Leading for the future

Nov 21, 2023

Why planning for 2050 involves embracing change, innovation and flexibility

Leading an international team in today’s fast-paced and complicated business environment is not for the feint hearted. Technological disruption (Chat GPT-4), political instability (Ukraine and Gaza) and economic uncertainty (UK business confidence fell to its lowest level in October) has affected employers – and employees – around the world in countless ways.

As a global health and life insurance provider with a strong focus on corporate clients within the employee benefits space, Unisure sees first-hand how socio-economic pressures filter down into the workplace and negatively impact engagement, wellbeing, productivity, and even a company’s bottom line.

“By 2050, our world is going to be an entirely different place to live in,” Unisure Group CEO Barry Sundelson says. “Firstly, the reality of climate change will be irrefutable, and extreme weather conditions (like droughts and floods) will cause people to move around the globe like never before in search of more liveable climates. “

“The World Bank predicts that as many as 140 million people could be displaced by 2050,
potentially causing massive geopolitical instability.”

“Also, people will be living longer than ever before,” he says, “which changes the way we approach industries like healthcare and insurance. How we plan for our employees’ and families’ futures is starting to look very different, and the same goes for strategizing our career paths and structuring our business’s succession plans.”

Not only could the average adult undergo up to seven career changes in a lifetime, but with digital nomadism on the rise, the possibly of working remotely from anywhere around the world is no longer just a pipe dream. In fact, according to The Conversation, the most recent estimates put the number of digital nomads from the US alone at 16.9 million, a staggering increase of 131% from the pre-pandemic year of 2019. And lastly, we need to put all of our energy into how we lead our people. As Gallup reports, economic growth is slowing, and if the global GDP doesn’t increase, every other problem gets harder to solve. 

“So, what can leaders do today to potentially save the world?
Gallup has found one clear answer: Change the way your people are managed.

In the 2023  State of the Global Workplace report, Gallup estimates that low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion. That’s 9% of global GDP — enough to make the difference between success and failure for humanity.”

It’s clear that it’s never been more important to embrace change, build your business around adaptability, and to think ahead to provide future-proof solutions for what we know are going to become some of the biggest challenges humanity (and HR) has ever faced…

“At Unisure, our vision is to be a loved and trusted global insurer, protecting the lives of one million families a year,” Barry explains. “We’ve got a long way to go, but in providing international and cross-border health and life insurance solutions that are globally portable, flexible and dynamic, we are providing solutions – both for what people need now, and, also importantly, solutions for multinational employers in order to attract and retain top talent in 2050.” For more information on The Unisure Group and our products, visit www.unisuregroup.com.

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