Future of Work

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Future of Work

We are amid a revolution of work, which started already long before the pandemic. Making sense of the future of work can feel tricky in the middle of a constant information overflow. This course is supported with academic research and references packaged in a way that is easy to access. In this course, we will look at how the roles of the individual, organisations and society have changed and how it affects how we work today and in the future. The course is an open online course. The course material is divided into five (5) chapters.

Price

Free of charge

Workload

1 ECTS

Type

Self-paced online

Languages

English

Course Structure

Future of Work

Future of Work

Chapter 1: How is Work Changing

Introduction
Section 1: Historical Overview
Section 2: Overview of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Section 3: Key Takeaways

Chapter 2: Societal Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Structural Changes
Section 2: Societal Implications
Section 3: Key Takeaways

Chapter 3: Organisational Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Organisational Culture
Section 2: Organisational Structure
Section 3: Leadership
Section 4: Key Takeaways

Chapter 4: Individual Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Disconnection of Work from Time, Place and Employment
Section 2: Building Holistic and Pro-active Well-being
Section 3: Coping with Overload
Section 4: Developing Future Skills
Section 5: Key Takeaways

Chapter 5: Conclusions

Course conclusion
Section 1: Key Takeaways from Previous Chapters
Section 2: A more Sustainable Future Working Life

About the Authors

Hertta Vuorenmaa
Hertta Vuorenmaa is Research Director in the Future of work research project at Aalto University. Her current research focuses on the changing nature of work and changing people management, HRM in public and private organizations, digitalization, gender and qualitative research methods including ethnography. Hertta is an experienced researcher and trainer. She has been working as a researcher in several large Academy of Finland funded research projects focusing on for example well being at work, people management and its various roles and gender inequalities.
Kristiina Mäkelä
Kristiina Mäkelä is a Professor of International Business at Aalto University School of Business and the Provost of Aalto University. Her research focuses on people management issues in large, multinational organizations, including both the future of work – i.e. technology-driven changes in how people work – and human resource management. In her Provost role, she is also interested in leadership issues more generally, and the future of higher education.
Juha Äkräs
Juha Äkräs is Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hintsa Performance. Additionally, he works as Executive in Residence in Aalto University, School of Business, Department of Management. He is co-leading a research program called “The Exponential Work Project: Cascading Wellbeing Climate & Organizational Performance” – a joint research project by Aalto University, Hintsa Performance and Ilmarinen. Juha has worked as Executive Vice President, Human Resources at Nokia Oyj, member of Nokia Executive Board and Nokia Siemens Networks Board of Directors. Before these, he worked in multiple business manager roles, e.g. Senior Vice President of Core Networks, Nokia Networks. Moreover, he has had multiple positions of trust in business and non-profit organizations.
Laura Sivula
Laura Sivula is Head of Summer School and Program Director at Aalto University School of Business. Her current work focuses on future skills, life-wide learning and higher education development. Laura has worked with companies and partners with co-learning initiatives at Aalto University and witnessed the intertwining relationship of business and higher education.

Learning Outcomes

After taking this course, you will be able to learn:

Understand and to be able to historically contextualise the main elements of change in relation to white-collar paid employment on individual, organisational and societal levels.
Understand how work is gradually disconnecting from time, place and employment, and to be able to systematically analyse the individual-level implications of these changes.
Understand how megatrends like digitalisation, and ecological and social sustainability are transforming how contemporary organizations operate.
Understand how organizational paradigms and cultures have evolved over the years and how contemporary organizations are embracing and integrating multiple organizational paradigms and cultures.
Understand vertical, distributed and hybrid organizational structures, what are their strengths, and how they relate to organizational culture and leadership. We also discuss why contemporary organizations are shifting more towards distributed and hybrid structures.
Understand the basic leadership concepts and how contemporary leadership looks like and how it is aligned with organizational culture and design.

Future of Work

Price

Free of charge

Workload

1 ECTS

Type

Self-paced online

Languages

English

Course Structure

Future of Work

Future of Work

Chapter 1: How is Work Changing

Introduction
Section 1: Historical Overview
Section 2: Overview of the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Section 3: Key Takeaways

Chapter 2: Societal Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Structural Changes
Section 2: Societal Implications
Section 3: Key Takeaways

Chapter 3: Organisational Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Organisational Culture
Section 2: Organisational Structure
Section 3: Leadership
Section 4: Key Takeaways

Chapter 4: Individual Perspective

Introduction
Section 1: Disconnection of Work from Time, Place and Employment
Section 2: Building Holistic and Pro-active Well-being
Section 3: Coping with Overload
Section 4: Developing Future Skills
Section 5: Key Takeaways

Chapter 5: Conclusions

Course conclusion
Section 1: Key Takeaways from Previous Chapters
Section 2: A more Sustainable Future Working Life

About the Authors

Hertta Vuorenmaa
Hertta Vuorenmaa is Research Director in the Future of work research project at Aalto University. Her current research focuses on the changing nature of work and changing people management, HRM in public and private organizations, digitalization, gender and qualitative research methods including ethnography. Hertta is an experienced researcher and trainer. She has been working as a researcher in several large Academy of Finland funded research projects focusing on for example well being at work, people management and its various roles and gender inequalities.
Kristiina Mäkelä
Kristiina Mäkelä is a Professor of International Business at Aalto University School of Business and the Provost of Aalto University. Her research focuses on people management issues in large, multinational organizations, including both the future of work – i.e. technology-driven changes in how people work – and human resource management. In her Provost role, she is also interested in leadership issues more generally, and the future of higher education.
Juha Äkräs
Juha Äkräs is Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Hintsa Performance. Additionally, he works as Executive in Residence in Aalto University, School of Business, Department of Management. He is co-leading a research program called “The Exponential Work Project: Cascading Wellbeing Climate & Organizational Performance” – a joint research project by Aalto University, Hintsa Performance and Ilmarinen. Juha has worked as Executive Vice President, Human Resources at Nokia Oyj, member of Nokia Executive Board and Nokia Siemens Networks Board of Directors. Before these, he worked in multiple business manager roles, e.g. Senior Vice President of Core Networks, Nokia Networks. Moreover, he has had multiple positions of trust in business and non-profit organizations.
Laura Sivula
Laura Sivula is Head of Summer School and Program Director at Aalto University School of Business. Her current work focuses on future skills, life-wide learning and higher education development. Laura has worked with companies and partners with co-learning initiatives at Aalto University and witnessed the intertwining relationship of business and higher education.

Learning Outcomes

After taking this course, you will be able to learn:

Understand and to be able to historically contextualise the main elements of change in relation to white-collar paid employment on individual, organisational and societal levels.
Understand how work is gradually disconnecting from time, place and employment, and to be able to systematically analyse the individual-level implications of these changes.
Understand how megatrends like digitalisation, and ecological and social sustainability are transforming how contemporary organizations operate.
Understand how organizational paradigms and cultures have evolved over the years and how contemporary organizations are embracing and integrating multiple organizational paradigms and cultures.
Understand vertical, distributed and hybrid organizational structures, what are their strengths, and how they relate to organizational culture and leadership. We also discuss why contemporary organizations are shifting more towards distributed and hybrid structures.
Understand the basic leadership concepts and how contemporary leadership looks like and how it is aligned with organizational culture and design.