The accountants attending our annual user conference earlier this year
paused for thought about how to navigate the rapidly changing workplace as we
move into the fourth industrial revolution. And, they asked some insightful
questions about what it means to be a valuable employee today.
Sameer Rawjee, the founder of Google’s Life Design Lab, and currently
working with companies and schools to tackle continuous learning and purpose at
work, sparked a lively audience discussion during his keynote address. This was
when one of the attendees asked: “Am I an asset to my company? Or am I just
OpEx?”
Only an accountant could have summed up today’s workplace existential
crisis in this way. And it neatly frames the conversation about how to ensure
we stay relevant in our own roles, plus how we can help our people stay
valuable in our companies.
My view is that on day one of our jobs, we are all assets to our company.
But that we run the risk of depreciating every single day, unless we actively
work to ensure our own growth, and the growth of the people around us, in order
to stay relevant and valuable in an ever-changing world.
And don’t think that as accountants we are exempt from this tidal wave of
change. Previously we may have had a predictable career path where hard work
and experience progressed us along the ranks. Sure, we got better at what we
did, we might specialise in a certain area, or we might encounter unusual jobs
that gave us unique experience, but, fundamentally our core skills remained
relevant.
Today, this is being entirely destabilised, with AI and automation promising
to take over more of our roles. This is a double-edged sword: we’ll be saved a
lot of the repetitive mundane work, but will have to find ways to replace the
experience gained from some of the basic work machines can now do, as well as
constantly reinvent ourselves, learn continuously and move fast to stay ahead
of the machines, always adding value by doing what they can’t.
It is essential that these new skills and capabilities align with the
goals of the company. For this to happen, companies need to ensure that
everyone is very clear about the business’s vision, goals and plans. Just like
my advice to canvass the grassroots of your organisation during the budget
process, it’s the people on the ground who know what they need to learn to
remain relevant, and happy, in their roles.
Get this right, and then, there will be no doubt that you, and your
people, are true assets, constantly appreciating, and continuously adding value
in ever-changing times. And never becoming expenses, or worse, liabilities.
Invest
in learning
Companies will need to spend some of the gains achieved by
digitalisation’s greater efficiencies and productivity on helping their people
learn. In the same way that businesses have an imperative to digitalise in
order to survive, they have a moral obligation to their people to help them
adapt to these changes. During a recession mindset, business leaders might be
tempted to save by not investing in ongoing learning. But retraining your
people makes good business sense as well. For AI to be effective, it needs to
work well with people who can keep shifting to the next area of competency that
AI has not yet reached.
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