For this months CAL newsletter I interviewed Anne Marie McEwan, and expert in the evolution of working practices and leaders of the Global Mobility Forum.
Here is an extract from the interview
The current economic slowdown is causing many employers to reduce workforce numbers - what advice would you to prepare for recovery?
Employers are understandably looking to minimise costs and often taking hasty action in reducing head count when in fact a calm cool stepping back and looking at where value lies is what is needed.
Fourteen years ago when entering this field, I worked with traditional manufacturers as they made the transition to Lean Manufacturing. This was the BIG change in industry. Not only is there nothing new, change happens constantly, there is a lot that we can learn from that time. Of major importance right now is the need for employee talents to be properly leveraged in the workplace. Take the opportunity to take a good look at the talents and skills of others in your workplace – this is where untapped potential lies. This is what I used to do with shop floor operators, with startling results for the bottom line. The current climate gives us a golden opportunity to consider new ways of working.
How do you feel the workplace will change over the next five years?
We need to be realistic here. We are unlikely to see huge changes overnight. I am quite pessimistic about the rate of change of working practices. Work will undoubtedly change over time. Consider this change as a bit like an iceberg moving a millimetre at a time. It is not apparent to the naked eye but it is unstoppable and inevitable in its ability to gouge out the landscape.
Times really have changed, for example nowadays a typing pool is a thing of the past. Thirty five years ago when I first started work as a youngster, I was given a dress code for woman, written into my employment contract, different from that given to male employees (that sort of discrimination just would not happen today).
To read the interview in full visit our web site here
