A New World Ahead: Are We Ready - Essay Example

A New World Ahead—Are We Ready?The current wave of change has made organizational development a complex task, considering that the change experienced today is not only in relation to how the organization works, but also in the nature of the work itself (Henderson & Provo, 2006). The new workforce entering the workplace, the concept of globalization, the technological advancement and the new style of leadership that is emerging are some of the factors that have brought about the unprecedented change in the organizational framework.

Thus, the success in dealing with the change exists in the ability to predict the futuristic tendencies, and thus be able to project what directions change will take in the future (Henderson & Provo, 2006). The field of human resources is especially faced with this challenge, where telling the nature of change in the human resource practices and how they will impact on the organizational development has become a complex task. The major challenge in human Resource development emanates from the fact that there may not be sufficient leaders presently, and thus part of the workforce is being promoted before they gain the relevant experience (Henderson & Provo, 2006).

The other challenge is the diversity challenge, where the diversity programs currently existing may not meet the cultural and the gender diversity necessity for the organizations (Henderson & Provo, 2006). Further, the concept of globalization and technology influences the effectiveness of the human resource function within an organization, and there is no telling what these concepts hold for the future. The generational mix will also pose a major challenge for the human resource function within organizations, considering that by 2050, there might be a mix of five generations within the workforce, whose work ethics and culture are contradictory and almost conflicting, thus raising another challenge for the Human resource function regarding how to harmonize them (Henderson & Provo, 2006).

In addition, the concept of longevity is another challenge that the human resource function will have to brace up for, in to address in the future, where it will be required to address the issue of the workforce living for long and remaining healthy and strong beyond the current retirement age, meaning the need to address the issue of employment contract duration. Further, the global players will have changed, with the current developing countries taking the center stage in leading the global change, while the global working culture will extend to a 24-hour system (Henderson & Provo, 2006).

In this respect, the need for research and theoretical grounding to seek solutions for such future challenges is critical for the organizations, if they must survive through to the future.Practical application for the content found within the articleThe content found within the article is applicable to all organizations seeking to remain relevant in the future, considering that the content is a call for action, entailing the preparation for the future through research and theoretical grounding to establish the ways of dealing with the future changes.

However, the content is most applicable to the multinational corporations and other global organizations, which are prone to global political changes in leadership, technology and globalization. In this respect, the anticipated changes will significantly affect them, if a communist economy like China will emerge as a global leader, since its ideologies will conflict with the current capitalist ideologies of such multinational corporations and other global organizations, which performs well under the capitalistic political ideologies.

Thus the content of this article applies to such organizations directly, because they will have to seek for ways to adapt to such changes. ReferenceHenderson, G. M. & Provo, J. (2006). A New World Ahead-Are We Ready. Human Resource Development Review 5(2), 274-277.