Network, community or fortress?
Workplace change and innovation are critical to the future of corporate organisations operating in what is very much a dynamic, economy-driven and knowledge-based society. Indeed, how companies manage that change is going to be a vital dimension underpinning the successful transition to new work styles, patterns and locations.
That being the case, Johnson Controls Global Workplace Innovation has collaborated with Professor John Ratcliffe – chairman of The Futures Academy at the Dublin Institute of Technology – to produce ‘Workplace Futures’, a 52-page report exploring three feasible scenarios of how the workplace could look come the year 2030.
The scenarios were created using the Futures Methodology, which has been employed extensively in a bid to understand tomorrow’s business mindset by considering issues, trends and challenges. They are based on in-depth research, ‘strategic conversations’, survey questionnaires and a Futures Workshop – held last May – wherein a host of academics and industry professionals discussed and analysed the emerging concepts and uncertainties surrounding the workplace change debate.
Three possible scenarios
The first scenario – ‘Jazz’ – describes a competitive global village wherein the workplace serves as a network. Businesses seize the opportunity to take strategic economic advantage, and become proactive leaders in responding positively to social and environmental metamorphosis.
The second scenario, designated ‘Wise Counsels’, depicts a secure and responsible workplace with a heavy focus on the work-life balance and the workplace as a community in its own right. It’s a secure world. Development has become the first line of defence for a collective eco-social, economic security system. Prevention is taken seriously.
‘Dantesque’, the third scenario, represents a fragmented world in which profit is God and the workplace becomes a fortress.
Both ‘Jazz’ and ‘Dantesque’ predict that global conditions will mean a turbulent time for businesses and their employees, with an increasingly complex marketplace that’s vulnerable to illicit activities. There would be increased poverty and isolation, environmental problems, mass economic instability and, above all, an overriding requirement for heightened workplace security.
At one end of the spectrum, national security and foreign policy would become matters of urgency. The spread of transnational crime would increase. Terrorists would use organised criminal groups to move money, people and materials around the globe. The popularity of gated communities would increase post-2017. Access would be controlled by entry codes, key cards and security officers and serviced by dedicated CCTV tracking. Social exclusion would be exacerbated.
On the other hand, entrepreneurs and contingent workers would replace multi-nationals, who’ll fall out of favour due to their business approach (which leads to social neglect). The 2030 employee would be increasingly restricted by time constraints. Although there will be a greater choice when it comes to when, where and how to work, businesses could be facing tough choices. Not a very encouraging prospect, but it’s a genuine possibility. That’s why it’s vital we attempt to plan ahead and build a roadmap for the future.
Changes affecting security
The new phase of security and facilities management requires a deep consideration in order for it to succeed in the 21st Century. A number of salient questions need to be posed – and answered – with the intention of provoking ideas, responses and openings within the mindset of practitioners. For example:
Following five basic precepts
Power to shape the future
One of the single most important issues entwined in the imbroglio described here is the power of large corporations to shape the future of the planet. For the property profession, that translates into how corporate real estate – in all of its many guises – is proficiently developed and properly managed.
The central debate is going to rage around the twin concepts of sustainability and corporate social responsibility. Those practitioners embroiled in facilities and security management cannot remain agnostic or untouched about either the ethics or economics of each. It’s also worth remembering what Albert Einstein once said: “We cannot hope to solve the problems we face with the same mindset that created them.”
– Dr Marie Puybaraud is director of Global Workplace Innovation at Johnson Controls Global WorkPlace Solutions (www.globalworkplaceinnovation.com) and project co-ordinator of the Workplace Futures Report
