Making Work Human (In the AI Age)
The muligenerational workforce, skills, and the human experience
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Only a few days to go...
It's been quite a year, hasn't it? I'm certainly ready for a break. A chance to reset before we kick off 2025 and go again!
For me, 2024 has been another fun, if sometimes challenging, year. I've spoken with hundreds of leaders one-to-one, and presented to thousands at events and conferences. Through all these discussions, one thing has become crystal clear:
We're living through a fundamental transformation in how work gets done.
And the conversation has shifted. We're no longer debating whether AI will change work or if hybrid is here to stay. Those ships have sailed. The real question now is how we evolve.
Let me share what I'm seeing, quoting some of my recent podcast guests, and explain what it means for all of us in 2025 and beyond...
The Multigenerational Reality
Soon, we'll have five generations working together.
Over the next few years, Gen Alpha will enter the workforce, joining their slightly older Gen Z colleagues. And this will inevitably bring more hand-wringing from older generations lamenting the lack of work ethic (but haven’t the oldies always moaned about this!).
But this isn't just about managing different working styles - it's about understanding a fundamentally different relationships with work itself.
We're witnessing a shift from what Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott call the traditional three-stage life (education, work, retirement) to a ‘multi-stage life.’ As life expectancy increases and working lives extend to half a century or more, younger generations are rethinking how work fits into their broader lives.
As Chloe Combi noted, there's now a:
“…generational consensus about boundaries and work-life balance... it's almost like a form of unionisation.”
And it makes sense - facing potentially 50 years of work, Gen Z is demanding more sustainable approaches to career development.
The most successful organisations are making this diversity work for them by:
Creating two-way learning where digital/AI natives guide others with their innate understanding of technology while absorbing hard-won wisdom from their more experienced coworkers.
Building flexible environments that accommodate different working styles and life stages, making a feature out of both WFH options and in-person gatherings.
Using technology to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing across generations.
The opportunity here is to create cultures where each generation's strengths enhance the others.
Lifelong Learning
The skills gap is never going to close.
As Degreed CEO David Blake puts it:
"We will never again exist in a human context where we have enough supply of skilled human talent relative to our needs."
But, again, this creates enormous opportunities.
In this case, for those willing to embrace continuous learning. In the multi-stage life, the traditional approach of front-loading education at the start of our careers simply doesn't work anymore. The pace of technological change has outstripped our ability to learn and adapt in traditional ways.
It’s an absolute necessity to be in a mindset of perpetual learning.
Flare’s Chief People Officer David Hanrahan points out that AI will:
"Reduce cognitive load... allowing managers to focus on what really matters - coaching and developing their people."
But to achieve that, we need to develop both technical capabilities and what I call 'power skills' - the uniquely human capabilities that technology enhances rather than replaces. These include pattern recognition, communication, and the ability to build meaningful connections.
As the old model of sporadic upskilling isn't enough, we need to build learning into the flow of work by:
Creating environments where experimentation is encouraged and failure is seen as a learning opportunity
Developing feedback loops that strengthen these power skills
Using AI to handle routine tasks so we have time to develop higher-order capabilities
Success in this new era comes from adaptation, not just adoption.
The Human Experience
Here's the fascinating paradox of our time - as technology advances, human connection becomes more crucial, not less.
Nancy Duarte captures this perfectly:
"Leaders think it's their job to show up every day at work and be like, 'I'm perfect'... that's not what building connection means."
In a world of AI and automation, authenticity and empathy become our greatest assets. It's not about appearing flawless - it's about being real, acknowledging challenges, and bringing others along on the journey.
This shift is fundamentally changing how we work, including:
A transformation in how we structure work.
Rigid, one-size-fits-all policies are giving way to flexible, personalised approaches. This isn't just about hybrid working - it's about recognising that different people do their best work in different ways. When done right, this improves access to talent and enables true diversity of thought.
Traditional performance management is being replaced by continuous feedback and development.
But this requires solving a crucial challenge - maintaining work visibility in increasingly distributed teams. Technology can help make work visible, track progress, and support career growth, but these tools should amplify human feedback and recognition, not replace it. (I’m working on this problem with my new product, Highlites.)
Careers journeys are evolving.
As Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis brilliantly describe, the traditional ladder is becoming more 'squiggly'. This isn't just about changing jobs more often - it's about developing broader skill sets and pursuing your curiosity and talents in new ways.
One fundamental truth remains in an increasingly digital world - the quality of our human connections disproportionately impacts our success. Personally, I find that a reassuringly positive thing.
Looking Forward
What does all this mean for leaders?
Well, those getting this right understand that technology is an accelerator, not a shortcut. They're using AI and digital tools to create more space for meaningful human interaction and creativity, not less. They recognise that success isn't just about what we achieve but how we grow and who we become in the process.
The world of work is evolving faster than ever.
Yes, the pace of change can sometimes feel dizzying. But I'm seeing individuals and organisations embrace this evolution thoughtfully and intentionally. They understand that responding to automation and AI with fear is missing the point. The opportunity isn't just to adapt to change - it's to shape it.
The future belongs to those who can harness the best of both worlds - using technology to enhance our uniquely human capabilities, not replace them.
See you in 2025.
Ollie
P.S. I'm excited about my projects in 2025:
1. Speaking: Workshops, leadership briefings and keynotes on these themes
2. Consulting: Helping businesses incorporate AI agents into their workforce
3. Highlites: A simple way for individuals and teams to track and share their work highlights
Interested in exploring how we could work together?