Hello there, Fans of Plans! Today is my niece’s third birthday; no doubt she’ll be celebrating by wearing her favourite Mini Mouse top and eating cake. 

But my favourite niece turning three got me thinking about her generation as they grow up and decide what they want to be. So this blog attempts to look into a crystal ball of the future of working well. 

Think back to a mere 20 years ago and how different the world of work was then – how much we have ramped up in areas including online access, health and safety procedures, and not expecting our gig economy workers to inhale second-hand smoke. And who can forget the boom in the last 2 years of being able to work remotely. 

We already know that children born in the 2020s will have jobs that don’t exist yet – this is always an exciting prospect for every generation (I still don’t think my parents quite understand what I do, judging by their annual Christmas letter to their friends!). 

But whatever career paths my niece and her peers choose, I hope that my generation can say that we helped towards a better working environment for them, where the gender pay gap has closed, where equality and diversity in the workplace is just the norm and people can talk freely about their mental and physical wellbeing and feel supported by their organisation. I hope that’s not too much to ask. 

So we need to continue making strides in these areas while we are still the working populous.  Our legacy to the next generation of workers needs to be thought about. None of my above hopes can happen overnight, which is why we must all continue to call out unacceptable behaviours where we see it. Whether that’s in our department, in our organisation, or even as a customer – as they say, silence is acceptance and would you accept that for your loved ones? 

My call to action to you all is to keep challenging and keep pushing for the things that matter to us as humans – families, friends and loved ones. If it isn’t good enough for the ones we care about, then it isn’t good enough for anyone.