It´s been decades since elevator and
switchboard workers. Nowdays receptionists are being replaced by machines and
energy consumption is being monitored remotely instead of inspectors coming onsite.
Service work transformation is not new. The potential of robots replacing
people has been discussed since a long time. What is new is the pace.
If not entirely replacing humans, technology
and robots can and will support people in their work by conducting e.g. repetitive,
strenuous or unsafe work. One profession may include several tasks. Thus some
tasks may be replaced or be supported by technology but the profession or what
it generates as such may not entirely disappear. What elements modify our scope
and choice of work? What does a future service worker do? What is the logic
between human skills vs technology?
Researcher Eveliina Saari, research manager
Jokke Eljala and journalist Jarmo Laitaneva discussed transformation of work in
YLE podcast “Arjen tulevaisuus”. Some considerations of the discussion
elaborated below.
Values
If robots can perform our work in the
future, what would be our own choice what to do? What work do we value?
Person´s basic needs cover job security and its meaningfulness. One also needs
the social interaction that work provides through a network of co-employees and
customers. Thus, work will not only be about speed, productivity or efficiency
but it is a wider context of elements that contributes to the meaning of life.
Technology can also bring new opportunities
of consuming services. Could virtual reality provide value and desired experiences
to e.g. senior citizens who want to enjoy their day? Go rowing virtually during
a rainy day. If we value certain experiences, can services be provided that
make their consumption easier?
Self service
How many people still go physically to a
bank? We don’t because it´s easier to take care of financials online. We even
have a service to conduct an online meeting with a bank representative. If
people feel they get service faster or easier, they do it increasingly
themselves.
Technology is however only one element.
Interaction, feeling of safety and empathy play a big role. Not everybody wants
to do everything online. A personal encounter may make a difference. A
professional can help make things more meaningful. Example is a doctor, who may
have somewhat better analysis of a disease and provide empathy. This
combination can be more attractive than self analysis.
Interaction
A complex and demanding surgery may be done
later by robots, who might provide a safer option than a real person. Will
people choose a real doctor or a robot? Will people choose a lawyer or a robot?
Will people choose a financial advisor or a robot? What are the ingredients
that influence our choice?
Emotional intelligence will play a bigger
role in the future than before in managing customer relationships once the
interactions become more meaningful. Facilitating a virtual meeting requires
different skills than facilitating a face-to-face meeting. We face new type of
interactions where old behaviours are not valid.
Social innovation
A service worker and a customer can build
new approaches by working and contributing together. How one performs
on-the-job may be influenced more independently than earlier. Out of the box
thinkers can bring new ideas that customer welcomes and begins new consumption
behaviours.
Service design
An increasing number of experts are
conducting service design. They help navigate services, make them logical and
easy to find. If you enter an airport, pay attention to how easy it is to find
check in, security, your gate and an empty cafeteria.
Light entrepreneurship
Companies have emerged providing professional
services for freelancers to easily get hold of entrepreneurship. They provide
accounting and taxation services in order for freelancers to be able to focus
on the work itself. The challenge may be lack of job security – there is no
guarantee of work continuation. The bonus of course is a low barrier to
starting one´s own company. Will search for self management increase so working
on your own feels more rewarding than working for somebody elses company even
if more risk included?
Learning
If you enter working life today, it is most
likely you will not retire from the same job. Therefore what keeps you
competitive is continuous learning. One builds proactively one´s own work by
learning about things one values and is interested in. Thus one can influence
the future work. Generalists may do better in the future since they build
skills in understanding a wide variety of things and be receptive to learning
new and working in multi-cultural or multidimensional environments. Talking
about improving our intelligence, there is of course a limited capacity.
Learning is continuous, but we cannot assume a person can absorb an unlimited
amount of new things. Knowing your history is a good platform for understanding
the new. Curiosity can complement what a person lacks in a position today.
My future job description?
What could robots do in my marketing work?
Collect customer understanding from various sources automatically? Plan and
choose topics relevant for customers? Link offering that matches customers´
needs? Conduct activities at customer interface that are in right places at
right time? Discuss with and make recommendations to customers online? Evaluate
results and optimize? Most likely all of this in the future. Coming back to the
emotional intelligence part, maybe with more challenging and meaningful tasks
even customers still want to engage with real people. Perhaps I become a concierge
linking people either to robots or other people. Planning marketing-as-a-service.
