Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Oyo State chapter, Mrs Omolara Onipede has tasked workers and employment relations’ practitioners to retool themselves.
She said the call became imperative in order for workers in general not to be shoved aside in the face of changing nature and the future of work.
The CIPM boss spoke at the inaugural seminar organised by the Employment relation and Human Resources Management Students Association, Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan.
The inaugural seminar was entitled “The Challenges of Employment Relations In A Rapidly Changing World Of Work”.
According to Mrs Onipede, workers need to develop and acquire skills relevant regarding what they presently do as automation, robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be deployed in accomplishing tasks.
She further said crowd-sourcing and the use of gig workers will gain more grounds because the future of work will become more fluid, having collocated workplace and utilizing more remote workers.
The CIPM boss submitted that the employment relationship faces numerous challenges in today’s rapidly changing world of work.
She listed Work-Life Balance (wellbeing supporting employment mental health, flexibility and personal needs) job insecurity, lack of job satisfaction, income inequality, workplace safety, globalization and poor working conditions, among others, as parts of the challenges.
Employment relations can be improved, according to her, if organisations “put employee experience first, break down walls between managers and employees, provide formal management training, celebrate successes, don’t play favourites.
“And if organisations set an example, communicate clearly and, often, be approachable, involve your employees, focus on inclusivity, build an official handbook, provide opportunities for employees to leave feedback.”
In his opening remarks, President of the Employment Relation and Human Resources Management Students’ Association, University of Ibadan, Olaniyan Olawale Emmanuel, said the inaugural seminar was important.
He said its essence was “to know the contemporary things happening in employment relations because the world of work is changing and there is need to make people to be abreast with challenges going on in the place of work, and more importantly now that technology is taking over almost everything.”
According to Olaniyan, the lecture would enable students and practitioners in the employment relations field to prepare themselves for the changing nature and future of work in other to stay relevant and valuable.
