Understanding HR in the new economy

During my final year in NUS, we have to take this new module called "Understanding HR in the new economy". This module left quite a deep imprint on me that up till today, I still remember it vividly. One of the main focus of this module is on the new economy and how we need to adapt to this new economy.

In there it mentioned that we need to accept changes to change our individual paradigm. It includes:
- Adaptable (Be prepared for changes)
- Multi-skilled (Transferable competencies, Specific job skills, Career development skills)
- Continuous learning
- Emotional Intelligence (Interpersonal skills, teamwork)
- Self-pace and self-discipline
- Resilient (To recover quickly from misfortune)

It also mentioned to accept organization changes which includes the below:
- Business structures
  - Intellectual changes (Knowledge as a competitive advantage)
  - Virtual organizations (Strategic alliances, outsourcing, contingent workforce)
  - Organizational learning
  - Focus on customer perceived value of products and services

- Management philosophy
  - Knowledge management (Information as a product on its own right)
  - Organizing around teams (Shared vision, social synergy, team learning)
  - New employment relationships (Core employees, contingent workers)

Singapore just recovered from the Asian Financial Crisis (1997), dot.com bubble burst (2001) and SARS (2003). Through this module, we were inculcated with a mindset that job stability is a thing of the past. To survive in this new economy, we have to keep learning and providing value to the organization.

It mentioned one can have many jobs in a life-time but have only one career. In the past, there used to be linear progression of upward promotions along predictable career path. There is a clear distinction between work and non-work roles. Now in modern days, we have reached a boundaryless-career which can span countries, industries, companies and professions. Individuals will go through a period of learning, unlearning and relearning over and over again. We have to take responsibility for our own career futures.

It includes:
- Knowing-why (career motivation, personal meaning and identification)
- Knowing-how (job skills, job-related experience, education)
- Knowing-whom (networks of people)

The new career is about building a self-designed career. We develop our career capital and establish a portfolio of skills by continuous learning. It is essential to be flexible and adaptable in accepting/expecting frequent job changes (high mobility).

This new career and economy arises because of the information technology revolution. Computers and networking technologies brought about this change. 

Reading

Reading is often the best approach towards lifelong learning. You can read anywhere and anytime at your convenience.

I read an article recently on how many successful entrepreneurs spent their free time reading. It came as a pleasant surprise and it also serve as a reminder to myself that lifelong learning is not just about attending courses.

Here are some of the books recommended by them:
- Bill Gates
- Mark Zuckerberg

Learning in the evening (生命的三分之一)

I always remember this particular article from my Secondary 4 Chinese textbook - 燕山夜话一篇文章 : 生命的三分之一. The article source is here.

　　一个人的生命究竟有多大意义，这有什么标准可以衡量吗？提出一个绝对的标准当然很困难；但是，大体上看一个人对待生命的态度是否严肃认真，看他对待劳动、工作等等的态度如何，也就不难对这个人的存在意义做出适当的估计了。
　　古来一切有成就的人，都很严肃地对待自己的生命，当他活着一天，总要尽量多劳动、多工作、多学习、不肯虚度年华，不让时间白白地浪费掉。我国历代的劳动人民以及大政治家、大思想家等等都莫不如此。
　　班固写的《汉书》《食货志》上有下面的记载：“冬，民既入；妇人同巷，相从夜绩，女工一月得四十五日。”
　　这几句读都来很奇怪，怎么一月能有四十五天呢？再看原文底下颜师古做了注解，他说：“一月之中，又得夜半为十五日，共四十五日。”
　　这就很清楚了。原来我国的古人不但比西方各国的人更早地懂得科学地、合理地计算劳动日；而且我们的古人老早就知道对于日班和夜班的计算方法。
　　一个月本来只有三十天，古人把每个夜晚的时间算做半日，就多了十五天。从这个意义上说来，夜晚的时间实际上不就等于生命的三分之一吗？
　　对于这三分之一的生命，不但历代的劳动人民如此重视，而且有许多大政治家也十分重视。班固在《汉书》《刑法》里还写道：
　　“秦始皇躬操文墨，昼断狱，夜理书。”
　　有的人一听说秦始皇就不喜欢他，其实秦始皇毕竟是中国历史上的一个伟大人物、班固对他也还有一些公平的评价。
　　这里写的是秦始皇在夜间看书学习的情形。
　　据刘向的《说苑》所载，春秋战国时有许多国君都很注意学习。如：
　　“晋平公问于师旷曰：吾年七十，欲学恐已暮矣。师旷曰：何不炳烛乎？”
　　在这里，师旷劝七十岁的晋平公点灯夜读，拚命抢时间，争取这三分之一的生命不至于继续浪费，这种精神多么可贵啊！
　　《北史》《吕思礼传》记述这个北周大政治家生平勤学的情形是：
　　“虽务兼军国，而手不释卷。昼理政事，夜即读书，令苍头执烛，烛烬夜有数升。”
　　光是烛灰一夜就有几升之多，可见他夜读何等勤奋了。象这样的例子还有很多。
　　为什么古人对于夜晚的时间都这样重视，不肯轻轻放过呢？我认为这就是他们对待自己生命的三分之一的严肃认真态度，这正是我们所应该学习的。
　　我之所以想利用夜晚的时间，向读者同志们做这样的谈话，目的也不过是要引起大家注意珍惜这三分之一的生命，使大家在整天的劳动、工作以后，以轻松的心情，领略一些古今有用的知识而已。

Since ancient times, successful people always give their best in work and continue to learn. They do not waste their time aimlessly. It is recorded in the book of history that people worked 30 days in a month. If the evening time is well-spent, they will have 45 days available. This is based on the assumption that a day of work is 8 hours. If the evening is well-spent, they have half a day more (4 hours more). This gives our life an additional 50% more time. There are many examples of great leaders who spent their evenings reading and studying. In this way, life becomes more fulfilling.