Everybody’s talking about the future of work: AI, automation, digital transformation and so on. And while it’s imperative that we invest in new platforms and celebrate innovation, I often find myself asking a much simpler question…
Who are we actually building this future for?
As far as I can see, too many leaders are building the future of work for the people who already have easy access to the technology that will define it. The ones sitting at a desk with a company laptop, an email address and a login for everything. Meanwhile, most of the global workforce doesn’t fit that description at all. They’re on production lines, in mines, on delivery routes, behind counters, in hospital wards. And too often, they’re an afterthought in the very transformation that’s supposed to include and empower them.
I don’t think anyone does this on purpose; it usually happens by default, and it makes sense. Systems get designed by desk-based teams, for desk-based teams, because that’s who’s in the room when the decisions get made. But even defaults have consequences, and this one is bigger than most companies realise.
If a new system only works for half your workforce, then your company is only halfway towards achieving true digital transformation. Until it does, you’re only widening the gap between employees who have information and those who don’t, and this leads to uneven performance and a growing number of frontline employees who feel like an afterthought in their own company’s strategy.
What inclusive design actually involves
1. Asking more specific questions.
Not “does this system work?” but “does this system work for someone standing on a production line with gloves on, or for someone driving between deliveries with no signal for long stretches, or for someone who’s never used a company laptop in their life?” In most organisations, these employees make up the majority.
2. Rethinking what “access” really requires.
Deskless employees often don’t have a company email, a login or even reliable connectivity for parts of their shift. If your system assumes all three, you’ve already excluded a large part of the people it was meant to serve. Real inclusion starts with meeting people on the devices they already carry, and in the moments they’re actually available.
3. Treating frontline communication with the same seriousness as any other part of the business.
Replace posters in the break room and broken-telephone messages with a direct, reliable, two-way channel that allows frontline employees to respond, ask questions and flag what’s happening on the ground.
Why this becomes a competitive advantage
I’ve watched organisations get this right, and the change is more immediate and more tangible than you’d expect. When frontline employees suddenly have real access to information, they start catching problems earlier and making better calls without waiting for a manager to confirm that it’s okay. Nobody puts “how fast information travels” on a strategy slide, but it has a direct effect on the way everything else on that slide performs.
Given all this, I believe the future of work will belong to organisations that think about access as carefully as they think about technology. When more of your employees can see what’s happening, understand what’s expected of them and contribute in real time, your entire business becomes more productive and responsive.
So here’s the question I keep coming back to and the one I’d put to any leadership team investing in the future of work: if you took away every laptop, every login and every desk in your company tomorrow, would your systems still reach your people? For most organisations, the honest answer is no. And that needs to change.