Being More Human
Being More Human
Being More Human
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
Why organizations must be more human
if they are to deliver sustained growth
in a connected world
Meanwhile, brands and employers are becoming more Technology may be changing the
meaningful: those with clear purpose are prospering nature of work in ways — and at a
(outperforming the S&P 500 by 14 times between 1998 and
2013),1 while many corporate “dinosaurs” that refuse (or are
speed — never previously imagined,
unable) to adapt are dying off as the rate of change increases. but businesses and society still
This paper will seek your views on the argument that
fundamentally depend on the resilience
organizations of the future need to embrace fully the and creativity of human beings
concepts of empowerment, learning and balance if they are for their success. Reassessing this
to succeed, by using the power of technology and automation
to rehumanize — rather than dehumanize — the workplace.
relationship between people and work,
and understanding in particular what
drives a true sense of purpose will be
key to building stronger businesses,
more stable societies and — ultimately —
supporting more fulfilled and
productive lives.
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 1
There are several significant
trends that are driving change in
the new working world
1. The range of workforce generations is growing: to own over 50% of all global household assets.9 This is
More generations are working together than ever before, especially bad news for economic growth: inequality at
with different expectations and attitudes. It is estimated the bottom of the income scale hurts overall growth, and
that by 2025 millennials will make up 75% of the countries where income inequality is decreasing grow
workforce — and life expectancy is still rising, so up to two faster than those with rising inequality.10
thirds of babies born in the last year could live to be 100.2
People are retiring later, or not at all. We now have an 5. The rise of robots in the workplace:
environment in which older workers already report facing Smart machines could replace 33% of jobs by 2025, and
prejudice at work3 and millennial executives struggle to the Governor of the Bank of England stated earlier this
gain acceptance from older colleagues.4 year that almost 15m UK jobs could be “hollowed out”
with the workforce being replaced by robots: “Alongside its
2. Work is less permanent and more flexible: great benefits, every technological revolution mercilessly
By 2020, almost 20% of US workers will be “contingent” — destroys jobs and livelihoods … well before the new
i.e., not permanent. That’s 31 million people. If that sounds ones emerge.”11
like bad news, consider that 80% of today’s contingent
workers appreciate the flexibility.5 Most of Uber’s growth 6. Political and social instability:
has come from drivers who use their own cars,6 and 75% From mass human migration as a result of war, conflict and
of them have other jobs.7 the search for employment, to Brexit and the messages
that Geert Wilders in The Netherlands and Marine Le Pen in
3. Successful business models look radically different: France gained surprisingly strong support for throughout
New business models are springing up all over the world, their respective election campaigns — these socio-political
many of them rooted in the “sharing economy.” Nearly half shockwaves are driven by people who feel frustrated and
of UK business leaders think that their current business ignored. They threaten to undermine an intertwined,
models will cease to exist within the next five years.8 global trading economy that was already in crisis.12
4. Increasing economic inequality and slowing growth: These trends will affect everyone — and for those of us
The richest 1% of the global population is now estimated who run organizations, they should be a wake-up call.
In the past three years, organizations which had a defined and understood purpose
had an edge on revenue
58% 57%
42% 42%
29%
25%
19% 16%
Flat/decline
15%
0–10% growth
2 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
To thrive in the new era, we need to
rethink the role that organizations
and their workforce play in driving
competitive advantage
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 3
What is the risk if organizations
don’t act now?
Today, we are at a crossroads. One road promises an “age • Turbo-charging the war for talent: If education is not
of abundance … where products, services, energy and equipping people with the right skills, how will organizations
education become so inexpensive … that people are freed find the talent they need? This could lead to fewer skilled
from work.”16 The other hints at a more apocalyptic vision of people being available. What will incentivise them? How will
a post-work world where humans are unskilled and become your organization compete with other potential employers,
increasingly obsolete. especially among freelance and contingent workers,
who may become highly selective around their choice of
These are polar extremes, but the responsibility is on us to employer? When talented individuals no longer want a job
navigate a third way — if we don’t, the following consequences for life and can earn more outside of traditional full-time
will be borne by everyone. employment, how will we attract them?
• An automation apocalypse: Software robots will remove • Increased nationalism, isolationism and trade wars:
humans from repetitive process-based jobs, creating With growing unemployment, “globalization will accentuate
mass unemployment, which in turn will erode purchasing class divisions between those who have the skills and
potential. As Martin Ford, one of the most vocal contributors resources to take advantage of global markets and those
to the debate on automation, writes, “Workers are also who don’t.”20 And, even though many economists believe
consumers, and they rely on their wages to purchase the that a political backlash could push the global economy
products and services produced by the economy.”17 Or in deeper into a rut,21 we are starting to see politicians
other words: if robots take all the jobs, who will buy our regulate against globalization. They will take actions that
products and services? will reverse the current trade flows that have taken decades
if not centuries to establish. This, despite evidence that
• The growth of a “useless class”: Yuval Noah Harari asks,
“direct trade-restricting measures have the most negative
“What will happen … when computers push humans out of
impacts on growth and employment.”22 There could also
the job market and create a massive new ‘useless class?’”18
be increasing charges or immigration barriers, which may
Millions of people will be left without any employable skills.
prove prohibitively costly because securing the right human
And because no one will be sure what skills will still be
skills in the right place will come at a premium. All eyes are
relevant in the future of work, no one will know what to
on the UK to see how they navigate the Brexit detangling of
study in college: “The world is changing so quickly that
freedom of movement and free trade.
by the time new college students graduate, much of what
they have learned is … in many cases obsolete.”19 Will we as
businesses have a significantly smaller talent pool to choose
from? Where will diverse ideas come from and why would we
want growth without equality?
4 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 5
• Tax and welfare overhaul: Some commentators have Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, agrees: “For
suggested a human solution to rising unemployment and free trade to benefit all it requires some redistribution. We
economic inequality could be to give citizens a universal need to move towards more inclusive growth where everyone
basic income. This is being trialed by Finland and the has a stake in globalization.”28
Netherlands among others, and early reports in Finland are
already indicating improvements to people’s mental health.23 This demands that we take proactive and responsible decisions
And while in 2016 Switzerland voted to reject it, “young and actions that transform the future of work, so that not just
people seem to overwhelmingly support [it] — making it a few people prosper in a growth economy.
a political likelihood in the decades to come”24 — perhaps
even more so if younger people are the ones hit hardest by
the new world of work. The obvious question is, how would
we pay for this? And the obvious answer is: higher taxes.
“America could afford to pay citizens about US$10,000
a year if it increased taxes from 26% to 35%.”25 Another
option is “taxing … things we need less of, such as pollution,
Mark A. Weinberger,
financial transactions and extreme wealth.”26
Global Chairman and CEO, EY
Can we afford to wait for governments to solve these issues
for us? Or will we lag behind our competitors who solve
them ahead of us? In order to make headway, organizations,
governments and wider society will need to work together: we
must at the very least go in search of a third way. “We can, and We can, and will and must … harness
will and must … harness innovation to not just provide better
products and services, but create more inclusive economic innovation to not just provide better
growth,” says Mark A. Weinberger, Global Chairman and products and services, but create more
CEO of EY.27 inclusive economic growth
6 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
Let’s think again — and put people
in the center of business with more
human ways of working
We can balance the age of abundance with the age of 3. We are suffering from digital sicknesses — we need to
automation in a way that benefits humans as a whole. adapt to it.
We just have to think more broadly. The culture of “always on” technology over-usage is causing
a rise in mental health issues such as “digital dementia”
1. Make our organizations reflect a more connected world. and “digital stress” from 24/7 work availability. We need to
Most businesses are still organized in silos, which are often protect our people and help them thrive and survive in the
disconnected and dampen collaboration and cooperative connected world. France has already reacted to this risk,
learning. These silos are still propped up by traditional enacting on 1 January 2017 legislation giving workers in
hierarchies. They’re no longer fit for purpose. Digital organizations with more than 50 employees “the right to
connectivity and collaboration on a local and global scale disconnect” from the “always-on” work culture enabled by
have made these traditional forms irrelevant. technology.31
2. We need to harness our entire human ecosystem, not 4. We have to anticipate and develop the skills we will need
just our own workforce. in the future of the Internet of Things, robotics and AI.
The relationship between a person and their organization If we don’t know what tomorrow’s valuable skills will be, it
is changing. They may be full-time, part-time, contractor, will be a challenge to train and develop our people today.
freelancer … This is what we mean by our human The B Team’s Arianna Huffington predicts that the “two
ecosystem. Around 18% of the workforce is currently most essential skills in the new world order [are] creativity
contingent — and firms expect to increase their usage and empathy.” Organizations must help to hone them, as
to 25% to 30% or even more within less than 10 years.29 there will likely be a premium for these uniquely human
This begs the question of what organizations will really attributes that cannot be easily automated or synthesized.
be offering employees beyond just the basic contract
of employment, and where a group purpose becomes
particularly important. Matthew Taylor, head of the UK
Government review into the gig economy, links the UK’s
poor productivity growth to a feeling of dissatisfaction
among workers. He cautions that too few positions offer a
feeling of “genuine flexibility, being valued and respected, The relationship between a person
learning and growing ... feeling work has a meaning and and their organization is changing.
purpose,”30 and this view is supported by the Bank of This begs the question of what
England’s Chief Economist, Andy Haldane.
organizations will really be offering
employees beyond just the basic
contract of employment, and where a
group purpose becomes particularly
important.
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 7
How can we fully activate our
full human potential to thrive in
the future?
8 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
• “Democratize” your workforce. 2. Learn
Enable greater flexibility and self-determination among your
people. For millennials, who are projected to make up 75% Embed continual learning and evolving education strategies.
of the workforce by 2025, this is key.40 Zappos, the online
shoe and clothing retailer acquired by Amazon.com for • Use digital to enable constant skills development.
more than US$1b, has implemented a “holacracy”: people This is critical for the evolving needs of your business, as
have “roles,” not jobs — with experience and expertise well as those of the individual: within the next five years,
de-emphasized, less “typical” and more junior types have 35% of skills considered important in today’s workforce will
been able to succeed.41 Video game company Valve uses have changed.44 In our digitally enabled and hyperconnected
a modular work model whereby employees are free to world, graduates will also need cultural empathy, cross-
work on any of the company’s projects that they may find cultural communication skills and global contacts. Today,
interesting.42 As Laszlo Bock, Former Senior Vice President 65% of millennials say the opportunity for personal
of People Operations at Google, says: “If you’re comfortable development is the main factor in their current job.45 Both
with the amount of freedom you’ve given your employees, Alphabet and AT&T have each invested more than US$2m in
you haven’t gone far enough.”43 The B Team has been the Khan Academy, a non-profit organization that produces
considering the “New Engagement Paradigm” short lectures for YouTube and mobile devices, mostly on
for some years. mathematics, with the goal of creating an accessible place
for people to be educated.46 Such an investment will not only
help many access education they otherwise couldn’t, it will
also help to widen the potential talent pool for organizations
requiring numeracy skills.
• Work with government on education programs
to provide the right skills for tomorrow.
Given the rate of change in skills and knowledge required
in the workplace, life in the future is unlikely to happen in
two discrete stages: education then career. “The mantra of
political leaders should be ’guidance, guidance, guidance’
for employees throughout their careers.”47 Denmark
allocates funding for two weeks’ certified skills training
per year for adults, and the strong emphasis the country
places on in-work training helps explain its very high degree
of employment mobility, with 70% of workers considering
mid-career transitions a “good thing,” compared to 30% or
less in most other European countries.48 To reach the same
ends, businesses are working closer with universities; for
example, Ericsson has created a learning platform that uses
mobile phones to download the Indira Gandhi National Open
University’s (IGNOU) course content.49
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 9
From the worker …
Two thirds of today’s babies could live to 100, The Telegraph, Staffing industry analysts, 2015 Europe Contingent Buyers Survey
12 December 2013 in Is the gig economy a fleeting fad, or an enduring legacy?,
EY, 2016
Within the next five years, 35% 65% of millennials say the
of skills considered important opportunity for personal
in today’s workforce will development is the main factor
have changed. in their current job.
The 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, OECD Data, OECD, 2016
World Economic Forum, 19 January 2016
Future Workforce Study, Dell and Intel, 2016 The Future of Jobs, World Economic Forum, January 2016
Mark Carney, Liverpool John Moores University Roscoe Lecture, What are the trends disrupting our clients’ People Agenda? Research
5 December 2016 and insights on major shifts across the globe, EY, September 2016.
10 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
3. Balance
Actively balance the technology and the person to humanize,
not dehumanize, the work experience.
The message from the emerging
• Automate to make work more fulfilling.
The vast majority of millennials feel AI could make work and future workforce is not to stop
easier for them.50 For the generations that follow them, automation, but to ensure that
so-called digital natives who are just entering the workplace,
automation helps humans to have
77% believe that advanced technologies in the workplace are
important.51 “The future won’t be about people competing more fulfilling work.
with machines, it will be about people using machines
and doing work that is more interesting and fulfilling,”52
claims Australia’s Minister for Employment, Michaelia Cash.
Therefore, the message from the emerging and future
workforce is not to stop automation, but to ensure that
automation helps humans to have more fulfilling work.
• Invest in developing our uniquely human characteristics.
Helping individuals see the direct impact of their work,
whether in terms of products or services, is vital to a culture
of innovation.53 Autodesk has built a strong culture of
reinvention by bringing its employees through a series of
innovation workshops. Employees are given both the training
and resources to create business pitches that highlight
the value of their ideas.54 Microsoft’s innovation team now
actively encourages employees to get involved with three
forms of innovation: product, business model and policy,
taking the company “in directions that were previously
unthinkable.”55 In fact, innovation can even come from
looking after the hygiene factors, as in the UK, supermarket
chain Lidl has found that increasing the basic rate of pay can
also achieve great things: “The Living Wage can give workers
the security they need to innovate. Half of the people that
receive the Living Wage explain it’s made them more likely to
implement changes in their organization.”56
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 11
Where should we go from here?
12 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 13
Notes
14 | In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth?
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World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose, 150 years: Mark Carney warns living standards are suffering the
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EY, 2016
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employment tsar Matthew Taylor, Telegraph, 9 May 2017
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31. Le droit a la deconnexion, pour une meilleure qualite de vie au
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Where They’re Going, Benenson Strategy Group, 2016
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Innovation?, Microsoft, 2016
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UK, 20 January 2016
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www.oecd.org/newsroom/inequality-hurts-economic-growth.htm,
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5 December 2016
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World Economic Forum, 4 March 2016
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Technology Than Their Workforce, Business Wire,
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The B Team, 2014.
Mass Unemployment, Oneworld Publications, 2015
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transform how you live and lead, John Murray, Publishers, 2015
London: Harvill Secker, 2014
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World Economic Forum, 19 January 2016
Better Leaders, and create a Competitive Organization,
Wiley, 2014 45. OECD Data, OECD, 2016
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In a digital world, how can being more human be key to unlocking more growth? | 15
About EY’s People Advisory Services About Unilever
As the world continues to be impacted by globalization, demographics, Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home Care, Personal
technology, innovation and regulation, organizations are under pressure to adapt Care and Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching
quickly and build agile people cultures that respond to these disruptive forces. 2.5 billion consumers a day. It has 169,000 employees and generated sales of
EY People Advisory Services believes a better working world is helping our €52.7 billion in 2016. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing
clients harness their people agenda — the right people, with the right capabilities, and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes all
in the right place, for the right cost, doing the right things. over the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton,
Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Lynx.
We work globally and collaborate to bring you professional teams to address
complex issues relating to organization transformation, end-to-end employee Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan (USLP) underpins the company’s strategy and
lifecycles, effective talent deployment and mobility, gaining value from evolving commits to:
and virtual workforces, and the changing role of HR in support of business • Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and
strategy. Our EY professionals ask better questions and work with clients to well-being by 2020.
create holistic, innovative answers that deliver quality results. • Having the environmental impact of our products by 2030.
• Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020.
© 2017 EYGM Limited.
All Rights Reserved. The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and
reducing risks. The company’s sustainable living brands are growing 50% faster
ED None than the rest of the business and delivered more than 60% of the company’s
growth in 2016.
This material has been prepared for general informational purposes only and is
not intended to be relied upon as accounting, tax, or other professional advice. Unilever was ranked number one in its sector in the 2016 Dow Jones
Please refer to your advisors for specific advice. Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest
environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability
ey.com/HumanAtWork Leaders in the 2017 GlobeScan/SustainAbility annual survey for the seventh
year running. Unilever has pledged to become carbon positive in its operations
by 2030.
unilever.com
Founded in the belief that the private sector can, and must, redefine both its
responsibilities and its own terms of success, we are developing a ‘Plan B’ — for
concerted, positive action that will ensure business becomes a driving force
for social, environmental and economic benefit.
We are focused on starting ‘at home’ in our own companies, taking collective
action to scale systemic solutions and using our voice where we can make a
difference.
bteam.org
Sir Richard Branson // Oliver Bäte // Marc Benioff // Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland
// Sharan Burrow // Kathy Calvin // Bob Collymore // David Crane
// Arianna Huffington // Dr. Mo Ibrahim // Yolanda Kakabadse // Guilherme Leal
// Andrew Liveris // Strive Masiyiwa // Arif Naqvi // Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
// François-Henri Pinault // Paul Polman // Mary Robinson // Ratan Tata
// Zhang Yue // Professor Muhammad Yunus // Jochen Zeitz