Change: ……..it
In 2023, I was submitting applications to several bschools. I’m not sure how MBA colleges are assessing the candidates now. But, back in my days, a normal application would consist of couple of essays on a particular topic that varies from school to school. I vividly remember the first essay I wrote was for NYU Stern. It was a simple 2 word prompt: “Change: …….. it”. We were suppose to write 350 word essay on it. I still remember my answer to it; “Change: Enable it”. When I wrote these words, I couldnt fathom the weight of them then, than today.
Every day I wake up and the first thing I check is my phone. Every few weeks, I receive notifications of layoffs. In the subsequent weeks my linkedIn feed is filled with layoff posts and how AI is disrupting our work equilibrium. With unemployment rates shooting to all time high and fresh graduates struggling to join the workforce, every family is affected by this turbulance in some way.
While the news is traumatizing, it got me thinking, “where does it lead to?” I started researching on it. A similar thing happened some 20 years back when internet exploded. It led to changing businesses and acquiring new skills. Organizations adapted to the new world.
If this turmoil leads to a status quo, second question should be: what will this new world be?
Get Pranjal Agarwal’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
This second question is imperative as every CEO, including the people who are driving this change, is running to reach that realization. The sooner an organization reaches it, the better it is equipped to capture the value.
The answer may be foggy right now but it will reveal itself pretty soon. As the organizations are running towards this new world, responsibility falls on HR to understand how and to what level can the simple job of automation and prediction (currently, that is how AI can be defined. This definition can change in future) alter them. Probably thats why we are suddenly witnessing rising demand for OD (Organization Development) strategists and change managers who are trained for the job.
There are many theories in OD that formulate how to initiate and implement an organization wide change. The first step is ofcourse to read through the organization chart and put question marks on the roles that can be automated. These include, though not limited to: developers, customer support, employee support and data scientists. Hence, the layoffs!
However, are organizations moving to Step 2 of this change management? i.e., ensuring AI is doing the job of the people displaced. Though AI is growing exponentially, we are seeing scope of improvements eg Amazon recently added levels of approval instead of giving their AI a free hand.
Along with Step 2, comes Step 3: engaging the employees that remain in the organizations. Layoffs is scary. Not just for the seperated ones but also for the ones who were spared. Every employee brazes themselves even at the rumor of it. Hence, HRBP team has a pivotal role to play today. It should work hand-in-hand with management sharing key insights on where the organization is headed and how they are planning this journey. This will not only help employees walk with the change but also (probably) enable it with the top management.
Moral of the Story: Lets go back to basis. Share the vision and give the respect of transparency to the employees.
Written by a human to be read by humans
