RIYADH — The world as we know it is rapidly changing, technology is leading to unprecedented amount of information we have access to and at never before seen speed. Thanks to technology, we have become a highly connected world. When it comes to trends in health, we have become more aware of the health risks surrounding us and have become more conscious of them. Despite the awareness we are living longer but more stressful lives. Rapid population growth, has led to global scarcity and environmental concerns that are being tackled through setting global goals and collaborative solutions. These trends have had noticeable impact on the work environment. A globally connected world that needs to tackle combined global issues needs increased Tolerance of genders, race, age. They have also made the work environment more flexible. Some examples include flexible work hours, solutions for working from home or remotely, and even flexible employee benefits. Employers today are asking, what are the competencies we need for this changing world? The competencies have certainly evolved due to these rapid changes and organizations are now examining the competencies they currently have within their organizations. The classic competencies we once knew to improve interaction such as communication skills, team work and customer service have now evolved to sense making, social intelligence, adaptive thinking, new media literacy, and cognitive load management, which is employee's capability to manage information over load. In the past we wanted to know if employees could be influential through their people management and negotiation skills, we wanted to understand their strategic leadership and delegation of authority. However now employees need to be able to collaborate differently and influence others through virtual channels and need to be generalists and cross-cultural. The classic competencies such as innovation and problem solving in the future will be better known as having a design mindset. One cannot isolate the competencies needed for success without taking into account the overall work environment. As attention spans get shorter especially amongst millennials, the number of jobs that an average employee works during his or her career will increase and employers need to work harder to retain staff and keep them motivated and engaged. To create that engagement, employers will have to learn from how new age gamification has helped with education and see how they can apply that learning to the work environment. Employers will also have to realize that they can no longer have a "one size fits all" solution and must create a menu of benefits that an employee can choose from. An employee may for example want to work less hours remotely at the expense of lower pay. Corporate Responsibility is also becoming of greater importance to future generations. The want to feel closer to their communities, and organizations need to ensure they allow for volunteering hours and reward them. Organizations may also be the ones providing the volunteering opportunities. Employees want their organizations to share in caring for their health and create a balanced work life and a healthy work environment. The environment is also of greater concern, and employees will want to make sure that they are working for organizations that are responsible and hold themselves accountable for their role in protecting the environment. Competencies management that is led by the human resources department can most certainly contribute to the success of an organization, but it's the holistic approach to managing a work force that ensures greater success. For such success a collaborative approach between multiple functions must take place. What were once better known as support functions, Human resources, Information Technology, Corporate Communication, Corporate Responsibility are now core functions in the driving seat of any organization to create the successful workplace of the future. — Amr Banaja is VP of Corporate Communications and Marketing
