NOW of Work

Have you ever watched a sports team that’s got great players but just can’t seem to pull off a win? There could be a number of factors at play. Perhaps they don’t gel as a team, or the game-time conditions don’t favor their strengths. Maybe there’s a clash between the players and the coaching style. In the end, it’s not that the players are bad, they’re just in the wrong configuration or environment.

This week, we’re joined by Christian Hughes (CTO), who has built his career on formulating winning sports teams by aligning player strengths with the right conditions for success. And now Christian is bringing his science-backed approach to the corporate world where he’s teamed up with seasoned TA leader, Tessa James (CEO), to deliver HireGains, an omni-directional assessment that looks at both individual candidate attributes and the environmental factors that determine a person’s success.

Dive in to learn what can unleash, or inhibit, someone’s potential in the workplace, and explore the science behind organizational fit.

No one seems to be slowing down yet before the end of the year -- if anything, organizations are in full blown strategy and execution mode while they sort out investments and priorities for 2025.

We had a fun week on the road, including time spent with UKG Labs. What a cool concept: an in-house virtual laboratory and startup ecosystem to identify and nurture early stage technologies helping to advance the future of work. Today you'll meet Colin Horsford, MBA, CPA, Co-Founder of Muse and Brent Filson, Director, Product Research & Innovation at UKG Labs.

Jess Von Bank is and joined by guest Sarah Reynolds (They/Them) Chief Marketing Officer at HiBob to explore themes of community, emotional well-being, and the importance of inclusivity in the workplace.

This important conversations follows the highly charged, much anticipated major US political election during the week of Nov. 5.

No, it's not all we have to talk about. It does have us wondering a few things: How is everyone? Did your workplace handle it well? If you profess to invite everyone to bring their whole selves to work, how did that go this week? How does something like a major political event spill over into the workplace from an engagement, policy, sentiment, productivity perspective?

Together, Jess and Sarah discuss personal stories, the significance of honoring veterans, and the emotional check-in process. The dialogue transitions into the growth of HiBob and its commitment to modern HR practices, followed by a deep dive into identity, the concept of 'chosen self' versus masking, and the challenges of bringing one's whole self to work. The conversation culminates in philosophical reflections on authenticity and the systems that shape workplace culture.

Lance Haun, TSC’s VP of Market Insights, joins Jess and Jason to chat about AI and EX. For more than a decade, Lance has been focused on all things HR, recruiting and talent management technology. So, what’s on his mind lately? Lance wonders if we’ve taken a step back from employee experience. “Is AI the antidote or poison (maybe a bit of both)?” 

Let’s get into it! 

We had Mr. New York Times Himself on this Digital Meetup!

If you didn't catch it, Kyle Lagunas and Hebba Youssef were a NYT feature not so long ago with a pretty blasphemous exposé revealing employees aren't the only ones who hate HR -- HR hates HR. Ahhhh, who doesn't love an irreverent headline. 
Kyle explains. HR is over it -- since the pandemic for sure, maybe before. Anyone else feel that? They're burned out managing everyone else's burnout. They can't be strategic because no one will let them solve tactical messes. The C-suite keeps pulling the Almighty Chair at the Table out from under them. 
And so ironically, they're the ones we're all looking at to drive Talent Transformation for the business, AI strategy in a new human-machine teaming era of work, and sustainable work models for the future. 
Transformation Realness with Kyle on this latest episode!

Bradley Schurman, Founder & CEO of Human Change & Founder of New Rules Media, returns to the Now of Work Digital Meetup to continue the conversation on labor demographics and how it's effecting the future of work.

Whether we like it or not, change is in store.

At Human Change, they anticipate and solve challenges associated with demographic change by providing strategic foresight and strategy in labor and consumer markets to business leaders worldwide. It's their forte to understand the impact of the Great Demographic Shift as birthrates collapse and older populations grow. Here's what they've found:

Thrilled to welcome Daniel Crosby, Ph.D., who writes books with the coolest titles: 

Today he'll chat with our Now of Work community about the impact of financial stress in the workplace, why financial education isn't enough to promote financial wellness at scale, and hot new research on money, happiness, and incentivizing talent. (Heads up, talent acquisition, total rewards, wellbeing, culture, DEI, and talent development pros… this is gold for HR.)

This is such a FRESH conversation

In this episode, we hear the story of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and it's a great one. Because their story is a people story. They've undergone tremendous transformation you might call Digital Transformation, but "digital" is a means to an end. At Vertex, transformation serves to amplify their tremendous culture and create talent velocity throughout the organization. Tune in to hear Kimberly Rose, Executive Director of People Experience, Analytics, and Digital Innovation in Human Resources ---- if a title doesn't illustrate the literal evolution of HR, we don't know what does. Kim shares how onboarding, career navigation, and managing people are all grounded in LISTENING TO PEOPLE at Vertex, and she reminds us one size does not fit all when it comes to employee experience.

Jess Von Bank is joined by guest co-host Tara Cooper, Market Analyst at Mercer. Together the duo tackle themes surrounding AI, HR technology, and community engagement. They share their insights on AI's impact on health and wellbeing, and the role of HR in navigating these changes. The discussion emphasizes the importance of education, inclusivity, and addressing disparities in wellbeing solutions, while also exploring cultural considerations in employee experience.

Our Now of Work community welcomed Stacey Harris of Sapient Insights Group, Zach Chertok from IDC, and Stacia Garr of RedThread Research to the meetup. This uber smart panel of industry analyst friends joins us at the onset of a busy HR Tech fall conference season to help SUMMARIZE 📌 2024 so far and LOOK AHEAD 👀 to themes and challenges promising to carry us into 2025. So far, 2024 has been full of AI buzz, skills chatter, increased HR Technology investment, consolidation and optimization of tech stacks, and conservative growth. The global labor market continues to be challenged by inflation, geopolitical tensions, and technology changes. Employers struggle to retain talent and curb jobs growth amid waning GDP growth, but they're also dropping degree requirements and training workers for skilled tasks. Artificial Intelligence and the transition to net-zero emissions will have the biggest impact on jobs in the short term. Whether you're on the conference circuit this fall or heads down in boardrooms setting strategy for 2025, conversations are sure to be full of AI as a DOMINANT FORCE, transforming daily work routines into intelligent business processes. As always, data privacy and security will require rigorous problem solving and governance. AI will drive innovation in predictive analytics for talent, and we'll leverage design thinking to consider human-machine teaming in blended workforces with AI and bots. One thing is clear: human-centered technology is the Future of Work, and HR are the primary stewards of the human experience of work. Exciting, heady stuff, but much work to be done. LEARN, WEIGH IN, GET INSPIRED