HAS DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY had an impact on the way that you do your job? By 2023, one in three of our jobs are at a high risk of being disrupted by it – which could see up to 46,000 job losses. At least that’s according to the National Skills Council’s latest report.
But for Robert Farrell, lecturer in Business at Griffith College, it’s all about taking advantage of and not fearing technology: “It’s your skills, augmented with the power of artificial intelligence”. When human and artificial intelligence are combined, Farrell says that we can get a lot more done in a shorter amount of time.
So, what should we know to ensure that we’re not left behind in our careers by digital technology?
Here’s what Farrell had to say about staying ahead of the curve…
Leadership in this sense is not just about being proactive in relation to new technologies – it’s about seeing its benefits: “You need to have the ability to see how technology can be used in your role or your department”, explains Farrell. He shares that this is also about “having the emotional intelligence to see how it could disrupt your role and defend against that.”
This means that if you’re an employee, it’s about retraining. In the US, Farrell says that the majority of digital experts are dedicating time to learning new technologies. However, he adds that there is some suggestion that in Europe we are relying on companies to offer retraining (rather than doing it at an individual level).
Farrell shares how top recruiting firms such as Brightwater, Morgan McKinley
and Sigmar have all isolated a number of skills as “hot skills”, meaning ones they sometimes have trouble filling.
These include things like content and social media, but an important one is around analytics. “This is the ability to do two things – to use multiple analytic platforms such as Google Analytics, but also to interpret the data”, says Farrell.
One thing that new technology can bring is the ability to enhance customer experience. Farrell gives the example of the guitar company Fender, who offer access to online content that allows customers to teach themselves how to play guitar: “If you’re buying a guitar, this is a differentiator – everyone needs to consider how to improve their customer offering.” Farrell describes this as digital adaptability.
Another example of using technology to give your business an advantage Farrell shares is within transport – one of the industries most at risk of disruption. “Autonomous vehicles are in test phase at the minute. They’re likely to spread through society in coming years, possibly impacting taxi drivers and companies that are majorly reliant on transport.”
One of the biggest challenges to adapting to these technologies is that we currently have multiple generations in the workforce, says Farrell: “Gen Z have just joined at an entry level, millennials have been working for a few years, and we’ve Baby Boomers on the way out.” The result of this? Tension around change, which needs to be dealt with in order to minimise conflict – here’s where strong interpersonal skills come in handy.
This also extends itself to customer-facing roles. While some businesses such as Whole Foods in the US have opted for till-free payment (you simply walk out and your Amazon card is deducted), others may differentiate from this by not stripping their customer service out. So if you’re intending on a career in retail or hospitality, having “strong interpersonal skills and empathy” are going to be skills that a machine can’t do.
“You need to be researching the technology coming into your industry and getting familiar with that”, says Farrell. This includes having the commercial acumen to keep an eye on companies in your industry: “If you spot them early, you can defend against them or you can be the first-mover to provide things that customers will want.”
For example, Farrell has been looking at a chatbot driven by AI that might help small business owners or workers in these companies. Users will be invited to ask the chatbot questions (what are my sales, or when do I need to put in an order?), then it is hoped that based on what they ask, they’ll be able to automate parts of the business. “You remove repetitive processes so you can do things a machine cannot do such as speaking to customers and selling to prospects.”
According to Farrell, one of the ‘hot skills’ that recruiters are also after centres around content creation. “Video here is key”, says Farrell. He also shares that it’s important to be able to produce business documents such as white papers, though customers are “responding less to long-form docs and more to blogs”, so it’s worth brushing up on how to deliver information via engaging content, in order to stand out for jobs of the future.
Filling out your CAO, or know someone who is? Griffith College has a brilliant undergraduate offering of courses such as Accounting and Finance, Art and Design, Business, Computing, Fashion Design, Journalism, Law, Marketing and Photography – and it won Best Online Learning Experience in 2019 for its blended learning programmes. Take a look at exactly what they have on offer here.
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