Equipping the Labour Force for a Hybrid Future
Leaders in industry recently joined the annual Future of WORK Virtual Conference, presented by Vodacom Business, SEACOM Business, in association with CNBC AFRICA and FORBES AFRICA, for a series of panel discussions, presented under the theme A New Pandemic Hybrid World of Work: Shifting Trends.
The various panels unpacked topics such as: Work-from-home and the hybrid office; 5G as multi-lane communications superhighway for the 24/7 enterprise; Digital transformation and the role of hybrid cloud in meeting the demands of business; and confidential computing and cybersecurity.
In her keynote address, Her Excellency Paula Ingabire, Minister of Information and Communications Technology and Innovation for Rwanda, addressed the disruption caused by the pandemic, from working, learning, and interactions with those around us, to the way we conduct business, but at the same time pointed out how it has also provided an opportunity for management, employees and businesses to rethink the current work model, increase efforts to upskill where needed and to understand what culture is needed in this new way of working. She further added that studies have shown that remote work increased productivity as a result of decreased commuting, but noted that the pandemic has also put a spotlight on the limitations of remote work.
"One thing is for sure, the Future of Work should and will be hybrid. The demand for flexibility in where and how people work has been there for decades, even before the pandemic,"
she concluded.
The panel dwelling on work-from-home and the hybrid office, explored the pros and cons of the remote and hybrid work model, and unpacked critical issues that would allow business to shift into a workspace, understanding the challenges, and through debate were able to formulate solutions. Some of the key points that stood out during this discussion, was the fact that the hybrid work model would most likely become the preferred choice going forward. During the discussion, Lars Jeppesen, CEO & Co-Founder of Tech One Global, said that they had surveyed their employees and found that a majority would either work 100% from home, or work mostly from home.
Lars also highlighted the fact that this remote shift has opened a door for businesses to recruit outside of their demographic location, expanding their reach to acquire skill. Also, part of this discussion, Emma Luyt, Co-CEO and MD at Tétris, reiterated the importance for companies to become more employee-centric and instill a culture of caring.
"When it comes to our employees, caring is the new currency; we find ourselves with young employees without the resources to work from home, and we have the duty to provide."
says Luyt.
Another important point that was raised during this discussion is the remuneration model, and to look into rewarding those employees differently who go into office. However, Luyt cautioned business to not fall victim to favoritism, and mentioned the fact that if someone is working from home it doesn't mean they are not working.
While unpacking the issue of connectivity, which delved into 5G as a multi-lane communications superhighway for the 24/7 enterprise; Pavesh Govender, Managing Executive: Internet of Things (IoT) Africa; Vodacom Business, explained how 5G has allowed mobile operators and companies to increase its network capacity.
“5G allows mobile operators as well as customers to overlay much more capacity onto the network, so we can connect millions and billions of things over the same network,"
Govender says.
The summit also hosted experts in hybrid cloud who discussed digital transformation and the role of hybrid cloud in meeting the demands of business, during which Kabelo Makwane, Managing Executive: Cloud, Hosting & Security, Business Solutions at Vodacom Business, noted that COVID-19 had been a catalyst in the 4IR revolution but that it has also dispelled a lot of the notions of what work actually means.
"Trust will become a very key principle with working from home,”
he added.
Steve Briggs, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of SEACOM Business, indicated that they have seen a rapid amount of growth over the last 18 months which was initiated by the pandemic and is of the view that as corporates migrated to the hybrid world of work, they have adopted cloud platforms.
“Although many leaders on the various panels have been affected by the same challenges, it is interesting to note that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the future of business. What has come to the fore is that reliable, high-quality connectivity is needed to enable this future, and that this unknown future will also have heightened security requirements,”
Briggs concluded.
During her talk on data breaches under POPIA, Era Gunning, Executive Banking and Finance, ENS Africa, commented on the Cybercrimes Act that is still to be gazetted. Gunning explained how this Act would potentially create a whole lot of new cybercrimes but also hold certain providers, such as financial institutions, accountable to report certain cybercrimes within 72 hours, failing to do so could see them face penalties of up to 50 million rand.
The final panel discussion for the summit looked into confidential computing and cybersecurity, which addressed the importance of secure platforms, even more so for the hybrid and remote world of work. Some critical points unpacked by cyber security specialists, were the need to improve IT security infrastructure, to upskill employees and to increase cyber security awareness efforts.
The 2021 Future of Work Virtual Conference speakers included:
- Kabelo Makwane, Managing Executive: Cloud, Hosting & Security, Business Solutions; Vodacom Business
- Steve Briggs, Chief Commercial Officer; SEACOM
- Pavesh Govender, Managing Executive: Internet of Things (IoT) Africa; Vodacom Business
- Emma Luyt, Managing Director; Tétris
- Ignus de Villiers, Group Head of Cyber Security; Liquid Intelligent Technologies
- Sizwe Cakwebe, Primary Contact and Cyber Risk Manager; SHA
- Rudi van Blerk, Principal and Recruitment Director; Boston Consulting Group
- Eva Andrén, Vice-President and Head of Managed Services; Ericsson Middle East & Africa
- John Brodie, Head: Future of Work and Leadership Services; Deloitte Africa
- Lars Jeppesen, CEO & Co-Founder, Tech One Global
- Era Gunning, Executive Banking & Finance; ENS Africa
- Robin Fisher, Senior Area VP; Salesforce MMEA
Panel moderators:
- Godfrey Mutizwa, Editor-in-Chief, CNBC Africa
- Dan Adkins, Group CEO, Transnational Academic Group
- Toby Shapshak, Editor, Stuff Magazine
The Future of Work Virtual Conference was presented by Vodacom Business, powered by SEACOM Business, in association with CNBC AFRICA and FORBES AFRICA.
