The way we work is changing, but it is possible to set yourself up for success in the decades to come.
The climate crisis is escalating. We’re more digitised than ever. And the type of business leaders we need to guide us into the next chapter has changed. All of which means the workplace of the future won’t look the same as it does today.
So do we know what jobs will matter - or even exist - in the future? “No,” Erin Jancauskas says. “That’s the whole point.”
Dr Jancauskas, a former professor of energy and environment and one of the primary architects of the master of enterprise program, believes it’s essential we prepare for the very different decade ahead. And doing that requires broadening our skill sets. This will help to future-proof your career in a changing world.
“If you go back 10 years, you couldn’t predict some of the influences and career paths that exist now that didn’t exist then,” he says. “So I think the important thing is being able to put in place a set of transferable skills that equip people for an uncertain future, because that’s the whole point: the future is uncertain.”
To set the next generation up for success, academics including Jancauskas have been assembling a master’s program that rises to the challenges of the modern era. Monash University’s new master of enterprise degree aims to give students the tools they will need to make change and push society forward in the years to come.
The degree offers students the chance to study a broad range of units under three pillars: sustainability, leadership and digital enterprise. These are topic areas that many of us will need to be across in the future - whatever our industries.
"They are three things that cut across almost every career and things that are really important not just for a person’s career, but for the global community to address,” Jancauskas says. “We absolutely have to tackle climate change and issues of sustainability; it’s now an existential threat to society. You can’t deny the fact that all industries are being impacted by the digital economy and the way things are moving in terms of information technology. And we need people who can take leadership roles.”
Moreover, Jancauskas says, the days of working in one single company or career your entire working life are over. Most of us will shift jobs many times, pivoting across industries. That makes having strong transferable skills essential.
And while people management skills have always been essential for those looking to ascend to executive roles, the sort of leaders we will need in the future has also changed, Jancauskas says.
The days of the lone wolf, Don Draper-esque executive are coming to an end. In the future, leaders will need to be more sensitive, more collaborative and more open to new ideas. That’s why one of the units in Monash’s leadership pillar, design thinking, is designed to equip students with the skills they will need to lead a team - not just for the world we live in now, but the world we want to live in in the future.
Associate Professor Gene Bawden, who runs the design thinking unit, says:
“I think leadership requires a very different skill set now.” The ability to collaborate with people from all industries and walks of life will be crucial in the future, Bawden says. So will being able to honour “everything from cultural sensitivities to gender, and understanding the needs of specific audiences”.
“You can't do it on your own,” Bawden says. “You have to be able to have this capacity to draw in a whole range of different skill sets, abilities, and knowledges. And the design thinking framework enables that: it encourages intersectional communication and collaboration and building things together, rather than just deciding upon an idea and then imposing it upon people.”
While there may be no silver bullet way to ensure our future success, keeping an open mind and continuing our education will be a big piece of the puzzle. “I think the way that people are able to future-proof their careers is to constantly be aware that you’ve never learned enough,” Bawden says.
“I don’t think you ever get to a point where you can confidently say, I have established every skill and knowledge that I need for this job. You may have it now, but that job will change. The framework in which it exists will change, and you need to adapt. So that continuous capacity to be open to new learning is a really key aspect of preparing for the future. It’s an open-mind mindset - what worked for us five to 10 years ago probably won’t work now, or in five to 10 years’ time.
“The challenges change. The frameworks change. And we need to learn to move with them.”
Dr. Erin Jancauskas is an Academic Director at Online Education Services based in Melbourne. He is a former professor of energy and environment and one of the primary architects of the Master of Enterprise program at Monash University.
Note from John Hogan: Career change counselling includes a wealth of information and advice on how to future proof your career.
