will always be a major component of HR, but the human development side of the role is increasing greatly, and that trend will only continue.
Read the whole article - it is interesting and has some great points. Connect with us for more information.
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