Life as We Know It & The Brave New World of Work

In the spring of 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated contact bans and curfews forced many workers practically overnight into the home-working environment. Hardware was hastily transported, WiFi connections were set up and efforts were made to create the technical conditions for location and time-independent working. “Finally,” thought many a colleague. Life as we knew it had suddenly changed.

How digitalization is changing the world of work

The number of video conferences has increased by leaps and bounds: those who can, do work from their desks at home, and instead of having lunch together in the canteen, teams can even meet up for virtual dining. In the IT and Internet world, taking the leap into digital work has been as successful as expected. Much to the delight of the teachers of agile management methods, the prompt adaptation of the organization to completely new framework conditions has occurred more or less smoothly and, despite all the horror, Covid-19 has effortlessly ensured that large parts of the working world in many countries around the planet have been digitalized. This is about more than the digital version of workflows, higher efficiency, and lower costs. In many places, the cultural changes that accompany the transformation process are greater than the technical challenges. The brave new world of digital work brings with it the relinquishing of hierarchical structures, departmental silos, and the retention of knowledge by management to retain a position of power, in favor of transparency and cooperation. It is less about new technologies than about the question of how work can be re-thought and distributed with the aid of technology.

The role of management in crisis situations

Compared with other sectors, such as the restaurant industry – whose employees have either had to go on reduced hours or lose their jobs – the difficulties facing those who can work from home seem solvable. It’s important to structure the working day in a disciplined way, even within your own four walls, to create space for breaks and exercise, and to motivate yourself again and again, even when the household and children provide distractions. Young families in particular face unprecedented challenges when both parents have to share a desk for eight hours a day, keep their children busy at the same time, and replace the teacher for the older children. Even though some employees miss having direct contact with their colleagues and after a few weeks there are reports of incidences of “cabin fever”, the vast majority are satisfied to be able to work flexibly and reward the new freedom with above-average commitment and dedication.

Reliable and clear communication on the part of the management is essential, especially in this uncertain situation, and the interaction with the team in the virtual space is more important than ever. Many employers are taking their duty of care very seriously at the moment and offer their employees orientation, a virtual sports program, or resilience courses for better stress management. But it is even more important to maintain contact with colleagues, to listen, and to strengthen the sense of connection against the backdrop of social isolation. Responsible managers now counter the fear of illness and job loss and the exceptional psychological burden with appreciative feedback and a continuous flow of information – even when the situation is uncertain and they themselves are somewhat at a loss.

The turning point for the world of work

More than ever, clearly formulated tasks that allow for fast and tangible progress, as well as regular meetings that also leave room for private articulations and the question of how each person feels, are proving their worth. The multitude of video conferences and virtual meetings may be tiring, but it is precisely through this bridge to colleagues and customers – without which the psychological and economic damage would have been immense – that digitalization ensures in many places that the crisis does not turn into a catastrophe. From its original wording, crisis stands for “turning point”, and it remains to be seen whether the Covid-19 crisis has helped the digital world of work to take off in the medium term. After all, it has been proven in many places that digital collaboration can work, and that self-determined working – rather than control and compulsory attendance – increases motivation in many cases.

It is to be hoped that the New Work approach, the origins of which can be traced back to the great crisis in the American automotive industry, will no longer be equated with fruit baskets and playgrounds for IT-affine techies, but will be understood in its essence: New Work, according to Frithjof Bergmann, stands for a digital, decentralized, and democratic world of work, for results-oriented and self-determined work which takes place on an equal footing. So this turning point is having a more fundamental impact on the world of work – it is opening pathways to greater diversity in the workforce and greater access to work for many who were previously shut out of participating in economic value creation.

During the Covid-19 crisis, millions of people have discovered this digital world of work, with both its freedoms and its downsides, such as isolation and high work density. Some who would have liked to work from home before this but were unable to due to the resistance of their supervisors will gladly return to the familiar atmosphere of the office after Covid-19. For some, like Alexandra and Laura (below), the digital world of work is simply an extension of how they have always worked. In many companies, however, the ways of working together will have to be discussed anew.

However, despite digital working being a saving grace in a situation like the current crisis, digitalization remains a bone of contention for many workers. Will my workplace be taken over by a machine in the future? Will decisions that are essential for me, such as those about the allocation of work, soon be made by algorithms? And is human labor becoming increasingly worthless? As justified as these concerns are, fear and ignorance are the worst possible advisors at a time when the will to shape and strive for the continuous further development of your own abilities is more important than anything else. It can be assumed that almost every job will be affected by digitalization, and speculation varies as to how many and which jobs will be lost in the future.

The common good – working to live and living to work

In fact, the world of work has not only been in flux since the industrial revolution; it has always been characterized by progress and constant change. However, never before has the potential for shaping the world of work been as great as in the digital world, and rarely before has it been possible – at least in the industrialized nations – to discuss the value of work from an ethical point of view and against the background of economic prosperity. For example, a basic income is currently being considered in Germany as a starting point for social participation, the courage to implement innovative entrepreneurial ideas, and a self-determined life. The economic consequences of the Covid-19 crisis and the threat of recession fueled this discussion in the spring of 2020, because many self-employed workers and freelancers – but also employees – lost their livelihoods from one day to the next, and could no longer meet their day-to-day costs.

At the same time, employees in what are termed 'systemically relevant' professions, such as those in care environments, medical institutions, or even in the food industry, find themselves under enormous pressure, and work to the brink of exhaustion, as Tim (below) exemplifies.

Inevitably, the risk of falling ill is higher, and nurses or supermarket cashiers are exposed to a much higher risk of infection than, say, software developers in an isolated home-working environment. The chronic staff shortage in the health sector and profit-oriented medical sectors threaten to take their toll in the Covid-19 crisis. Concerns and realities around the world of a high number of infected people facing insufficient capacity in hospitals and nursing stations is forcing countries into an economic standstill. This commitment of workers in systemically relevant professions to work to the limits of the resilience is rewarded in some places by tax-free bonuses and a wave of appreciation among the population – welcome measures that should not obscure the fact that the majority of these workers experience poor working conditions and are often poorly paid. Last but not least, Covid-19 raises the legitimate question of how doing good work for the common good can also result in doing good work in the economic sense.

Even pessimistic forecasts assume that a large number of new jobs will be created in the course of digitalization, that completely new job profiles will develop, and that digitalization will continue to be the most important job engine in many economies. At the same time, a shift away from the traditional employment relationship can be observed, the number of freelancers and self-employed is growing, and international competition for work orders is increasing. In the future, work will occur in more variations. The standard employment relationship will find its justification, as will atypical employment relationships, for example in the form of free project work or globally active digital nomadism. This, in turn, will pose new challenges for existing social security systems and will require innovative solutions and new solidarity within communities, so that future generations can be protected in old age, illness and unemployment.

It is now important to create the framework conditions so that as many companies and their employees as possible benefit from the economic potential of the digital world of work and that the existing scope for action is used.

Leadership in the VUCA world

So how do we set about tackling the various challenges outlined in our stories of Alexandra, Laura, Elke and Tim? Dealing with the VUCA world (with VUCA standing for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) requires a new approach to leadership, one which will support employees to navigate the uncertainties and cope with transformation.

Values such as transparency, openness, and cooperation characterize teamwork in successful digital companies. This is accompanied by a new understanding of leadership, which is determined by clear and appreciative communication and the ability to provide orientation and create the framework for the best possible performance. This approachable form of leadership is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and the moderation of different but equal interests is a task involving a high level of responsibility. Leadership in an agile environment is determined by a pronounced feedback culture, which is less about backward-looking assessment in the annual review than about the realization of common goals in the future.

The continuous validation of this objective is part of the so-called VUCA world, in which planning certainty and predictability of results are displaced by dynamically changing conditions and uncertainty. The crisis around Covid-19 has shown in many sectors of the economy that unforeseen circumstances suddenly require a high degree of flexibility and that the greatest potential lies in adapting quickly to new requirements, also in the world of work. The complexity of such challenges cannot be mastered by one person alone, but requires wide-ranging knowledge, different experiences, and versatile perspectives. Therefore, in the digital world of work, the leader is no longer necessarily the one with the greatest level of specialist expertise, but is one with the talent to use different competences for the best result. The continuous development of these competences within a team is just as much a part of the requirements for modern leadership behavior as the ability to critically question one’s own leadership style again and again.

Lifelong learning – keeping up with a changing world

It is important for all of us to change and develop with the times – like Elke, to consider where the future is taking us, and what we need to get there. In the new world of work, individual endeavors for continuous further training and lifelong further development of one’s own skills are of immense importance. Not only companies, but also politics and society are facing major challenges here. Everywhere, there is a need to adapt out-dated legal provisions to the realities of the digital world of work, to facilitate the influx of urgently needed skilled workers, and to establish national further education strategies. In particular, the development of digital skills at all levels of the education system is crucial for individual professional success and often also for social participation. Against the background of a rapidly changing world of work and diverse employment biographies, training alone is no longer sufficient. Our educational landscape must become more diverse and transparent and find a connection to the digital reality.

During the Covid-19 crisis, the view of the advantages of digital education has changed, because teaching suddenly went online and millions of working people are taking the opportunity to expand their existing knowledge via digital channels and to further their education in webinars, video tutorials, and online training courses. Learning has long been possible independent of time and place, and can thus adapt much better to the individual needs of the learners. It is to be hoped that the offer of digital education opportunities will also be used more intensively in the long term and that these individual learning formats will contribute to the continuous expansion and updating of existing knowledge throughout an entire professional life, in order to keep pace with the development of digital technology.

The broad qualification of employees for the digital world of work is an absolute prerequisite for their participation in economic growth and progress. Opportunities for innovation must be implemented sensibly and the digitalization of the world of work must be shaped for the benefit of all those involved.

Lucia Falkenberg is Chief People Officer with eco – Association of the Internet Industry and DE-CIX Management GmbH. Having joined eco in 2012, Lucia became Head of the eco Competence Group New Work in 2014. Prior to her role at eco, the Business Studies graduate managed her own human resources firm, where she successfully supported numerous clients in finding and retaining talented personnel. Lucia also previously worked as an international HR representative for an American IT company. Her extensive experience and know-how across the entire human resources spectrum is of particular benefit when it comes to advising executives and developing and implementing targeted personnel marketing and recruitment strategies. As a professional mother and woman working in the digital sector, Lucia benefits directly from the opportunities offered by the digital world of work.

Further information on the topic of diversity can be found on dotmagazine's Diversity focus page and in the eco Association 2020 study on Women in Tech Across the Globe: A Good Practice Guide for Companies.