by Mita Brahma

At the start of the industrial era, a lot of people genuinely feared that machines would replace manual labor, and create widespread joblessness. While it is true that many repetitive manual tasks did get taken over by machines, it is also true that the industrial era led to new categories of jobs. The better jobs however, went to the more skilled workers, with highly skilled workers at a premium.

A similar revolution has been under way at workplaces with the world going digital.  A whole category of new jobs has grown, which are skill dependent and quite independent of the time, place and employer. These jobs may be temporary, contractual or permanent, on a project basis, term basis, or on-demand basis, part or full time, remote or on-site. What is common is that they require a specific competence and technology support.

Many jobs are available on a freelancer basis. According to a recent Forbes report, more than a third of the working population in the US is already freelancing, though this percentage does include some moonlighters. [1] As per a survey of marketplaces for freelancers like PeoplePerHour and HourlyNerd, the percentage of freelancers would grow to 40% by the year 2020 in the US. [2] . It is quite reasonable to presume therefore that organisations across the world would have to use a fair portion of freelancers in addition to their full-time regular employees.

Not only would the organisations of the future have a combination of all categories of employees: part or full time, contractual and project based or on demand; but their regular full time employee may want different kinds of work arrangements through different phases of life. Employees may want to work from home to avoid traffic woes and office distractions (yes, there are plenty of distractions at office too!) or want to be available at home for domestic exigencies. Employees in certain situations may want to work part time, and they may even feel they would be more productive working from home. All members of such virtual workplaces or virtual equivalent of physical workplaces are often referred to as digital workers. The technology and business infrastructure and management support that makes such workers effective are all part of the modern day digital workplace.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s directive a couple of years back that some Yahoo employees would no longer be able to work from home sparked debates and research on all forms of digital workplaces and their pros and cons. How does it affect productivity, loyalty, teamwork and happiness at work? Do digital workers require a digital team leader? Should they have a few digital peers? In an experiment with telecommuting, the Chinese travel company Ctrip allowed one volunteer group of employees to telecommute, while another control group of employees worked from the office. Much to their own surprise, the group that had worked from home was happier, more productive, and reportedly less likely to quit. [3]

What are the skills and processes required to use and manage a diverse and dynamic “digital” workforce that includes full and part time “remote” workers, regular and contractual on-site employees as well as digital time or project based freelancers? For organisations not used to reviewing their processes every year, this is going to be a challenge. How does one effectively find, recruit, deploy, monitor, assess or reward a workforce that is independent of the location and physical monitoring? One can ensure telephones, Internet connections, video conferencing hardware and software, and document sharing is in place on all sides. One can also work on ensuring a pleasant experience across tablets, laptops and smart phones at different time zones and locations.

The challenge is not in being able to use technology; the challenge is in the whole new way of thinking about work, which makes it possible to effectively allocate work, to monitor and manage this dispersed, diverse group. Organisations have made incremental changes in their processes as they learnt to use new technologies. The challenge is however in allocating work in a more customized human-centric way, and then measuring individual contribution. Administering appropriate rewards and incentives just got more complex!

[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/09/05/more-than-a-third-of-u-s-workers-are-freelancers-now-but-is-that-good-for-them/#75d05ab93f04

[2] http://www.fastcompany.com/3049532/the-future-of-work/heres-why-the-freelancer-economy-is-on-the-rise

[3] https://hbr.org/2014/01/to-raise-productivity-let-more-employees-work-from-home