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ndustrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) is expected to have an impact beyond low-skilled labor and traditional sectors such as manufacturing; unlike what its predecessor did decades ago. While the constituencies — individuals, business organizations and public agencies — are preparing for the potentially excruciating transition, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has unveiled his strong commitment in support of the program.

During the Indonesia Industrial Summit 2018 at the Jakarta Convention Center (JCC) recently, the President agreed that these emerging technologies could deliver positive prospects for employment instead of risks for the economy once we develop the five priority sectors, namely food and beverages, textiles, automotives, electronics and chemicals.

It creates a new world occupational structure. In a refreshing moment of honesty, we might recognize that recent technological disruptions have been skill-biased. In many countries, it has meant skilled labor has become more relevant and productive, and therefore resulting in growing demand for it. However, there has noticeably been a fall in demand for mid and low-level skills as routine jobs have either been moved offshore or automated. Eventually, occupational structure will become polarized into high-skilled/high-paying and low-skilled/low-paying jobs. Unfortunately Indonesia is no exception. Exacerbating the challenge is the fact that most of our labor in our five priority sectors is low-skilled labor.

It results in the emergence of renaissance jobs. From a human resource (HR) perspective, IR 4.0 also presents another work trend. It continuously creates jobs that are more fulfilling and intellectually stimulating than the routine jobs that they substitute. In order to stay competitive, the workforce is encouraged to utilize its knowledge in the technical domain such as problem solving, structured thinking and often industry expertise. It creates the emergence of renaissance jobs that combine the above mentioned skills in newly designed positions such as experienced architects and application product managment.

To ensure that our country makes the most of these technological revolutions, the success of Pak Jokowi’s pledge can not be fulfilled without the support of HR directors. However, Mercer’s study found that only 4 percent of leaders think their organizations have a plan to develop the required skills for their employees nor the transitional agility required in ensuring positive growth of employment and equality. After spending years working with HR leaders from the five priority industries, I think there are five areas they should prioritize to foster organizational and workforce agility.

As workflows will need to be redesigned to reflect the new business strategy and operating model, HR directors should lead the conversation with core business functions such as production, operations or manufacturing to see the technology and machine developments within their industry and identify how the adoption of technological trends would impact the workforce. Only then would the senior management team have aligned vision of the future workforce.

Unlike the old days, HR directors should shift from traditional manpower planning to strategic workforce planning where we size and shape the future workforce under different business scenarios. This process would help HR leaders to flexibly quantify the needs from headcounts (number of people) and skills and competency required by the organization from time to time while considering both the internal and external labor market.

To ensure fast and effective changes in business, HR directors should focus on continuously evaluating their organizational structure and align the adoption of technologies and automation. It would not only allow the company to ensure the efficiency of organizational governance, but also help C-suites to achieve cost-efficiency by conducting productivity analysis as a part of an organization’s redesign.

As machines enter the workforce, it will be contingent that the human workforce continuously upgrades its skillset to keep up with technological innovation. A company is expected to provide lifelong learning in order to upskill and reskill the workforce through updating the company curriculum and corporate training. In my observations, I have found that many HR directors are interested in managing their talents through global mobility programs that foster knowledge exchange and digital learning, which utilizes millennials’ interests while minimizing training costs, and creates a hybrid career path that develops the workforce’s skills beyond one area of expertise and function.

Technological advancements are not only taking place in business operations, but also in HR. HR should not be left behind in adopting digital technology to deliver added value for the organization. HR directors may want to start building an analytics-driven organization by digitizing HR processes or the value chain.

All HR activities or employee data should no longer be on-paper as it would be harder for HR to analyze an employee’s behavior and needs and invents future human capital interventions. This is the ground where many start-ups or tech companies are starting to tap into. By having robust employee and HR data, HR then could set conditions to compete on speed and agility to improve workforce productivity.

The question often asked by HR directors when it comes to employee wellbeing is how they can ensure their company’s proposition resonates with the five generations (from traditionalist to Gen Z). Evaluating and tailoring a company’s value propositions aligning to the shift in nature of the workforce and business dynamics are the key. It could mean evaluating the relevancy of an employee’s compensation package to their needs, offering more flexible benefits, or maybe giving options for flexible work arrangements. HR directors might start to invest their time in conducting internal studies to find the right mix of attributes to meet a range of priorities over an employee’s career.

Given the magnitude and extensiveness of technological disruptions, the fears of being irrelevant and redundant among individuals and organizations become inevitable. HR directors are the captains of our corporate world and are responsible for helping our President, our country and our workforce to get maximum benefits from IR 4.0. Once we have worked collaboratively to ensure the changes are as positive, prolific and inclusive as possible, we will be ready to unlock the future’s potential.
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The writer is a consultant at Mercer Jakarta. The views expressed are his own.