Preparing For The Future Of Work: Joe Cahill of Project Management Institute (PMI) On The Top Five Trends To Watch In The Future Of Work

An Interview with Phil La Duke

Organizations Will Have to Adapt to Large-Scale Disruption. While many organizations quickly pivoted when the COVID-19 global pandemic began, it’s important to move beyond reactive measures, take a step back and reconsider how work gets done moving forward. From the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence to the climate crisis, the corporate landscape is constantly evolving, and organizations must be able to reinvent themselves and adapt quickly to large-scale change.

There have been major disruptions in recent years that promise to change the very nature of work. From the ongoing shifts caused by the COVID19 pandemic, the impacts caused by automation, and other possible disruptions to the status quo, many wonder what the future holds in terms of employment. For example, a report by the McKinsey Global Institute that estimated automation will eliminate 73 million jobs by 2030.

To address this open question, we reached out to successful leaders in business, government, and labor, as well as thought leaders about the future of work to glean their insights and predictions on the future of work and the workplace.

As a part of this interview series called “Preparing For The Future Of Work”, we had the pleasure to interview Joe Cahill.

As Chief Operating Officer (COO), Joe Cahill is responsible for all global Customer Services & Operations at PMI. He oversees the Global Customer Experience, including the segments, industry groups and geographic regions PMI serves. He also manages Global Customer Engagement, Global Solutions, and Global Operations — aimed at providing the very best products, services and support to project managers throughout their careers. Joe is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, USA, with a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance, received an MBA with a concentration in international business from Villanova University, USA, and attained licensure as a Certified Public Accountant with the state of Pennsylvania.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers like to get an idea of who you are and where you came from. Can you tell us a bit about your background? Where do you come from? What are the life experiences that most shaped your current self?

Much of my professional experience is in senior leadership experience including digital transformation, strategic planning, enterprise system implementation and new business development. I’ve worked in different industries — technology, manufacturing, energy, startups — to build companies and lead change in large organizations. I’ve always been interested in the environment and have a for-purpose mindset. For the last 15 years or so of my career, I’ve pursued this path in my work, with experience starting companies focused on water conservation, wind turbine design, and affordable housing. When I started at Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2015, I saw it as an opportunity to continue this path of impact, but across many different industry sectors as we empower professionals from all industries to use best practices in project management.

What do you expect to be the major disruptions for employers in the next 10–15 years? How should employers pivot to adapt to these disruptions?

Earlier this year, our team at PMI published 2021 Megatrends, a detailed report identifying five themes that contribute to greater divergence, disruption, and discontent on a global scale. These include COVID-19, the climate crisis, movements regarding civil and social justice, shifting globalization dynamics, and the mainstreaming of artificial intelligence. Project managers and those who work on projects are uniquely positioned to address these disruptions. Driving systemic change depends on collaboration, both internally and externally, from employees and managers to customers and communities. It also relies on changemakers — project managers and others who drive positive change within their organizations — who can make ideas into reality, whether through large-scale transformational change or smaller but just as vital projects.

We currently operate in a rapidly changing environment, defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. Although many organizations responded quickly to COVID-19, the enduring problem they face today is that their structures and ways of working aren’t adaptable or readily able to change. If they cannot reinvent themselves and learn to embrace change, they risk not surviving in an increasingly evolving, digitized world.

To adapt, organizations need to be more than agile in their ability to respond to change. This requires putting into place mechanisms and guardrails that readily detect early signals of change and move beyond reactive measures in face of disruption. At an organizational level, that means rethinking your operating model to ensure you’re able to respond with agility and it means upskilling and reskilling your workforce to master new ways of working. In 2017, it was estimated by the McKinsey Global Institute that 14% of the global workforce would need to acquire new skills or even switch occupations by 2030 because of automation and artificial intelligence. But a 2020 McKinsey survey found that 87 percent of executives said they were experiencing skill gaps in the workforce or expected them within a few years. But less than half of respondents had a clear sense of how to address the problem.

We also see the need for professionals to acquire “power skills” — the soft skills like empathy and collaborative leadership that will help you apply your technical skills to a variety of different situations and deliver winning results. Our research found that organizations’ highest priorities for talent development are collaborative leadership (47%), adaptability (45%), and innovative mindset (39%).

The choice as to whether or not a young person should pursue a college degree was once a “no-brainer.” But with the existence of many high-profile millionaires (and billionaires) who did not earn degrees, as well as the fact that many graduates are saddled with crushing student loan debt and unable to find jobs it has become a much more complex question. What advice would you give to young adults considering whether or not to go to college?

The past year has prompted many to rethink their professional goals and look for opportunities to further their careers, perhaps without the financial or time commitment tied to going to college. For young professionals looking at project management as a career path — and for anyone looking to make a switch in their career — there are ways to improve your resume that may not be as time-consuming or expensive as you may think.

For those new to the profession, PMI has other offerings that can help professionals get their foot in the door. Our Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® certification is great for this, as anyone can qualify to take the exam with just 23 hours of project management education. It is a certification that can jumpstart a project management career quickly and effectively.

For those with more project management experience looking to further their career, the PMP® certification, for example, offers a way to advance your career and increase your earning potential. Having a four-year degree and three years of experience leading and directing projects, or five years of experience without a four-year degree– in any field — can qualify professionals to pursue a PMP® certification, which opens the door to higher salary opportunities without making a large investment. In fact, the 11th Edition of our Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey found that professionals with a PMP® certification reported higher median salaries than those without a PMP® certification — 22% higher on average across the 42 countries surveyed.

Despite the doom and gloom predictions, there are, and likely still will be, jobs available. How do you see job seekers having to change their approaches to finding not only employment, but employment that fits their talents and interests?

One of the reasons why power skills are so critical — and became even more so during the pandemic — is that they can help facilitate the transition to a new career path. The pandemic caused many of us to reevaluate how we feel about our jobs and, perhaps for the first time ever, consider different lines of work, resulting in what is now called the “Great Resignation.” Harvard Business Review reported mid-career employees, or those between 30 and 45 years old, have had the greatest increase in resignation rates, with an average increase of more than 20% between 2020 and 2021.

When we’re focused on the jobs we’re currently doing, it’s difficult to take a wider view and consider how the skills we use on a daily basis could translate to other industries. For anyone considering changing careers, I would encourage them to think creatively about how their qualifications and skills — especially power skills — can be applied to jobs that better align with their interests and values. As for technical skills, courses and certifications like the ones offered by PMI can help fill in the gaps.

The statistics of artificial intelligence and automation eliminating millions of jobs, appears frightening to some. For example, Walmart aims to eliminate cashiers altogether and Dominos is instituting pizza delivery via driverless vehicles. How should people plan their careers such that they can hedge their bets against being replaced by automation or robots?

Again, it comes down to thinking creatively about the skills, especially power skills, that you use in your current job, and how they may be applied to something new. Communication, empathy, creative problem-solving — those skills are used every day across industries and sectors. Lifelong learning is critical, as well. There are so many free and affordable online courses that make it easier than ever to stay on top of the most important skills, whether for the job you have or the job you want.

Technological advances and pandemic restrictions hastened the move to working from home. Do you see this trend continuing? Why or why not

Our own research indicates that since shifting to a fully remote work model, many organizations have seen a surge in productivity. A whopping 76% of workers feel more productive now than they did last year before the start of the pandemic. But for some, this increase in productivity was because professionals had to work more to get the outcomes they needed, but this can result in feeling overworked and burnout. From this, we have witnessed the value of not only healthy work-life integration, but also the value of employee feedback. For more than a year, employees have carried on amidst a world turned upside down by an enduring pandemic, and employers have an obligation to consider employee needs and concerns, now more than ever.

But to answer your question, I see flexibility prevailing. Many professionals enjoy working from home, and after doing so for this long and still delivering results, they want the flexibility to stay home — or go into the office — as they please. Organizations have already starting piloting hybrid work models, and I expect this to be the new normal moving forward.

What societal changes do you foresee as necessary to support the fundamental changes to work? What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employers to accept? What changes do you think will be the most difficult for employees to accept?

At PMI, we offer solutions that benefit both employers and employees. We focus on reskilling and upskilling individuals, both teams and organizations. The pandemic was the catalyst for the biggest overhaul of the workplace in decades, one that was arguably long overdue. Continuous evolution will be a given. As COVID-19 continues to rattle workplace culture, we expect to see remote and hybrid teams become permanent for many industries and organizations. Additionally, over the long term, new technology and the continued infiltration of artificial intelligence in the workplace will present new challenges and opportunities for project managers and changemakers.

At PMI, we continue to make concerted efforts to ensure that professionals are provided with the tools, training, and insights needed to build the most-needed skills for the future of work. Over the past five years, we have seen the project management profession experience a shift in demand from solely relying on and valuing technical skills to a greater emphasis on a much more diverse tool kit. As a result, we are updating many of our certifications and offering new solutions for professionals to learn the skills needed to navigate this new normal.

In January 2021, we launched a new Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification exam to reflect these evolving needs of the profession. While it’s routine and best practice for us to update our certification exams every few years based on extensive market research in the field, this round of updates were the most substantial we’ve seen in many years. This is because the profession has changed so greatly and we need to ensure those who earn the PMP® certification have the project management expertise and attributes organizations are looking for today.

In the past year, we’ve created, and continue to add to, our new PMI Citizen Developer™ suite to empower organizations to upskill their employees on the use of a cutting-edge new way of working, citizen development via low-code/no-code platforms, and scale its use effectively and securely. While it seems so divergent now, research from McKinsey and Gartner say citizen development will only increase in popularity and demand, making it an essential skill for organizations to upskill their workforce in AND to scale and manage properly. We created training and tools for professionals to master citizen development because it will change the way work gets done in all industries, and PMI is here to prepare professionals and organizations to work smarter.

Our Wicked Problem Solving® course and toolkit enables organizations to institutionalize design thinking skills and modern creative collaboration so teams thinking differently about framing and solving challenges. The world’s problems — and the solutions aiming to solve them — are more complex than ever before, and the World Economic Forum ranks complex problem-solving as the single most valuable skill. Wicked Problem Solving helps organizations’ teams instill the best parts of design thinking into their planning and decision-making to help find creative solutions. Teams learn to visualize ideas so they can tackle projects more creatively, collaboratively, and effectively — and deliver value faster.

The COVID-19 pandemic helped highlight the inadequate social safety net that many workers at all pay levels have. Is this something that you think should be addressed? In your opinion how should this be addressed?

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed numerous areas of need that should be addressed as we work to create a more equitable world in which everyone has the opportunity to grow and succeed. A prosperous future for individuals and organizations alike is dependent on addressing shortcomings as we encounter them in hopes that we are collectively moving toward a positive path forward for workers with the greater good in mind.

Despite all that we have said earlier, what is your greatest source of optimism about the future of work?

After more than a year of working remotely, one of the more positive things we’ve seen is that business leaders and colleagues are showing greater empathy to one another. Virtual connections have taught us to communicate and collaborate more effectively when we aren’t together in an office — and they’ve taught us to be better listeners and more respectful of everyone’s time. Managers have found creative ways to keep employees engaged and feel supported — whether through informal virtual coffee chats or by accommodating challenges with childcare. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Trello, and Miro are also helping managers establish virtual workspaces that create greater autonomy and greater collaboration for team members while increasing transparency.

The challenges of a continuously evolving workplace have allowed us to exercise and grow these collaborative leadership skills that are critical to future success. Without face-to-face contact, the ability to be human and show empathy and cultural awareness is critical to virtual management.

Historically, major disruptions to the status quo in employment, particularly disruptions that result in fewer jobs, are temporary with new jobs replacing the jobs lost. Unfortunately, there has often been a gap between the job losses and the growth of new jobs. What do you think we can do to reduce the length of this gap?

Every four years, PMI publishes its Talent Gap Report, which examines industry trends in employment across the globe and the implications of the persisting gap between the demand for careers in project management and the availability of talent. Our 2021 Talent Gap Report found that the global economy needs 25 million new project professionals by 2030, which is 2.3 million people every year. In fact, business leaders have cited project management as one of the top five areas they would like to prioritize in the future, as reinforced by PMI’s Make Reality Global Survey. Our research has illustrated that project management is one of the most sought-after business professions often recent years, and with its wide-ranging applicability, there is a myriad of career opportunities and angles for professionals to pursue in project management.

Okay, wonderful. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “Top 5 Trends To Watch In the Future of Work?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

1. Leading With Empathy. The past year has taught us all a lot about embracing our humanity and breaking down barriers, blurring the lines between our professional and real selves. As we shifted to an entirely remote work model last year, we found the ability to be human and show empathy and cultural awareness to be critical when you lose face-to-face contact in a virtual environment. This starts with encouraging a communicative workplace culture — engaging in dialogue with your employees and then acting on the feedback to create a happier and healthier work environment. In fact, our employees helped us see an opportunity to improve the culture around meetings. Their feedback was that they were fatigued from the number of virtual meetings. So we tried something new — we started No Meeting Tuesday Mornings and No Camera Thursdays. After a three month pilot, the feedback has been incredibly positive. Employees are using the quiet time to be creative, to focus, or to complete professional development — and while seeing each other in meetings is helpful remotely, turning off the camera provides a break.
2. A Hybrid Model Will Become The Norm. The are many upsides to a hybrid work model. It allows your employees the autonomy to work from wherever they’d like. It also gives employees the opportunity to customize their work schedule to their liking. Want to do a 30-minute workout in the middle of the afternoon? No problem! Why do I support this so much? It’s because it’s working. As I mentioned earlier, our research shows that 76% of workers are more productive now than before the pandemic. A culture and environment that values its employees will do good things for you and your organization.
3. Discussions of Mental Health and Employee Wellbeing Will Be Destigmatized. The topic of burnout is becoming more and more apparent in workplace conversation. A culture that constantly puts pressure on employees to work long hours or outperform their peers can negatively affect their sense of self-worth and how they perceive their achievements and occupational fulfillment. More and more organizations are taking notice of this and are starting to have conversations on how to combat burnout in the workplace. Last year was tumultuous for almost every organization, and we know this had an impact on employees. So we closed our offices for two weeks at the end of last year to ensure all our employees had time to recharge.
4. The Future of Work is Project-Based. PMI believes that the future of work is project-based, driving the emergence of The Project Economy — a global mindset in which work increasingly centers around executing projects both large and small. Companies are transforming at a rapid rate due to advancements in technology, evolution of the consumer, and constant shift of market relevancy. Jobs are evolving, focusing less on a static set of responsibilities and more on the flexibility to work with different teams and across different workstreams. Project-based skills are essential to helping turn ideas into a reality, and PMI offers individuals and organizations the tools to revise and re-imagine their entire approach to a project — which makes all the difference in an organization’s recovery during a crisis and beyond.
5. Organizations Will Have to Adapt to Large-Scale Disruption. While many organizations quickly pivoted when the COVID-19 global pandemic began, it’s important to move beyond reactive measures, take a step back and reconsider how work gets done moving forward. From the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence to the climate crisis, the corporate landscape is constantly evolving, and organizations must be able to reinvent themselves and adapt quickly to large-scale change.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how this quote has shaped your perspective?

Of course, the quote is from Bill Murray, American actor and comedian. He said, “the more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself.” This hasn’t changed my perspective, but confirms a truth about how we as individuals and teams can position ourselves to be our best and perform at our highest levels. Of course, the quote doesn’t explain all the hard work and preparation that is needed to find this relaxed state of being, but it’s a good reminder.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

World Bank Group President, David Malpass. Sharing PMI’s perspective on projects and getting work done with the World Bank would have a positive impact on the success of their projects and long-term investment outcomes.

Our readers often like to follow our interview subjects’ careers. How can they further follow your work online?

You can connect or follow me on LinkedIn.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this. We wish you continued success and good health.