Dr Austin Tay

MUSING OF AN ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST

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2014 came and is about to come to an end. Let’s take a look at what are some of the issues discussed in 2014 and perhaps a prediction of what is to come in 2015.

Millennial

 

There is no denying that Millennial are part of the present workgroups and will continue to play a part in organisations in the years to come. There were various articles in the past year about how to deal with Millennial, on what they really want and how they can impact the organisational structure of today. What’s undeniable is, the fact, that they have now become an inevitable workforce that most organisations need to depend on as a natural resource to the ageing baby boomers and GenXers. Millennial, though may be considered by others as selfish individuals should not be write off too quickly. They, if I dare to say, do contribute and have transformed how many old-style organisations work today. For e.g. the use of social media to communicate, advertise and be kept abreast of the ever-changing trends.

Women as Leaders

 

Women leadership in a management position was one of the fiercely debated and talked about the issue of 2014. For e.g. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook who wrote the book, ‘Lean In : Women, Work ad the Will to Lead’ to encourage women to pursue their ambitions, and to think about what they can’t do to what they can do. Obviously, such empowerment movement has gradually seen more women speaking up for themselves on gender equality like actresses Jennifer Gartner and also Emma Watson in her role as the Goodwill Ambassador for UN Women. While I applaud all these efforts, I believe this will not be an easy road but will remain a topic that will be discussed in the coming year.

Trends in 2015?

 

With the world economy showing slow and incremental growth, the outlook for 2015 is still looking quite bleak. With persisting high unemployment and fiscal austerity, there will be continuous efforts from the organisations to be more innovative and utilising their existing workforce to achieve more. So it will be common next year to see articles or topics on innovation, leadership, outplacement and freelance work. Some continuous interest in talent management, retention, I suspect will also be discussed next year.

Lastly, I will take this opportunity to wish one and all a fulfilled 2014 and a good 2015 ahead.

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