In 2003 TOSCA developed a new way of addressing companies' needs to make sense of what the future holds and understand the likely impacts on their businesses as well as sharing in the thinking and ideas of other companies. With the support of two major global companies TOSCA set up a consortium involving, in total, 5 global companies, a Chinese national company and the International Labour Office. The topic they chose to explore was The Future of Work.

The benefits of working in a consortium are considerable. It is cost-effective because the project is funded by fixed contributions from all members and would cost each one several times as much to do alone. Sharing ideas and engaging with leading edge experts provides insights that cannot be gained from published material. Members found their thinking was changed by hearing the perspectives of other multi-nationals and working intensively in a series of meetings established strong, lasting relationships among the consortium members. Finally, and very importantly, they can have confidence in the robustness of the project findings because of the breadth of inputs.

Working with a range of academics and experts from across the globe, the consortium grappled with the implications of a variety of issues including:

• Within a decade, half the world's labour force will be located in China or India
• There will be more over 50s than under-14s in the world by 2020
• All the technology currently used at work will be obsolete within 10 years
• West Germany's manufacturing labour costs are 30 times higher than India's, 3 times higher than Korea's and 50% higher than the UK's
• In India over 60,000 call centre staff changed jobs in 2002 at an estimated cost to the industry of $60m

The members of the Future of Work Consortium had varying needs and uses for the material generated - some to inform future strategy, others to test alternative hypotheses, one to underpin customer presentations, another to drive thought leadership throughout the company and one to feed their shareholder presentations. All got extremely useful insights and a wealth of valuable research and analysis which is located on a dedicated website. A substantial benefit was the interaction of the participants themselves. Members continue to share information and use each other as sounding boards on a number of different issues. Getting a trusted perspective from respected individuals in a completely different industry has been a big bonus for all concerned. Some of the proprietary material from this project is now available. Download below some of our thoughts on 3 of the themes we covered. For more please email us at enquiries@toscagroup.com.

As they found the model worked well, several of the Future of Work Consortium members asked TOSCA to set up another and two new member companies joined them. The chosen topic was How to be a Great Employer in future. For most enterprises today, no market is more competitive than the market for employees. The challenge for great employers is not only to make potential employees aware of their company as a good place to work and bring the best applicants successfully through the recruitment and hiring process, but to retain them, ensure their understanding of the company's goals and commitment to them and provide the environment and structures to motivate them to give of their best. Meeting that challenge today is tough enough but figuring out how to meet it in the future when societies, people, technology, organisations and markets are changing so much will require quite new levels of sophistication.

This consortium completed its work April 2005. We found clear evidence that employee engagement - not just happiness or satisfaction - directly impacts financial performance. We also found that you have to treat everyone who impacts the customer experience as if they were an employee. That means getting full engagement from suppliers, contractors and so-called contingent workers. The quality of leadership and high levels of trust are key differentiators for high performing companies. Download a summary of our findings below. If you would like to know more about the consortium's conclusions, our 5 Calls to Action and our chart for Great Employers to Navigate the Future, please email us at enquiries@toscagroup.com.

Another consortium building on our previous work has completed its thinking. Our chosen topic was the whole area of Leadership - not just at the top - and Trust. There are many different models of Leadership but the new shape of organisations - networked, constantly reforming - means that traditional models have little to offer us by way of lessons for the future. In addition, the increasing preponderance of knowledge workers in an ageing, multi-cultural workforce demands new, as yet undeveloped approaches to Leadership. Engaging with thought leaders such as Kjell Nordstrom and Dave Ulrich we recognised that the absence of Trust is costing corporations a lot of money. Time and effort spent checking and double-checking to make sure no individual or organisation is cheating on you could be used instead on productive, more meaningful tasks. The innovation which is the lifeblood of all organisations requires that we feel comfortable to work together sharing ideas, trusting that we are all working to the same end – the successful growth of the enterprise – and that we will all benefit from collaboration. Trust between individuals alone is not enough; I may trust my boss but when s/he moves on that trust is gone. The collapse of Trust is well documented and not a bit surprising. The crucial role of leaders Is to repair and nurture it.

Download an extract from our conclusions below. For more information please email us at enquiries@toscagroup.com.

In 2007 we launched a new programme of "Mini Consortium" projects which have a much smaller budget and time commitment than the full consortium. In this way the thought leadership is more accessible for SMEs as well as global organisations. Our experience is that we collectively learn much more when we have a diverse group of participants. Each project focuses on the topics that our clients have told us are high priority for them.

Topics we have addressed so far in this way are:

• Global Talent Management
• Women in Leadership

Download our thoughts on Global Talent Management below and watch this space for Women in Leadership!
For future project details please email enquiries@toscagroup.com or call +44 (0)20 77486168

Extracts from Proprietary Project Material
	Document Title	Type	Download
	Workforce	ppt
	Workplace	ppt
	Technology	ppt
	How To Be A Great Employer	pdf
	Leadership And Trust	ppt
	Global Talent Management	pdf
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