Work and the Future

Artfiicial intelligence is changing the world, and it will inevitably change the world of work – but what will those changes look like? To tackle this huge topic, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Jason Brommet, Head of Modern Work and Surface at Microsoft.  They discuss just how disruptive AI might be, and why it is time for both individuals and organizations to be ahead of the changes.

Guest

Links

Work Trend Index | Will AI Fix Work? (microsoft.com)

The post Episode 106: How Will AI Change Work? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

Organizations talk about the need to have diverse organizations and they may be sincere about that, but actually making that happen can be difficult to do. Designing the right programs is not easy and getting people on board can be even harder. To talk about how organizations can successfully walk the talk on diversity, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Eddy Ng.  Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business, Smith School of Business at Queens University.

Guest:

Eddy Ng

https://smith.queensu.ca/faculty_and_research/faculty_list/ng-eddy.php

Eddy Ng is the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University. His research focuses on managing diversity for organizational competitiveness, the future of work, and managing across generations. His work has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grants. He has edited and published 7 books and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. According to a 2020 Stanford study, he is identified in the top 2% of highly cited scientists in Economics & Business.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Co-Editor of Personnel Review. He is currently the Chair-Elect for the Gender and Diversity in Organizations division of the Academy of Management.

Prior to academia, he worked for the TD Bank Financial Group in Commercial Banking, Domestic Planning, Corporate Audit, and Group Human Resources at the head office in Toronto.

Links:

The post Episode 105: How Can Organizations Walk the Talk on Diversity in the Workplace? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

How does an organization get ready for the future and build a workforce that is ready for it when technology is changing so quickly? To talk about that, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by David Morgenstern, President of Accenture Canada. They talk about the challenges of planning and training and why the latter might have to start with the C-Suite.

Guest:

David Morgenstern is President of Accenture Canada where he supports leaders in business and government to embrace change, transform their organizations, and become more resilient for the future, through the combination of technology and human ingenuity. David leads Accenture’s Canadian workforce committed to improving how Canadians work and live. With services in advisory, technology and outsourcing, Accenture brings technology-enabled transformation to clients in the private and public sectors, with AI, cloud, data, and security at the core of much of the business.

For more than 25 years, David has held progressive leadership roles in the technology services sector, serving in both Asia and in Canada, and joined Accenture in 2010. His time at Accenture has included senior roles in Accenture Operations, focusing on supply chain and procurement services, before leading Accenture’s Products & Communications client groups in Canada. David is passionate about technology-enabled transformation and focused investment in skill development as a path to improving Canada’s position as a leader in innovation and productivity; while building a workforce that reflects Canada’s strength of diversity. He is a member of Accenture’s Global Leadership Council, Chair of Accenture Canada’s Executive Committee and Inclusion and Diversity Council.

Originally from Edmonton, David has been based in Toronto since mid-2000, after a decade living in Beijing, Brussels and Singapore. David is a member of the Business Council of Canada, sits on the advisory board of Catalyst Canada and is involved with numerous charities and non-profits in the youth, education and mental health space. David received his B.A. from McGill University and his MBA from INSEAD, where he currently sits on its National Alumni Board.

Outside of work, David is an avid cyclist and mountain sport enthusiast, happiest when joined in these pursuits with his wife Caroline and two teenage boys.

Links:

The post Episode 104: How Should Organizations be Getting Ready for the Tech-Driven Future? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

Workers want a certain amount of autonomy at work, but leaders have always been wary about providing it.  Finding the right balance is now more important than ever, and also more difficult than ever given that many workers are now working remotely. To talk about how much autonomy is appropriate at work and why leaders should provide it, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Dr. Julian Barling, Professor of Organiztional Behavior and Bordon Chair of Leadership at the Smith School of Business at Queens University and the author of the book Brave New Workplace.

Guest:

Dr. Julian Barling, Professor of Organiztional Behavior and Bordon Chair of Leadership at the Smith School of Business at Queens University.

Dr. Julian Barling is the Borden Chair of Leadership and Stephen Gyimah Distinguished University Professor at Smith School of Business, Queen’s University. He is an authority on transformational leadership and was named one of the 10 most influential leadership researchers in the world in one analysis. Julian has received numerous awards for teaching and research. In 2002, he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and received the National Post’s “Leaders in Business Education” award. Julian is an elected fellow of several international research societies, and the author of over 200 research articles and 15 books, including Brave New Workplace: Designing Productive, Healthy, and Safe Organizations.

Links:

https://smith.queensu.ca/faculty_and_research/faculty_list/barling-julian.php

The post Episode 103: How Can Leaders Give Workers Autonomy at Work? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

Part of succeeding at work is building a strong brand and the kind of ‘social capital’ that has people thinking about you when projects and opportunities come up. That is hard enough if you are at the office every day, but a lot more difficult if you work remotely and are in a sense invisible. To talk about how to get around that and build social capital even if you work remotely, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Aliza Licht, founder of Leave Your Mark and  the author of the book On Brand: Shape Your Narrative, Share Your Vision, Shift Their Perception.

Guest:

ALIZA LICHT is an award-winning marketer, bestselling author, podcaster, personal branding expert, and the founder of LEAVE YOUR MARK, a multimedia brand and consultancy. She advises businesses and mentors individuals on brand building and career development. Licht leverages over two decades of expertise in marketing, communications, and digital strategy in the fashion industry. She was formerly known as the anonymous social media phenomenon DKNY PR GIRL, an award-winning personality and pioneer fashion influencer with over 1.5M fans worldwide. Her reveal generated over 230M media impressions.

Licht’s first book, Leave Your Mark: Land Your Dream Job. Kill It in Your Career. Rock Social Media. has been described as “a mentorship in 285 pages.” It has ranked on Book Authority’s “100 Best Career Development Books of All Time” every year, has been translated into multiple languages, and is required reading for many communications majors in U.S. universities.

Her weekly podcast, LEAVE YOUR MARK, delivers essential advice and inspiration. Named one of “America’s Next Top Mentors” by The New York Times, Licht is a sought-after consultant for brand clients as well as a members-only career coach, mentoring people on how to shape and amplify their personal brands to drive success.

Licht has been featured in global media, including the Wall Street Journal, as one of TIME’s “Six Women Who Rule the Fashion World” and New York Daily News’s “Top 50 Most Powerful Women in New York.” Licht also sits on several industry boards, including the American Influencer Council.

Links:

https://alizalicht.com

The post Episode 102: How Can Remote Workers Build Social Capital at Work? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

Anxiety is everywhere, including in the workplace – but can it be used in a positive way? Better yet, are there ways that leaders and organizations can create an environment where anxiety is reduced if not eliminated? To talk about that Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Morra Aarons-Melly,  author of the book The Anxious Achiever: Turn Your Biggest Fears into Your Leadership Superpower.

The post Episode 101: How Can You Handle Anxiety at Work? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

On this 100th episode of the podcast, Linda Nazareth is joined by Carolyn Byer, Human Resources Lead at Microsoft Canada who was one of the guests early in the pandemic lockdowns. More than two years later, Linda and Carolyn reflect on how organizations had to deal with some new realities, what has been learned over this period of disruption and what has changed particularly for women and for younger generations.

Guest

As Human Resources Lead for Canada, Carolyn works closely with President Chris Barry and the Leadership Team to develop and execute the people strategy for Microsoft Canada.

A strong business leader with proven experience in the c-suite and across all levels of management, Carolyn is a champion of Microsoft’s “learn it all” and growth mindset” tenets and is committed to continuing to grow Microsoft’s diverse and inclusive workforce.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Carolyn served in a variety of HR disciplines globally at IBM for more than 17 years. She has a Bachelor of Psychology from University of Guelph and a Masters in Human Resources from Rutgers University. Outside of work, Carolyn focuses on her family. She enjoys conversing with others and expanding her perspectives and can typically be found on a soccer field or a lake.

Links

Follow Carolyn Byer on LinkedIn.

The post Episode 100: How Have Women’s Work Lives Evolved Since the Pandemic Started? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

In the future will we all wear headsets and communicate through avatars with our work colleagues? The metaverse is changing much of how we communicate and that has huge implications for the world of work. To talk about the implications Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Mark Purdy, an independent economics and technology advisor based in London who works with companies to get ready for the future of work, including work in the metaverse.

Guest:

Mark Purdy is an internationally recognized thought leader and advisor on issues at the intersection of economics, technology and business. He has over 27 years’ experience as an economist in business and government, including twenty years as chief economist at one of the world’s largest technology consultancy companies. He is Managing Director of Purdy & Associates, an independent consultancy focusing on economic and technology policy issues. He is also a senior advisor to several economics and technology analyst companies. His recent work has focused on topics such as the future of work in the metaverse, ESG, contactless commerce, AI-powered discovery, digital twins, digital trade, the rise of techno-nationalism, the economics of supercomputing, and the issues of bias and quality in AI systems. He has published widely in tier-1 media and business publications such as Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. Mark has also undertaken industry landscape studies in technology areas such as cloud-native, intelligent automation, and the Google and Microsoft ecosystems. He speaks on economics and technology issues at conferences, client workshops and seminars around the world.

Links:

LinkedIn Profile

https://purdyassociates.com/

Selected recent publications:

Purdy, M. (August, 2022), The View: Saviour of Global Trade?, op-ed on the metaverse, South China Morning Post.

Purdy, M, (March 2022), AI Data Bonanza will intensify Geo-strategic Competition, op-ed, The Straits Times.

Purdy, M., (April 2022), How the Metaverse could Change Work, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2022/04/how-the-metaverse-could-change-work

Purdy, M., November 2021, The future of Contactless Commerce, Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2021/11/the-future-of-contactless-commerce

Purdy, M. and Chang, X. (2021). Instant language translation can help us talk. But will it help us understand? TechMonitor. Available at: https://techmonitor.ai/technology/instant-language-translation-can-talk-but-will-it-understand

Purdy, M., Klymenko M., and Purdy, M. (2021). Business scents: the rise of digital olfaction. Sloan Management Review. Available at: https://shop.sloanreview.mit.edu/store/business-scents-the-rise-of-digital-olfaction

Purdy, M. and Klymenko M. (2021). How Machine Discovery can Accelerate Solutions to Society’s Big Problems. Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-machine-discovery-can-accelerate-solutions-to-societys-big-problems/

Purdy, M. (7 December 2020). Forces Driving New Wave of Techno-nationalism. Op-ed in The Straits Times (Singapore). (Available on request)

Purdy, M. (2020). Unlocking AI’s Potential for Social Good. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2020/10/unlocking-ais-potential-for-social-good

Purdy, M., Eitel-Porter R., and Klymenko M. (2020). How Swarm Intelligence Blends Global and Local Insight. Sloan Management Review.

Purdy, M., Eitel-Porter, R. and Deblaere, T. (2020). How Digital Twins are Re-inventing Innovation. Sloan Management Review. https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-digital-twins-are-reinventing-innovation/

Purdy, M., Zealley, J. and Maseli, O. (2019). The Risks of using AI to Interpret Emotions. Harvard Business Review. Available at:

https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-risks-of-using-ai-to-interpret-human-emotions

Purdy, M. and Reznik, G. (2019). Why Every Company Needs to Think like an Entertainment Company. Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2019/05/why-every-company-needs-to-think-like-an-entertainment-company [

The post Episode 99: How Could the Metaverse Change Work? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

If you have a job and you have kids, you know that one impacts the other.  Logistics is part of it, but there is more as well. Our work impacts our life outside work, and our families, perhaps  more than we think. To discuss the relationship between work and families,  Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by  Maureeen Perry-Jenkins, Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the author of the book Work Matters. They talk about the ways that work impacts families and about what organizations  can do to make sure the impacts are not negative on either side.

Guest:

Links:

The post Episode 98: How is Your Job Affecting Your Kids? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.

Getting worker communication right is difficult, but it is at the crux of running an effective organization and the technology that is supposed to help sometimes seems to make things worse. To talk about effective ways to use technology to improve communication, Linda Nazareth is joined on this episode by Nicole Alvino, Founder and CEO  at workforce communications platform Firstup.

Guest:

Nicole Alvino is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Firstup, the world’s first intelligent communication platform – the SaaS platform used by 40 percent of Fortune 100 companies to connect with their people, design and deliver personalized communications, and gain engagement insights throughout the employee journey. She is proud that companies like Amazon, Tesco, Ford, and Hilton use Firstup every day to connect and meaningfully engage with their people and help leaders better understand their workforce. Prior to co-founding SocialChorus (now Firstup), she was the Founder and CEO of Dermalounge and a pioneer in using new technologies to engage employees.

Links:

https://firstup.io

The post Episode 97: How Can Companies Improve Communications? appeared first on LINDA NAZARETH.