12 Opportunities for HR in 2025: Thriving People, Thriving Organisation
This quote, most commonly attributed to Sun Tzu, aptly captures the essence of the 2020s as we reach the halfway point of what has been a turbulent decade thus far. The chaos element has been to the fore with a global pandemic, geopolitical tension, and economic uncertainty leading to an increasingly complex and volatile business environment. Sprinkle in the rapid advances in technology and artificial intelligence, then it’s not hard to see why 45% of CEOs believe their company will not be viable in ten years if it stays on its current trajectory (1).
Here comes the opportunity element. For the HR profession, there’s a strong case to be made this perfect storm has accelerated the transformation of the field from a support function to a strategic partner to the C-suite and the board. Josh Bersin argues that the chief people officer may now be the most important C-suite role of them all (2). Certainly, the opening words of Deloitte’s latest Global Human Capital Trends report encapsulates that many of the major challenges organisations face have people topics at their heart (3):
We’re operating in a world where work is no longer defined by jobs, the workplace is no longer a specific place, many workers are no longer traditional employees, and human resources is no longer a siloed function
Herein lies the opportunity for chief people officers: to align people strategy, analytics and technology to enable company growth, lead transformation both for the business and the function, act as the steward for ethical AI (4), and upskill HR professionals. Thriving people, thriving organisation.
During the 10+ years I’ve been publishing this annual look at the year ahead, it has evolved from a framing of predictions or trends to opportunities, given that much of what follows will likely take years to play out. As ever, the 2025 opportunities are informed by the research and work we do at Insight222 (5), interviews with guests on the Digital HR Leaders podcast (6), conversations with leaders in the field and market analysis. References are numbered throughout, and a comprehensive list with links is included at the end.
Get involved – what should opportunities #11 and #12 be?
Readers may note that the title and accompanying image indicate 12 opportunities, whereas only ten are outlined. That is because – as was the case in previous years - I’m keen to crowdsource the final two opportunities from readers. What other opportunities should be included? Please let me know in the comments section below, and I’ll add my favourite two to an updated version in January.
THE 2025 OPPORTUNITIES FOR HR
Ten opportunities for HR to realise in 2025…
1. Cultivating the thriving organisation
Ask not what your people can do for you, but ask instead what you can do for your people
A 2024 study by McKinsey estimates that the total global opportunity for optimising employee health and wellbeing could be up to $11.7 trillion (7). Numerous studies, including by Oxford University, find a strong positive relationship between employee wellbeing and firm financial performance (8). Indeed, according to Accenture, companies that take a people-centric approach could create $10.3 trillion in economic value (9). When people thrive, organisations thrive. Yet, employee burnout levels remain at an all-time high (10, 11). This presents an opportunity for HR to flip the script and, to paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, ask not what your people can do for you, but ask instead what you can do for your people. By focusing on creating value for employees and helping them to thrive, companies can create a virtuous cycle whereby employee outcomes enhance organisational outcomes and vice-versa (12, 13). For example, one PwC study found that making investments in 11 key areas of employee experience can yield savings equivalent to 12.6% of revenues (14). While Deloitte reports that the organisations that score highest on treatment of their workforce had a 2.2% higher five-year return on equity (15). Reimagining work as a product (16), becoming a listening organisation focused on turning employee feedback into action (17), as well as using people analytics to measure how wellbeing, purpose, learning, and attrition connect to business outcomes (18, 19), are three ways to create value. If successful in this mission, HR could elevate the function from its traditional role as a cost centre to a true value creation centre, while creating a fairer, healthier, and more humane organisation (20). What could be a bigger and better opportunity than that?
An organization that views its employees as its most important resource can maximize its return on talent (21)
FIG 1: Thriving stars have an outsize influence on organisations (Source: McKinsey)
2. Transforming HR into a strategic partner
The CHRO must transform the HR team, moving from the “service delivery” model to an HR team of consultants, problem-solvers, and analysts. (22)
With CEOs increasingly demanding more from HR and with data and AI enabling the transformation of HR into a more strategic, value-added and insight-driven function (23, 24), chief people officers have the opportunity to elevate HR from its traditional role as a support function into a true strategic partner (25). Six areas to consider are: i) Rethinking the HR operating model. Nearly two-thirds of companies have done so in the past two years (26). There’s certainly no shortage advice (27 – see FIG 2, 28, 29, 30). ii) Putting people analytics at the right-hand of the CHRO.Our research at Insight222 finds that a strong connection with the people analytics leader together with combining people strategy and analytics enhances the credibility and impact of the CHRO with the board (31, 32), as does embedding it as part of the HR service model (33). iii) Reimagining key HR roles and processes through automation toincrease the focus on high-value strategic work (34, 35). iv) Prioritising high-impact use cases for deploying AI across HR programs and the employee lifecycle (36, 37). v) Identifying future skills and capabilities of HR professionals together with a strategy to close any gaps. vi) Leading on the development of ethical and responsible AI policies and enablement programs (38) – and never forgetting the ‘H’ in HR.
FIG 2: Assessment of Ten Dimensions of HR Effectiveness (Source: The RBL Group)
3. Setting the agents to work
We're using AI in three broad categories: recommendations, assistants, and agents. This is transforming our HR function. (39)
The topic du jour is agentic AI – the next frontier of generative AI (40). Gartner predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI, up from 0% in 2024 (41). Josh Bersin believes that agentic AI will change the HR tech stack and make our HR roles easier (42, 43). The likes of SAP (Joule), Workday (Illuminate) and ServiceNow (AI Agents) have already launched tools (44). Early use cases in HR are also emerging such as HiRO, a digital worker, IBM has used to save 50,000 hours in its quarterly promotion process (45, 46). From what I’ve learned in the last few months (and I’m still learning about this too), agentic AI – in essence a shift from Large Language Models to Large Action Models - provides a huge opportunity to rapidly accelerate HR’s progress from support function to strategic partner. Some suggestions for chief people officers to prepare: i) stay informed with the latest developments by keeping in touch with your peers, enterprise and HR tech partners, ii) identify and prioritise potential use cases, iii) upskill and prepare your team, iv) double down on ethics, privacy and responsible AI (47, 48, 49). One additional recommendation is to engage your people analytics team. Our research at Insight222 identified that AI strategy for the HR function is increasingly coming under the auspices of the people analytics leader (50). Moreover, this is also seeing the people analytics leader in some companies taking on a wider portfolio for disciplines such as HR tech and digital transformation, people strategy and operations (51, 52, 53).
FIG 3: A System of Agents (Source: Foundation Capital)
4. Elevating hybrid from where to how
What we need isn’t an office mandate—it’s a ‘collaboration mandate.’ (54)
There’s still too much focus on where people work rather than how work gets done. Despite executives being 3x more likely to say the how is more important (55). Indeed, with more than 90% of companies having hybrid workers (56) and with employees working remotely on average more than 25% of the time (57) it’s time to elevate the conversation from an office to a collaboration mandate (58). HR has an opportunity to lead the redesign of work through conducting experiments and collecting data to learn how work is getting done, and how employees are feeling (59). The shift to hybrid has been one of the key factors driving growth in people analytics (60). The body of published research is growing with several studies finding that in comparison to their fully in-person or remote colleagues, hybrid workers have higher wellbeing (61), engagement (62) and retention but no difference in collaboration and innovation (63). Additional research provides guidance on when in-person matters (64), making the office a magnet not a mandate (65), cultivating culture (66), fostering trust (67), and focusing on outcomes (68 – FIG 4) including broadening how we measure productivity (69). Hybrid is here to stay, so let’s make hybrid work – for companies, and for workers – and let’s follow the science rather than the headlines (70).
FIG 4: Focus on Productivity, Not Physical Presence (Source: Brian Elliott)
5. Investing in a people analytics “A Team”
In “A” Teams, people analytics is embedded in the people strategy. “A” Teams regularly and dynamically prioritise their work according to the needs of the C-suite and the business agenda (71)
People analytics is now widely acknowledged as an organisational imperative (72), with chief people officers recognising that they need data and insights to gain traction with the board (73). Recent studies by Deloitte (74), Josh Bersin (75) and PwC (76), as well as our own fifth annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends study (77), all show significant growth in people analytics. Yet, together, they also highlight that most organisations are still only scratching the surface of what is possible. Only 10% of the 348 companies that participated in the Insight222 study are defined as “A” Teams (see FIG 4). Our research – and experience of working directly with over 100 organisations through the Insight222 People Analytics Program® – finds virtually all “A” Teams play a key role in defining the people strategy and effectively align their work to the most important business priorities accordingly (78), echoing other studies (79, 80). Additionally, chief people officers can realise more value with people analytics by focusing on: i) Improving the adoption and consumption of people data and insights by employees and managers. ii) Using intelligent automation to personalise analytics solutions. iii) Measuring the value of people analytics, working closely with finance (81). Success istarts with the right people analytics leader (82), who should be executive influencers, consultants, storytellers and marketeers. The role of the people analytics leader continues to evolve, and chief people officers should carefully consider the type of leader they need (83, 84). People analytics - and the ability to drive actions with insights – is the silver thread to unlock and realise all the opportunities outlined in this article, and a critical element of the drive to make HR more evidence-based (85). Remember, as Jonathan Ferrar and I wrote in our book, Excellence in People Analytics:
People Analytics is not about HR. People Analytics is about the business (86, 87).
FIG 5: Insight222 Leading Companies in People Analytics model (Source: Insight222)
6. Making workforce planning strategic
Strategic workforce planning is a perennial challenge. Although the core principles are not new, the urgency to act has increased, and the availability of data-driven insights has changed the competitive landscape (88)
Strategic workforce planning (SWP) is essentially a systematic and data-led approach for an organisation to ensure it has the right workforce to achieve its business objectives (89). With the speed and extent of change arising from the fifth industrial revolution, talent shortages and the shift to skills, SWP has arguably never been so important. It is consistently cited as a top three priority for people leaders (90, 91), a challenge compounded by studies suggesting that only 15% of organisations currently practice SWP (92). Our research at Insight222 finds a growing number of companies – 50% in a 2024 study - combine SWP with people strategy and analytics (93). These companies are more successful in connecting their SWP activities to their business priorities (94), have a better view of their future talent needs, and the strategies to close any gaps (95). Four other steps to increase success with SWP are: i) Aligning SWP efforts with business strategy (96, 97 – see example from Merck Group in FIG 6) including prioritising business critical roles and skills (98); ii) Bringing together people, business and external data to get the full picture (99); iii) Connecting SWP to other talent capabilities such as internal mobility, recruiting and learning (100); and, iv) Measuring the impact of workforce planning activities and linking these to business outcomes (101).
FIG 6: How Merck prioritises SWP needs by relevance and actionability (Source: Gartner)
7. Orchestrating skills for Impact
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals (102)
While ‘skills’ has been an opportunity for HR for several years, the topic continues to gather momentum. Skills gaps and shortages are one of the most pressing concerns for companies (103). Rapid advances in technology only exacerbate the challenge (104), with 44% of workers’ skills expected to be disrupted by 2028 (105) and reskilling workers a primary objective for many companies (106). Consequently, one study reports that 90% of companies are experimenting with a skills-based approach (107). Why? Because becoming skills-based can lead to greater agility, resilience, and flexibility in the face of rapid change (108). EPAM, which has adopted a skills-based approach for 30 years, believes it catalyses its business agility and enables the company to attract, develop and retain some of the best tech talent in a highly competitive market (109). Meanwhile, Standard Chartered has generated over 1,700 gigs and $6m of productivity from its initial talent marketplace pilot in India (110, 111) and has also calculated that reskilling and redeploying internal talent generates a saving of $49,000 per role versus hiring externally (112). We are continually learning more about what drives success in this space including at companies such as Ericsson (113), J&J (114, 115), IBM (116), Google (117), Mastercard (118) and Lloyds Banking Group (119). Some steps to consider: i) Do your homework – shifting to a skills-based approach is not cheap or easy, make sure there is a business problem to solve (120, 121, 122 – see FIG 7). ii) Experiment – a skills-based approach will likely not be right for every role in your company. Focus on critical roles, start with a pilot and an executive sponsor (123). iii) Focus on data quality – data is the foundation on which your skills initiative will succeed or fail (124). iv) Get your people analytics team involved – our research at Insight222 finds that 50% of people analytics teams are supporting their company in becoming skills-based (125). v) Communicate the value and use skills as the glue to connect recruiting, learning, mobility, compensation and workforce planning together.
FIG 7: Skills-based talent management strategy, business outcomes can guide your actions (Source: Gartner)
8. Turning up the volume on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
The backlash against DEI is out of sync with the opinions held by the most important set of stakeholders: your employees (126)
Some companies – particularly in the US – are backtracking on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) even inexplicably decided to drop the ‘E’ from its IED framework, despite this flying in the face of years of research on DEI in the workplace (127, 128). This is an opportunity for HR to lead the fightback and protect the networks of people engaged in DEI work (129). It was certainly good to hear L’Oreal CHRO Jean Claude Le Grand on the main stage at UNLEASH declare that “DEI is not a trend. DEI is part of our DNA (130).” In 2025, despite fears about what Trump’s second term could mean for DEI (131), let’s hope we hear more chief people officers – especially those based in the US – making similar declarations, and backing it up with action. They will be helping their companies if they do. Firstly, because DEI programs are getting more popular with employees, not less (132) and help organisations attract, retain and engage talent (133). Secondly, research finds DEI, particularly at the leadership level, is connected to financial performance, innovation, and societal impact (134). Thirdly, incorporating DEI practices into core business planning can provide a competitive edge (135). People analytics has an important role to play in measuring DEI efforts and connecting them to outcomes (136) including using advanced analytics to get deeper insights on belonging (137), inclusion (138) and psychological safety (139). Indeed, our own research at Insight222 finds, for the fourth consecutive year, that DEI is one of the top three areas where people analytics is adding the most business value (140). While some companies pause or roll back their DEI programs, those that stay the course and redouble their efforts will drive organisational performance. So, let’s turn up the volume to maximum on DEI in 2025 and beyond.
FIG 8: The business case for diversity on executive teams and financial outperformance
9. Advancing social capital
If ‘human capital’ is about what an individual knows, ‘social capital’ is about how well positioned that individual is to use what they know to get work done.
Social capital represents the next frontier for HR in gaining a deeper understanding of what drives individual, team and organisational effectiveness. As Michael Arena explains, if ‘human capital’ is about what an individual knows, ‘social capital’ is about how well positioned that individual is to use what they know to get work done. (141). The study of social capital is not new. Indeed, the likes of Arena and Rob Cross have been doing this work for decades – and specialist firms such as Worklytics, Cognitive Talent Solutions, Polinode and Innovisor have grown by specialising in this field. But like a lot of the 2025 opportunities presented here, a combination of the pandemic, the rise of distributed and hybrid work, and advances in technology mean that the need for analysing social capital and the ability to do so have increased dramatically. We can see this in the passive element of employee listening programs, which enables organisations to combine active data from surveys with passive data to understand the impact of topics such as hybrid working, meetings, and focus time on outcomes such as wellbeing, collaboration, innovation, productivity and attrition (142,143,144,145,146, 147, 148). Other use cases for network data exist to support work around topics as diverse as: M&A (149), performance (150), DEIB (151, 152), skills mapping (153), team effectiveness (154) and the identification of key influencers (155). For those looking to get started with a pilot, I recommend identifying a specific business problem to solve, getting a business sponsor, keeping the scope manageable, involving your IT and privacy team (and works council if appropriate), and considering partnering with a vendor (156).
FIG 9: Organization network analysis can help uncover collaboration within an organization (Source: Deloitte)
10. Enabling the HR professional of the future
41% of chief people officers wish they had had greater depth in people analytics prior to assuming their roles (157)
If HR is to become a true strategic partner to the business, then we must upskill ourselves, focusing on developing competencies that create value (158, 159). Chief people officers need to invest in attracting and developing HR professionals with the vision, agility and business acumen to navigate an everchanging landscape, raising the technology and analytical expertise of the function (160). Let’s take one area where the function needs to upskill that I know well from the work we do at Insight222 around improving the data literacy of HR professionals (161). Our research highlights five key skills to elevate data of literacy for HR: i) consulting, ii) influencing stakeholders, iii) interpreting data, iv) building recommendations from insights, and v) storytelling (162). While there has been steady progress with 58% of companies (163) now saying they have a data driven culture in HR (up from 42% in 2021), there is still some way to go – and the opportunities afforded by AI make it even more important for HR professionals to acquire these skills. Tellingly, this is an area of development for senior HR leaders too with 41% of chief people officers wishing they had had greater depth in people analytics prior to assuming their roles (164). With Insight222 research also finding that role-modelling of people data and analytics by the chief people officer and HR leadership team is paramount for the improvement of data literacy across the HR function overall (165), this is an opportunity that chief people officers can ill afford to squander. The HR function will continue to evolve with new roles emerging (166). We need to take the ethos of continuous learning that we advocate for the rest of the organisation and apply it to ourselves in HR.
FIG 10: Example of a learning journey Insight222 delivers to HR leaders, BPs and professionals (see here)
FIG 11: 13 HR Jobs of the Future (Source: Jeanne Meister)
References
(1) PwC 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention (PwC 2024)
(2) Josh Bersin Why Is It So Hard To Be A Chief HR Officer (CHRO)? (Josh Bersin 2024)
(3) 2024 Global Human Capital Trends: Thriving beyond boundaries – Human performance in a boundaryless world (Deloitte 2024)
(4) Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA Miriam Daucher Alexandra Zea - The future of human resources: Who will care for the human at work? (Mercer 2024)
(5) Insight222 Research Homepage (Insight222)
(6) Digital HR Leaders Podcast Homepage (Insight222)
(7) Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ?️ (née Schouten) Lars Hartenstein Barbara Jeffery Dr. Patrick Simon Working nine to thrive (McKinsey 2024)
(8) Jan-Emmanuel De Neve Micah Kaats George Ward Workplace Wellbeing and Firm Performance (University of Oxford 2023)
(9) Ellyn Shook Paul Daugherty, Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI (Accenture 2024)
(10) Dawn Klinghoffer Katie Kirkpatrick-Husk PhD - With Burnout on the Rise, What Can Companies Do About It? (MIT SMR 2023)
(11) @Jacqui Brassey Erica Hutchins Coe Martin Dewhurst Kana Enomoto Renata Giarola Brad Herbig Barbara Jeffery, Addressing employee burnout: Are you solving the right problem? (McKinsey Health Institute 2022)
(12) Susan Cantrell Jen Fisher Joanne Stephane Jason Flynn Amy Fields Yves Van Durme, When people thrive, business thrives: The case for human sustainability (Deloitte 2024)
(13) Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ?️ (née Schouten), Aaron De Smet, Emily Field, Taylor Lauricella Brooke Weddle, To defend against disruption, build a thriving workforce (McKinsey 2024)
(14) Bastiaan Starink Jan Willem Velthuijsen - What every HR leader needs to show the CFO (PwC 2023)
(15) Cantrell et al (see 11)
(16) Eric Anicich Dart Lindsley, Reimagining Work as a Product (HBR, 2024)
(17) Ethan Burris Benjamin Thomas Ketaki Sodhi, PhD Dawn Klinghoffer , Turn Employee Feedback into Action (HBR 2024)
(18) Brassey et al (see 10)
(19) Peter Cappelli Ranya Nehmeh, HR’s New Role (HBR 2024)
(20) Vincent Bérubé Ben Fogarty Neel Gandhi Rahul Mathew Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi Charlotte Seiler, Increasing your return on talent: The moves and metrics that matter (McKinsey 2024)
(21) Berube et al (see 20)
(22) Bersin (see 2)
(23) Julie Bedard, Katie Lavoie, Renée Laverdière, Allison Bailey, Vinciane Beauchene, and Jens Stefan Baier, How Generative AI will Transform HR (BCG 2023)
(24) Volker Jacobs, Squaring the Circle: Why the old promise of P&O transformation –more for less – can finally be fulfilled (TI PEOPLE 2024)
(25) Bersin (see 2)
(26) Marc Effron, It’s (Still) the Mortar not the Bricks (Talent Strategy Group 2024)
(27) Dave Ulrich Joe Grochowski Norm Smallwood Joe Hanson Ernesto Uscher, What Makes an Effective HR Function? (LinkedIn, 2023)
(28) Sandra Durth Neel Gandhi Asmus Komm Florian Pollner – HR’s new operating model (McKinsey 2022)
(29) Kraig Eaton Susan Cantrell Kim Eberbach Julie Duda, From function to discipline: The rise of boundaryless HR (Deloitte 2024)
(30) Josh Bersin Kathi Enderes, The Definitive Guide to Human Resources: Systemic HR (2023)
(31) Naomi Verghese Jonathan Ferrar Jordan Pettman, Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0 (Insight222 2024)
(32) Jay Dorio How CHROs Can Drive Strategic Influence with People Analytics: Insights from Rabobank’s Janine Vos (myHRfuture 2024)
(33) Jaap Veldkamp - Positioning People Analytics into the HR Service Model: A Path to Sustainable Impact (2024)
(34) Nickle LaMoreaux David Green ??, How IBM Uses AI to Transform Their HR Strategies (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode 2024)
(35) Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA Helen White Kate Bravery Jason Averbook Todd Lambrugo – Generative AI will transform three key HR roles (Mercer 2023)
(36) Bedard et al (see 23)
(37) Josh Bersin Job Task Re-Engineering With AI: A Massive Opportunity Ahead (2024)
(38) Jesuthasan et al (see 4)
(39) LaMoreaux and Green (see 34)
(40) Lareina Yee Michael Chui Roger Roberts Stephen Xu, Why agents are the next frontier of generative AI (McKinsey 2024)
(41) Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2025 (2024)
(42) Josh Bersin AI Agents, The New Workforce We’re Not Quite Ready For (Agentic AI) (2024)
(43) Joanne Chen Jaya Gupta, A System of Agents brings Service-as-Software to life (2024)
(44) Felipe Jara, HR - Let's Prepare for a Big Wave of Multi-Agents AI Systems (2024)
(45) LaMoreaux, Green (see 34)
(46) Jon Lester A Future for HR (IBM, 2024)
(47) Jason Averbook, AI Agents: The Next Frontier in HR Technology, and, How AI Agents are Revolutionizing HR—and How to Get Ready (2024)
(48) Lars Schmidt Agents of (Massive) Change: How AI Agents Are Poised to Alter Work (LinkedIn Talent Blog, 2024)
(49) Anshul Sheopuri Lucrecia Borgonovo, At the inflection of AI and HR: How we’re equipping employees for the AI era (Mastercard, 2024)
(50, 51) Verghese, et al (see 31)
(52) Richard Rosenow From Data to Strategy: The New Role of Workforce Systems Leaders in Transforming HR (One Model, 2024)
(53) Andrés García Ayala People analytics at the heart of AI’s successful workplace adoption (2024)
(54) Michael Arena Philip Arkcoll, The collaboration mandate: Does returning to the office improve innovation? (PEX, 2024)
(55) Annie Dean, Lessons Learned: 1,000 Days of Distributed at Atlassian (Atlassian, 2024)
(56) Debra Clark, Hybrid Working Trends (The HR Director, 2024)
(57) Jose Maria Barrero Nick Bloom Shelby Buckman Steven J. Davis – SWAA December 2024 Updates (WFH Research, 2024)
(58) Arena, Arkcoll (see 54)
(59) Lynda Gratton, Redesigning How We Work (HBR 2023)
(60) Insight222, What Are The Five Trends Shaping People Analytics in 2024? (myHRfuture, 2024)
(61) Heidi Grant Ginnie Carlier Frank Giampietro, Using Data to Design Your Hybrid Work Policies
(62) Heidi Manna David Green ??, How to Create a Flexible Work Model That Enhances Inclusion and Employee Experience (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode)
(63) Nick Bloom James Liang Ruobing Han, One Company A/B Tested Hybrid Work. Here’s What They Found (HBR 2024)
(64) Dawn Klinghoffer Karen Kocher Maryleen Emeric Leal Jared Spataro, In the Changing Role of the Office, It’s All about Moments That Matter (Microsoft 2023)
(65) Kelly Jones, Unlocking the Power of Hybrid Work: 5 Guiding Principles from Cisco's 3-Year Study Article | White Paper | Executive Summary
(66) Michael Arena Andras Vicsek John Golden, Ph.D. Scott Hines, PhD, Cultivating Culture in a Hybrid Context
(67) Alexandra Camp Phil Kirschner Laura Pineault Dr. Patrick Simon, Hybrid can be healthy for your organization—when done right
(68) Brian Elliott, Return-to-Office Mandates: How to Lose Your Best Performers (MIT SMR 2024)
(69) Lynda Gratton - Seven Truths About Hybrid Work and Productivity MIT SMR 2024)
(70) Marc Effron , Above the Fray: What We Know About How WFH and Hybrid Affect Work
(71) Jonathan Ferrar Naomi Verghese Madhura Chakrabarti, PhD, Harnessing Data for Growth: The Impact of People Analytics (Insight222, 2024)
(72) Eric Lesser Peter DeBellis Marc Solow, 2023 High-Impact People Analytics Research (Deloitte, 2024)
(73) Shari Chernack Jonathan Gordin, 2024 Voice of the CHRO: Maximizing HR effectiveness in a changing landscape (Mercer, 2024)
(74) Lesser et al (see 72)
(75) Josh Bersin, People Analytics, A Complex Domain, Is About To Be Transformed by AI (2024)
(76) PwC Saratoga, Saratoga Annual Benchmarking Report 2024 (PwC, 2024)
(77, 78) Ferrar et al (see reference 71)
(79) Dave Ulrich Harrison James, Human Capability and Stakeholder Value: Updating the Organization Guidance System (LinkedIn, 2024)
(80) Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen, Mike Ulrich Dave Ulrich - Moving People Analytics From Insight to Impact (Sage Journals, 2023)
(81) Jasmine Panayides, Partnering with Finance to Drive Greater Business Impact with People Analytics (myHRfuture, 2024)
(82) Patrick Coolen, The 10 golden rules for establishing a people analytics practice (LinkedIn, 2024)
(83) Verghese et al (see 31)
(84) Rosenow (see 52)
(85) Rob Briner David Green ??, What is Evidence Based HR and Why is it Important? (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, 2024)
(86) Jonathan Ferrar David Green ??, Excellence in People Analytics (Kogan Page Publishing, 2021)
(87) David Green ??, A History of People Analytics in Five Ages (LinkedIn, 2021)
(88) Jens Stefan Baier, Vinciane Beauchene, Julie Bedard, Jean-Michel Caye, Dr. Philipp Kolo, Fang Ruan, Alexander Alonso, PhD SHRM-SCP, Anthony Ariganello, Kai H. Helfritz, Bob Morton, Chartered CCIPD, Lucas van Wees, Wilson Wong - Creating People Advantage: Set the Right People Priorities for Challenging Times (BCG, 2023)
(89) Adam Gibson Nicola Oldroyd, Agile Workforce Planning (Strategic Workforce Planning, Best Practices and Emerging Directions, Oxford University Press, 2024)
(90) Baier et al (see 88)
(91) Kate Bravery Joana Silva Jens Peterson, 2024 Global Talent Trends (Mercer, 2024)
(92) Mark Whittle Liana Passantino, PhD Maggie Schroeder-O’Neal, Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025 (Gartner, 2024)
(93) Verghese et al (see 31)
(94) Laura Wright Shubert David Green ??, How MetLife Made a Success of their Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, 2022)
(95) Alex Browne David Green ??, Nestlé's 4B Methodology to Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, 2023)
(96) Alicia Roach, Chris Hare David Green ??, How to Democratise Strategic Workforce Planning (Digital HR Leaders podcast, 2023)
(97) Whittle et al (see 92)
(98) Rebecca Thielen and David Green ??, Microsoft's Key to Strategic Workforce Planning Success (Digital HR Leaders podcast, 2024)
(99) Jeroen Van Hautte ?, How unlocking skills lies in capturing business data (TechWolf, 2023)
(100) Brian Heger, Enabling Strategic Workforce Planning Through Skills, Artificial Intelligence, and Internal Talent Marketplace (Strategic Workforce Planning, Best Practices and Emerging Directions, Oxford University Press, 2024)
(101) Jonathan Ferrar, How to Build a Workforce Planning Strategy that Delivers Business Value (myHRfuture, 2021)
(102) World Economic Forum and PwC, Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets (World Economic Forum, 2024)
(103) Baier et al (see reference 88)
(104) MIT SMR Connections and Mercer, Strategic Shift: Skills-Powered Organizations in the Age of AI (MIT, 2024)
(105) Attilio Di Battista, Sam Grayling, Elselot Hasselaar, Till Alexander Leopold, Ricky LI, Mark Rayner and Saadia Zahidi – The Future of Jobs Report 2023 (World Economic Forum, 2023)
(106) Anish Lalchandani and David Green ??, The Four Reskilling Principles Every HR Leader Should Know (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(107) Susan Cantrell, Michael Griffiths, Robin Jones, and Julie Hiipakka - The skills-based organization: A new operating model for work and the workforce (Deloitte, 2022)
(108) Allan Schweyer, Barbara Lombardo, PhD, Matt Rosenbaum and Peter Sheppard, The Long but Rewarding Journey to Becoming a Skills-Driven Organization (The Conference Board, 2024)
(109) Sandra Loughlin, PhD and David Green ??, Building a Skills-Based Organisation: Lessons from a 30-Year Journey (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(110) World Economic Forum and PwC (see reference 102)
(111) Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and Tanuj Kapilashrami, The Skills-Powered Organization: The Journey to the Next Generation Enterprise (MIT Press, 2024)
(112) Tanuj Kapilashrami, Michael Fraccaro, Tamla Oates-Forney, and David Green ??, CHRO Panel: Delivering against the transformation imperative (Gloat, 2024) – see extract
(113) Schweyer et al (see reference 108)
(114) Nick van der Meulen, Olgerta Tona, and Dorothy Leidner, Resolving Workforce Skills Gaps with AI-Powered Insights (MIT, 2024)
(115) Christina Norris-Watts, Doug Shagam, and David Green ?? - How Johnson & Johnson are Scaling Their Skills-Based Approach to Talent (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2023)
(116) Lamoreaux and Green (see reference 34)
(117) Bo Cowgill, Jonathan Davis, Pablo Montagnes, Patryk Perkowski and Bettina Hammer - How to Design an Internal Talent Marketplace (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(118) Michael Fraccaro and David Green ??, How Mastercard is Using AI to Drive Employee Success and Leadership Growth (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(119) Lara Wainwright, Duncan Reynell and David Green ??, How Digital Transformation Fuels Skills and EX at Lloyds Banking Group (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(120) Marc Effron, Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Questions About Becoming a Skills-based Organization (The Talent Strategy Group , 2024)
(121) Jaejin Lee, Skill-based Transformation: “Don't Start with Skills, Start with Work!” (LinkedIn, 2024)
(122) Gartner, Skills-based talent management strategy, business outcomes can guide your actions – Gareth Flynn, LinkedIn post (Gartner, 2024)
(123) Mikaël Wornoo? and David Green ??, How to Use Skills Data to Solve Business Challenges Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(124) Sandra Loughlin, PhD, Seven Elements of Skills Data Quality (LinkedIn, 2024)
(125) Verghese et al (see reference 31)
(126) Brian Elliott, How to Stand Up When It Comes to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2024)
(127) Enrica Ruggs and Oscar Holmes IV, Why Dropping the E in DEI Is a Mistake (Harvard Business Review, 2024)
(128) Josh Bersin, DEI Attacked by SHRM, Civility In The Workplace, And The ROI of AI (Josh Bersin, 2024)
(129) Lori Nishiura Mackenzie, Sarah Soule, Shelley J. Correll, and Melissa C. Thomas-Hunt, How DEI Can Survive This Era of Backlash (Harvard Business Review, 2024)
(130) David Green ??, Key Learnings from Unleash World 2024 (LinkedIn, 2024)
(131) Kenji Yoshino, David Glasgow, and Christina Joseph, What Trump’s Second Term Could Mean for DEI (Harvard Business Review, 2024)
(132) Elliott (see reference 126)
(133) BCG, It’s Time to Highlight the Business Opportunity of DEI Initiatives (BCG, 2024)
(134) Dame Vivian Hunt, Sundiatu Dixon-Fyle, Celia Huber, Maria del Mar Martinez, Sara Prince, and Ashley Thomas - Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact (McKinsey, 2023)
(135) Quinetta Roberson, How Integrating DEI Into Strategy Lifts Performance (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2024)
(136) Lily Zheng, To Make Lasting Progress on DEI, Measure Outcomes (Harvard Business Review, 2023)
(137) Shujaat Ahmad, Real Measures that Matter for Real Change on DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) (Belong & Lead, 2024)
(138) Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., DEI Funding Cuts? You Need Data Analytics and AI More Than Ever (LinkedIn, 2024)
(139) Henrik Bresman and Amy Edmondson, Research: To Excel, Diverse Teams Need Psychological Safety (Harvard Business Review, 2022)
(140) Ferrar et al (see reference 71)
(141) Michael Arena, Leveraging Social Capital (HR Exchange Network, 2018)
(142) Klinghoffer et al (see reference 64)
(143) Rob Cross, Mike Benson, Jack Kostal, PhD, and RJ Milnor, Collaboration Overload is Sinking Productivity (Harvard Business Review, 2021)
(144) Arena et al (see reference 66)
(145) Michael Arena, Adaptive Space (McGraw Hill, 2018)
(146) Rob Cross, Beyond Collaboration Overload (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021)
(147) Rob Cross and Karen Dillon, The Microstress Effect (Harvard Business Review Press, 2023)
(148) Michael Arena and David Green ??, What the Impact of Distributed Work on Organisational Networks Tells Us About the Future of Talent Management, (Digital HR Leaders podcast episode, myHRfuture, 2024)
(149) Francisco Marin, 5 Ways ONA Creates Value in Mergers and Acquisitions, (LinkedIn, 2020)
(150) Maya Bodan, Don Miller, Susan Cantrell, Gary Parilis, and Carissa Kilgour, Harnessing organization network analysis (ONA): Measure workforce performance and optimize strategies (Deloitte, 2024)
(151) Inga Carboni, Andrew Parker, and Nan Langowitz, Mapping Exclusion in the Organization (MIT Sloan Management Review, 2021)
(152) Jonathan Ferrar and David Green ??, How Can Passive ONA Highlight the Impact of Relationships on Diversity and Inclusion? (MyHRfuture, 2021)
(153) Lee (see reference 121)
(154) Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll, Enabling High-Velocity Teams (HR Exchange Network, 2024)
(155) Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard, How to Rethink Change with the Three Percent Rule (Innovisor, 2019)
(156) Manish Goel and David Green ??, The Role of Network Analytics (ONA) in Ensuring Team Collaboration and Well Being (myHRfuture, 2020)
(157) Jonathan Gordin, Shari Chernack, Karen Shellenback, and Yamile Bruzza, Evolving the CHRO role in a rapidly changing world of work (Mercer 2023)
(158) Dave Ulrich, Update on HR Business Partner Model Continuing Evolution and Relevance (LinkedIn, 2024)
(159) Dave Ulrich, Patrick Wright, Mike Ulrich, Erin Wilson Burns, Do you want to be more effective as an HR professional? Here’s how (The RBL Group, 2021)
(160) Chernack and Gordin (see reference 67)
(161) Insight222 Building a Data-Driven Culture in HR, Immersive Learning Experiences, (Insight222, 2024)
(162) Naomi Verghese, Jonathan Ferrar - Upskilling the HR Profession: Building Data Literacy at Scale (Insight222, 2023)
(163) Ferrer et al (see reference 71)
(164) Gordin et al (see reference 157)
(165) Naomi Verghese Why is Role-modelling by the CHRO and HRLT Essential for Building Data Literacy in HR? (myHRfuture, 2023)
(166) Jeanne C M. 13 HR jobs of the future (HR Executive, 2024)
A selection of other 2025 HR predictions, opportunities and trends
There are a plethora of other resources documenting predictions, opportunities and trends for HR and the future of work in 2025 including (in alphabetical order):
Alexandra Nawrat, Five New Year’s resolutions for HR leaders in 2025
Andrew Spence, Beyond Prediction: Shaping Your Work Story in an Uncertain World - Andrew walks through seven dominant narratives on the Future of Work - from 'Dataism' to the 'Singularity' via 'Job Destruction.'
Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor Worklife Trends 2025 - includes data showing that Gen Z will make up 1 in 10 managers in 2025.
Gartner, Top 5 Priorities for HR Leaders in 2025
The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp), 2025 Priorities & Predictions
Jen Colletta, 5 CHROs share what’s topping their 2025 HR strategy agenda - includes Melissa Werneck highlighting the HR's role as the ambassador for the responsible implementation of generative AI at work.
LinkedIn, Global Talent Trends
Dr. Solange Charas and Stela Lupushor, Crystal Balls and Cold Reality: HR Predictions for 2025
Steve Hunt, A guide to HR predictions, trends, and forecasts
Visier Inc., Embracing the AI Driven Workforce: 5 Workforce Trends for 2025
Unlock the potential of your people analytics function through the Insight222 People Analytics Program
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 100 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021.
MEET ME AT THESE EVENTS
I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in early 2025:
January 21 - People Analytics in Italy: Insights from Research and Practice with Martha Curioni and Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP (VIRTUAL - Register here)
January 23 - The Strategic Outlook for People Analytics in 2025 with Ian Cook and Dawn Klinghoffer (WEBINAR - Register here)
February 26-27 - People Analytics World, Zürich
April 29-30 - People Analytics World, London
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
今天是选举日：HR机构领导者认为未来经济形势会更加光明
今天是选举日，有人正在权衡此次投票对美国经济可能带来的影响。
据《巴伦周刊》报道，Adecco集团的首席执行官Denis Machuel向法新社表示，无论谁获胜，选举结束后美国的招聘活动预计都会恢复。
“企业不喜欢不确定性：它们希望了解未来会发生什么。而这种不确定性并未真正有利于美国市场，”据《巴伦周刊》报道，“一旦选举结束，无论谁赢得选举，我们的经济将会比之前获得更多的推动力。”
10月22日的Robert Half财报电话会议也提到了选举及其不确定性。
“在通货膨胀较低和广泛预期进一步降息的背景下，NFIB的小企业乐观指数在过去六个月中有五个月呈上升趋势，”该公司总裁兼首席执行官M. Keith Waddell在电话会议中说道。“尽管如此，NFIB的不确定性指数却达到历史新高，部分原因是即将到来的美国选举。许多经济学家正在上调他们的预测，随着选举的结束，总体宏观环境应该会有所改善。”
供应管理协会（ISM）在其服务业ISM报告中也提到了选举，并指出“与上月相比，关于政治不确定性的担忧再次增加。”
总体而言，ISM指出其服务业PMI指数上升至56%，这是自2022年7月以来的最高水平，显示出美国服务业的加速扩张。然而，该报告基于全美采购和供应管理人员的数据，许多人提到选举对行业的影响。
“一些客户在我们的技术业务线和能源相关项目中着眼于未来——选举后将启动下一阶段项目，”一位采购和供应管理人员表示。
另一位ISM的受访者指出，由于资金在选举后才会释放，新订单略有下降。
而不仅是总统选举在影响着行业。几个州也在进行最低工资标准的投票，马萨诸塞州的选民则在投票是否为Uber等公司独立司机提供加入工会的途径，路透社报道。
在加州，选民将决定32号州提案是否通过，这项提案将把该州的最低工资标准在2026年提高到每小时18美元。该州已经要求快餐店员工的最低工资为每小时20美元。
原文作者：Craig Johnson
Today is Election Day, and some are weighing in on the possible impact of today’s vote on the US economy.
Adecco Group CEO Denis Machuel told AFP that regardless of who wins, hiring in the US should recover post-election, according to a report in Barron’s.
“Businesses don’t like uncertainty: They like to know what’s going to happen. And that level of uncertainty hasn’t really helped the US market,” according to the report in Barron’s. “Once this is over, no matter who wins, we’re going to have more tailwinds than we had so far.”
The election and uncertainty were also mentioned in Robert Half’s earnings call on Oct. 22.
“With lower inflation and widespread expectations of further rate cuts, the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index has been up five of the last six months,” President and CEO M. Keith Waddell said in the call. “That said, the NFIB’s Uncertainty Index is at all-time highs, in part due to the upcoming US elections. Many economists are making upward revisions to their forecasts, and as we get past the elections, the overall macro environment should begin to improve.”
The Institute for Supply Management also mentioned the election in its Services ISM report, noting that “concerns over political uncertainty were again more prevalent than the previous month.”
Overall, the ISM noted its Services PMI rose to a reading of 56% — the highest since July 2022 — indicating faster expansion in the US services sector. However, the report is based on data from purchasing and supply executives across the US, and several comments were made on the election.
“Seeing emerging projects in our technology business line as well as in energy-related projects, where many customers are looking forward — post-election — to release their next phases,” one purchasing and supply executive said.
Another ISM comment noted that new orders were slightly lower because of funds being held back until after the election.
And it’s not just the presidential election influencing the industry. Several states are voting on minimum wage rates, and Massachusetts voters are weighing in on whether to provide a path for independent contractor drivers at firms such as Uber to join unions, Reuters reported.
In California, voters are deciding on state Proposition 32, which would raise the state’s minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026. The state already requires fast food workers to be paid $20 per hour.
Josh Bersin:Digital Twins, Digital Employees, And Agents Everywhere2025 年，数字员工和人工智能助理的崛起将彻底改变人力资源运营，改变招聘、数据分析和员工管理等任务。 这些技术包括数字双胞胎和智能代理，它们将与人类专业人员一起工作，以提高生产力和优化工作流程。 随着人工智能工具成为日常业务不可或缺的一部分，人力资源领导者必须拥抱这些创新，同时继续关注技能培训、心理健康和包容性工作环境。 向人工智能的转变还将重塑团队动态，这对人力资源部门重新设计角色和流程以保持竞争力提出了挑战。
I recently heard Elon Musk predict that every citizen would have multiple Optimus robots in their homes within five years. And while I often ignore his predictions because they’re exaggerated, I think he’s on to something. We are about to witness an explosion of Digital Employees in our companies, and these may be the “robots” we’ve heard about for years.
Let me explain. This week I talked with dozens of vendors and clients at Unleash and then visited our development partner Sana Labs in Stockholm. It’s now clear that we’re going to be working with multitudes of “digital employees” in the year ahead.
(And as Dario Amodei, the founder of Anthropic explains, AI can do many more positive things in business, science, and health than we ever imagined.)
By “digital employee” I mean a software powered agent that can talk with us, answer detailed questions, solve complex analytic problems, and navigate a multitude of systems. ChatGPT and its peers, which introduced the idea of an agent, has now spawned dozens of “agentic” use cases, which I’d be willing to refer to as personalities.
Let me start with a “Digital Twin.” Imagine you have a superb customer service agent with years of experience helping your most demanding clients. If you load the last five years of their emails, coupled with all their internal documentation, and a log history of their last two years of service calls, you can essentially “create him or her” digitally with all the knowledge, style, and internal contacts this person has developed. This twin, which may look initially like an AI assistant, could then carry on this employee’s work when the real life worker is on vacation.
One of our clients, a large insurance company, has already built “digital twins” for claims processing. If you think about the complexity and workflow of processing a claim, much of it could be learned by an agent, making the “claims robot” an expert on this important process. And as you change claims rules and limits, the agent will learn new guidelines in only seconds.
Our AI assistant Galileo, a trained expert on HR (Galileo is trained on 25 years of research and thousands of conversations with clients and vendors), is essentially a “digital twin” of me and the other analysts in our firm. I’m not saying Galileo is as fun to talk with as we are, but I can assure you that he (or she) is as knowledgeable and supportive. And Galileo is even smarter than I am: he has instant knowledge of skills models, compensation benchmarks, turnover statistics, and other data bases which I can only access by looking them up on demand.
And using the Sana platform we can configure Galileo to have multiple personalities. Galileo the “Recruitment Agent” might have in-depth knowledge of screening, interviewing, and candidate skills assessment and he may have direct linkage to SeekOut, Eightfold, or any other sourcing applications. In his candidate facing personality he may be able to answer candidate questions, explain shift schedules, and “sell” the company to top job candidates. (This is what Paradox has done for years and vendors like Eightfold and LinkedIn are launching now.)
But there’s more. Imagine that this “digital twin” or “digital employee” has intimate knowledge of Workday, SuccessFactors, or a variety of other systems. Now the assistant can not only answer questions and help solve problems, he can also process transactions, look things up, and run reports against multiple system. The digital employee has turned into a “digital analyst,” who can find things and do work for you, saving you hours of effort in your daily life. (Vee from Visier is designed for this.)
Suppose you ask your digital friend to attend meetings for you, participate in conversations on certain topics, and alert you in real time when urgent issues come up for discussion. He could help you scale your time, keep you informed about decisions you need to know about, and help you manage your action items. And the list goes on and on and on.
Best of all, what if your digital twin can talk to you. Suppose he “checks in” with you about the project you asked for help with last week, so you inform him how things are going and he gets “smarter” about what you may need next. Galileo does this today, prompting you to dig into a problem and explore areas you may not have considered. And if you ask him about management or people issues, he could give you advice and coaching, based on the leadership models or even CEO interviews in your own company. (BetterUp, Valence and others are working on this.)
This is not science fiction, my friends. All this is becoming reality and will certainly be common next year.
Every vendor has a slightly different focus. The Microsoft Copilot specializes in MS Office-related activities, ServiceNow’s focuses on internal service and support, Galileo is focused on the needs of HR, and Joule is an expert on all the functions of SAP. Each of these “digital employees” needs training, feedback, and connections to stay current and relevant. So it’s doubtful that one digital employee will do everything. (Training a digital employee means managing his or her corpus of information, which will be a major new role in HR.)
One thing is very clear: we are going to be living and working with these guys. And as we use them and see what they’re capable of, we’re going to redesign work. Little by little we’ll offload tasks, projects, and workflows. And as we do, we’ll get smarter and smarter about redesigning our teams.
I liken the process to that of a carpenter who gets a new multi-function power drill. Before the drill he may have manually drilled holes, carefully selecting the drill bit and the level of pressure based on wood density. Now he drills holes faster, more accurately, and with more precision. Soon he just speeds through the process, spending more time on cabinet fit, finish, or design.
The same thing will happen to our HR tasks, projects, and designs. And these new digital employees are programmable! So once we figure out what they’re capable of we can adjust them, customize them, and connect them together. Eventually we’ll have intelligent assistants that operate as entire applications. And that’s the threat to incumbent software companies – the agents hollow out many of our existing applications.
How Do Our Digital Employees Impact Our Own Work?
One more observation. Many a few of the clients I talked with kept asking “what about our softskills?” What work is truly human?
I think that’s the wrong question. Rather we should ask the opposite: how much can I delegate to my new friends as fast as possible!
Have you been upset that your vacuum cleaner took away the rewarding human work of sweeping a floor? How much joy do you get from washing dishes? Did your dishwasher make you feel deflated when you stopped splashing around in the soapy water?
Of course not – these tools eliminated tasks we considered to be “drudgery.”
Well today, thanks to digital assistants, creating a pivot table to do cross-tab analysis has become drudgery. You can stop getting your hands wet with that task – ask Galileo or Copilot to analyze the data, and then ask him to chart it, add more data, and try new assumptions. The more we learn to use these new digital employees the more “drudgery” we can stop doing.
And consider complex “human-centered” activities like “change management.” A client asked me “how could Galileo help me with change management for our new HCM system?”
I answered her with dozens of ideas: ask Galileo for case studies of other companies and have it build a checklist to consider based on what other companies did. Then ask Galileo to build a training plan; ask it to read the user documentation and create a table of what features are new; then ask Galileo to rewrite that change plan by role. And finally ask Galileo to write a press release about success, craft some compelling communications to employees, and ask it to compute the ROI of all the steps eliminated.
These are all “manual” human tasks we do today and they take time and ingenuity to figure out. If you went through this process in Galileo you could ask your digital employee to save these steps and prompts in a “template,” and you have just taught your digital employee how to do change management. The next time you need him he can step you through the process.
As I started to explain this to my client I stopped and said: wait a minute. I can’t possibly show you everything Galileo can do. You have to try it for yourself.
And that’s my big message. Don’t wait for a vendor to drop a finished solution in your lap. These are intelligent, trainable, digital experts. You have to get to know them so you can figure out where they fit in your job, your projects, and your company. Just like you do with any new hire.
I say it’s time to get started. No more sweeping floors or washing dishes by hand. Let’s meet our digital employees, tell them about our projects, and ask for their help. Step by step, day by day, we can redesign our jobs to be more more productive, liberating us to do greater things.
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
观点
扫一扫
添加客服
