The new normal is fuzzy and constantly evolving and hence thriving in such an environment becomes even more challenging. Given this background, agility and resilience become the cornerstones of futuristic organisations. To build such organisations, a paradigm shift is required, that may entail empowering people: the most critical resource of any organization.

From managing turbulent times amidst the pandemic, to shifting the workplace culture from physical spaces to remote working, and reimagining strategies to enable employee performance in the new normal, effectively managing human resources, their actions and operations have become core to business success in the current times.

Within this timeframe, we also saw several pulse surveys, research and trends around how the pandemic has impacted the workplace and people. While we are still trying to figure out what the new normal would be, one thing is sure, the workplace and the way workplace functions will never be the same. More importantly, the future of work will not be just technology and automation, but will be 'human'. The COVID-19 pandemic, has in fact, brought back the focus on 'people'. 

 And this is not a time to sit back and wait for events to unfold. To be prepared for the future, you have to understand it.

In Jacob Bronowski’s 1973 classic The Ascent of Man, he wrote, “We are all afraid - for our confidence, for the future, for the world. That is the nature of the human imagination. Yet every man, every civilization, has gone forward because of its engagement with what it has set itself to do. The personal commitment of a man to his skill, the intellectual commitment and the emotional commitment working together as one, has made the Ascent of Man.”

This is still one of the greatest challenges of our time: to engage with what we have set ourselves to do, and to engage with the future.

In our endeavor to provide you with actionable insights to help you make decisions for your future workplace and understand how people are going to be the most important asset for you, Aon & ISB in partnership with People Matters bring to you the research, "Managing Business Entropy: Building the workplace of the future." 

The study aims to delve deeper in to how the future workplaces would look like following parameters:

• Value Orientation
• Talent Orientation
• Organization Design Orientation
• Capability Orientation
• Performance Management System Orientation
• Career Orientation
• Rewards Orientation

 This research will provide key data and insights on:

• The people strategy adopted to achieve the mission and goals of the organization
• Key elements of organization design in terms of work organizations, decision making, reporting, etc. in alignment with the organization strategy
• The key behaviors expected of employees to drive organizational goals
• The key PMS tenants of an organization

As businesses pivot to manage greater uncertainty and try to get closer to their (customers) clients, the Achilles heel has been the resistance or the inability to look at how the core talent profile of the organization is changing along with figuring out how to drive meaningful culture change in the organization. Through this study we hope to uncover the best practices of how successful organizations are looking at redefining their talent and talent management programs to drive superior business outcomes,” shares Anirban Gupta, Director Performance Rewards and Org Effectiveness at Aon.

Professor Saumya Sindhwani, Associate Dean, Advanced Management Programs, Executive Director, Centre for Learning and Management Practice, Indian School of Business shares, “We are excited to be part of this research, as it helps us test the assumptions around creating ambidextrous organisations that are capable of flourishing in a  complex and an ambiguous business environment and have capabilities, processes, systems and structures in place that help organisations be future ready.”              

Why should you participate in the research?

• Get first hand information on the evolving nature of the workplace
• Get a free copy to this exclusive research
• Get access to views by some of the biggest industry leaders and ISB faculty

The future of work will be uniquely human! As much as artificial intelligence, machine learning, algorithms and other emerging technologies and other socio-economic forces will reshape the way we work, the ‘human’ element will always be an important part of the new world of work. The goal will be to make us all ‘super-humans’ and extend far beyond the capabilities of today.

To participate in the research, click here.