Last night a new two part series called “Secrets of Silicon Valley” was aired on BBC 2. This week’s episode was titled ‘The Disruptors’. In this episode we were introduced to some of Silicon Valley’s disruptors. Big hitters like Uber and AirBnB were interviewed and then critiqued anlongside small startups like Starky Robotics. who make the truck driving computer ‘Rosebud’ and Enlitic, who are pioneering artificial intelligence in Medical Diagnosis.

Will the robots steal our jobs?

As the programme’s presenter, Jamie Bartlett, moved from debt driven social problems in India, to rent hikes in Barcelona, to machine learning and the future of work, he made some frightening predictions about artificial intelligence and the future of work. He is not alone in predicting a dystopian future caused by artificial intelligence but what was missing from his documentary was what to do about it.

We aren’t convinced that machine learning and artificial intelligence will lead to the destruction of human work. Human beings are the great adapters of this planet and we believe that innovation will lead our species to new and better things.

However, we know that the world of work is changing fast and we are convinced that HR has a crucial part to play in making change work for employees and organisations. What’s more, if the world is going to change in the way Jamie Bartlett predicts, then we think we need to start planning now. And we think that HR should be at the heart of that plan.

Unlock the creativity of your people

Here are our three top ideas on how HR can ensure people stay at the heart of the organisation in a digital future:

1. Put learning on the agenda: build structures which give your people opportunities for continual learning and reinforce this through your organisations culture
2. Empower people to be creative: bring innovation skill into your business through training and recruitment and create a culture of innovation
3. Encourage productive collaboration: introduce tools that enable your people to work together collaboratively;  develop a culture of breaking down silos so that people can see the bigger picture and work better together

HR driving adaption

We, as a HR community, must recognize that change is here to stay. We must adapt the way we operate in our organisations, to help them stay ahead of the curve, so that we can make our people indispensable in a digital future.

If you want to build a culture of innovation or release the creative energy of your people, give us a buzz.