Are we the Future Workforce now?

Disrupting the future the workforce

We have been thrown into this digital world and so many people, companies and countries are being left behind. Why is that? Do we not want to learn something new, do we reject new technology just because we have never seen it before. We are all afraid to ‘change’ but if we don’t accept the change how do we move forward in this fast paced world, where the ability to build fast relationships is a must as well as the ability to manage oneself with little external input.
When going into the corporate world, they don’t seem to be happy that the younger generation are leading and taking the digital world hands on, making the change they want to see in the world. Companies that are stuck in there old ways and use excuses like ‘it’s always been done like that’ are the companies that are going to stand still and be left behind, and let’s be honest not many are happy for the ‘youths’ to come in and point out when things are going wrong. They were our age once, aspiring to be stand out, and make a difference not only to their own life but to others, so how do I prevent myself from growing up and becoming them, without even realising?

When I first came across Freeformers and saw that their slogan was ‘Creating The Future Workforce Now’ it grabbed my attention. One of the major challenges we face is unemployment. So in a country that has less jobs then ever I wondered how Freeformers would help the younger generation get ‘meaningful’ jobs. When they get rid of CV’s and ask interesting questions at the face to face stage, it honestly made me feel like a human again, I didn’t feel like a number, a robot giving answers that I know they want to hear.I had already worked at Camelot for well over a year before I moved roles and took on a new role with the Freeformers academy. It was a shock at first to be opened up to of all the ways Camelot had fallen behind, because of the ‘fear’ of change. In our meetings with the Exc’s they all make it clear that they want us to ‘positively disrupt’ the business and bring in our Millennial thinking but i’m still a sceptic to how truthful that statement is. During our time in with Freeformers we have been opened up to many ways of working and thinking. One of them was taking part in a Google Sprint week where we worked on a brief in 5 days from start to finish.

Day 1 is all about expanding our understanding of the brief that has been given, discussions and debates within the group. This provided the knowledge that will build our ideas and prototypes. Day 2 looks at critical thinking. Coming up with a bunch of amazing ideas quickly and effectively so we can take them into the next stage. Day 3 is where we collaborated through show and tell. This allowed both groups to learn different ways and gain feedback the the other group who had no part, hearing from each other on their own designs and ways to improve.
Day 4 is where we explored all ideas further, we designed and made prototypes ready for the user testing which took place on day 5. Show time. User testing, prototypes and final pitch's. Doing a Google sprint really opened my eyes as to how quickly we can get work done. We had 5 days to create, test and pitch a new product. After the sprint going back into my normal working environment I was thinking of ways we could incorporate a sprint into every day work, because sometimes it feels like we spend to much time thinking and talking and not enough time doing. Which is why we are all here I guess. To bring in new ways of working, like sprints to help and develop the work that already taking place.

As the years seem to be moving faster and technology is already miles ahead of us, how do we stand a chance? I read a blog post a few months back about skills the future workforce will need to be successful, and this is one that has stuck in my mind every since...

'If humans are to compare with machines in any meaningful way, they will have to become part machine themselves. In this way, humans are not in competition with machines, but working in concert with them.'

Blog post by Rosie Hagger — http://www.darlinimoutofmymind.co.uk/