The Future of Work

 Flexibity is the new incentive that employees want. The future of work! It’s a question many are asking as the collective call to reimagine how and where we work is strong. The prospect is looking very exciting because lots of companies prefer remote work, freelancing, and flexible working hours. Digitalisation and globalisation have sparked radical shifts in how we live and particularly work.

Even before the pandemic, we were more likely to move jobs and to have a shorter job tenure than ever before. This was partially due to big changes in our economies, but also to new business models, with a shift towards more service jobs and more “non-standard” jobs in some countries. These are ones in which people work part-time, have temporary contracts, or are self-employed, including as “gig” workers. The future of work depends upon the changing role of human resources, new strategies in employee engagement, and the concept of influential leaders focused on unlocking human potential and pushing employees to be and do their best. No one knows exactly what the future will look like, but we do know what workers need to thrive anywhere.

· Big Emphasis on Wellness: Offices will be much healthier environments, whether that’s good lighting, relaxation areas, sleeping rooms, music, pets at work, etc.

· Flexible Floor Plans: When workers arrive at their office building, wearable devices will let them know what floor to go to, that can be changed based on sensor data.

· The future demands offices configured in new ways to support diverse, flexible, and tech-enabled workforces. Technologies are forcing companies to reconsider their offices. Virtual meetings are more effective and also, it’s less expensive than Indoor office meetings and virtual meetings allow people to collaborate from anywhere in the world. SaaS (Software as a service) tools or apps like Teams, Skype, Zoom, and GoToMeeting make meetings and communication very easier. Cloud computing and office 365 enable businesses to offer remote working as a part of their company culture.

· We are in the midst of a monumental shift in the way people work. Nobody knows exactly where we are in 2022, but we all know that there will be more interaction with technology and that the nature of work will transform more and more.

· The global pandemic has gotten to be one of the most prominent quickening agents for working environment change of our lifetime It’s clear now, that the pandemic has forced organizations to change their working lifestyle or we can say because of the Covid-19 organizations conceptualised working remotely, re-thinking trade travel. Sectors like the manufacturing sector or industries from the primary sector, which could not even have dreamt of working remotely, found novel ways to embrace this change. Now just head into the 2021 work environment, how we work, where we

work, and the innovations we utilize to remain associated with group individuals and clients will alter until the end of time.

Trends Shaping the Future of Work:

1. Creativity, Collaboration, and Communication: The Future of Work depends upon the changeful act of the workforce, new approaches in attendant date, and the idea of powerful directors fixated on unlocking human potential and aggressive agents expected and do their best. This extending field is reviewed inside the circumstances of many energies, and skilled are few creative idea heads providing visions into what the future of work will appear and by what to favourably lead guests in the right route and espouse the changes.

2. Driving Employee Experience: We live experientially. The climbing significance of the program that controls display has comprehensive to the institution also. Working, still, the attendant occurrence is not restricted to the mechanic’s interfaces unique – each interplay that an attendant has accompanying the arranging right from the entertainment industry of application to when the worker leaves or retires.

3. Unique and new technology: If there’s an individual element, we can all agree on, it’s that the realm of work is changeful… and it is superfast. In the future of work, the synonym to “late adopter” will be “out of business.”

Undoubtedly, the workplace needs a new purpose—and organizations that clearly define it can unlock competitive advantage.

References: https://www.business2community.com/human-resources/top-20-blogs-future-work-0801411 https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/future-work/articles/future-of-work-key-trends/ https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/Future-of-the-workplace?cid=other-soc-lkn-mip-mck-oth---&sid=7287165378&linkId=174030078

Blog By

Ms. Sayali Thigale

MBA First Year

Email- Sayali.Thigale@indragbs.edu.in

Dr. Priyanka Darekar

Assistant Professor

Indira Global Business School, Pune

Email- priyanka.naik@indiragbs.edu.in

FACTOR INVESTING: Insights to stay ahead of the curve

 

Blog by: Ms. Kaushiki Bugde and Dr. Supriya Desai

“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

The art and science of investing are constantly evolving. Every investor is unique and has specific financial goals and requirements. Hence, investors need an investment strategy that is customized to their needs.

When you decide to buy a mutual fund, investment experts ask you to assess your risk tolerance levels, the time horizon of investing, and financial goals to choose the right funds for you. However, there are different strategies used by experts to choose investments. Today, we are going to talk about one such strategy – Factor Investing.

Factor Investing is a strategy of investing where investments are chosen based on certain factors that can help generate higher returns, increase diversification, and manage the overall risks of the investment portfolio. While factor investing has been used by experts for a long time, it is only recently that it has started gaining popularity among investors. There are two broad categories of factors that are used in this investment strategy:

Common factors used in factor investing:

While there are hundreds of factors that you can choose from, here are some of the most commonly-used factors.

➤➤ Value: When you use value as the factor, you try to find stocks that are being traded at prices lower than their fundamental values. By investing in such stocks, you can earn high returns when they increase in price to match their intrinsic values.

There are many financial ratios that can help you identify undervalued stocks including: Price to Earnings Per Share (EPS) or P/E Ratio Price to Book Value or P/B Ratio Price to Sales or P/S Ratio Price Earnings Growth Rate Ratio [PE/Annual EPS Growth Rate] Debt to Equity or D/E Ratio Debt to Asset or D/A Ratio Dividend Payout Ratio, and many more

There are many mutual fund managers that base the fund’s portfolio using the value. If you are planning to get started with Factor Investing and want to invest in

a basket of value stocks, then you can consider investing in such funds. Note that, there are various mutual funds that use factor-based investment strategies.

➤➤ Size of the company: This factor can help investors identify small-cap companies that have the potential to offer better returns than large-cap stocks.

➤➤ Quality of the company: This factor helps identify stocks of companies that have strong corporate governance, low debt, and consistent returns. Such stocks tend to outperform their peers. You can identify high quality stocks by using factors like: Return on Equity or ROE Ratio Earnings Stability Dividend growth stability Cash flows, and many more

➤➤ Momentum: This is an important factor as it allows investors to choose stocks that have witnessed strong growth in recent quarters. While the reasons behind the growth may vary, some investors look for stocks that have momentum on their side and invest in them.

➤➤ Volatility: Some investors believe that stocks with low volatility can earn higher risk-adjusted returns than those with higher volatility. They choose stocks based on the volatility in their prices.

➤➤ Dividend Yield: This factor can help you identify stocks that have a higher dividend yield than the sector average. Many investors believe that such stocks tend to outperform stocks with lower yields in the long run.

➤➤Active and Passive investing: Active and Passive investing are investing techniques used by investors and fund managers across the world. In active investing, you choose stocks and mutual funds based on your research and analysis. You monitor your investments and buy/sell them based on their performance. In passive investing, you invest in an index fund or a set of securities where you try to benefit from the growth of the said set.

When one understands the factors to be considered for factor investing and employ the strategies best suited for them, they can earn exceptional returns. To summarize, factor investing is a simple yet beneficial concept for financial market traders. It helps gain the necessary knowledge required to assess the returns over risks for an investment strategy.

Ms. Kaushiki Bugde

Mail- Kaushiki.Bugde@indiragbs.edu.in

Dr. Supriya Desai

Mail- supriya.desai@indiragbs.edu.in