Orient Magazine Special Orient Supplement: Future of Work | Page 5
Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 71 April 2019
Matters of Opinion: The Future of Work
This month the Chamber is taking a closer look at the conversations we have started over the past year under the umbrella of our Future of Work initiative. Thinking of this broad topic, we asked members what the Future of Work looks like for them, and what would they recommend that businesses be doing now to prepare?
Ian Kloss, Head of Region (Southeast Asia) & CEO Singapore, Old Mutual International
“Old Mutual International (OMI) has always been a huge believer of innovation. Only with innovation can we, as an organisation, continuously deliver good client outcomes and value to our shareholders. In the past year, OMI Singapore has adopted an open innovation approach in which the organisation taps into external networks to collaborate and co-create new solutions and services. A good example was when OMI partnered with a regional bank’s expertise and resources to co-create a bespoke offering for high net worth clients. The new product taps into OMI’s expertise in offering cross-border insurance solutions and the regional bank’s expertise in discretionary investment portfolio management. OMI is also looking to upgrade to a more robust knowledge management system. Knowledge is often overlooked as a resource and being a global company, inadvertently sometimes knowledge does not get shared or passed on, causing ineffective allocation of resources. Hence, to future proof the organisation and increase operational efficiency, knowledge management should be a key business strategy.”
John Bittleston, Founder, Mentor & Executive Chair, Terrific Mentors International Pte Ltd
“Relationships between authority and those who are expected to comply with authority are changing. This arises from speed of transmission of information, access to data, lowering of social barriers and better education of employees. To prepare for the major changes thus caused management needs to promote (rather than resist) transparency, to abolish all useless procedures that are predicated on the assumption that employees will cheat or sabotage the organisation, to engage employees more meaningfully, giving them scope to participate as much as possible in the business. When I built Cerebos Pacific, I saw that all employees’ wages, bonuses, stock options and terms (including mine) were displayed. Employees appreciated this transparency. Formal meeting times were strictly limited, and employees were helped to feel that our company was a family. This is not soft, touchy-feely rubbish. It is practical management. I know because I have done it. Successfully.”
Nick Freeman, General Manager, PizzaExpress Singapore
“Cost pressures are driving change in the restaurant sector, with an increasing need to automate processes to save on manpower. Equally, real concerns about the environment have led to innovations in the realm of “Food 2.0”, with plant-based proteins introduced to reduce meat consumption and a growth in vertical farming to minimize impact on the land. A restaurant experience could look very different in ten years. Customers may select a dish on a mobile phone, sending the order directly to the kitchen, where a robot prepares the food. This seems hard to conceive – and a little impersonal – but some companies have already opened semi-automated restaurants. I see this becoming the norm. Menus will change too, containing less meat than today as meat becomes costly and more diners adopt a flexitarian diet. We are embracing these changes at PizzaExpress, undertaking the “Future Express” project to guide us into the future of food.”