Author: Mary Ila Ward

We’ve been talking a lot on The Point blog the last month or so about the changing world of work. Unfortunately, until recently, the changing world of work wasn’t doing much to change education. The structure of education has remained very much a product of the industrial revolution. The fact that education’s purpose is primarily to train people to be successful, working adults emphasizes the importance of our educational system adapting to the world of work.

Here are 4 Ways The World of Work is Changing Education:

1. Delivery is changing: Schools are now offering classes outside of traditional school hours and schedules to meet the needs of the learner and foster an environment where each individual can learn best. In addition, virtual offerings are taking place, even down to the elementary school level, where a student doesn’t have to step foot in a traditional classroom to learn. In fact, PennsSounds familiar? The workplace has by and largely done the same thing. For a model of this check out, Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School.

2. Curriculum focus is changing: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic will probably never go away, but curriculum is shifting more and more to focus on the application of concepts learned and how they relate to actual jobs and tasks present in the workplace. The rise of career academies and soft skills lessons and training (what employers seem to complain about the most in terms of what is lacking in employees) lend themselves to foster a learning environment to purposely prepare students to tie relevance to what they are learning and at the same time prepare students to be prepared to meet workplace needs. In addition, many of these models incorporate on-the-job learning requirements through job shadowing, internships and co-ops. For more information on this check out: Career Academy Policy Paper, Model Soft Skills Curriculum

3. The traditional college degree could become obsolete: In a discussion with a friend about saving for our young children’s college education, he said, “You know, when our kids are 18 the model for gaining access to success which, we by and large see now is through a college degree, could be completely turned up on its head.” Interesting, I thought, but I’m not sure I believed it. Although the pace may not be as rapid as he thinks, ie- I haven’t cancelled my my four and one year old’s 529 savings plans- evidence is showing that the traditional college degree model is turning out graduates who are not prepared to meet a need in the marketplace, thus making their degree, well, worthless (even though they paid a pretty penny for it). More and more programs are being offered that seek to prepare individuals for success in the “real world” and they aren’t through traditional post-secondary pathways. For more information on this check out: This is the Future of College and Uncollege.

Image: William Symonds, Director of Global Pathways Institute

 

How do you see the world of work changing the world of education?

For more on this topic, you might like: 5 Big Ways Education will Change by 2020 from FastCompany

My brother started a new job in business development for an international company about six months ago. His boss lives in Toronto. He lives in Memphis, TN. In fact, he didn’t meet his boss until after he was hired. He works from home, or his car, or an airplane, or a hotel room, a Starbucks or really anywhere as long as he has a WIFI connection and a cell phone, it doesn’t matter where he is.

We at Horizon Point just finished a project on wage analysis. Neither I nor our other full-time employee did any of the number crunching for it. The data analysis was done by a contract employee who works comp projects for us from time to time. She lives two hours away and has a full-time job by day. I never saw her once face-to-face throughout this project. I have met her once in person two years ago.

In reading Start Something that Matters by Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes (read further insights from his work here) it was interesting to learn that when he first started, everything was done out of his small apartment in Venice Beach, California. He asked a coffee shop if he could use their prominent address as his business address to receive mail. He emphasized several times how office space is simply a waste of money.

What do all of these illustrations point to? The world of commerce doesn’t care how or where or who gets work done, it just cares that is done, and done with quality, of course.

Our first inclination is to think the reason for this is because the worker wants it. Newer generations are “demanding” more flexibility and we live in a time where technology allows this to work. In fact, the search for the keyword “remote” work has increased 85% over the last two years on indeed.com. While this may be true, the reality of why these shifts are taking place is simple. It makes bottom-line business sense.

In a study highlighted in HR Magazine, of those who telework, “77% reported greater productivity while working offsite, 23% are willing to work longer hours from home than they would onsite, and 42% feel just as connected with colleagues as if they were working on the premises.”

Contract labor will continue to increase as the employer/employee relationship “costs” too much for both the individual and the organization. Because of this, people will be working multiple “jobs” for multiple “employers” at any given time and over their lifespan.

Devoted “office space” in many obsolete in some industries where it is an expense that isn’t needed. Rising shared office space models will continue to grow and become the norm and people will continue to work more from home.

If you’re a part of an organization (more on what this means for the individual stay tuned for our post on June 30^thby guest blogger Stephanie Siebel) consider these steps to adapt to these changes in order to stay competitive in the war on talent and on the war for your bottom line:

1. Assess your “workflex” against peers in your industry. To do this, visit whenworkworks.org/workflex-assessment. Not all industries are created equal when it comes to tapping into these trends. For example, many of our manufacturing clients can’t tell an employee to go make a machine run to produce a “widget” from their couch- one day maybe- but you need to consider how you compare with your industry peers when considering how, where and who gets work done. Are you behind the times?

2. Shift your paradigm of thinking by analyzing what is really necessary to get work done at a high quality. Make a list of all the things that are absolutely necessary to meet customer or client needs. You’ll find that often a permanent physical location, an employee that works only for you all the time and/or specific hours they work, all of which can eat up a substantial amount of capital, isn’t needed. Are you stuck in the way things have always been?

3. Analyze changes to the way work is structured from a cost/benefit perspective.  You’re paying an employee how much in benefits? Do they value those benefits, do they need them? Would they prefer to have the flexibility to work from home helping to better meet their family needs because their spouse has the benefits their family needs? This is an individual cost/benefit example, but the cost/benefits can be weighed on a larger, corporate scale in terms of real financial costs. Do your research and present the facts. The whenworkworks.org website can help with this.

4. Make changes gradually. Try out a contract arrangement with certain duties you think would cater to that type of arrangement. Experiment with your office hours to see if you need to be open from the typically 8 am- 5 pm hours. Implement and assess knowing that all changes don’t have be set in stone and can be implemented gradually.

What is one step you can take today to make your “workplace” more flexible?

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