By: Azra Ayue Abdul Rahman and Lily Suriani Mohd Arif
The Director of HR Consulting, Ms. Rahmah Ismail shared her 35 years’ experience during her keynote speech at the International Conference on Social Sciences, Management and Accounting (ICSSMA) 2019.
ICSMMA 2019 was conducted recently from 24-26th September 2019 at Holiday Villa, Johor Bahru. The conference was organized by School of Human Resource and Psychology (SHARPS) in corporation with Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi Makassar (STIEM), Bongaya, Indonesia and UTM Talent Development Section, Human Resources Division Registrar’s Department.
Ms. Rahmah Ismail who is a consultant specializing in change management and leadership competencies development, in her speech, enlighted her audience with her insights on the challenges of Industrial Revolution 4.0. She touched on the core issues and the impacts of Industry 4.0 on HR Professionals and suggested ways on how the industry should respond to the challenges of IR 4.0.
According to her, “The use of artificial intelligence (AI), cognitive technologies, and robotics to automate and augment work is on the rise, prompting the redesign of jobs in a growing number of domains. The jobs of today are more machine-powered and data-driven than in the past, and they also require more human skills in problem-solving, communication, interpretation, and design. As machines take over repeatable tasks and the work people do become less routine, many jobs will rapidly evolve into what we call “superjobs”—the newest job category that changes the landscape of how organizations think about work.”
Ms. Rahmah also pointed out the psychological effects of IR 4.0, “Organizations are investing in many programs to improve life at work, all focused on improving the day-to-day experience workers have. While there is much that can be done to improve work/life balance, research shows that the most important factor of all is the work itself: making work meaningful and giving people a sense of belonging, trust, and relationship. We believe organizations should move beyond thinking about experience at work in terms of perks, rewards, or support, and focus on job fit, job design, and meaning—for all workers across the enterprise.”