The relationship between an organization and its people is a two-way street, and the design phase of a future-of-work program should also focus on a business’s offer to its staff. Finally, companies need to shift the skill profiles — How will your digital transformation ensure that of their entire organizations by developing and your people are equipped to meet future skill deploying the infrastructure and capabilities demands? necessary to reskill at scale. While all employees may need to upskill themselves in broad topics, such — Is your reskilling program evolving to make as the business value and applications of digital effective use of new technologies and and analytics, some may need much deeper and approaches to learning? targeted reskilling for particular new roles. — What is your organization offering existing and potential employees to ensure that it can attract and retain the talent it needs? Preparing for the future of work is set to become an integral part of every organization’s digital and automation strategy. The imperative for action in operationally intensive companies and sectors is particularly strong, as technology profoundly alters the way their work is done. Is your organization ready to respond? Kweilin Ellingrud is a senior partner in McKinsey’s Minneapolis office, Rahul Gupta is an expert in the Boston office, and Julian Salguero is a partner in the Miami office. The authors wish to thank Aaron De Smet, Katy George, James Hale, Kate Lazaroff-Puck, Susan Lund, Angelika Reich, and Andrea Westervelt for their contributions to this article. Copyright © 2020 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved. Building the vital skills for the future of work in operations 73