The workplace is evolving rapidly with the increased use of AI and automation, alongside shifting demands in the competitive market. New jobs have emerged to meet these changes, and the evolution of work continues at breakneck speed. However, the skills development landscape lags behind, moving at a snail’s pace. Accreditation processes often fail to keep up with curriculum changes needed to address workplace realities. Despite producing more graduates each year, skills shortages persist, creating a dichotomy of high unemployment and a scarcity of necessary skills.
To address this challenge, I believe it’s time for HR to embrace disaggregation, a tool traditionally used by engineers, analysts, and management consultants. This structured approach enables HR to break beyond traditional job boundaries and align its strategies with organisational goals to stay competitive.
What Is Disaggregation?
Disaggregation is the process of breaking down complex elements into their fundamental parts. Imagine it as deconstructing a puzzle into individual pieces. In the workplace, this means analysing job roles and processes into tasks, activities, skills, and outputs.
By disaggregating work, HR can identify the following:
Core competencies and skills that drive value creation.
Separate routine tasks from strategic or creative work.
Understand the balance between organisational context and independent expertise.
Key Considerations for Disaggregation:
Value Creation: Which components generate the most strategic value?
Complexity: What is the learning curve required for specific tasks?
Interdependence: How much coordination is needed with other functions?
Time Sensitivity: Are tasks ongoing or project-based?
By breaking down work into its basic components, businesses can explore flexible and innovative ways to reconstruct these elements, addressing challenges like skills shortages while remaining agile in the marketplace.
Reaggregation: Building for the Future
Reaggregation is the process of recombining these disaggregated components in new, effective ways. With this approach, organisations can:
Combine tasks in novel ways to create dynamic work portfolios.
Redefine roles and distribute work more effectively across teams.
Examples of Reaggregation in Practice:
Dynamic Work Portfolios:
Combine tasks based on skills and outcomes, rather than traditional departments.
Create fluid project teams from diverse talent pools.
Enable work to flow to the most suitable talent, regardless of employment status or location.
Flexible Talent Deployment:
Core team members handle strategic, context-heavy work.
Specialised contractors manage high-expertise, discrete projects.
Freelancers are utilised for scalable, well-defined tasks.
Outsourcing partners deliver standardised, volume-based work.
This flexibility empowers organisations to adapt to changing conditions and maintain a competitive edge in the face of disruption.
Enabling a Skills Assessment Evolution
This approach also requires rethinking talent evaluation, helping negate perceived skills shortages, and supporting transformation agendas like those outlined in the Employment Equity Act. Disaggregating work allows organisations to focus on:
Transferable Skills: Assessing skills and execution rather than specific industry experience.
Agility: Prioritising adaptive learning and growth over static knowledge.
Innovation: Recognising adjacent skills that bring fresh perspectives.
Outcome-Based Performance: Emphasising results over time-based experience.
With Sector Targets becoming a reality in 2025, aligning talent strategies with evolving demands is essential.
Why This Matters for HR
By embracing disaggregation and reaggregation, HR can drive transformation, enabling organisations to:
Maximise efficiency.
Improve recruitment and retention.
Adapt to emerging market trends while addressing core organisational goals.
If you’re interested in learning more about how disaggregation can transform your organisation and help meet the demands of the future, Natalie Singer natalies@globalbusiness.co.za.
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