Industrial automation has struck fear in the hearts of humans for over 200 years, and it's time that stops!
Unfortunately, for workers, the impact on the viability of sustainable careers within their industries remains worrisome. A recent PwC survey revealed that 60 percent of workers worldwide are worried that automation is putting jobs at risk. Workers see technology as eliminating occupations in the world's highest-risk industries such as construction, forestry and fishing. They know automation has been at play in manufacturing since the first robotic arms were implemented in the 1960s. They also see major industries such as medicine being transformed by the robotics revolution and expect automation will soon take over the transportation industry. The swarm of robotics has come with a record 3 million industrial robots operating in factories around the world in 2021. However, instead of worrying, workers should encourage their industry leaders to shift their energy toward creating a new and more enriching value proposition that shows how automation will benefit workers.
Over 50 years ago, Peter Drucker was adamant that "knowledge work" would be the most important aspect of work and the most growing occupational concept in advanced economies. Now with the advent of cyber-physical capabilities such as big data analytics, this idea is more relevant than ever. New and emerging intelligent automation capabilities are enabling the radical emergence of dynamic, multi-source, real-time data that feeds connected knowledge worker thinking.
Industrial automation runs on two concepts relevant to workers. The first is what's referred to as the "displacement effect." This simply means that as automation increases productivity, it displaces human activity. The displacement effect is counterbalanced by the second concept, referred to as the "reinstatement effect." Today, cyber-physical systems are aggressively creating and reinstating new tasks that are increasing the human share of work in ways that demand new jobs and skills. Given the pace and way connected technologies are reinstating industrial work, it raises a demand for a new framework for the connected knowledge worker.
Industry must move away from the idea of fixed jobs and tasks that apply narrow skillsets to perform repeatable tasks. Traditional job design and the idea of work no longer support connected plant environments or evolving worker expectations. Recoding work to harness the growing power of cyber-physical advances and connected knowledge worker capabilities is not just about rewriting job descriptions; it's about taking a broader view of human contribution in terms of intellect, creativity and social collaboration.
The term "super job" was coined to recognize the dynamic nature of a data-intensive world driven by more matrixed and connected organizational environments as well as more challenging problems, decisions and opportunities. The type of in-context data insights that cyber-physical systems deliver provides knowledge workers with a broader system understanding and a frame for interpreting the larger operational picture. Exploiting the idea of connected knowledge workers filling super jobs requires a new and sizeable demand for upskilling and reskilling. Connected knowledge workers with access to a constant feed of intelligent data must be able to apply short-term strategic and extended thinking to enable the new industrial economy.
Developing the knowledge worker represents a capitalization on the confluence of advanced automation, the changing nature of evolving industrial work and connected skills. In this context, data insights require connected knowledge workers to thrive in applying thinking skills that leverage deep knowledge using reasoning, planning, and applying evidence to explore questions with multiple possible outcomes and solve problems with unpredictable solutions. Those companies that effectively marry cyber-physical connectivity with new knowledge worker capabilities will see the ROI of knowledge worker contributions jump to exponential numbers. Let's change the narrative to one where automation is not making humans superfluous; it's setting them up to be essential to the future of industries where progress is the product.
For more information, contact Brent Kedzierski at brent@humanwrks.com.
