The FoW3 9R Model: Future of work, workman and the workplace.

Byline: JEHANZEB KHAN

The Only Constant in Life is Change. (Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher)

The world is rapidly changing and evolving, driven by the digital revolution. Its impact can be felt all around the energy industry where there is a growing need to modernize and upgrade assets, processes, and operations, ranging from oil exploration techniques, to oil refining facilities, to natural gas processing and storage plants. The workforce in the energy industry is subjected to these changes and we are witnessing a transformation in every walk of life. Efficiently managing human resources and improving employee experience during these rapidly changing times requires a better understanding of the Future of Work.

To explain this, I have mapped 9-Rs of Future of Work in three Clusters: Workplace, Workman, and Work as shown in the diagram.. This can potentially help companies stay on course during these evolving times and steer towards sustainable business operations with a great employee experience.

These days, the senior corporate executives have started having meaningful discussions around business sustainability, growth plans, operational excellence, and above all Re-defining Purpose of existence. People with high sense of purpose generally live by the strong personal values. Such employees make a significant impact on their work as well as on others and the society. Moreover, by Reinvigorating the Passion of such employees, organizations can help unleash their full potential, increase productivity, and remain highly engaged along with having sense of purpose. Hence, the question "does my company have a Purpose aligned with mine" has become more relevant today.

Nowadays, organizations are diversifying and expanding into secondary markets to become more resilient to the changing business environment. The concept of Rethink Organization helps in transitioning from 'design for efficiency' to 'design for resilience'. That is only possible by enabling and empowering business units to enhance performance through more focus on their income statements and cost leadership.

In a pre-pandemic world, remote work arrangement was limited to technology businesses. However, in the post-pandemic world, this applies to all sorts of businesses, including the energy companies. The petroleum companies around the world, including Pakistan, embraced the remote working culture during the pandemic that allowed them to provide vital products, despite lockdowns. Hence...