A 4-Step Approach for Applying Automation to Jobs
Submitted by Willis Towers Watson, a partner of M&A Leadership Council
We’re delighted to announce the September publication of Reinventing Jobs, A 4-Step Approach for Applying Automation to Jobs by work and human capital experts Ravin Jesuthasan and John Boudreau. Reinventing Jobs explores our vision of what the future of work will really look like, and how it will impact organizations as they seek growth and success in an era of change and digital transformation. More importantly, it reveals how leaders can guide this change within their own organizations.
Answering the difficult questions about automation
Once the decision has been made to adopt automation and artificial intelligence technologies, leaders face difficult and stubborn questions about how to implement that decision:
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How, when, and where should we apply automation in our organizations? Is it a stark choice between humans versus machines?
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How do we stay on top of these technological trends as work and automation continue to evolve?
The authors suggest that leaders need a new set of tools to answer these daunting questions. Going beyond traditional concepts like a "job," Jesuthasan and Boudreau show leaders that automation calls for a reexamination of what a job really is and show how to determine variations of tasks within jobs and then reconstruct those elements into new and different combinations. Furthermore, transcending the ongoing debate about humans being replaced by machines, the authors show how smart leaders instead are optimizing human-automation combinations that are not only more efficient but generate higher returns on improved performance.