The Future of Work
In our Zoom for Thought on July 21st, 2020, UCD Discovery Director Prof Patricia Maguire spoke to Barry Winkless (pictured), CSO and Head of Cpl Recruitment’s Future of Work Institute, about “The Future of Work”. In case you missed it, here are our Top Takeaway Thoughts.
Broad Sweep
The future of work covers “everything from societal changes to different ways of working to different ways of leading” so it is a “broad sweep”. The Future of Work Institute’s research looks at understanding modern workplace challenges, forming questions and “moving towards answers”.
Interdisciplinary
Winkless makes a connection between diversity and interdisciplinarity in the workplace. “When new disciplines look at a particular thing they will always bring a different perspective,” he says, giving the example of movie-maker Walt Disney’s reinvention of the old-fashioned amusement park.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence is said to be the cornerstone of future work. Winkless says companies are putting more emphasis on being “a more human place to work”. This means “putting a greater focus on our overall approach to how we do things and to our overall wellbeing as opposed to just shareholder value”. It also includes our ability to “self-manage” and “how good you are at getting the best out of very diverse teams”.
Sprinkles of Retirement
As our population ages, instead of the traditional retirement at 65, Winkless suggests people may have a number of career breaks and changes instead. “I think what we’re going to see is retirement sprinkled through our careers as opposed to necessarily at the end of our career.”
This article was brought to you by the UCD Institute for Discovery, fuelling interdisciplinary research collaborations in UCD.