Sanchia Temkin
1 July 2008
Johannesburg — COMPANIES will be at a crossroad over the next decade as they ponder how to manage their employees, particularly in view of the skills shortage, says a senior human resources manager.
John White, the director responsible for human resource solutions at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers SA (PwC), says a PwC study identifies several possible "worlds" or future situations in which companies, human resource departments and employees may find themselves as they move towards 2020.
White said the manner in which people wished to be managed was changing as flexible arrangements gained momentum and more stringent techniques were introduced to measure performance.
The western workforce was ageing, global mobility was increasing and social responsibility was becoming a driver of business success.
The study was conducted with the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilisation at Said Business School in Oxford and with 3000 graduates from the US, China and the UK who started working in the new millennium.
In the first scenario -- a "blue world" dominated by the corporation -- technology, capitalism, globalisation and sheer size will be what count, says the study.
Staff working for huge corporations would be well looked after in an effort to lock in talent. However, the company will demand accountability from employees. Flexible hours will be unlikely in this scenario but everything including housing, healthcare and children's education will be provided for.
A second model, known as the "orange world", will see caring and socially responsible companies with a powerful social conscience and accountability to the consumer and the environment.
In a third, more radical, situation, the study sees the business world as more fragmented. In this " green world", small is beautiful, big is bad and skills become more specialised.
Individuals will tend to work for many companies during their productive lives -- and mainly on a flexible and short-term contract basis.
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