Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/149047
HeRO Second is an agile workforce. Building a workforce model that moves with speed and delivers the right people, with the right skills, in the right place, at the right time, at the right cost. When the two work as an integrated strategy, you're unstoppable. How is PwC positioning itself in light of those challenges, and what is the firm doing to ensure that it is well positioned for the future? One quick item I'll mention is our drive to better understand the Millennial generation. We recently published a twoyear study (PwC's NextGen study) that was conducted in conjunction with the University of Southern California and the London School of Business. This study included responses from 44,000 of our people globally, over half of whom were Millennials. It produced fascinating results, including a number of "myth busters" as well as insights into unique cultural differences across our 18 largest territories. Those detailed findings and insights are now being used as we craft our business and long-term workforce alignment strategies. How do you see technology affecting the workforce, both now and in the future? Do you think it will accelerate a new contingent workforce? Most definitely, in fact it started years ago. Technology and, more specifically, collaboration tools, process standardization, and consistency in data sets have significantly increased the ability to value an individual's or team's output, versus measuring time spent in the office, as one example. Technological improvements on a number of fronts are converging to accelerate new ways of working and engaging with people seamlessly within and outside of the organization, particularly in knowledge-driven businesses such as ours. Organizations that can effectively crack the code of optimizing workflow—coupled with workforce capacity and allocation—will clearly have a competitive advantage, especially if they are able to use their knowledge gained to sustain the value and meaning of their brand and relevancy across their stakeholders and people. How should companies be thinking about managing demographic shifts and rebalancing of the workforce toward emerging markets? [10] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2013 I can't stress enough the need to be integrated with your business leaders to ensure you fully understand the current and future business strategy, opportunities, and risks. Leveraging that knowledge to identify the gaps in skills and capabilities, potential sources of talent, and organizational construct options will allow you to build a targeted strategy and investment plan around talent acquisition and development. Decisions like "move in resources," versus "build"—or some combination of both—are highly complex and strategic, especially when entering new markets and looking to install a consistent experience for your customers or people. Having an agreed plan with the business will be critical. Additionally, working with local universities on talent needs or considering third-party labor already in the market represent options. Again, it comes back to having a well developed and aligned strategy, and understanding the trade-offs, both domestically as well as internationally. In a large organization such as PwC, which has almost 190,000 employees globally, how do you manage the tension between the need for structure and process with the increasing desire from Gen Y for non-bureaucratic work environments? I don't believe they are mutually exclusive, and our NextGen study touched on this. We all want a more simplified life, especially when it comes to organizational processes and policies. This is not only true of the Millennial generation but of all generations. Leading organizations understand this and, with advances in technology, are routinely challenging and doing away with outdated models and constructs. Transparency is a game changer. Sounds funny saying it, but it fuels organizational agility and individual empowerment. Trust in who I work with, understanding and realizing a sense of purpose, and experiencing how my actions make a difference are critically important to all of us and more so today. And let's not forget fun! The leaders of tomorrow need to embrace and understand how to lead in this changing dynamic and as I mentioned above, realize that the models of the past will not cultivate and sustain success today, and certainly not in the future. Given the pace of change, innovation and yes 'disruption', what do you think are the core skills and capabilities that young and older workers should focus on to succeed? The half life on knowledge these days seems to be about a