参会指南:北美华人人力资源年度论坛日程及会议注意事项,保存收藏转发
各位参会嘉宾,非常欢迎参加NACSHR北美华人人力资源年度论坛!
为营造良好的会议氛围,帮助大家尽快熟悉会议安排以及会议相关行政事宜,特别分享论坛相关注意事项如下,烦请了解和熟悉!
2024北美华人人力资源年度论坛
2024 NACSHR Annual Conference
时间:10月5日-6日 周六周日 October 5-6, 2024 (9:00-17:00 周六上午8点半签到)
地点: Crowne Plaza Silicon Valley North 一楼会议室 (32083 Alvarado-Niles Rd. Union City CA 94587 )
几个机场SFO\SJC\OAK 到酒店距离差不多.
报名参会:https://www.nacshr.org/Survey/418189BC-FF9F-D9B7-B7F8-8E5980AAFFA1
赞助合作伙伴:Law Office of Xiaomin Hu P.C.、 中国南方航空 、LYD Law
会议日程 DAY1 DAY2
PS: 周五4号晚上、周六5号晚上8点半 在酒店泳池大堂举行自由交流酒会,欢迎自由参加
会议午餐:自理 活动期间会组成不同小组,可结伴前往 Union Landing 广场 5分钟路程(I-880, Union City, CA 94587)
会议提问:可以这个链接提前输入自己的问题
http://hrday.com/survey/survey.php?id=50C568AA-5E95-CC19-714E-CD2BD7FE9AB3
会议日程安排:
第二天日程安排
Workshop :Power Beyond Title and Presence
2024北美华人人力资源年度峰会
2024 NACSHR Annual Conference
时间:10月5日-6日 周六周日 October 5-6, 2024 (9:00-17:00)
地点: Crowne Plaza Silicon Valley North ( Union City)
报名:https://www.nacshr.org/Survey/418189BC-FF9F-D9B7-B7F8-8E5980AAFFA1
费用:400美元/人 优惠票 (10月4日前)
晚宴:150美元/人(不单独销售,需购买门票,名额有限,售完为止 参与者为分享嘉宾、特邀专家、VIP参会等40人规模)
合作伙伴:Law Office of Xiaomin Hu P.C.、 中国南方航空 、LYD Law、虚位以待
峰会形式:论坛、评选、参访、职业机会、展位、颁奖、workshop、晚宴酒会等
注:不含会议午餐和参访期间交通 (付款方式及报名后的注意事项:https://www.nacshr.org/2022.html)
参会其他注意事项 (更详尽事宜访问网站,以网站为准):
视频和摄影 参加 NACSHR 即表示您同意由官方展会摄影师和摄像师拍摄您的形象。由此产生的材料,包括静态照片、视频和音频记录,NACSHV 可以在新闻材料、宣传材料、网站和其他宣传渠道中不受限制地使用。与会嘉宾可以使用智能手机拍照和捕捉数字图像,仅限于个人、非商业用途,且摄影活动不得造成干扰。在会议进行时,与会嘉宾可以在座位上拍照,条件是不得站在媒体区域、阻挡其他人视线或使用闪光灯。照片不得以任何方式出售、复制、传播、分发或用于任何商业目的。
直播和录制会议 虽然 NACSHR 会录制和拍摄各种会议活动,这些活动主要是为了现场观众的利益。尽管我们实行“禁止直播和录制”的政策,但我们理解与会者希望通过手机捕捉照片和视频,并在社交网络上分享的愿望。为了保护发言者和会议内容的版权,与会嘉宾不得直播会议,并且同意录制任何单场会议的连续视频不得超过 60 秒。
NACSHR Forum Attendee Guidelines
1. Safety and Emergency Procedures
Emergency Exits and Safety Routes: Locate emergency exits and familiarize yourself with the nearest safety routes upon arrival.
Emergency Response: Remain calm and follow the directions of staff in case of an emergency.
Health Safety: Adhere to all health and safety guidelines set by the venue, including the use of masks and sanitizers as required.
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Equipment Care: Use conference facilities and equipment responsibly; damages may be subject to compensation.
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Engagement: Participate actively in discussions and networking opportunities to enhance your professional connections.
Cultural Sensitivity: With diverse backgrounds among attendees, display cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness.
7. Intellectual Property and Confidentiality
Confidentiality Obligations: Confidential information and unpublished data discussed at the forum must not be disclosed without authorization.
Material Distribution: Conference materials are for session use only and should not be copied or distributed without consent.
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Local Laws: Comply with all applicable local laws, including antitrust laws and fair competition.
Ethical Behavior: Encourage high standards of professional ethics, characterized by honesty, fairness, and responsibility.
9. Anti-Harassment Policy
Harassment-Free Environment: Commit to a harassment-free environment; all complaints will be taken seriously to ensure the rights and privacy of victims.
10. Complaints and Feedback Mechanism
Feedback Channels: Establish clear channels for complaints and feedback during and post-event.
Rapid Response Team: Have a rapid response team available during the event to handle any emergencies or urgent needs from attendees.
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Personal Belongings: Attendees are advised to keep personal belongings secure as the organizers are not liable for loss or damage.
Facility Equipment: Unauthorized use or relocation of venue facilities and equipment is prohibited.
12. Prohibition of Political and Religious Advocacy
Neutral Policy: The forum is a platform for professional and business exchanges; any form of political or religious advocacy is prohibited.
leadership
2024年09月25日
leadership
David Green:The best HR & People Analytics articles of August 2024
I’ve just returned from a three-week family holiday in the South of France and am feeling refreshed, recharged and ready for the final four months of the year. These are invariably the busiest for the team at Insight222, and 2024 is set to be no different.
The Digital HR Leaders podcast returns from its summer sojourn on September 3 with a special episode on how HR can help their organisations embrace the blended workforce, featuring Diane Gherson and Lynda Gratton, and based on their brilliant recent HBRarticle,
The Insight222 Global Executive Retreat, which we host annually for leaders of 100+ companies that are part of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, takes place in Amsterdam from September 24-26 with guest speakers including: Erin Meyer, Prasad Setty, Janine Vos, and a workshop on storytelling with Duarte, Inc..
The fifth annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends report, which studies how leading companies are using people analytics to generate business value will be published in October – you can read the 2023 study here.
Additionally, I will be speaking at a number of conferences before the end of the year including Workday Rising (Las Vegas, September 16-19), People Analytics World (New York, October 2-3), UNLEASH World (Paris, October 16-17), and Workday Rising EMEA (London, November 12-14).
This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at 365Talents
365Talents goes beyond traditional approaches, offering more than just technology for Skills-Based Organizations. Our approach is not just about managing skills; it's about making the entire process seamless, effective, and enjoyable. Picture real-time insights into your workforce's skills, coupled with the expertise to implement strategic HR projects aligning with your business goals.
Our experience in talent mobility and skill development contribute to creating a more democratic, inclusive, and future-ready world of work where every individual has the power to shape their professional path. Start your skills journey with 365Talents today and join the ranks of trailblazers like Veolia, SLB, TotalEnergies, SocGen, and more! To find out more click here: https://www.365talents.com/en/lp/experience-365talents
2024 Skills Impact Report
In today’s fast-paced and increasingly disruptive environment, companies need to adopt a more flexible approach that puts its people and their skills at the center of its talent management strategies. This has become more and more imperative as:
59% of the global workforce are disengaged.
69% of job candidates say they would reject a job offer from an employer with a negative reputation, even if they were unemployed.
87% of organizations currently have an existing skills gap or expect to within the next two to ten years.
Enter the 2024 Skills Impact Report. It explores the business imperative of talent experience for Skills-Based Organizations, the impact it has on your employees, the pillars of design thinking for HR and how to start applying it to your strategy with 5 intuitive roadmap worksheets.
CASE STUDY: SEGULA Technologies Group
In 2020, as the world faced significant engineering transformations, the COVID crisis, talent shortages, and the rise of AI, SEGULA Technologies Group launched a strategic initiative to plan and manage the resources and skills of its workforce. The goal of this ambitious project was to identify and leverage the talents of the Group's 15,000 employees across 30 countries, using AI to drive innovative skills management and enhance overall performance.
Read the Case Study to learn all the steps and actions taken to successfully tackle the challenge!
To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with more than 130,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for August and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on July’s compendium.
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
NEW: Insight222 research report on the People Analytics Ecosystem
Access the new Insight222 study here: Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
MCKINSEY - Gen AI’s next inflection point: From employee experimentation to organizational transformation
HR plays an especially important role in gen AI, both by transforming the people domain and by acting as a gen AI copilot for all employees. One executive noted that for every $1 spent on technology, $5 should be spent on people.
A new study by McKinsey finds that to generate value from the momentum associated with GenAI, businesses must transform their processes, structures, and approach to talent. The article, penned by Charlotte Relyea, Dana Maor, Sandra Durth, and Jan Bouly, outlines the key findings from the research: (1) Employee use is at an inflection point, while their organisations lag behind. (2) The next inflection point will see organisations shift from individual experimentation to strategic value capture. (3) Reinvent domains by translating vision into value. (4) Reimagine talent and skilling by putting people at the centre (see FIG 1). (5) Reinforce the changes to continue transforming (“To make gen AI changes stick, organizations need the right infrastructure to support continuous change and win over hearts and minds”).
FIG 1: Early adopters prioritise talent and the human side of GenAI more than other companies (Source: McKinsey)
DAVE ULRICH - How are You Doing at AI for HR? A Ten-Item Assessment to Evaluate Your Progress
Getting started in AI for HR often begins with initiatives that can be done relatively quickly and easily.
Dave Ulrich shares key takeaways from a recent deep-dive, he and his colleagues at The RBL Group facilitated with senior HR leaders on AI in HR. He distils these into ten dimensions designed to help HR leaders assess how they are doing at applying AI for HR to their organisation (see FIG 2). These include: (1) Articulate a business case. (2) Develop Talent who can ‘do’ AI. (3) Create Responsible AI policies. (4) Create metrics to guide and measure success. (5) Start with low-hanging fruit.
FIG 2: Criteria to evaluate how well your organisation is using AI for HR (Source: Dave Ulrich)
DUNCAN HARRIS AND KATE ZOLNER - 5 Employee Fears of AI and How to Overcome Them
If companies want to get the most out of AI, they need employee trust. Securing it is not easy. More than three-quarters of employees don’t think their organization’s future use of the technology will be ethical.
Duncan Harris and Kate Zolner present the findings of Gartner research on the five main employee fears of AI use by their organisations (see FIG 3), which have a negative impact on employee trust. They then explain how leaders can address these fears through initiatives in areas such as learning, co-creation, effective communications, ethics and data privacy. As well as enabling the organisation to benefit from AI, Harris and Zolner argue that these solutions will lead to higher levels of inclusion, engagement and effort.
FIG 3: Five Employee Fears of Organizational AI Use (Source: Gartner)
STACIA GARR - How is HR using Gen AI today? | MAX BLUMBERG - GenAI in HR: Slashing Costs, Boosting Efficiency | SWANAND DEODHAR, FAVOUR BOROKINI, AND BEN WABER - How Companies Can Take a Global Approach to AI Ethics | BAIN - AI Survey: Four Themes Emerging
Four more resources tracking topics related to GenAI in HR. (1) Stacia Sherman Garr’s LinkedIn post summarises RedThread Research analysis of how HR is using GenAI today (see FIG 4). (2) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? provides a summary of his report on Slashing HR Costs: The Ultimate Blueprint for Implementing GenAI in HR, which provides guidance on implementing GenAI to transform HR cost efficiency, and includes Max’s GenAI HR Cost Reduction Maturity Model (see FIG 5). (3) Ben Waber teams up with Swanand Deodhar and Favour Borokini in a Harvard Business Review article offering guidance on how companies can take a global approach to AI ethics: “Because AI and related data regulations are rarely uniform across geographies, compliance can be difficult. To address this problem, companies need to develop a contextual global AI ethics model that prioritizes collaboration with local teams and stakeholders and devolves decision-making authority to those local teams.” (4) Gene R., Sanjin Bicanic, Jue Wang, Richard Lichtenstein, and Arjun Dutt share the four key themes that emerged from Bain’s recent AI survey, which includes that the emphasis has shifted from experimentation in 2023 to delivering real value 12 months later – thanks to Hung Lee for sharing Bain’s research in a recent edition of Recruiting Brainfood.
FIG 4: How HR is using GenAI (Source: RedThread Research)
FIG 5: GenAI HR Cost Reduction Maturity Model (Source: Max Blumberg)
MARC EFFRON - Above the Fray: What We Know About How WFH and Hybrid Affect Work
We should approach solving this problem in the same intelligent way as we suggest all human problems be solved – start with the science.
As his article on skills-based organisations testified, Marc Effron has a penchant for cutting through the hype and getting to the heart of an issue. As such, I highly recommend digging into his new analysis on what the science and evidence says are the trade-offs among WFO, WFH and hybrid work. Firstly, Effron dispels four myths propagated by proponents and opponents on CEOs, real estate, proximity bias and employees who prefer WFH. Then he examines the consequences of different work arrangements on (1) performance, (2) creativity, (3) innovation (4) work relationships, (5) collaboration, and (6) managing based on the emerging knowledge available via Google Scholar.
LYNDA GRATTON - Seven Truths About Hybrid Work and Productivity | BRIAN ELLIOTT - Hybrid Work: How Leaders Build In-Person Moments That Matter | REBECCA KNIGHT - 17 Team-Building Activities for In-Person, Remote, and Hybrid Teams
To get the most from hybrid work, leaders should prepare for trade-offs, make expectations clear, and think harder about how productivity is measured.
Three more resources on hybrid work to read in conjunction with Marc Effron’s article above. First, Lynda Gratton unveils seven key findings from what she is seeing from experiments in hybrid working including: (1) Hybrid work is a continuum. (2) Productivity is usually challenging — and measurement is always complex. (3) It’s useful to view hybrid work as fundamentally a job design option. Second, Brian Elliott provides guidance on the four essential times leaders should be intentional about building moments that matter for hybrid workers: (1) Team development (“Get people together three or four times a year, with a 50-50 mix of business and social”). (2) Onboarding and training. (3) New-team formation and major-initiative kick-offs (“Grapple together over the objectives and norms of a project”). (4) Business-function-specific activities (“Let teams figure out the best in-person schedules for their needs”). Finally, Rebecca M. Knight provides guidance to leaders on team-building activities for in-person, remote and hybrid teams.
FIG 6: Focus on Productivity, Not Physical Presence (Source: Brian Elliott, Future Forum)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
NAOMI VERGHESE, JONATHAN FERRAR, AND JORDAN PETTMAN - Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v2.0 ARTICLE | FULL REPORT
One of the questions we get asked most by the people analytics leaders and chief people officers we work with at Insight222 is: What capabilities do I need to build into our people analytics function? Based on research of more than 250 companies, focus interviews with 20 organisations, and our experience of working with more than 120 global companies as part of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, my colleagues Naomi Verghese, Jonathan Ferrar and Jordan Pettman have developed a new report: Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0. The executive article provides a summary of the key highlights, while the full report breaks down the six elements of the People Analytics Ecosystem (see FIG 7): (1) A Value Chain: from client drivers to business outcomes. (2) People Strategy at the Centre: a symbiotic relationship exists between people strategy and people analytics. (3) Five Core Capabilities: consulting, data science and research, employee listening, analytics at scale, adoption. (4) Four Additional Capabilities: reporting, data governance, workforce planning, AI strategy. (5) Internal Partnerships: HR and other business stakeholders are key to operational effectiveness. (6) External Partnerships: external suppliers and expertise are important for enabling success.
FIG 7: The People Analytics Ecosystem (Source: Insight222 Building the People Analytics Ecosystem: Operating Model v 2.0)
NELSON SPENCER - Introducing the S.T.A.R.T. Framework
The strategy pillar is all about aligning with your overall HR and Business goals. You should be able to connect how your strategy is driving business outcomes.
Nelson Spencer, who has worked in both sports and people analytics, presents his S.T.A.R.T Framework (see FIG 8), which is designed to solve a perennial problem for many HR functions: the disconnect between analytics, technology and operations. As Nelson explains, S.T.A.R.T has been designed “to consider these three critical functions holistically, acknowledging that they are part of a bigger puzzle and are all deeply interconnected.” The five pillars, which Nelson describes in detail in his article, are: (1) Strategy, (2) Technology, (3) Analytics, (4) Results, and (5) Transformation. He then provides guidance on how to implement the framework in organisations of varying sizes, from small to large.
FIG 8: The S.T.A.R.T Framework (Source: Nelson Spencer)
MICHAEL LUCA AND AMY EDMONDSON - Where Data-Driven Decision-Making Can Go Wrong
When making decisions (using data), managers should consider internal validity—whether an analysis accurately answers a question in the context in which it was studied. They should also consider external validity—the extent to which they can generalize results from one context to another.
Drawing on their research and work with companies, Michael Luca and Amy Edmondson present an approach that considers internal validity and external validity that leaders can apply to discussions of data to support better decision-making. This approach is designed to help leaders avoid five common pitfalls (see FIG 9) associated with data-driven decision-making.
FIG 9: How to avoid predictable errors (Source: Michael Luca and Amy Edmondson)
WILLIS JENSEN - Building a Network View of Data | MARTHA CURIONI - Supporting HR Adoption of People Analytics | JACKSON ROATCH - Your Best Career Move could be Going for a Run | SERENA HUANG - The Future of Work is Wellbeing | JASPAR SPANJAART - How NVIDIA's Talent Intelligence approach helped fuel its trillion-dollar rise | TOBY CULSHAW - The Talent Nexus: Redefining Business Agility for the 21st Century CEO
In each edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I feature a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. These are intended to act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Six are highlighted in this month’s edition. (1) In another excellent edition of his Making People Analytics Real blog, Willis Jensen discusses how to get a network view of data: “Linking your data together should be a top priority for any people analytics team.” (2) Martha Curioni provides guidance on how to support HR to adopt people analytics harnessing insights from the likes of Isabel Naidoo, Patrick Coolen, Greg Newman, and Amit Mohindra. One of Martha’s tips focuses on the importance of including HRBP’s rather than going around them. (3) As someone whose best ideas invariably come when I’m on a run, I particularly enjoyed Jackson Roatch’s article exploring the link between physical exercise and workplace learning, performance and thriving. (4) In an edition of her From Data to Action blog, Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. explores how AI can support wellbeing and lays out a ten-point plan on responsible AI principles for workplace wellbeing (see FIG 10). (5) NVIDIA’s Meta McKinney, MLIS and Nickolas Dowler, MBA explain to Jasper Spanjaart how the company’s Talent Intelligence strategy helped fuel its growth: “A winning Talent Intelligence strategy requires several key ingredients: data-driven and tested theories, meticulous and thoughtful research, reliable data, creative problem-solving, clear communication of the rationale, trusted relationships with business leaders, and the financial support and freedom to execute.” (6) Toby Culshaw provides a compelling breakdown of what he describes as The Talent Nexus: “The Talent Nexus represents a revolutionary approach to talent management and acquisition in the modern business landscape. It's an AI-driven, quantum-computing-enhanced ecosystem that transforms how organizations interact with, deploy, and develop talent.” A must-read for all those involved in talent intelligence, people analytics and workforce planning.
FIG 10: Responsible AI Principles for Workplace Wellbeing (Source: Serena Huang)
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
RAVIN JESUTHASAN - The AI revolution is coming to L&D
AI will empower the L&D function to support strategic workforce planning through skills-related insights and interventions. This will help organizations shift from costly ‘churn and burn’ strategies to more cost-effective and sustainable reskilling and upskilling programs.
Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA examines how AI is set to transform the learning and development function. He highlights Mercer analysis that finds that AI and automation will likely augment some L&D activities (see FIG 11), as well as outlining four potential AI uses cases for corporate L&D: (1) Producing L&D content. (2) Personalising L&D delivery. (3) Driving the skills-powered revolution. (4) Democratising knowledge. For more from Ravin, watch the recent LinkedIn Live on Skills-Powered Organisations in the Age of AI, which I moderated and featured Ravin alongside Tanuj Kapilashrami.
FIG 11: Time by task: L&D versus AI and Automation (Source: Mercer)
NANCY DUARTE - Are Your Presentations Too Emotional — or Too Analytical?
When making a presentation, leaders need to balance appeals to both logic and emotion — the head and the heart.
Nancy Duarte provides invaluable guidance on how to strike a balance between logic and emotion when making a presentation, and how credibility plays a crucial role in this balancing act. She explains that the first step in achieving this balance is understanding the audience: “Are they data-driven decision makers who thrive on statistics and factual evidence? Or are they more likely to be swayed by personal stories and emotional connections?”
FIG 12: An Analytical and Emotional Balance That’s Just Right (Source: Nancy Duarte)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
SANDRA LOUGHLIN – Seven Elements of Skills Data Quality
Skills data quality isn’t talked about much despite being the foundation for the SBO value proposition, a critical input to selecting and gaining value from skills tech vendors, and arguably the most difficult part of a skills transformation.
These wise words open Sandra Loughlin, PhD’s excellent article, where she outlines seven aspects of skills data quality, why they matter and their trade-offs: (1) Relevance (“Skills that are tracked should be the skills that need to be tracked—there’s no point in collecting skills data that won’t help you make better business decisions”). (2) Accuracy. (3) Validity. (4) Completeness. (5) Consistency (“Skills data should be consistently defined, recorded, and categorized across systems and within the organization”). (6) Timeliness. (7) Uniqueness. Thanks to Victoria Holdsworth for highlighting Sandra’s article.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
CATHERINE COPPINGER - Introducing Two New Metrics: Fragmented & Interrupted Time
Catherine Coppinger from Worklytics introduces two new metrics: (1) Fragmented Time (“the sum of the total number of hours people have in blocks of time that are too short to get any deep work done”) and (2) Interrupted Time (“a metric designed to measure those periods of the day where people keep getting interrupted and just can’t find enough concentrated time to finish an important task”). Understanding these can help individuals and managers organise time more productively while enhancing employee wellbeing (see FIG 13). Read as a follow-up to another recent article by Catherine: 4 New Ways to Model Work, which featured in the July edition of Data Driven HR Monthly.
FIG 13: Source: Catherine Coppinger, Worklytics
MCKINSEY - What employees say matters most to motivate performance
Performance management is most effective when it features strong, consistent internal logic that employees understand
In their article, Asmus Komm, Brooke Weddle, Dana Maor, Katharina Wagner and Vivian Morrow Breaux present the findings of a McKinsey study of more than 1,000 employees across the globe on what matters most to motivating employee performance. The findings provide insights to employers to guide their approach with regards to performance management. These include: (1) Performance management frameworks should be consistent and clearly articulated. (2) Goal setting has impact when goals are measurable and clearly linked to company priorities (see FIG 14). (3) Performance reviews with skilled managers are crucial to employee performance. (4) Rewards that include nonfinancial incentives provide a boost.
FIG 14: Employees are motivated by measurable goals linked to company/team (Source: McKinsey)
LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND LEARNING
MEGAN REITZ AND AMY EDMONDSON - When a Team Member Speaks Up — and It Doesn’t Go Well
Speaking up — and being heard — in organizations is critical. What gets said, and what doesn’t, directs ethical behavior, innovation, inclusion, and performance.
In their article for Harvard Business Review, Megan Reitz and Amy Edmondson explore how 'conversational failures' often cause breakdowns in psychological safety rather than being used as opportunities to learn and develop. They discuss why they occur and the reasons why it is difficult to learn from these failures, before providing guidance on how these failures can become ‘intelligent’: (1) Prepare to learn from conversations. (2) Notice critical moments. (3) Implement process tools. (4) Attend to learning over the long term. For more on ‘intelligent failure’, tune in to Amy’s conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Learning to Fail Can Help People and Organisations to Thrive.
If you’re not failing, you’re not journeying into new territory
JAMIE SMITH - How boards can champion a resilient talent strategy
Talent strategy is increasingly vital to driving overall strategy.
Based on a study of by EY and Corporate Board Member magazine of US public company directors across a range of industries, Jamie Carroll Smith presents analysis of the four opportunities identified in the research for boards to champion a resilient talent strategy: (1) Gain deeper insight into the employee experience. (2) Enable a workforce for the future (“Directors recognize that AI developments demand a reskilling of the workforce”). (3) Harness the value of diversity, equity and inclusion (“The future talent pool may depend on companies prioritizing DEI”). (4) Identify opportunities to strengthen talent governance. Thanks to Brian Heger for highlighting in an edition of his excellent Talent Edge newsletter.
FIG 15: The biggest impacts of AI on company workforce strategy (Source: EY)
JEN FISHER, SUE CANTRELL, JAY BHATT, AND PAUL SILVERGLATE - The important role of leaders in advancing human sustainability
More than eight out of 10 executives surveyed say a stronger commitment to prioritizing a positive human impact would increase their company’s ability to attract new talent (82%), appeal to customers and clients (81%), and profitability (81%).
Jen Fisher, Susan Cantrell, Jay Bhatt, and Paul Silverglate outline the key findings from Deloitte’s third annual Workplace Wellbeing report. The primary finding suggests that leaders can play a key role in prioritising and advancing a human sustainability agenda, particularly when it comes to measuring outcomes and holding their organizations accountable for progress. Insights identified in the study include: (1) The three trends impacting today’s workforce the most are skills, burnout and mental health. (2) The modern work experience doesn’t promote human sustainability but C-suite leaders aren’t seeing it. (3) While three out of four executives believe workforce wellbeing is excellent or good, workers are having a different experience (see FIG 16). The article then provides guidance on the metrics companies can implement to measure human sustainability including on skills development, purpose, DEI and societal impact.
FIG 16: Source – Deloitte Wellbeing at Work survey, 2024
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JANINE LEE - Breaking Down Barriers to Belonging for Women of Color in Tech
In her article in Harvard Business Review, Dr. Janine Lee, MBA, Ed.D. Global Head of L&D at Google, outlines the findings from her doctoral research on workplace belonging for women of colour in the tech industry. Janine highlights the top belonging contributors and detractors identified in the study (see FIG 17), and then offers three recommendations to boost workplace belonging: 1) Invest in programs that foster peer-based relationships, 2) Enable sponsorship and mentoring opportunities, and 3) Hold leaders accountable to “walk the talk.”
FIG 17: Sense-of belonging contributors and detractors (Source: Janine Lee)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from August that I recommend readers delve into:
GURU SETHUPATHY – Understanding the EU AI Act in Four Handy Charts – Guru Sethupathy of FairNow provides an invaluable breakdown of the EU AI Act and its implications.
FIG 18: The four risk levels under the EU AI Act (Source: FairNow)
EMILY KILLHAM - How to Build a Better Boss: What Leaders (and Their Teams) Need Now to Thrive – Emily Killham delivers a new study by Perceptyx identifying five key behaviours for managers, the positive and negative impacts of manager behaviour on employees and organisations, and the role of employee feedback in help managers take corrective action.
FRANCISCO MARIN - The Role of Active and Passive Organizational Network Analysis in Cybersecurity – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions breaks down how active and passive ONA can support organisational cybersecurity initiatives including the detection of anomalous communications, enhancing incident response and tailoring security strategies.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - How To Lose an Employee in 10 Days – Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD presents analysis by Revelio Labs highlighting the negative impact of return to office on employee reviews and attrition.
FIG 19: Negative reviews of RTO correlate positively with attrition (Source: Revelio Labs)
ALICIA ROACH – Not all ‘Workforce Planning’ is the Same – If you are interested in workforce planning and don’t follow Alicia Roach of eQ8 on LinkedIn, you really should. In her recent post, Alicia reflects on her ‘triangle of workforce planning’ (see FIG 20), which skilfully illustrates the value of ‘strategic’ workforce planning.
FIG 20: Source – Alicia Roach
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected six gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
EMILY HACKER AND DAN WEISS - The Critical Role Data Plays in Skills Development - Emily Hacker, CPTD and Dan Weiss share insights from MetLife's skills journey with Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson of RedThread Research on the Workplace Stories podcast. The key learning from the conversation is that your skills data doesn't need to be perfect to benefit employees, improve talent acquisition, and enhance workforce planning.
JOSH BERSIN - The Future Of The Workforce Has Arrived, Can’t You See It? – Inspired by his recent trip to Europe, Josh Bersin explains why the traditional industrial work model has ended, gig work is now mainstream, reskilling should be given primacy, and why HR professionals need to reskill in AI to stay relevant.
BRYAN HANCOCK AND EMILY FIELD - Managing in the era of gen AI – In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock and Emily Field, two of the authors along with Bill Schaninger, Ph.D. of Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work, join host Lucia Rahilly to explain why middle managers matter, what leaders could do differently to make more of the managers on their teams, and how gen AI could change middle managers’ jobs—for the better.
ANSHUL SHEOPURI - How Mastercard is Training Employees for the AI Era – Anshul Sheopuri, EVP People Operations and Insights at Mastercard, joins Christopher Rainey on the HR Leaders podcast to shares insights on leveraging AI in HR and the importance of continuous learning.
JAMES GALLMAN - Bridging HR Technology, Analytics, AI Agents, LLMs, & Nudging at NetApp - James Gallman , VP HR PMO, Systems and Analytics at NetApp, joins hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the overlap between HR technology and people analytics.
LILY ZHENG - Ground Your DEI Efforts in Data – In an episode of Women at Work, DEI strategist and consultant Lily Zheng joins hosts Amy Bernstein and Amy Gallo to explain the role of data and analytics in DEI, and the importance of measuring outcomes to make lasting progress.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
JULIET SCHOR - Smarter Work for a Better World?
Studies suggest that the Four Day Week may reduce burnout and depression, while also offering significant opportunities to reduce our collective carbon footprint.
One of my favourite sessions at this year’s Wharton People Analytics Conference saw Professors Juliet Schor and Iwan Barankay discuss what we know about the four-day work week and share their different perspectives on what this alternate structure might mean for organisations and their employees.
BOOKS OF THE MONTH
One of the benefits of being on holiday the past few weeks has been that it enabled me to catch up on some reading, hence there being two books of the month for August:
NICK VAN DAM – Boosting Your Well-being: The Best Version of Me - A wonderful book – and a wonderful cause with 100% of the book’s royalties being donated to the e-Learning for Kids Foundation. Written by Prof. dr. Nick van Dam, and 20 co-authors, this is a comprehensive book on professional wellbeing. It delves into the interconnected aspects of four key dimensions: body, mind, purpose, and environment, and offers a compelling approach to self- improvement. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on resilience and adaptability (written by Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN ?️ (née Schouten) ), sleep (Dr Els van der Helm) and contribution (Emily Ricci). An uplifting and potentially life-changing read.
KALIFA OLIVER – I Think I Love My Job: Secrets To Designing A People-Centered Employer Value Proposition - At times a powerful and relatable story of the ups and downs of corporate life, and at others a compelling narrative on how to approach work, harness data and build a world-class employee experience. Kalifa Oliver, Ph.D. combines both an academic and a practitioner mindset that empowers the reader to take charge of their career, challenge workplace norms, and use data to revolutionise the employee experience.
FROM MY DESK
August saw us reach a notable milestone on the Digital HR Leaders podcast – our 200th episode, and we celebrated in style with a special guest, Amy Edmondson, Thank you to Louis Gordon and the team at HiBob for sponsoring series 40 of the podcast.
AMY EDMONDSON - How Learning to Fail Can Help People and Organisations to Thrive – Harvard professor, pioneer of psychological safety and Thinkers50 #1, Amy Edmondson joined me for our 200th episode, where we discussed intelligent failure, and how failing well can drive individual and organisational success.
DAVID GREEN - What key elements do you believe are essential to building a strong company culture? - A round up of series 40 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from John Winsor, Maureen N. Dunne, Ph.D., Nirit Peled-Muntz, Heidi Manna and Amy Edmondson.
DAVID GREEN - Five Key Elements For Building a Strong Company Culture? – A recent article for myHRfuture, where I break down five elements in building a strong company culture including aligning with organisational mission and using people data as your GPS.
LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH?
I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers close to 500 roles – and has now been developed into a LinkedIn newsletter too.
THANK YOU
Wayne Tarken for kindly writing a post about me on LinkedIn: Curious About People Analytics? - What Leaders Can Learn from Thursday's Thought Leader.
Ester Martinez and her team at People Matters for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their list of 100 must-read resources for HR and talent leaders.
Rachel Collins for her post emphasising the need to move from employment to employability, inspired by the LinkedIn Live I hosted recently with Ravin Jesuthasan and Tanuj Kapilashrami.
Similarly, thanks to James Elliott for also posting here about the LinkedIn Live with Ravin and Tanuj.
David McLean , whose post on learning from your failures references the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Amy Edmondson.
Veronika Birkheim , whose post on Culture Diagnostics, references the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Heidi Manna.
Andrew Gadomski for his post on how he uses the Data Driven HR Monthly as a learning tool at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
Irada Sadykhova for her post on how to build a strong company culture, which was inspired by a recent series of the Digital HR Leaders podcast.
Ashley Utz for her post reflecting on the recent Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Nirit Peled-Muntz.
HR Executive Leadership Exchange for including me in their list of the Top 10 HR Leaders You Should Follow.
Mirro.io for including me in their list of Top HR Leaders to Follow in 2024.
Daniyal Wali and The Talent Games for including me in their list of the Top 10 HR Tech Leaders to Follow in 2024.
Finally, a huge thank you to the following people who shared the July edition of Data Driven HR Monthly. It's much appreciated: Jaqueline Oliveira-Cella Andrés García Ayala Kristhy Bartels Sandy Zou Danielle Farrell, M.A. David Hodges Jeff Wellstead Gord Johnston MA, BHJ, BA, CHRP Debbie Harrison Dave Millner Sharna Wiblen Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP Catriona Lindsay Amardeep Singh, MBA Walter Maes Marcano Gert-Jan Tretmans Tim Peffers Kouros Behzad Adam Tombor (Wojciechowski) Lewis Garrad Sebastian Szachnowski Bob Pulver John Golden, Ph.D. Ben Wigert, Ph.D, MBA Ken Oehler Alexis Fink Katia Simões Francisca Solano Beneitez Abbas Qaidari Onno Bouman Aravind Warrier Kathleen Kruse Adedamola Adeleke ☁️ Elodie MENAGER Susan Knolla John Healy David Simmonds FCIPD Andrews Cobbinah, MLPI, ACIHRM Deviprasad Panda Vanesa C. David McLean Timo Tischer Prachi Agasti Maria Alice Jovinski Tristan Hack Adam McKinnon, PhD. Nicole Hazard Michael Arena Andras Vicsek Jane Kuhn Emily Pelosi, PhD Malgorzata Langlois Ahmed Salah ?? Swechha Mohapatra (IHRP-SP, SHRM-SCP, CIPD) Paul Daley Kyle Forrest Shivaani Talesra Ryan Wong Shujaat Ahmad Tessa Hilson-Greener Vivek Ojha Jacob Nielsen Søren Kold Tobias W. Goers ツ Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR Galo Lopez Noriega Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi Alexandra Nawrat Marian Stancik Hanadi El Sayyed Marcela Niemeyer Higor Gomes Kirsten Edwards Andreea Lungulescu Bradford Williams Faiza Tasneem(Associate CIPD) Alysson DuPont, SHRM-SCP, MBA Dr. Peter Schulz-Rittich Joaquin Hernandez Doug Shagam Mariami Lolashvili Caitie Jacobson Jaap Veldkamp Jaejin Lee Yvonne Bell (She/Her) John Gunawan Roberto Amatucci Philipp Heller Tina Peeters, PhD Gianni Giacomelli Lina Makneviciute Roshaunda Green, MBA, CDSP, Phenom Certified Recruiter Jacob Bradburn, Ph.D. Ying Li Phil Inskip Jack Liu Jonathan Berríos Leiva Stephen Hickey Lars Schmidt Geetanjali Gamel Dan George Anabel Fall Alejandra Barbarelli Adam Gibson Mia Norgren David van Lochem Nick Lynn Silja Kupiainen Heather Whiteman, Ph.D. Meghan M. Biro Martijn Wiertz Agnes Garaba Dolapo (Dolly) Oyenuga Laurent Reich Sebastian Kolberg Sebastián Mestre Chris Long Penny Newman Ralf Buechsenschuss Sebastian Knepper Marcela Mury Joseph Frank, PhD CCP GWCCM Dave Fineman Ron Ben Oz Danielle Bushen Kimberly Rose Daorong Lin Sukumaran Mariappan Abhilash Bodanapu Sonia Mooney Kerrian Soong Jay Polaki⚡️ SHRM-SCP/SPHR Remco van Es Ken Clar Matt Elk Aulia Raubien Natalie Wiseman Graham Irene Wong David Balls (FCIPD) Olivier Bougarel Ramesh Karpagavinayagam Oliver Kasper Andrew Kilshaw Nick Hudgell Gal Mozes, PhD Tatu Westling Brandon Merritt Johnson
UNLOCK THE POTENTIAL OF YOUR PEOPLE ANALYTICS FUNCTION THROUGH THE INSIGHT222 PEOPLE ANALYTICS PROGRAM
At Insight222, our mission is to make organisations better by putting people analytics at the centre of business and upskilling the HR profession The Insight222 People Analytics Program® is your gateway to a world of knowledge, networking, and growth. Developed exclusively for people analytics leaders and their teams, the program equips you with the frameworks, guidance, learnings, and connections you need to create greater impact.
As the landscape of people analytics becomes increasingly complex, with data, technology, and ethical considerations at the forefront, our program brings together over one hundred organisations to collectively address these shared challenges.
Insight222 Peer Meetings, like this event in London, are a core component of the Insight222 People Analytics Program®. They allow participants to learn, network and co-create solutions together with the purpose of ultimately growing the business value that people analytics can deliver to their organisations. If you would like to learn more, contact us today.
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 90 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 2024:
September 11 - Productivity, Purpose, and Profit: How to thrive in ‘25 (London)
September 16-19 - Workday Rising (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 2-3 - People Analytics World (New York)
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
October 22-23 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (hosted by Workday in Pleasanton, CA) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
November 12-14 - Workday Rising EMEA (London)
November 19-20 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Merck in Darmstadt, Germany) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
leadership
2024年09月03日
leadership
BetterUp Manage: Pioneering AI-Powered Platform For Leaders
BetterUp公司最近在其Uplift大会上推出了一个名为BetterUp Manage的领导力发展平台,这一平台采用人工智能驱动的评估和个性化学习方案,彻底改变了专业发展的途径。该平台具有高度的可扩展性和可定制性,能够与Workday、Oracle和SAP等主要系统无缝连接。BetterUp Manage不仅为领导者提供服务,也支持任何寻求发展专业能力的个人。通过整合最新的人工智能技术,BetterUp Manage为传统的领导力培训行业带来了革命性的变革。
这次大会中,BetterUp还邀请了英国的哈里王子Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex 和亚当·格兰特,哈里王子是BetterUp的首席影响官。。。
This week I attended the BetterUp Uplift conference and I really was impressed. This is a company that exploded into the market with an innovative coaching and employee wellbeing network built around an assessment called the “whole person model.” Through a set of shrewd marketing and sales strategies BetterUp established a leadership position in this market, growing to a billion dollar+ valuation.
This success encouraged many competitors to form and now the market for AI-enabled, targeted coaching is large and crowded (vendors include Torch, CoachHub, Growthspace, Sounding Board, Bravely, and a new breed of AI systems).
Essentially what BetterUp did was democratize business and professional coaching. Before this trend coaching was a rarified, expensive offering reserved for under-performing leaders or high-potential executives. Today, with BetterUp, anyone can go through a meaningful assessment, get assigned a relevant coach, and start a coaching session in minutes. The system is well designed and easy to use and BetterUp’s coaches are all trained (most of the coaching vendors use a lot of the same certified coaches – they are not BetterUp employees).
As a corporate solution, BetterUp goes much further. The data collected through assessments is available for analysis (anonymized) so companies can find pockets of stress in the organization. You can look at assessments by team (minimum of 10 people), tenure, level, and other factors. This lets companies like Chevron or Cisco understand the issues new employees or new managers have, for example.
In the last few years the company moved into wellbeing by offering a solution called BetterUp Care, which targets benefits buyers. But the more strategic and interesting offering is the new platform I saw this week, now named BetterUp Manage (it was originally called Connect).
BetterUp Manage is the first highly personalized, scalable management development platform I’ve seen. It brings together AI-enabled assessment, personalized learning, coaching, and AI-driven narrative support. It’s quite an impressive product, much of it was developed by the team at Motive, who was acquired by BetterUp in 2021.
BetterUp Manage is an out of the box personalized leadership development solution. And you don’t need to be a “leader” to use it. The system steps you through the Whole Person assessment, then asks you questions about the types of soft-skills issues you face (many specific scenarios), and then gives you a customized learning path, week by week, along with a professional coach.
Since it’s built on an AI platform there is very little manual work behind the scenes so it’s enormously scalable. Large companies will want to customize it and BetterUp is prepared for some of these requests. And the system connects to Workday, Oracle, SAP to automatically understand your role and level.
The reason I’m so excited is this: the management training industry is a confusing, messy, red ocean. There are thousands of consultants, coaches, books, courses, and executive education programs. L&D executives have to constantly build custom solutions, evaluate vendors, and hope that an offering will stick. This pure complexity, coupled with the fact that every company is unique, has led to many specialized leadership development firms (and some big ones like Franklin Covey).
So what most companies do is mix, match, and custom-build leadership solutions. And they’re not simple: we developed a model we call the 4-E’s to understand this: Education (courses), Experience (developmental assignments), Exposure (mentoring and coaching from leaders), and Environment (a company-wide focus on leadership values and behaviors). All these elements play a role in developing leadership skills.
Companies like IBM, Cisco, and Marriot can afford to custom build these solutions, but many companies don’t have the focus. BetterUp Manage is a way to personalize, scale, and democratize this solution and leverage the increasingly important role of AI.
I met Alexi Robichaux almost a decade ago and his passion and energy still drives the company. While BetterUp is a bigger company going through the growing pains of any $billion valued growth business, the culture and passion for clients is clear.
Remember that buying L&D solutions is not as simple as buying a product and turning it on. Every training solution, platform, or program you buy must be carefully aligned with your company’s culture and rolled out with care. Otherwise people simply say “another training program from corporate I can ignore.”
BetterUp, for all its startup-like innovations, has overcome this problem. Customers value the system, they get strong adoption from employees, and the company works hard to advise and consult.
It has always been interesting to me that very few content companies ever become very big (Skillsoft is the only one that never seems to stop). And the reason for this is simply the nichey, highly diversified needs of many industries and companies. BetterUp, as a platform-centered company delivering a high-touch solution, has the potential to break this paradigm. It has enormous potential, given the rapid acceleration of AI behind the scenes.
I consider BetterUp one of the “Trailblazers” I talk about with clients, and BetterUp Manage is definitely something to watch.
leadership
2024年04月12日
leadership
世界幸福报告能教给我们关于工作的什么? What The World Happiness Report Teaches Us About Work最新《世界幸福报告》揭示,尽管经济增长,美国幸福感下降。研究强调,高薪并非幸福的关键,而公平薪酬、良好的企业文化才是。特别是年轻人,受到气候变化、政治纷争等影响,幸福感低落。企业需关注文化建设、弹性工作,关照员工心理健康。工作场所的信任、社区感和公平至关重要。我们要反思:真正的幸福是什么?
我每年都认真研读《世界幸福报告》,今年的报告特别引人深思。以下是我对一些关键发现的解读。
首先,美国的幸福指数(10分满分)降至第23位,比全球最幸福的国家芬兰低了13%。实际上,在过去15年中,美国的幸福度几乎下降了8%,呈现出持续的年降趋势。对于我们这些生活在美国的人来说,这可能并不陌生:坏消息、政治争斗以及人们在价值观上的分歧似乎无处不在。
这一切发生的同时,美国的GDP增长却持续领先世界上大多数主要经济体。这意味着我们作为一个国家正在变得更加富裕,却显著地变得不那么幸福(下文将详细解释)。
从企业角度来看,这个观点很简单:仅仅提高薪资并不能使人们感到更加幸福。尽管每个人都希望得到公平的报酬,但高薪酬并不直接转化为高参与度。我们2023年的《薪酬公平终极指南》发现,与薪酬水平相比,薪酬公平与员工参与度的关联性高出7倍。
其次,报告指出,在美国,年轻人的幸福感明显低于老年人(这一点并非在所有国家都适用,但在大多数发达国家中是这样的)。在美国,30岁以下人群的幸福评分为6.4,而60岁以上人群的评分为7.3,幸福度低了12%。我们对年轻人的这一低幸福评分使美国在全球青年幸福排行榜上仅位列第62位,远低于我们的总体排名。
这反映出我在上周播客中讨论的现象。如今的年轻工作者担忧全球变暖,他们在年轻时就经历了疫情的冲击,他们对于战争、通货膨胀、社会问题以及政治不和感到沮丧。埃德曼信任度量尺表明,年轻人认为相比政府,企业在为社会带来创新方面更值得信赖,高出近20%。但令人担忧的是,这种信任程度也在下滑。
从企业的视角来看,这进一步强化了播客中提到的观点:我们(美国)的劳动力中位年龄现已达到33岁。这表明许多关键员工对生活的热情有所下降,这迫使雇主需要采取更多措施。我们对企业文化、员工福祉、工作灵活性和个人成长的关注,现在比以往任何时候都显得更为重要。这就是像四天工作周、灵活工作时间以及其他诸多福利(如生育支持、儿童看护、心理健康、健身、财务福利)变得越来越普遍的原因。
(最新的劳动统计局数据显示,我们在福利上的支出占工资总额的31.1%,比三年前的29%有所增加。在信息行业,这个比例高达35.5%,是有史以来的最高值。)
此外,重点强调:对企业来说,重振早期职业发展计划至关重要。许多企业在20世纪60、70年代建立了这些计划,但随后这些计划逐渐被忽视。如果你正在从大学招聘顶尖人才,并投资于校园招聘(这一趋势正在上升),那么确保你有一个坚实的1-2年发展计划、工作轮岗以及面向年轻人的群体参与计划是非常重要的。我最近与康卡斯特讨论了他们的计划,他们的早期职业发展计划正在直接为他们的领导力管道做出贡献。
第三,也是最引人注目的一点是,报告强调了社会关系和信任在幸福感中的巨大作用。进行这项研究的学者团队发现,幸福感的“坎特里尔阶梯”(一个简单的“你觉得自己多幸福”的1-10评分问题)可以分解为六个贡献因素:
人均GDP(财富)、社会支持(密切关系的数量和质量)、预期寿命(健康)、生活选择的自由(按个人意愿生活的能力)、慷慨(向他人给予金钱和时间的倾向)以及腐败感知(相信“系统”是公平的)。
这些因素对幸福的贡献度大开眼界。
令人惊讶的是,社会关系是幸福感的最大贡献者,而健康只占大约1.4%。请注意,第二重要的因素是对腐败的感知或者说是公平感,这解释了为什么薪酬公平非常重要。我们再次发现,财富对幸福感的影响相对较小。
这对我们的工作有何启示?
这里有一些简单的启示:
关系很重要。如果管理层和主管不能建立起团队合作感,员工便会感到不适。尽管我们面临财务和运营压力,但我们仍需抽时间了解员工、倾听他们的声音,并与他们共度愉快时光。通过聚集人员并创建跨功能团队,我们即使在远程工作情况下也能建立社交关系。
信任至关重要。我曾在高层领导贪婪、不忠、不诚实的环境中工作过,公司内的每个人都能感觉到这一点。信任是经年累月建立起来的资产,我们必须不断地进行投资。通过道德、诚实和倾听来培养信任,你的领导模式中包含了这些元素吗?
薪酬的影响可能比你想象的要小。虽然每个人都希望赚更多钱,但人们更希望感觉到奖励是公平且慷慨的。因此,不应仅仅过度奖励表现突出的员工,而忽视其他人的努力。
生活选择的自由极为重要。众多研究显示,与薪资相比,员工更加重视工作的灵活性,因此,考虑将四天工作周和灵活工作选项作为你的雇佣政策的核心部分是非常重要的。
多年前,我在一个人力资源领导者的大型会议上发表了关于企业公民责任的演讲。我指出,公司就像小型社会一样,如果我们的企业“社会”不公平、不透明、不自由,那么我们的员工就会感受到痛苦。演讲结束时,我不确定听众的反应如何,但来自宜家的一大群人向我走来,给了我一个热情的拥抱。宜家这家公司,深深植根于瑞典的社会主义文化,是地球上最长久的公司之一。他们真心相信集体思维、公平和对每个个体的尊重。
原文来自:https://joshbersin.com/2024/03/what-the-world-happiness-report-can-teach-us-about-work/
leadership
2024年03月22日
leadership
Josh Bersin谈How To Create Talent Density 如何打造人才密度
Josh Bersin发表文章谈到:在过去几年里,我注意到大公司的表现开始不如小公司。我们现在看到苹果和谷歌都出现了这种情况,而微软应对这一挑战也有相当长的一段时间了。 随着公司的发展,帮助我们推动组织绩效的一个重要理念就是人才密度。这篇文章讨论了人才密度的概念,即公司中技能、能力和表现的质量和密度。强调传统的员工绩效评估模型已导致平庸。建议采用人才密度方法,包括招聘增加或乘数效应的人才,基于帕累托分布管理绩效,以及专注于赋权、反馈和领导力。文章强调,为了创新和市场竞争力,尤其在AI和技术进步的背景下,维持高人才密度的重要性。
In this (long) article, I want to talk about a new concept called Talent density. And as I pondered the concept I think it represents one of the more important topics in management. So I hope you find it as interesting as I do.
First of all, the concept of talent density, pioneered by Netflix by the way, is simple.
Talent Density is the quality and density of skills, capabilities and performance you have in your company.
So, if you have a company that is 100% high performers, you’re very dense. If you have a company that’s 20% high performers, you’re not very dense. It’s easy to understand, but hard to implement, because it gets to the point of how we define performance, how we select people to hire, how we decide who’s going to get promoted, how we decide who’s going to work on what project and how we’re going to distribute pay.
So before I explain talent density, let’s talk about the basic beliefs most companies have. Most organizations believe that they’re operating with a normal distribution or bell curve of performance. I don’t know why that statistical model has been applied to organizations, but it has become almost a standard policy. (Academics have proven it false, as I explain below.)
Using the bell curve, we identify the “mean” or average performance, and then categorize performance into five levels. Number ones are two standard deviations to the right and number fives are two standard deviations to the left.
The people operating at level one get a big raise, the people operating at level two get medium raise, the people operating at level three get an average raise, the people operating at level four get a below average raise and the people operating at level five probably need to leave. Lots of politics in the process, but that’s typically how it works.
As I describe in The Myth of The Bell Curve, these performance and pay strategies have been used for decades. And at scale they create a mediocrity-centered organization, because the statistics limit the quantity and value of 1’s. If you’re operating at 1 level and you get a 2, you’ll quit. If you’re operating at 3 level, you’re probably going to coast. You get my drift. And since the bulk of the company is rated 2 or 3, most of the managers are in the middle.
As the saying goes, A managers hire A people, B managers hire C people. So over time, if not constantly tuned, we end up with an organization that is almost destined to be medium in performance.
Now I’m not saying every company goes through this process, but if you look at the productivity per employee in large organizations it’s almost always below that of smaller organizations. Why? Because as organizations grow, the talent density declines. (Netflix, as an example, example, generates almost $3M of revenue per employee, twice that of Google and 10X that of Disney. And they are the only profitable streaming company, with fewer than 20,000 employees and a $240 billion market cap.)
The traditional model was fine in the industrial age when we had a surplus of talent, jobs were clearly defined, and most employees were measure by the “number of widgets they produced.” In those days we could swap out a “low performer” for a “high performer” because there were lots of people in the job market.
We don’t live in that world anymore. The world we now live in has sub 4% unemployment, a constant shortage of key skills, and a growing shortage of labor. And thanks to automation and AI, the revenue or value per person has skyrocketed, almost an order of magnitude higher than it was 30 years ago.
So we need a better way to think about performance in a world where companies with fewer people can outperform those who get too big. Look at how Salesforce, Google, Apple, who are essentially creative companies, have slowed their ability to innovate as they get bigger. Look at how OpenAI, who is a tiny company, is outperforming Google and Microsoft.
Today most businesses outperform through innovation, time to market, customer intimacy, or IP – not through scale or “harder work.”
How do we maintain a high level of talent density when we’re growing the company and hiring lots of people? Netflix wrote the book on this, so let me give you the story.
First, the hiring process should focus on talent density, not butts in seats. Rather than hire someone to “fill a role” we look for someone who is additive or multiplicative to the entire team. Hire someone that challenges the status quo and brings new ideas, skills, and ideas beyond the “job” as defined. Netflix values courage, innovation, selflessness, inclusion, and teamwork, for example. These are not statements about “doing your job as defined.”
Netflix’s idea is that each incremental hire should make everybody else in the company and everybody else in the team produce at a higher level. Now this is a threatening thing for an insecure manager because most managers don’t want to hire somebody that could take their job away. But that’s why we have this problem.
Second, we need to manage or create some type of performance management process that is built around the Pareto distribution (also called the Power Law) and not the normal distribution. In the Pareto distribution or the power law, we have a small number of people who generate an outsized level of performance, you can call it the 80/20 rule or the 90/10 rule. (20% of the people do 80% of the work)
Studies have shown that companies and many populations work this way, and it makes sense. Think about athletes, where a small number of super athletes are 2-3 better than their peers. The same thing is true in music, science, and entertainment. It’s also true in sales and many business disciplines.
Research conducted in 2011 and 2012 by Ernest O’Boyle Jr. and Herman Aguinis (633,263 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes in a total of 198 samples). found that performance in 94 percent of these groups did not follow a normal distribution. Rather these groups fall into what is called a “Power Law” distribution.
In every population of human beings there are a few people who just have God-given gifts to outperform in the job, and they just naturally seem to be far better than everyone else.
Bill Gates once told the company that there were of the three engineers that he felt made the company of Microsoft. And I’ve heard this in many other companies, where one software engineer and the right role can do the work of 10 other people.
Now, this is not to say that everybody will fall into one level of the Pareto distribution. At a given point in time in your career, you may be in the 80% and over time, as you learn and grow and find the things that you’re naturally good at, you’ll end up in the 20%. But in a given company this is a dynamic that’s constantly taking place. And that’s what Netflix is doing – constantly working on talent density.
What does this mean for performance management? It means that in order to care for a population like this, we have to hire differently, avoid the bell curve, and pay high performers well. Not just a little more than everybody else, a lot more. And that’s what happens in sports and entertainment, so why not in business.
If you look at companies like Google, Microsoft, and others, there are individuals in those companies that make two to three times more than their peers. And as long as these decisions are made based on performance, people are fine with it.
What obviously does not work is when person making all the money is the person who’s the best politician, best looking, or most popular.
And that leads me to item three: In the Netflix culture there’s a massive amount of empowerment, 360 feedback, candor and honesty. You’ve probably read the Netflix culture manifesto: it’s all about the need for people to be honest, to speak truth, to give each other feedback, and to focus on judgement, courage, and accountability. Netflix only recently added job levels: they didn’t have job levels for many years.
Giving people feedback is a challenge because it’s uncomfortable. So this has to to start at the top and it has to be done in a developmental, honest way. This does not mean people should threaten or disparage each other, but we all need to know that at the end of a project or the end of the meeting it’s okay for somebody to tell us “here’s what was great about that and here’s what wasn’t great about it.”
One of the most important institutions in the world, the US military lives, eats and dies by this process. If you’re in the military and you mess something up, you can guarantee that somebody’s going to tell you about it, and you’re going to get some help making sure you don’t do it again. We don’t have life or death situations in companies, but we can certainly use this kind of discipline.
The fourth thing that matters in talent density is leadership and goal setting. One of the things that really gets in the way of a high performing company is too many individual goals, too many siloed projects and responsibilities and people not seeing the big picture.
If your goal setting and performance management process is 100% based on individual performance you are sub-optimizing your company. Not only does this work against teamwork, but there really isn’t a single thing in a company that anybody can do alone. So our performance management research continuously shows that people should be rewarded for both their achievements as well as that of the team. (Here’s the research to explain.)
Why is talent density important right now? Let me mention a few reasons.
First, we’re entering a period of low unemployment so every hire is going to be challenging. And thanks to AI, companies are going to be able to operate with smaller teams. What better time to think about how to “trim down” your company so it’s performing at its best?
Second, the transformations from AI are going to require a lot of flexibility and learning agility in your company. You want a highly focused, well aligned team to help make that happen. And while AI will help every company improve, your ability to leverage AI quickly will turn into a competitive advantage (think back about how web and digital and e-commerce did the same).
(I firmly believe the companies with the most ingenious applications of AI will disrupt their competitors. I’m still amazed at Whole Food’s hand recognition checkout process: I can see self-service coffee, groceries, and other retail and hospitality coming.)
Third, the post-industrial business world is going to start to devalue huge, lumbering organizations. Many big companies just need a lot of people, but as Southwest Airlines taught us long ago, it’s the small team that performs well. So if you can’t break your company into small high-performing teams, your talent density will suffer.
When the book is written on Apple’s $10 Billion car, I bet one problem was the size and scale of the team. We’ll see soon enough. By the way, I still recommend everyone read “The Mythical Man-Month,” which to me is the bible of organizing around small teams.
What if you’re a healthcare provider, retailer, manufacturer, hospitality company? Does talent density apply to you? Absolutely! Go into a Costco and see how happy and engaged the employees are. Then go into a poorly run retailer and you’ll feel the difference.
In my book Irresistible I give examples of companies who embrace what I call “the unquenchable power of the human spirit.” Nobody wants to feel like they’re underperforming. With the right focus on accountability and growth we can help everyone out-perform their expectations.
Now is a time rethink how our organizations work. Not only should we promote and reward the hyper-performers, the Pareto rule and Talent Density thinking encourage us to help mid-level performers learn, grow, and transform themselves into superstars.
Let’s throw away the old ideas of bell curve, forced distribution, and simplistic performance management. Companies that push for everlasting high performance are energizing places to work, they deliver outstanding products and services, and they’re great investments for stakeholders.
AI中文翻译:
在这篇篇幅较长的文章中,我想探讨一个被称为“人才密度”的新概念。思考此概念时,我认为它是管理领域中极其重要的议题之一。希望您能像我一样发现其趣味性。
首先,Netflix首创的“人才密度”概念其实很简单。
人才密度指的是公司内部技能、能力和表现的质量与密集程度。
换句话说,如果你的公司全是高绩效人才,那么你的“人才密度”就很高。如果只有20%是高绩效人才,那么你的“人才密度”就不高。这个概念虽然容易理解,但实际执行起来却颇具挑战,因为它涉及到我们如何定义绩效、招聘员工的标准、晋升决策、项目分配以及薪酬分配。
在详细解释“人才密度”之前,让我们先看看大多数公司的基本信念。许多组织相信,他们的员工表现遵循一个正态分布或钟形曲线。这个统计模型为何被广泛应用于组织之中,我并不清楚,但它几乎已成为标准做法。(实际上,如我下文将解释的,学术研究已证明这一模型是错误的。)
采用钟形曲线,我们确定平均表现(即“平均线”),然后将员工的表现划分为五个等级。表现最好的被归为一级,标准为右偏两个标准差;表现最差的被归为五级,左偏两个标准差。
一级表现者获得大幅度加薪,二级表现者获得中等加薪,三级表现者获得平均水平的加薪,四级表现者加薪低于平均,五级表现者可能就需要离开公司了。虽然这个过程充满了政治操作,但这就是它通常的运作方式。
正如我在《钟形曲线的神话》中所述,这些关于绩效和薪酬的策略已经使用了数十年。而且,当这些策略在大规模下实施时,它们会造成以平庸为中心的组织文化,因为这种统计方法限制了顶尖人才的数量和价值。如果你是一级表现者却被评为二级,你很可能就会选择离职。如果你是三级表现者,你可能就会选择安于现状。你应该明白我的意思了。而且,由于大部分员工的评级为二级或三级,大多数管理者也就处于中等水平。
常言道,A级的管理者招聘A级人才,B级的管理者则招聘C级人才。因此,如果不持续进行优化调整,组织最终几乎注定会变得中庸。
我并不是说每家公司都会经历这一过程,但如果你查看大型组织的员工生产率,通常都低于小型组织的生产率。为什么呢?因为随着组织规模的扩大,“人才密度”往往会下降。(以Netflix为例,其每名员工创造的收入几乎为300万美元,是Google的两倍,是迪士尼的十倍。他们是唯一盈利的流媒体公司,员工不足20,000人,市值2400亿美元。)
在工业时代,人才供过于求,工作职责明确,大多数员工的表现以“生产的产品数量”来衡量。那个时候,低绩效者可以轻松地被高绩效者替换,因为劳动市场上有大量的人才可供选择。
但我们不再生活在那个时代了。在我们现在的世界里,失业率低于4%,关键技能持续短缺,劳动力整体也日益减少。而且,得益于自动化和AI技术,每位员工创造的收入或价值比30年前高出了几个数量级。
因此,在一个人员更少的公司可以超越体量更大的公司的世界中,我们需要一种更好的绩效思考方式。看看Salesforce、Google、Apple这些本质上依靠创新的公司,随着规模扩大,它们的创新能力如何变缓。再看看OpenAI,尽管是一个小公司,却在超越Google和Microsoft。
如今,大多数企业通过创新、市场响应速度、客户亲密度或知识产权而非规模或“更加努力的工作”来实现超越。
在我们不断发展公司并招聘大量人员的同时,我们如何保持高水平的“人才密度”?Netflix在此领域有着开创性的工作,让我来分享一下他们的故事。
首先,招聘过程应专注于提高“人才密度”,而不是仅仅为了填补空缺。我们寻找的不是简单地“填补一个角色”的人,而是能够为整个团队带来正面或倍增效果的人才。我们寻找的是那些能够挑战现状、带来新观点和技能,并超出传统“工作定义”的人。例如,Netflix重视勇气、创新、无私、包容和团队合作等价值观,并不仅仅是“完成既定工作”。
Netflix的理念是,每一次新增的招聘都应该使公司内每个人和团队的每个成员的生产力得到提升。这对于那些缺乏安全感的管理者来说可能是个挑战,因为大多数管理者并不希望招聘可能会取代他们的人。但正是这种思维方式导致了我们当前的问题。
其次,我们需要建立或改进一种围绕帕累托分布(也称作幂律分布)而非正态分布的绩效管理流程。在帕累托分布或幂律分布中,少数人贡献了超出常规的绩效水平,这可以称作80/20规则或90/10规则。(即20%的人完成了80%的工作)
研究显示,许多公司和人群实际上都是以这种方式运作的,这是合理的。想想那些在体育、音乐、科学和娱乐领域表现出色的人,其中少数顶尖人才的表现是同龄人的两到三倍。销售和许多商业领域也是如此。
2011年和2012年由Ernest O’Boyle Jr.和Herman Aguinis进行的研究(涵盖了633,263名研究人员、艺术家、政治家和运动员,共198个样本)发现,这94%的群体的表现并不遵循正态分布,而是呈现所谓的“幂律分布”。
在每个人群中,总有少数人因为天赋异禀,在工作中表现出色,自然而然地比其他人优秀得多。
比尔·盖茨曾经对微软说过,他认为公司中的三名工程师是公司的基石。我也在许多其他公司听到过类似的故事,其中一位软件工程师在合适的位置上可以完成其他十人的工作量。
这并不意味着每个人都将被归入帕累托分布的某一层级。在你职业生涯的某个阶段,你可能处于80%的群体中,但随着你不断学习、成长并找到自己真正擅长的领域,你最终可能进入20%的群体。但在任何一个公司,这种动态都在不断发生。这就是Netflix一直在努力提升“人才密度”的原因。
这对绩效管理意味着什么?这意味着,为了照顾这样一个群体,我们必须采取不同的招聘方式,避免使用钟形曲线,并且为高绩效者提供丰厚的薪酬。这不仅仅是支付比其他人稍微多一点的薪水,而是要多得多。这在体育和娱乐领域已经是常态,那么为什么不可以应用到商业领域呢?
如果你观察Google、Microsoft等公司,你会发现,这些公司中的个别人物赚取的收入是他们同事的两到三倍。只要这些决策基于绩效,大家通常都能接受它。
当然,不起作用的情况是,赚取高薪的是那些最擅长政治、外表最出众或最受欢迎的人。
这就引出了第三点:在Netflix的文化中,存在着大量的授权、360度反馈、直率和诚实。您可能已经读过Netflix的文化宣言,它强调人们需要诚实、坦诚、互相提供反馈,并专注于判断力、勇气和责任感。直到最近,Netflix才引入了职级制度——在很多年里,他们根本没有职级制度。
提供反馈是挑战性的,因为这会使人感到不适。因此,这个过程必须从高层开始,并以一种促进发展、诚实的方式进行。这并不意味着人们应互相威胁或贬低,但我们都需要明白,在项目结束或会议结束时,对方告诉我们“这是成功之处,这是失败之处”是完全可以接受的。
美国军队是世界上最重要的机构之一,它依靠这种过程生存、发展和克服困难。如果你在军队犯错,你可以确信会有人告诉你,并且你会得到帮助以确保你不会再犯同样的错误。虽然公司里没有生死攸关的情况,但我们完全可以借鉴这种纪律性。
在“人才密度”中很重要的第四点是领导力和目标设定。阻碍高绩效公司发展的一个常见问题是过多的个人目标、孤立的项目和职责,以及员工无法看到整体大局。
如果你的目标设定和绩效管理过程完全基于个人表现,那么你就在削弱你的公司。这不仅阻碍了团队合作,而且实际上没有什么是公司内任何人能够独立完成的。因此,我们的绩效管理研究不断表明,人们应该同时因其个人成就和团队成就而获得奖励。(这是相关的研究。)
为什么“人才密度”在当前尤为重要?我来列举几个原因。
首先,我们正处于一个失业率低的时期,因此每次招聘都将是一个挑战。而且,随着AI技术的帮助,公司将能够以更小的团队运作。在这样一个时刻,有什么比考虑如何“精简”你的公司、使其发挥最佳表现更合适的时机呢?
其次,随着AI的变革,你的公司将需要极大的灵活性和学习适应能力。你需要一个高度专注、良好协调的团队来实现这一目标。而且,尽管AI将帮助每个公司提高效率,但你快速应用AI的能力将变成一个竞争优势(回想一下网站、数字化和电子商务如何实现了同样的事情)。
(我坚信,那些能够巧妙应用AI的公司将会颠覆它们的竞争对手。我对Whole Foods的手掌识别结账过程仍感到惊讶:我预见到自助服务咖啡、杂货及其他零售和酒店业务的出现。)
第三,后工业时代的商业世界将开始贬低庞大、笨重的组织。许多大公司只是需要大量员工,但正如西南航空所示,小团队的表现通常更好。因此,如果你无法将你的公司划分为小型高效团队,你的“人才密度”将受到影响。
当有关Apple的100亿美元汽车项目的书籍编写时,我敢打赌问题之一将是团队的规模和规模。我们很快就会发现。顺便说一下,我还是推荐每个人阅读《神话般的人月》,对我而言,这本书是关于围绕小团队进行组织的经典之作。
如果你是医疗服务提供者、零售商、制造商或酒店业者,“人才密度”是否适用于你?当然适用!走进一家Costco,看看员工是多么的开心和投入。然后走进一个管理混乱的零售商,你就能感受到区别。
在我的书《不可抗拒》中,我列出了那些拥抱我所称之为“人类精神不可磨灭力量”的公司的例子。没有人愿意觉得自己表现不佳。通过适当的关注责任和成长,我们可以帮助每个人超越他们自己的期望。
现在是时候重新考虑我们的组织如何运作了。我们不仅应该提升和奖励顶尖表现者,帕累托法则和“人才密度”思维还鼓励我们帮助中等表现者学习、成长,并将自己转变为明星。
让我们抛弃旧的钟形曲线、强制分配和简单化绩效管理的想法。不断追求高绩效的公司是充满活力的工作场所,他们提供卓越的产品和服务,并且对投资者而言是极好的投资。
leadership
2024年03月10日
leadership
The best HR & People Analytics articles of February 2024
I’m writing the introduction to this month’s compendium in New York, ahead of two events this week in the Big Apple.
Firstly, I’m attending Gloat Live (thank you Ruslan Tovbulatov and the Gloat team), where I’ll be hosting a panel of three chief people officers – Michael Fraccaro Tanuj Kapilashrami and Tamla Oates-Forney– as well as sharing Insight222 research on building a data driven culture in HR. Also taking place this week is the Winter Peer Meeting for North American member companies of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which is being hosted by Sally Masseyand Courtney McMahon at Colgate-Palmolive’s headquarters on Park Avenue.
After a weekend back in the UK for my birthday, I’ll be heading back to the US for the Wharton People AnalyticsConference on March 14 and 15. If you’re going to Gloat Live or Wharton PAC, then please do come and say hello. I was also in Switzerland a few days ago for People Analytics WorldZürich (thanks to Barry Swales Ralf Buechsenschuss), and just a fortnight ago, Rob Etheridgeand his team kindly hosted the European Peer Meeting of the Insight222People Analytics Program at HSBC’s headquarters in London – you can read some of takeaways from London here. It’s certainly a busy period of travel - and lots of vapour trail!
Attendees at the Insight222 Q1 European Peer Meeting for members of the People Analytics Program, hosted by HSBC in London
Some of you have written to me to advise that you weren't able to join the recent Insight222 webinar on Turning Insight into Impact with People Analytics. You can find out more by scolling down to the Video of the Month below or access the recording by clicking on the image below.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenowand the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers close to 500 roles.
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Enjoy reading the collection of resources for February and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on January’s compendium (including those in the Comments below).
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
DELOITTE – 2024 Global Human Capital Trends: Thriving beyond boundaries – Human performance in a boundaryless world
The opening words of Deloitte’s 2024 Global Human Capital Trends perfectly capture the opportunity and challenge for HR today: “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.” The seven trends covered in the report, each with its own chapter, are: (1) Embracing human sustainability, (2) Moving beyond productivity to measure human performance, (3) Balancing privacy with transparency to build trust, (4) Overcoming the imagination deficit, (5) Creating digital playgrounds to explore, experiment and play, (6) Cultivating workplace microcultures, and (7) Making the shift to a boundaryless HR. The report, which has 122 pages, is packed full of thought-provoking insights, visualisations and data – including FIG 1 and FIG 2 below. Kudos to the authors: Susan Cantrell Corrie Commisso Julie Duda Kraig Eaton Jason Flynn John Forsythe Michael Griffiths John Guziak Lauren Kirby David Mallon Mari Marcotte Shannon Poynton Nicole Scoble-Williams GAICD Yves Van Durme and Matteo Zanza.
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.
FIG 1: In the era of human performance, business and human outcomes are mutually reinforcing (Source: Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends)
FIG 2: Source: Deloitte 2024 Global Human Capital Trends
ERNEST NG - What are the most Important things HR will need to focus on in 2024? | ALLISON BAUM GATES - Six predictions for the future of health, wealth, and work in 2024 | LYNDA GRATTON - Predictions for the Workplace of 2025, Revisited
Continuing with the prediction vibe, here are two more thoughtful reflections on what lies ahead and one reflection, 15 years on, from Lynda Gratton on her previous predictions about the future of work. (1) Ernest Ng, PhD, now at HiredScore– who Workdayhas just announced their intent to acquire, highlights a number of predictions for the year ahead combining a focus on efficiency, incorporating AI into the way we work and supporting employees to navigate change. (2) Allison Baum Gates, General Partner at SemperVirens Venture Capital combines the future of health, wealth and work into her predictions including: “AI’s primary impact in 2024 will be accelerating a shift to skills-based organizations.” (3) Lynda Gratton reflects on her Predictions for the Workforce of 2025, which she originally made in 2010 covering what she got right, where she misjudged, and what she learned about experimenting.
It will be wise to expect the unexpected. And when it comes, be prepared to observe closely, pivot quickly, and experiment widely.
HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ALEX CAMP, PHIL KIRSCHNER, LAURA PINEAULT, AND PATRICK SIMON - Hybrid can be healthy for your organization—when done right
Research from McKinsey suggesting that a fully remote organisation can demonstrate a level of organisational health that rivals, if not exceeds, the performance of most traditional companies. In the article, Alexandra Camp Phil Kirschner Laura Pineault and Dr. Patrick Simon highlight six priorities for companies aspiring to sustain a flexible or highly distributed workplace in parallel with top organisational health: (1) Remove ambiguity about working practices. (2) Reset performance expectations. (3) Be transparent. (4) Be purposeful about where people work. (5) Foster trust and a sense of support. (6) Test and learn.
Fully remote organizations can demonstrate a level of health that rivals, if not exceeds, the performance of most traditional companies.
FIG 3: Six priorities to sustain a flexible or highly distributed workplace (Source: McKinsey)
KELLY JONES - Unlocking the Power of Hybrid Work: 5 Guiding Principles from Cisco's 3-Year Study Article | White Paper | Executive Summary
Kelly Jones, Cisco's Chief People Officer, unveils the findings of a three year Future of Work study by Cisco’s People Intelligence Team, which was designed to explore the employee experience prior to the global pandemic, through the pandemic, to office re-opening and beyond. Kelly's article summarises five guiding principles for hybrid work including reimagining the office to create meaningful moments and encouraging leaders to be intentional with their attention. The executive summary also outlines five key findings and recommendations (see FIG 4): (1) People may be choosing to work from home, but in person touchpoints are still essential. (2) Effective collaboration is a balancing act. (3) Flexibility and choice positively influence engagement. (4) Leaders might be struggling the most. (5) Leader attention is the #1 predictor of engagement. Thanks to Roxanne Bisby Davis for highlighting.
Make the office a magnet, not a mandate
FIG 4: Source - Choice is Critical in the Future of Work (Cisco, 2024)
MICHAEL ARENA AND PHIL ARKCOLL - Enabling High-Velocity Teams
As Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll outline, the significance of teams has never been greater, yet their effectiveness depends on being able to operate with both speed and focus. The article presents the findings of their research as to why focused teams outperform, and then provides five practices designed for teams to imbue more intentional collaboration: (1) Leverage collaboration phases. (2) Focused team structure. (3) Minimise frequent team shifts. (4) Actively manage dependencies and distractions. (5) Formation of integration teams.
With the rapid advancements in technology today, optimal team performance and speed matter disproportionately in ensuring market success.
FIG 5: Internally and externally focused agile teams (Source: Michael Arena and Philip Arkcoll)
GAD LEVANON | SHRM & THE BURNING GLASS INSTITUTE - Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Workforce
The Burning Glass Institute continues to publish fascinatingly insightful reports about the world of work. In their latest report, in collaboration with SHRM, Gad Levanon investigates how GenAI will impact industries, companies, and jobs, and reshape the economy. It reinforces that GenAI will have the greatest impact on high-skilled, professional work, provides indications of how GenAI will impact the economy (see FIG 6) and provides four actions for CHROs to: (1) Evaluate your organisation’s composition, (2) Evaluate the roles within your organisation, (3) Consider your current talent pipeline, and (4) Develop a game plan.
In the coming years, GenAI will both drive massive boosts in productivity and necessitate layoffs. Begin planning ways to leverage GenAI’s productivity benefits and prepare for the disruptions to your workforce through a combination of upskilling investments to give workers the skills to remain relevant and reskilling programs to reposition workers in areas of more stable demand.
FIG 6: Sequence of economic disruptions caused by GenAI (Source: SHRM and The Burning Glass Institute)
FIG 7: Implications of GenAI for HR functions (Source: SHRM and The Burning Glass Institute)
ANA KREACIC, AMY LASATER-WILLE, LUCIA URIBE, RAVIN JESUTHASAN, JOHN ROMEO, AND SIMON LUONG - How Generative AI Is Changing The Future Of Work | TED LIU, CARINA DENG, AND KELLY MONAHAN - How Generative AI Adds Value to the Future of Work
Two studies analysing the impact of GenAI on the world of work. The first by Ana Kreacic Amy Lasater-Wille Lucia Uribe Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA John Romeo and Simon Luong for the Oliver Wyman Forum finds that GenAI could add up to $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030 and save 300 billion work hours a year. It also finds that while 96% of employees believe AI can help them in their current job, 60% are afraid it will eventually automate them out of work. There are numerous other insights and visualisations in the 100 page report including a projection of the likely productivity gains at work from GenAI in the next decade (see FIG 8). The second study, by Ted Liu Carina Deng and Kelly Monahan, Ph.D.for the UpworkResearch Institute, provides a comprehensive analysis of the initial impact of GenAI on the Upwork marketplace for independent talent. It finds that the impacts may already being felt with reductions in demand for work such as writing and translation and a surge in demand for skills associated with GenAI such as data science and analytics.
Generative AI could add up to $20 trillion to global GDP by 2030 and save 300 billion work hours a year.
FIG 8: Phases of generative AI’s impact on productivity at work (Source: Oliver Wyman Forum)
GEORGE WESTERMAN, SAM RANSBOTHAM, AND CHIARA FARRONATO - Find the AI Approach That Fits the Problem You’re Trying to Solve | TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - 7 Strategies to Get Your Employees On Board with GenAI | ANDY BALDWIN - 3 Ways to Embed DEI Into Your Company’s AI Strategy | MARTHA CURIONI – Why is Explainable AI Important for HR? | BRETT DYKES - Why AI Isn’t Going To Solve All Your Data Culture Problems
There may be a far degree of hype around GenAI, but it does seem to be accelerating the engagement of HR leaders and professionals with AI, and is also leading to an increasing number of thoughtful studies and articles on AI, including these five resources: (1) George Westerman Sam Ransbotham and Chiara Farronatooutline four categories of advanced analytics – GenAI, traditional deep learning, econometrics, and rule-based automation, and offer five questions to ask about AI’s constraints including: What is the cost of being wrong? (2) As Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic observes: “the human factor — people and culture — will drive the adoption of AI, or lack thereof.” Tomas then presents seven strategies to get employees on board including i) focusing on the problem that GenAI can solve, and ii) being proactive about ethical concerns. (3) In his article for Harvard Business Review, Andy Baldwin outlines three ways to incorporate DEI into AI strategy through: i) embedding DEI into the design of your AI systems; ii) incorporating DEI into any AI-related upskilling programs; and iii) using AI as an opportunity to boost DEI. (4) Martha Curioni defines explainable AI and explains why it is critical to HR so it can provide transparency, build trust, mitigate bias and enable data driven decision making. (5) Finally, Brent Dykes cautions that while a recent study found that GenAI had catalysed a dramatic rise in the number of companies that reported they had ‘created a data-driven organization’ (from 23.9 percent in 2023 to 48.1 percent in 2024), AI is not a silver bullet for data culture. He illustrates this (see FIG 9) by referencing a study a European bank did to assess its own data culture, before highlighting two proven ways to build a data culture: executive sponsorship and role-modelling, and talent.
As with any aspect of digital transformation, the effective deployment of generative AI will depend less on technological capability than on human adaptability
FIG 9: Source: Brent Dykes, Analytics Hero
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
MARIËLLE SONNENBERG, FEDERICO BECHINI, SIETSE SCHRÖDER, AND CAITLIN VAN MIL - Our Real-Life Journey with GenAI in Skills and Talent Management (with code!!) | ADAM MCKINNON – Introducing Lex – Australian Employment Law Support AI | ALEC LEVENSON - A killer app with huge upsides and dangerous downsides: Applying AI to People Analytics
Two examples of GenAI in People Analytics in practice – and an article by Alec Levenson on AI in people analytics. (1) the Wolters Kluwer talent analytics team of Mariëlle Sonnenberg, PhD Federico Bechini Sietse Schröder and Caitlin van Mil share a case study of using GenAI to provide the foundation of their work to transition to a skills-based organisation. The article shares learnings from their journey (and the code!) including tips around data security, prompts, and system testing. (2) Adam McKinnon, PhD. presents Lex – an AI chatbot that has been trained on Australian workplace legislation. As Adam explains, Lex has been trained not to make up answers, and it should refuse to answer any question that cannot be answered using the legal documents it has been trained on. (3) Alec Levenson addresses the potential upsides and risks of applying AI to PA before providing a roadmap for ethical and effective application.
A human- and science-based perspective on any People Analytics model’s predictions is always needed, whether AI is applied or not.
PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Unlocking People Data: Lessons from Transforming IBM's Data Platform to Elevate People Analytics - The Why and the What | JON LESTER - Creating the future of human resources
Pietro Mazzoleni presents the first edition of what promises to be an interesting and insightful new LinkedIn newsletter, People Data Platform, which will explore the evolution of IBM's internal people data platform and its role in fostering data democratisation and people analytics. The first instalment covers the what and the why, and also provides an overview of Workforce 360 (W360 – see FIG 10), IBM’s internal people data platform. Pietro explains that the initial focus for W360 was (1) to digitalise People Scorecard, IBM´s main talent dashboard that measures the health of the workforce, and (2) to scale IBM’s advanced AI solutions like Job Recommendation, Attrition Risk Analysis, and Compensation Advisor. I recommend reading Pietro’s article alongside the second article, featuring Jon Lester on how in an initial pilot in IBM Consulting, a digital AI assistant (HiRo) saved 12,000 hours in one quarter, and halved the quarterly promotion process from 10 to 5 weeks.
FIG 10: Benefits of Workforce 360 (Source: IBM, Pietro Mazzoleni)
WILLIS JENSEN - Why Is It So Hard to Get Finance and HR Aligned? | JACKSON ROATCH - The Behavioral Economics of Return to Office | LYDIA WU - The Problem with “I Don’t Disagree” in People Analytics | JARED VALDRON - An FAQ on Generative AI in People Analytics | ANSHUL SHEOPURI - People Operations As A Critical Differentiator For Employee Experience | JUSTIN PURL - The People Analytics Method: Why TikTok's Head of Global People Analytics prioritizes context not control
As has also been the case in recent months, February saw a number of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders. These act as a spur and inspiration to the field. Six are highlighted here. (1) Willis Jensenboils down the traditional disconnect between HR and Finance teams on headcount: “There are some fundamental differences in counting the number of people (headcount) versus counting the amount of worker productivity (FTE) and both are necessary for different goals.” (2) Jackson Roatchanalyses the return to office topic through the lens of behavioural economics. (3) Lydia Wubreaks down why hearing “I don’t disagree” is a problem for people analytics, and in doing so highlights the importance of building trust with key stakeholders. (4) Jared Valdronprovides a set of answers to 18 frequently asked questions about GenAI in people analytics including i)) Is generative AI a good co-pilot for programming? ii) How will generative AI change the People Analytics job market? (5) Anshul Sheopurihighlights five areas where providing a frictionless experience is key to a successful EX program including i) Design with the user in mind and build for scale, and ii) Trusted data enables a solid foundation and responsible AI delivers personalised experiences. (6) Justin Purl Head of Global People Analytics of TikTok, introduces The People Analytics Method (see FIG 11) as a scientific approach for accumulating context that delivers impactful insights and supports HR decision-making
While it can be challenging to measure the financial impact of HR projects, that shouldn’t stop HR from trying to build those business cases.
FIG 11: The People Analytics Method (Source: Justin Purl)
Two key parts of The People Analytics Method are understanding context and engaging employees.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
J. PUCKETT, VINCIANE BEAUCHENE, PATRICK ERKER, AND ZHDAN SHAKIROV – Is Your Upskilling Program Paying Off
Measuring the Return on Learning Investment is arguably the Holy Grail of upskilling programs, but according to this article by BCG it is in fact possible. In their article, J. Puckett Vinciane Beauchene C. Patrick G. E. and Ƶhdan Shakirovpresent a three-step approach: (1) Identify the desired business impact upfront. (2) Define the metrics for holding the program accountable to that impact and measuring progress. (3) Determine whether the targeted impact has been achieved.
Before embarking on any upskilling program, organizations first need to establish the business impact they will measure after the program is over.
FIG 12: Metrics for assessing the impact of learning programs (Source: BCG)
DAVE ULRICH AND HARRISON JAMES - How to Ensure that Human Capability Investments Deliver Stakeholder Value
As Dave Ulrich and Harrison James explain in their article, organisations typically rely on benchmarking and best practices to evaluate the return from human capital investments. They argue that these methods are often limited and do not provide the specific guidance to impact the business results of individual companies. Their article sets out an alternative: an Organization Guidance System (OGS), which begins by identifying the stakeholder outcomes relevant in your company as a precursor to then determining through providing an opportunity score (see FIG 13) for which human capability initiatives best deliver those outcomes.
FIG 13: Source: Dave Ulrich, The RBL Group
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
MARC EFFRON - Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Questions About Becoming a Skills-based Organization
As Marc Effron of The Talent Strategy Group highlights in his remarkable must-read article, there have been many claims made by consulting firms and technology providers about the case for shifting to being a skills-based organisation. In the article, Marc examines these claims, asking and answering 17 questions about skills-based organisations. The questions include: (1) If a skills-based approach is needed, why is it needed? (2) What changes will my organisation have to make to become a skill-based organisation? (3) Is there any proof that a skills-based approach delivers results? (4) Will AI and technology solutions better enable companies to track, manage and match skills? (5) How predictively accurate are skills in determining performance? Whatever side of the skills-based organisation debate you are on, I highly recommend reading Marc’s article.
At best, shifting to a skills-based environment can help some people in some situations at a large cost. It is likely best suited to industries where there is financial largess including pharmaceutical, banking, and larger consumer products firms. At worst, it reflects HR’s continued pursuit of novelty with the giddy support of technology and consulting firms that are all-too willing to promote and enable this questionable solution.
SCOTT REIDA - Draft priority role competency needs over time using ChatGPT4 and Tableau
A practical and technical guide from Scott Reida a workforce strategist at AWS, as he demonstrates how to use ChatGPT to drive talent intelligence by identifying current and future developments for key roles within an organisation. Scott visualises the outputs from ChatGPT in Tableau over a time horizon of ten years using the example of competencies for a data scientist.
FIG 14: Source – Scott Reida (access here)
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
ALICE DAMONTE, DANIEL MORALES, AND SARAH TOBEY - Employee listening programs and how to keep employees talking | IT SURVEY GROUP - What’s on the Horizon? Three Trends That Will Shape Employee Listening in 2024
Alice Damonte Daniel Morales and Sarah Tobeyfrom McKinsey’s internal people analytics and measurement team share learnings from Pulse, their continuous listening program. This capability has already enabled the team to shape more than 300 different initiatives since it was established three years ago. Their article focuses on two key elements of a successful employee listening program: (1) Making it easy and meaningful for employees to participate, which is enabled by providing transparency through firm-wide readouts, community dialogues, and individualised insights with support. (2) Making it straightforward for leaders to listen and act, which the team enable through ‘care packages’ to help leaders focus their attention on what matters most. For readers that enjoy this, I also recommend the second article, which features EX/HR leaders such as Kristin Saboe, Ph.D. Caitie Jacobson Stephanie Andel, PhD Patrick Gallen, MSOD Madison Beard and Ronald Ivan Dela Cruz forecasting three key trends for employee listening in 2024.
To ensure an employee listening channel is sufficiently well stocked with timely insights, it must be easy and meaningful for employees to participate, and straightforward for leaders to listen and act.
FIG 15: Source: McKinsey
FIG 16: Three key trends shaping employee listening in 2024 (Source: IT Survey Group)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
AMY C. LEWIS, ANDREA DERLER, CUTHBERT CHOW, MANDA WINLAW, AND DANI HAIG – Designing Impactful Teams: Data-backed insights about effective team size
What does team size have to do with designing high-performing teams? That was the exam question, the Visier Inc.team of Andrea Derler, Ph.D. Cuthbert Chow Manda Winlaw and Dani Haigsought to answer in a collaborative study with Amy C. Lewis, PhD Professor of Management at the College of Business at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Key findings include: (1) Most people work in teams of six to ten. (2) Team size varies by the nature of the work. (3) Smaller teams have more high performers. (4) Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (see FIG 17). The report has some helpful insights for those studying team effectiveness and involved in organisational design work.
FIG 17: Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (Source: Visier)
SPENCER HARRISON AND KRISTIE ROGERS - Building Culture From the Middle Out
The premise of a study by Spencer Harrisonand Kristie Rogersis for a business to harness the power of culture, it needs managers and team leaders to go beyond believing that they are responsible for culture to actively building it. Their research finds that managers that successfully achieve this are able to link the ‘big-C’ culture of their organisation (e.g. the official set of values) with the ‘small-c’ culture that plays out in the narrower and vibrant daily patterns of interaction (see FIG 18). The article highlights four successful strategies: (1) Endorse big-C culture through celebration and preservation of select features. (2) Endorse big-C culture by learning from other managers. (3) Enrich small-c culture through cultural innovations. (4) Enrich small-c culture by empowering employees to innovate.
FIG 18: Endorse and Enrich Your Way to Corporate Culture (Source: Harrison and Rogers)
JOSH BERSIN - How to Actually Execute a 4-Day Workweek | DOUGLAS BROOM - Four-day work week trial in Spain leads to healthier workers, less pollution | BENJAMIN LAKER – How Far-Reaching Could the Four-Day Workweek Become? AVA MARTINEZ – A 3-Day Workweek Could Complicate The Future of Work
Four articles on the four-day week, a concept that seems to be gathering momentum with pilots suggesting that business outcomes can be maintained while employee wellbeing and retention is enhanced. (1) Josh Bersinpresents findings from his study that finds companies need to undertake substantial work redesign to reduce hours while maintaining business outcomes to make the four-day week work. (2) Writing for the World Economic Forum, Douglas Broom shares results from a four-day work week pilot in Valencia, which found that giving workers an extra day off a week actually increases productivity, boosts physical and mental health and reduces CO2 emissions. (3) Benjamin Laker, who has been studying the four-day week for a number of years, outlines the findings from a UK study on the four-day week, which finds that 92% of the 61 companies that participated in the pilot are continuing with the four-day week. Laker also highlights that research conducted before and after the trial revealed that 39% of employees experienced lower stress levels and 71% noticed less burnout while working shorter weeks (see FIG 19). (4) From being one of the CEO outliers on return to the office, JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon suggests that AI may precipitate a future of work where the working week is three days – as reported by Ava Martinez for The HR Digest.
FIG 19: Source: The UK’s four-day week pilot (Autonomy)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
SERENA HUANG - DEI Funding Cuts? You Need Data Analytics and AI More Than Ever | BOGDAN YAMKOVENKO AND STEPHEN TAVARES - To Understand Whether Your Company Is Inclusive, Map How Your Employees Interact
With many companies and institutions – particularly in the US – cutting back on their DEI programs, a recent edition of Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. From Data to Action newsletter is well timed. Serena explains how people data and analytics can help reverse this trend and highlights a number of helpful resources. One of the resources Serena highlights is a seminal article by Bogdan Yamkovenko, PhD and Stephen Tavares first published in Harvard Business Review in 2017. It provides a case study of a professional services firm that used organisational network analysis to identify that that women were largely shut out of its decision making, idea sharing, and emotional support networks (see FIG 20). For more from Serena, please tune into her recent conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics.
FIG 20: 3 ways to look at employee networks at one professional services firm (Source: Heidrick & Struggles)
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from February that I recommend readers delve into:
LOÏC MICHEL | 365TALENTS – Your Absolute How to Guide to Skills Management – A handy guide to skills management from Loïc Michel and the 365Talentsteam featuring guidance and case studies.
ALICIA ROACH - Let's Talk About Lay-Offs – Alicia Roach of eQ8 frames the recent spate of layoffs from companies posting impressive profits in the context of culture and workforce planning (see FIG 21). As Alicia writes: “We can do better. We must do better.”
FIG 21: Scenario modelling and external shocks (Source: Alicia Roach, eQ8)
RICHARD ROSENOW - Embracing Remote Work for Senior People Analytics Roles: A Strategic Imperative – Richard Rosenow of One Model makes a persuasive case for why every organisation looking to lead in People Analytics should consider making their senior roles, if not all of their People Analytics roles, remote eligible. For more on people analytics jobs, check out this analysis of executive and director people analytics roles by Patrick Coolen.
BLEDI TASKA - SkyHive Data Reveals Greater Gender Disparity in the Generative AI Sector Compared to the Tech Industry at Large – Bledi Taska, Ph.D. presents SkyHive data and key findings on the impact of Generative Al on the U.S. job market and economy. His analysis highlights the urgent need for reskilling and upskilling initiatives to mitigate inequality in the workforce. Thanks to Todd Raphael for highlighting.
HAKKI OZDENOREN - Move Over HR, AI Is the New Recruiter! – Hakki Ozdenorenpresents data and analysis from Revelio Labs, which finds that HR job postings mentioning AI are surging ahead of other listings. This underscores the need for HR professionals to reskill in areas like AI and data literacy. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 22: AI related job postings in HR roles are on the rise (Source: Revelio Labs)
MARC RAMOS - Learning & Development is the New Research & Development - How the Learning Function Can be the AI Accelerator Part 1 | Part 2 – Cornerstone OnDemand CLO Marc Steven Ramos presents his two-part series on the L&D function investigating, testing and extending the use of AI within organisations – includes FIG 23 on blending R&D and L&D approaches.
FIG 23: Complementing R&D and L&D approaches (Source: Marc Ramos)
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
HEMERSON PAES, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - Active & Passive ONA Use Cases at Roche – Hemerson Paes joins hosts Cole Napperand Scott Hines, PhDon the Directionally Correct podcast to share his work rolling out active and passive ONA applications at scale at Roche.
BOB SUTTON AND ADAM GRANT - How to become a “friction-fixer” – Leading management thinker and organisational psychologist at Stanford, Bob Sutton, joins Adam Grant on ReThinking to discuss his new book, The Friction Project, on how to diagnose and then fix workplace problems. Unmissable.
JASON CORSELLO AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN - HR Technology 2024 – Jason Corsello from Acadian Ventures joins Laurie Ruettimannon Punk Rock HR to discuss the state of the HR tech market, the potential and concerns of AI, and the importance of future skills.
ANDREW SAIDY AND CHRIS RAINEY - Why a Talent Marketplace is Win-Win for Employees and Organisations - Andrew Saidy joins Christopher Rainey of HR Leaders to discuss his work at Ubisoft, where skills are becoming the currency for hiring, mobility and promotions rather than solely relying on degrees or tenure.
STEPHANIE DENINO, KIRAN MENON, AND DEBKANYA DHAR VYAVAHARKAR - Moving EX from boardroom to office floor - Stephanie Denino of TI PEOPLE speaks to hosts of the EXtra Extra podcast Kiran Menon and Debkanya Dhar Vyavaharkar about the findings of the State of EX report, and applying agile principles towards shipping EX ideas out of the boardroom and onto the office floor.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
NAOMI VERGHESE, ALAN SUSI AND DAVID GREEN | INSIGHT222 - How Leading Companies shift People Analytics from Insight to Impact
Please forgive the mild case of self-indulgence, but the ‘Video of the Month’ is actually a webinar we recently hosted at Insight222based on our People Analytics Trends research, which was informed by a survey of 271 participating companies. In the webinar, Naomi Vergheseand I walked through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I were joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan shared insights on how the firm successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can access the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
JOHN WINSOR AND JIN H. PAIK – Open Talent: Leveraging the Global Workforce to Solve Your Biggest Challenges
In Open Talent, John Winsor and Jin Paik advocate that companies need to shift to a more ‘distributed’ structure that revolves around talent (people) and projects in a networked organisation. In this model, talent is assembled from both inside the organisation (via an internal talent marketplace) and outside (via external talent clouds). The authors reveal how they implemented open talent strategies, and how other companies can adopt these techniques. A thoughtful and insightful read.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
SHELLEY XIN LI, FRANK NAGLE, AND ANER ZHOU - Mapping Organizational-Level Networks Using Individual-Level Connections: Evidence from Online Professional Networks
An interesting paper by Shelley Xin Li, Frank Nagle, and Aner Zhou for the Harvard Business School Strategy Unit, which constructs and describes a comprehensive network for 7,715 publicly traded U.S. firms from 2004 to 2018, using data on over 9 million people with 2 billion connections from the professional social network LinkedIn. The key finding is that while employees do not necessarily make connections for the company’s benefit, the centrality of that company in the employee network positively predicts company value. Thanks to Nicolas BEHBAHANI for highlighting.
FIG 24: Firm-level Network Centrality and Economic Performance for U.S. Public Firms in 2018 (Source: Li, Nagle, and Zhou, 2023)
FROM MY DESK
February saw the final two episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by ScreenCloud as well as the first episode of Series 37 sponsored by Culture Amp. Thank you respectively to Luke Farrugia of ScreenCloud and Ellisa Packer and Jodie Evans of Culture Amp.
ERIC SIEGEL - How to Overcome AI Adoption Challenges in HR – Eric Siegel, the author of The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment, explains how to successfully deploy machine learning in organisations while remaining focused on outcomes, ethics, and improving decision making.
BERNARD MARR - Achieving AI & Human Synergy in Data-Driven HR – Bernard Marr, who always has his finger on the pulse when it comes to new technologies, shares insights from his book, Data-Driven HR: How to Use AI, Analytics and Data to Drive Performance, and how AI is already impacting HR, and how it will increasingly do so in the future.
REBECCA THIELEN - Microsoft's Key to Strategic Workforce Planning Success – Rebecca Thielen shares insights from the workforce planning journey at Microsoft, including the role of analytics, close partnership with finance, and the clear focus on the problem statement.
ANGELA LE MATHON, IAN COOK, AND DAVID GREEN - The Strategic Agenda for People Analytics in 2024 – I also hosted a webinar with Angela LE MATHON and Ian Cook, which was organised by Visier Inc. and People Analytics World, to discuss the agenda for people analytics in 2024. Topics discussed included the role of middle management in strategic decision-making, the impact of AI on people analytics, and the practical challenges and strategies for implementing AI and analytics within HR frameworks.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Matt Manners and the team at Inspiring Workplaces for once again including me on their Top 101 Global Employee Engagement & Experience Influencers 2024, sponsored by Huler.
Jennifer McClurefor including me in her list of recommendations for HR professionals looking to build a Personal Development Library.
Amit Mohindrafor including Excellence in People Analytics as one of the course materials for his people analytics course at Stanford University
Malgorzata (GOSIA) LANGLOIS for posting about the Microsoft case study contributed by Dawn Klinghoffer in Excellence in People Analytics.
Stephen Hickey for including me in his list of go-to resources on people analytics.
Dr. Divya Sainath for posting about our conversation at the recent Indeed Future Talent event in Bangalore.
Thomas Kohler for including the January edition of Data Driven HR Monthly in his list of HR Resources.
Teamflect for including the Digital Hr Leaders podcast at number six in its list of the top 20 HR podcasts.
Ekta Vyas Ph.D for posting about my article, A History of People Analytics in Five Ages.
Andrew Lafontaine for creating a post with highlights from the episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast on How to Overcome AI Adoption Challenges in HR with Eric Siegel.
Wendy Van Ierschot for including me in her post about her book, Scale Ups and Downs.
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST INSIGHT222 PEOPLE ANALYTICS TRENDS RESEARCH
We’ve recently released our fourth annual People Analytics Trends report at Insight222: Investing to Deliver Value: A new Model for People Analytics, which is now available to download via the link – or by clicking on the image below.
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 90 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.
SEE 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 2024:
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
leadership
2024年03月03日
leadership
The best HR & People Analytics articles of January 20242024年对HR专业人士来说是充满挑战和机遇的一年。经济不确定性、地缘政治紧张和技术进步是主要的挑战。文章强调了生产力的重要性,以及来自PwC、麦肯锡和埃森哲的洞察。利物浦经理朱尔根·克洛普的离职案例展示了领导力和文化的重要性。文章还强调了人力资源分析的重要性,提供了来自领先公司的见解。
2024年的HR趋势和预测涵盖了人工智能的影响和向基于技能的组织的转变。工作场所的心理安全、多样性、平等、包容和归属感仍然是重要议题。这篇文章为HR专业人士提供了全面的指导,帮助他们在未来一年中导航复杂性。
2024 is set to be a momentous year. With economic uncertainty, rising geopolitical conflict, and rapid advances in technology, it is also set to be a stormy 12 months for the world, for organisations, and for HR professionals too.
Perhaps this explains the slew of insightful resources in January, which has made compiling this month’s collection as challenging as it has been enjoyable. One of the key focuses has been on ‘productivity’, and I’ve brought together a number of resources on this topic. There are also new studies from the likes of PwC, McKinsey, Glassdoor, Accenture, and Deloitte as well as articles featuring practitioners from companies including Spotify, Microsoft, Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. There’s lots to enjoy and learn from.
Join me for a webinar on February 21 to discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact
Are you an HR or People Analytics Leader seeking to transform your organisation’s People Analytics from mere insights to impactful business outcomes? If so, I invite you to join me for a webinar that Insight222 is hosting on February 21. Naomi Verghese and I will walk through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I will be joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan will share insights into how S&P Global successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can register for the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
Jürgen Klopp – a study in leadership, culture, and analytics
As a fervent supporter, I’m still processing the totally unexpected news that Jürgen Klopp will be leaving his post as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the current football season. In his press conference on taking the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Klopp stated his goal was to turn Liverpool from “doubters to believers.” He has done this with some aplomb amassing a haul of seven trophies (to date) including the Champions League in 2019 and then, the following year, the Holy Grail of Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.
But Klopp is more than a brilliant football manager. He is the epitome of an empathetic leader. His emotional intelligence and natural humility not only endears Klopp to his players, but to supporters too for whom he is adored. The reaction to the news reduced many Liverpool supporters to tears. I’m still hoping – probably forlornly - that like Alex Ferguson in 2002, Klopp will change his mind and stay.
In the likely event that he does depart, I’m sure that multiple studies will be made on Klopp’s time at Anfield, and that his leadership skills, use of data and analytics, and ability to build an inclusive winning culture will be deservedly celebrated. YNWA.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles.
Looking for a people analytics event to attend in 2024?
Richard Rosenow has also been busy compiling a study of People Analytics Conferences to attend in 2024 with the data collected from practitioners themselves. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), People Analytics World and the Wharton People Analytics Conference all come out well as does the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat. Thanks to Richard for putting this together.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for January and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on December’s compendium (including those in the Comments below).
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
THE QUEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY
MCKINSEY - 2024 and beyond: Will it be economic stagnation or the advent of productivity-driven abundance? | PwC - 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention | JOSH BERSIN - HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity | ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON - How AI Will Transform Productivity | BEN WABER AND NATHANAEL J. FAST - Is GenAI’s Impact on Productivity Overblown?
When I talk with CHROs and People Analytics Leaders at the companies we work with at Insight222, one of the words I’m hearing most at the moment is ‘productivity’. Continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the promise of AI, and challenging talent demographics are all fuelling the demand for productivity from CEOs. Here are five resources that can be filed under the ‘productivity’ umbrella: (1) McKinsey’s Ezra Greenberg, Asutosh Padhi, and Sven Smit present a model for businesses to capture the three-sided productivity opportunity (see FIG 1). (2) Amongst a ton of takeaways, the standout theme from the annual PwC CEO survey is that the vast majority of participating companies are already taking some steps towards reinvention, while CEOs believe that 40% of their work is wasted productivity (see FIG 2). (3) Josh Bersin draws from the PwC survey in his 2024 predictions, where he outlines The Productivity Advantage where “If you can help your company move faster (productivity implies speed, not only profit), you can reinvent faster than your competition.” (4) Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson offers leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. (5) Finally, Ben Waber and Nathanael Fast’s absorbing essay in Harvard Business Review cautions leaders on leaning into the hype on GAI’s supposed positive impact on productivity too heavily. The authors break down two of the key challenges with LLMs: a) their persistent ability to produce convincing falsities and b) the likely long-term negative effects of using LLMs on employees and internal processes.
FIG 1: The three-side productivity opportunity (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: CEOs estimate administrative inefficiency at 40% (Source: PwC)
GERGELY OROSZ AND ABI NODA - Measuring Developer Productivity: Real-World Examples
Continuing the productivity theme, this is an invaluable resource by Gergely Orosz and Abi Noda in The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. It provides detail on developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and Uber (see summary in FIG 3).
FIG 3: Developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies (Source: Pragmatic Engineer)
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
JASMINE PANAYIDES - Nine Ways to Put HR Trends and Predictions into Practice in 2024
There has been a flood of articles advising what the key HR trends, predictions, and opportunities for 2024 are, but how are HR professionals supposed to make sense of these? In her article for the myHRfuture blog, Jasmine Panayides provides actionable tips on how HR professionals can apply the trends, predictions and opportunities to their work, and their organisations so they can deliver value to the company and the workforce. Jasmine also helpfully summarises the trends/predictions from a variety of sources into one table (see FIG 4), including from: Visier Inc., Gartner, Bernard Marr, UNLEASH, Mercer, and Culture Amp as well as my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article.
FIG 4: Analysis of HR Trends and Predictions for 2024 (Source: myHRfuture)
KATARINA BERG - HR Trends for 2024 | GARTNER - 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | GLASSDOOR – 2024 Workforce Trends | HUNG LEE - Forecasting 2024 in Recruitment Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 | KEVIN WHEELER - What Does 2024 Hold in Store for Us? | STACIA GARR AND DANI JOHNSON – 2024 Mega Trends and how people leaders should respond (Webinar)
The deluge of commentators offering their HR trends and opportunities continued in January. As such, it is a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff but in addition to those I highlighted in this compendium in December, and in Jasmine’s article above, I recommend diving into the following: (1) Spotify’s chief people officer, Katarina Berg, highlights ten trends with the common theme being each trend is a bridge, connecting the past with the future, and HR professionals are the architects crafting these vital links – including “Staying Human in the Age of AI – The Humanity Bridge”. (2) Gartner’s Jordan Turner and Emily Rose McRae highlight nine future of work trends for the year ahead (see FIG 5). (3) Aaron Terrazas and Daniel Zhao identify eight workforce trends based on Glassdoor’s data on workplace satisfaction, culture, and conversations. (4) Hung Lee is at the cutting edge of recruiting and HR tech, so his four-part series on recruiting in 2024 is definitely worth checking out – two examples include: “Multi-generational replaces neurodiversity as DEIB hot topic” and “Capital Allocation Shifts from Sourcing & Engagement to Assessment & Verification Tech”. (5) Futurist Kevin Wheeler offers seven insights and predictions together with his self-assessed certainty rating including “Generative AI will dominate, and every product will attempt to incorporate AI. 90% certainty” and “More firms will embrace a four-day workweek 50% certainty”. (6) Finally, I strongly recommend viewing the 2024 Mega Trends webinar hosted by Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson for RedThread Research, which breaks down the key macro factors impacting the world of work and how HR can respond.
FIG 5: 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner)
GREG NEWMAN - 10 important topics that HR will likely ignore in 2024
Greg Newman takes an alternative, wry and contrarian approach by focusing his list of “predictions” on ten things most HR teams will continue to ignore in 2024. My favourite three are: (1) speaking the language of the business, (2) focusing AI conversations on ethics before technology, and (3) learning that good data is required to realise the dreams of AI and analytics.
By aligning HR language with business terminology, we can more effectively demonstrate the value of our initiatives in a way that resonates with business stakeholders.
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ELLYN SHOOK AND PAUL DAUGHERTY - Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI
A new study from Accenture, co-authored by Ellyn Shook and Paul Daugherty, on how generative AI is impacting work, provides guidance on how leaders can: “Set and guide a vision to reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers for a generative AI world, while building a resilient culture to navigate continuous waves of change.” The report reveals a trust gap between workers and leaders on key elements related to GAI’s impact on work, the workforce, and workers. The authors also highlight four accelerators for leaders to navigate the journey ahead: (1) Lead and learn in new ways, (2) Reinvent work, (3) Reshape the workforce (see example in FIG 6), and (4) Prepare workers.
FIG 6: Illustrative example of how work and roles can be reallocated in a GAI future (Source: Accenture)
ROGER W. HOERL AND THOMAS C. REDMAN - What Managers Should Ask About AI Models and Data Sets
The decision on whether to deploy AI models within an organisation ultimately lies with business leaders who may not be qualified to identify risks and weaknesses related to AI models and data sets. In their article, Roger Hoerl and Tom Redman provide (1) A framework (see FIG 7) designed to equip leaders with context and based on their concept of the right data. (2) A set of six questions for leaders to ask their AI model developers before and during modelling work and deployment. (3) Guidance for leaders on how to assess AI model developers’ answers to those six questions.
FIG 7: The Right Data Framework (Source: Roger W. Hoerl and Thomas C. Redman)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
STEVE HATFIELD, SUE CANTRELL, AND BRAD KREIT - Beyond the quick fix: How workforce data can drive deeper organizational problem-solving
The premise of this thoughtful article by Steve Hatfield, Susan Cantrell, and Brad Kreit is that without the right context, even simple measurements can undermine efforts to convert people data into value. They then explore several examples – in the workforce, in the workplace, and in the work – where organisations might be limiting their analysis to the surface level and how deeper analysis can reveal systemic issues that lead to opportunities for transformation. Guidance on three actions leaders can take to help ensure they are not missing important context in their data analysis are provided: (1) Bring data from different domains and sources together for analysis. (2) Make sure you’re measuring what you should—not just what you can. (3) Identify potential biases in data collection algorithms.
If organizations want to move beyond quick fixes and use work and workforce data to drive deeper—and often more challenging—problem-solving, it is important that they look at the data in context.
NAOMI VERGHESE - How to Measure the Value of People Analytics
My Insight222 colleague Naomi Verghese digs how to measure the commercial value of people analytics, highlighting a powerful case study from Jaesun HA and LG Electronics. Naomi provides detail on four key areas where people analytics adds value (business performance, workforce experiences, driving an analytics culture and societal benefit) as well as providing data on the characteristics of companies that ARE creating commercial value from people analytics (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Characteristics of people analytics that disclosed and measured commercial value of people analytics solutions (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends, 2023)
ANDRÉS GARCIA AYALA - 5 Change Drivers Impacting People Analytics & How To Thrive In Them | WILLIS JENSEN - Attrition versus Retention: Which Should I Use? | KEITH McNULTY – Regression Modeling in People Analytics: Survival Analysis | LYDIA WU - The Market Sucks and You are Looking for a Job, Now What? | SEBASTIAN SZACHNOWSKI - 16 HR Metrics for IT | ERIN FLEMING AND NICK JESTEADT - People Analytics Perspectives from the Fringe: Current Priorities and a View on Optimized Teams in 2024
January saw a slew of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Six are highlighted here: (1) Andrés García Ayala highlights some of the key change drivers impacting people analytics and ways to incorporate them into our work. (2) Willis Jensen builds on the recent primer on attrition metrics by Ben Teusch that I highlighted in December’s edition. He explains why we should be using attrition and retention as separate terms that lead to distinct metrics with different objectives (see also FIG 9). (3) Keith McNulty provides another indispensable practical guide for people analysts with a step-by-step tutorial to conducting survival analysis in R. (4) The prolific Lydia Wu turns her attention to providing some handy guidance for those looking for their next people analytics / HR tech role. (5) Sebastian Szachnowski provides a useful breakdown of 16 HR metrics for technology companies. (6) Last but definitely not least, Erin Fleming and Nick Jesteadt provide insights from their survey of fellow people analytics practitioners. Insights include a) 41% of respondents (n=49) operate as a one-person people analytics team, and ii) the main current focus areas of work include employee turnover, cultural engagement, return to office, and restructuring.
FIG 9: When to use Attrition and Retention (Source: Willis Jensen)
MAX BLUMBERG - The Big List of GPTs to Revolutionize Your People Processes | JOHANNES SUNDLO - GenAI for People Analytics
Two articles addressing the opportunity for generative AI in the people space. (1) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? sets out 93 potential ways to upgrade your People Processes with AI and GPTs across four categories – workforce planning and strategy, recruitment, learning and development, and employee wellbeing. (2) Johannes Sundlo provides examples of companies using GAI in their people analytics work to support analyses on engagement data, skills, and tailoring training recommendations.
GPTs are an amazing tool for scenario planning, forecasting future workforce needs, identifying talent gaps, and developing integrated talent strategies.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALLWOOD, AND JOE GROCHOWSKI - Why and How to Move HR to an Outside-In Approach
When asked the question, “What is the biggest challenge in your job today?” HR professionals will typically provide answers such as: “Build a skills-based organisation” or “Help our employees have a better experience”. As Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Joe Grochowski write, these answers would be far more powerful when a “so that” is applied e.g. “Help employees have a better experience so that customer experience improves.” The article demonstrates that greater value is created with an outside-in approach that starts with the needs of external stakeholders (customers, investors, community) and then figuring out the implications inside the company for meeting those needs. Dave, Norm, and Joe also present their Human Capability Framework and a tool that provides an assessment of an organisation’s outside-in performance (see FIG 10).
FIG 10: Human capability from the outside-in - diagnostic questions (Source: Dave Ulrich et al)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMY WEBB - Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business
In her article for Harvard Business Review, Amy Webb defines strategic foresight as “a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption.” Her article also advocates for the integration of strategic foresight as a core competency in every organisation, regardless of size. Moreover, Amy provides guidance on how to operationalise strategic foresight by unveiling a ten-step process. Read alongside another article authored by Amy for HBR: How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist, which includes Amy’s Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (see FIG 11).
FIG 11: A Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (Source: Amy Webb)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM AND PwC - Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets
As the introduction to this compelling collaboration between the World Economic Forum and PwC begins: “Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges facing societies and economies today. The absence of relevant skills impedes business growth, hinders economic prosperity, and inhibits individuals from realizing their full potential.” The report identifies five specific opportunities for intervention where the gains from skills-first solutions are most likely for employers and workers alike (see ‘Skills-first Framework’ in FIG 12). Additionally, the report also showcases 13 Skills First “Lighthouses”, including IBM, Siemens, Standard Chartered and Sanofi. It concludes by offering key takeaways regarding six success factors in implementing skills-first approaches including (1) Sponsorship from leadership, (2) Alignment with business needs, and (3) Data and evaluation for iteration. (Authors: Genesis Elhussein, Mark Rayner, Aarushi Singhania, Saadia Zahidi, Peter Brown MBE, Miral Mir, and Bhushan Sethi).
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals
FIG 12: Skills-first Framework (Source: World Economic Forum
PETER SHEPPARD - Learning from our Skills Journey | BEN AUTY - What are the new skills people will need for the future of work? | TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace
Many of the organisations we work with at Insight222 have embarked on the road to becoming a skills-based organisation. It is not an easy journey, so it is helpful to learn from other companies who are treading this path. Three of these are Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. (1) In his article, Peter Sheppard shares learnings from Ericsson’s skills journey including a) it’s not jobs or skills; it’s skills and jobs, b) it’s a whole organisation activity, c) Less is more with skills, and d) Data drives value. (2) Ben Auty shares insights as to why Lloyds Banking Group is developing a learning culture to build the workforce of the future at the bank, the main skills they are focusing on, and the central role the recently established Reskilling Team is playing. (3) Tanuj Kapilashrami shares how Standard Chartered catalysed their work on skills by identifying adjacencies between ‘sunset’ and ‘sunrise’ roles.
We looked at skills adjacencies between ‘sunset’ jobs and ‘sunrise’ jobs: so, what are the jobs that are going to go away? What are the skills that help employees get reskilled into some of these sunrise jobs? We ran five proofs of concept, we showed some real redeployment opportunities and started making the skills narrative real.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
JENNIFER E. SIGLER WITH STEPHANIE DENINO - So Many Stakeholders, So Little Time: State of EX 2023-2024
The fifth annual State of EX study authored by Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD on behalf of The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. is a treasure chest of insights on the fast-evolving practice of employee experience. It highlights the top four priorities for EX as: (1) Redesigning experiences, (2) Getting broader buy-in for EX work across the organisation, (3) Building an EX roadmap for the organisation, and (4) Getting more / better data. One other standout finding from the study suggests that senior leaders are increasingly focused on EX with a majority of respondents (63%) saying their organisation’s senior leaders view EX as equal to or even more important than other corporate priorities. This bodes well for the future of EX. Thanks to Stephanie Denino and Volker Jacobs for highlighting the study.
FIG 13: EX Team Priorities YOY Change (Source: The EXchange, TI People and FOUNT Global, Inc)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
NADJIA YOUSIF, ASHLEY DARTNELL, GRETCHEN MAY, AND ELIZABETH KNARR - Psychological Safety Levels the Playing Field for Employees | PETER CAPPELLI AND LIAT ELDOR - Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?
Two perspectives on psychological safety in the workplace. In the first article, Nadjia Yousif, Ashley Dartnell, Gretchen May, and Elizabeth Knarr present the findings of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, which finds how psychological safety benefits inclusion, reduces attrition in diverse groups and effectively acts as an equaliser - enabling diverse and disadvantaged employee groups to achieve the same levels of workplace satisfaction as their more advantaged colleagues. The study also highlights the direct relationship between empathetic leadership and feelings of psychological safety in the workforce, giving leaders a clear directive to be empathetic and thereby engender psychological safety. The second article by Peter Cappelli and Liat Eldor presents research that found that when you move from average to high levels of psychological safety, performance in routine jobs actually declined.
FIG 14: Psychological safety has an outsize impact on retention for diversity groups (Source: BCG)
RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER, AND ROB STEMBRIDGE - The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI
While there are some areas where AI is already surpassing or will surpass human capabilities, there are several it cannot replace. Based on their research into employees’ comfort with AI in management, as well as their decades of research on the qualities of effective leadership, Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Robert Stembridge identify the promise (and perils) of AI-enabled management (see FIG 15), as well as the three uniquely human capabilities leaders need to focus on honing, especially as AI begins to figure more in management: (1) awareness, (2) compassion, and (3) wisdom. For more from Rasmus, I recommend listening to his podcast discussion with me: How To Be a More Compassionate Leader.
Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent.
FIG 15: AI versus Human: A matric of leadership activities (Source: Potential Project)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JULIE COFFMAN, ALEX NOETHER, BIANCA BAX, CASSY REICHERT, AND KRYSTLE JIANG - The Business of Belonging: Why making everyone feel included is smart strategy
Revealing data from a Bain survey of 6,000+ employees across four countries, which finds employees who have seen their companies intentionally invest in inclusion since 2020 are three times more likely to feel fully included than employees who have not seen such investment from their employers. Other findings include (1) Combining diversity and inclusion maximises a company’s capacity (by 4x) to innovate, and (2) Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (see FIG 16). (Authors: Julie Coffman, Alex Noether, Bianca Bax, Cassy Reichert, and Krystle Jiang).
FIG 16: Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (Source: Bain)
SHUJAAT AHMAD - DEIB Is At A Crossroads—It’s Time for Bold Action and Clear Metrics
Given recent developments it’s reasonable to say that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is at an existential crossroads. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his excellent article for Round: “Boards, leadership teams, and investors hold the power to set the tone, shape the policies, and allocate the resources to support DEIB initiatives: for DEIB to work effectively, they must shift from well-intentioned wordsmiths to committed drivers that hold the organization accountable for outcomes and positive change.” Shujaat then unveils his blueprint to help leaders assess progress and drive meaningful change, clarifying the ‘why’ before diving into the ‘how’ covering measuring what matters and interventions (see FIG 17). For more from Shujaat, I recommend visiting Belong and Lead.
FIG 17: Source – Shujaat Ahmad
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from January that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - If the Pitch is Too Smooth, It Probably Is: Why AI in HR is Difficult – Part 2 of an insightful essay from Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore (see also Part 1 on disclosures here) where he cuts through the hype to assess how we should be implementing AI in HR.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - A Tale of Two Cultures - In One Company - Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD from Revelio Labs highlights the growing disparity between junior and senior employees (see FIG 18) and identifies the factors causing this malaise. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 18: The growing disparity in sentiment between junior and senior employees (Source: Revelio Labs)
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing – Jeremie K Brecheisen presents findings from Gallup that reveals a disconnect between how well employees and HR leaders believe their organisations are doing when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 84% of CHROs say their organisations are increasing investment in DEIB, while only 31% of employees say their organisation is committed to improving racial justice or equity in their workplace (see FIG 19). The article then outlines ten needs employees say are not being met and then offers strategies to help organisations address the disconnect.
FIG 19: How employees and HR leaders differ on perceptions of DEIB progress (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Navigating the ONA Landscape: Trends and Challenges for 2024 - Another good read from Cognitive Talent Solutions, as Francisco Marin explores the key trends and challenges shaping the ONA space in 2024.
IAN WHITE - The three C’s of effective performance management – Ian White, CEO at ChartHop, presents the three C’s of performance management — continuous, contextual and cultural — designed to help companies understand their employees more holistically.
CHRISTINA JANZER - The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity – Christina Janzer presents findings from Slack’s Workforce Index, which identifies findings on how to structure the workday to maximise employee productivity, well-being and satisfaction – including the connection between after hours work and decreased productivity.
FIG 20: Source – Slack
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
AMY EDMONDSON AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN – Right Kind of Failure – Amy Edmondson joins Laurie Ruettimann on the brilliantly named Punk Rock HR to explore the essential role of failure in our professional and personal growth.
STACIA GARR, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics & HR Tech Research by Industry Analysts – Stacia Sherman Garr, one of the industry’s top analysts, joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the research Stacia and her team at RedThread Research do in the people analytics and HR technology space.
RICHARD ROSENOW, MADDIE GRANT, AND SANJA LICINA - How to Build an Integrated Framework for Workforce Listening – In an episode of the Empowering Workplaces podcast, Richard Rosenow joins hosts Maddie Grant and Sanja Licina, Ph.D. to talk about The Three Channels of Workforce Information: conversations (“what people say”), surveys (“what people say they do”) and systems (“what people do”) as a way to build a comprehensive understanding of your workforce.
McKINSEY - The shape of talent in 2023 and 2024 - In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock, Brooke Weddle and host Lucia Rahilly highlight the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to ‘redefine its contours’ yet again in 2024.
MATTHEW BIDWELL AND DAN LONEY – Forecasting 2024 Workplace Trends – Wharton Professor and convenor of the Wharton People Analytics Conference, Matthew Bidwell, joins host of the Wharton Business Daily Dan Loney to look at the year ahead in the workplace.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
CHRIS LOUIE, TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, TERRI HORTON, AND LINDSEY SHINTANI - Power a dynamic workforce by embracing AI
An enlightening panel discussion from the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect where Chris Louie, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, and Lindsey Shintani discuss how AI is changing learning and career paths. They provide guidance on how to overcome AI anxiety and empower impactful futures.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KEVIN WHEELER AND BAS VAN DE HATERD – Talent Acquisition Excellence
An excellent new book published by Kogan Page and authored by Kevin Wheeler and Bas van de Haterd (He/His/Him). It provides an insightful and detailed analysis of how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with analytics can improve talent acquisition and recruitment.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
YUYE DING AND MARK (SHUAI) MA - Return-to-Office Mandates
A huge thank you to Nick Bloom for bringing my attention to this paper from Yuye Ding and Mark Ma, which studied the impact of 137 Return to Office mandates on the performance of S&P500 firms from 2020-2023. The key findings, as summarised by Nick, are illuminating: (1) RTO mandates are more likely in firms with poor recent stock performance, and in those with powerful male CEOs. (2) Glassdoor data finds RTO mandates significantly reduce employee ratings for job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior management. (3) There is no significant impact of RTO mandates on either firm profitability or firm stock-returns.
FIG 21: Distribution of firms’ RTO mandates (Source: Yuye Ding and Mark Ma)
FROM MY DESK
January saw the first three episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at ScreenCloud. Thank you to Luke Farrugia.
DAVID GREEN - The best 60 HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 – My tenth annual collection of HR and people analytics resources is spread across two articles and ten themes. Part 1 covers i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 covers: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, DAWN KLINGHOFFER, AND JEREMY SHAPIRO - HR in 2024: The Impact of People Analytics, AI & ML – In a special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast to kick off 2024, I was joined by Thomas Rasmussen, Dawn Klinghoffer, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the outlook for HR and people analytics in the coming 12 months.
SERENA HUANG - How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics - Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., who has led people analytics functions at companies including GE, PayPal and Kraft Heinz, joins me to discuss the common career paths observed in the people analytics field and how they have evolved over the years.
KAZ HASSAN AND LUKE FARUGGIA - How to Bridge the Gap Between Customer and Employee Experience - What can HR learn from marketing's journey in using data, analytics and technology to understand and personalise the customer experience? How can we leverage these insights in HR to boost our employee experience initiatives? Kaz Hassan and Luke Faruggia join me to discuss these topics and more.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Recruit CRM for nominating me as ‘The People Analytics Pioneer’ in their list of 50 Recruitment Influencers to Follow in 2024
Likewise, a huge thank you to 365Talents for including me as one of the Top 50 HR Influencers to Follow in 2024
Similarly, thanks to HRCap, Inc. for including me in their list of 10 HR Influencers who Provide Remarkable Insights
The Social Craft (here) and The Talent Games (here) for also including me in their lists of HR and HR Tech leaders to follow.
HRDConnect for quoting me in their article Data Literacy: A must-have for HR professionals in 2024.
Gianni Giacomelli for including the Data Driven HR monthly in his list of seven must-read newsletters.
HR Geckos for including Excellence in People Analytics as a book recommendation in their HR Bytes Newsletter for January 2024.
Sebastian Szachnowski for including Excellence in People Analytics in his list of books to get better at people analytics.
Leapsome for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of its Top 10 HR Podcasts for 2024.
Similarly, Alexandre Darbois for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of his 5 HR Podcasts.
Melissa Meredith for using my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article to highlight the importance of the HR-Finance partnership in building a thriving company.
Bill Brown for also highlighting my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article in his Eleven Trends Transforming the Future of Work in 2024.
Mirro.io for including me as a contributor in their list of 15 HR Trends for 2024.
Dhanesh K for including as one of his 10 Top HR Leaders to Follow.
Lanteria HR for recommending me as one of their HR Experts to Follow in 2024.
Semos Cloud for including my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 as part of their round-up of HR insights.
Thomas Kohler for including my Best HR and People Analytics Articles of 2023 in their collection of HR resources to read.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2023.
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 90 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.
SEE 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 2024:
Feb 21 - Discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact (Webinar)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
leadership
2024年03月02日
leadership
The best HR & People Analytics articles of January 2024
2024 is set to be a momentous year. With economic uncertainty, rising geopolitical conflict, and rapid advances in technology, it is also set to be a stormy 12 months for the world, for organisations, and for HR professionals too.
Perhaps this explains the slew of insightful resources in January, which has made compiling this month’s collection as challenging as it has been enjoyable. One of the key focuses has been on ‘productivity’, and I’ve brought together a number of resources on this topic. There are also new studies from the likes of PwC, McKinsey, Glassdoor, Accenture, and Deloitte as well as articles featuring practitioners from companies including Spotify, Microsoft, Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. There’s lots to enjoy and learn from.
Join me for a webinar on February 21 to discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact
Are you an HR or People Analytics Leader seeking to transform your organisation’s People Analytics from mere insights to impactful business outcomes? If so, I invite you to join me for a webinar that Insight222 is hosting on February 21. Naomi Verghese and I will walk through the findings from the Insight222 People Analytics Trends research, unveiling the distinctive characteristics of ABCD Teams that propel organisations to new heights. Naomi and I will be joined by Alan Susi, VP and Global Head of Organisational Analytics and People Insights at S&P Global. Alan will share insights into how S&P Global successfully elevated their approach to people analytics, turning data into tangible business outcomes. You can register for the webinar here – or by clicking the image below.
Jürgen Klopp – a study in leadership, culture, and analytics
As a fervent supporter, I’m still processing the totally unexpected news that Jürgen Klopp will be leaving his post as the manager of Liverpool at the end of the current football season. In his press conference on taking the reins at Anfield in October 2015, Klopp stated his goal was to turn Liverpool from “doubters to believers.” He has done this with some aplomb amassing a haul of seven trophies (to date) including the Champions League in 2019 and then, the following year, the Holy Grail of Liverpool’s first league title in 30 years.
But Klopp is more than a brilliant football manager. He is the epitome of an empathetic leader. His emotional intelligence and natural humility not only endears Klopp to his players, but to supporters too for whom he is adored. The reaction to the news reduced many Liverpool supporters to tears. I’m still hoping – probably forlornly - that like Alex Ferguson in 2002, Klopp will change his mind and stay.
In the likely event that he does depart, I’m sure that multiple studies will be made on Klopp’s time at Anfield, and that his leadership skills, use of data and analytics, and ability to build an inclusive winning culture will be deservedly celebrated. YNWA.
Looking for a new role in people analytics or HR tech?
Before we get to this month’s collection of resources, I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 500 roles.
Looking for a people analytics event to attend in 2024?
Richard Rosenow has also been busy compiling a study of People Analytics Conferences to attend in 2024 with the data collected from practitioners themselves. Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP), People Analytics World and the Wharton People Analytics Conference all come out well as does the Insight222 Global Executive Retreat. Thanks to Richard for putting this together.
Share the love!
Enjoy reading the collection of resources for January and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on December’s compendium (including those in the Comments below).
If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here.
THE QUEST FOR PRODUCTIVITY
MCKINSEY - 2024 and beyond: Will it be economic stagnation or the advent of productivity-driven abundance? | PwC - 27th Annual Global CEO Survey: Thriving in an age of continuous reinvention | JOSH BERSIN - HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity | ERIK BRYNJOLFSSON - How AI Will Transform Productivity | BEN WABER AND NATHANAEL J. FAST - Is GenAI’s Impact on Productivity Overblown?
When I talk with CHROs and People Analytics Leaders at the companies we work with at Insight222, one of the words I’m hearing most at the moment is ‘productivity’. Continuing economic and geopolitical uncertainty, the promise of AI, and challenging talent demographics are all fuelling the demand for productivity from CEOs. Here are five resources that can be filed under the ‘productivity’ umbrella: (1) McKinsey’s Ezra Greenberg, Asutosh Padhi, and Sven Smit present a model for businesses to capture the three-sided productivity opportunity (see FIG 1). (2) Amongst a ton of takeaways, the standout theme from the annual PwC CEO survey is that the vast majority of participating companies are already taking some steps towards reinvention, while CEOs believe that 40% of their work is wasted productivity (see FIG 2). (3) Josh Bersin draws from the PwC survey in his 2024 predictions, where he outlines The Productivity Advantage where “If you can help your company move faster (productivity implies speed, not only profit), you can reinvent faster than your competition.” (4) Stanford professor Erik Brynjolfsson offers leaders an overview of how AI will transform productivity. (5) Finally, Ben Waber and Nathanael Fast’s absorbing essay in Harvard Business Review cautions leaders on leaning into the hype on GAI’s supposed positive impact on productivity too heavily. The authors break down two of the key challenges with LLMs: a) their persistent ability to produce convincing falsities and b) the likely long-term negative effects of using LLMs on employees and internal processes.
FIG 1: The three-side productivity opportunity (Source: McKinsey)
FIG 2: CEOs estimate administrative inefficiency at 40% (Source: PwC)
GERGELY OROSZ AND ABI NODA - Measuring Developer Productivity: Real-World Examples
Continuing the productivity theme, this is an invaluable resource by Gergely Orosz and Abi Noda in The Pragmatic Engineer newsletter. It provides detail on developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies including Google, Microsoft, Spotify, and Uber (see summary in FIG 3).
FIG 3: Developer productivity metrics at 17 tech companies (Source: Pragmatic Engineer)
2024 HR TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS
JASMINE PANAYIDES - Nine Ways to Put HR Trends and Predictions into Practice in 2024
There has been a flood of articles advising what the key HR trends, predictions, and opportunities for 2024 are, but how are HR professionals supposed to make sense of these? In her article for the myHRfuture blog, Jasmine Panayides provides actionable tips on how HR professionals can apply the trends, predictions and opportunities to their work, and their organisations so they can deliver value to the company and the workforce. Jasmine also helpfully summarises the trends/predictions from a variety of sources into one table (see FIG 4), including from: Visier Inc., Gartner, Bernard Marr, UNLEASH, Mercer, and Culture Amp as well as my own 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article.
FIG 4: Analysis of HR Trends and Predictions for 2024 (Source: myHRfuture)
KATARINA BERG - HR Trends for 2024 | GARTNER - 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 | GLASSDOOR – 2024 Workforce Trends | HUNG LEE - Forecasting 2024 in Recruitment Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 | KEVIN WHEELER - What Does 2024 Hold in Store for Us? | STACIA GARR AND DANI JOHNSON – 2024 Mega Trends and how people leaders should respond (Webinar)
The deluge of commentators offering their HR trends and opportunities continued in January. As such, it is a challenge to sort the wheat from the chaff but in addition to those I highlighted in this compendium in December, and in Jasmine’s article above, I recommend diving into the following: (1) Spotify’s chief people officer, Katarina Berg, highlights ten trends with the common theme being each trend is a bridge, connecting the past with the future, and HR professionals are the architects crafting these vital links – including “Staying Human in the Age of AI – The Humanity Bridge”. (2) Gartner’s Jordan Turner and Emily Rose McRae highlight nine future of work trends for the year ahead (see FIG 5). (3) Aaron Terrazas and Daniel Zhao identify eight workforce trends based on Glassdoor’s data on workplace satisfaction, culture, and conversations. (4) Hung Lee is at the cutting edge of recruiting and HR tech, so his four-part series on recruiting in 2024 is definitely worth checking out – two examples include: “Multi-generational replaces neurodiversity as DEIB hot topic” and “Capital Allocation Shifts from Sourcing & Engagement to Assessment & Verification Tech”. (5) Futurist Kevin Wheeler offers seven insights and predictions together with his self-assessed certainty rating including “Generative AI will dominate, and every product will attempt to incorporate AI. 90% certainty” and “More firms will embrace a four-day workweek 50% certainty”. (6) Finally, I strongly recommend viewing the 2024 Mega Trends webinar hosted by Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson for RedThread Research, which breaks down the key macro factors impacting the world of work and how HR can respond.
FIG 5: 9 Future of Work Trends for 2024 (Source: Gartner)
GREG NEWMAN - 10 important topics that HR will likely ignore in 2024
Greg Newman takes an alternative, wry and contrarian approach by focusing his list of “predictions” on ten things most HR teams will continue to ignore in 2024. My favourite three are: (1) speaking the language of the business, (2) focusing AI conversations on ethics before technology, and (3) learning that good data is required to realise the dreams of AI and analytics.
By aligning HR language with business terminology, we can more effectively demonstrate the value of our initiatives in a way that resonates with business stakeholders.
GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK
ELLYN SHOOK AND PAUL DAUGHERTY - Work, workforce, workers: Reinvented in the age of generative AI
A new study from Accenture, co-authored by Ellyn Shook and Paul Daugherty, on how generative AI is impacting work, provides guidance on how leaders can: “Set and guide a vision to reinvent work, reshape the workforce and prepare workers for a generative AI world, while building a resilient culture to navigate continuous waves of change.” The report reveals a trust gap between workers and leaders on key elements related to GAI’s impact on work, the workforce, and workers. The authors also highlight four accelerators for leaders to navigate the journey ahead: (1) Lead and learn in new ways, (2) Reinvent work, (3) Reshape the workforce (see example in FIG 6), and (4) Prepare workers.
FIG 6: Illustrative example of how work and roles can be reallocated in a GAI future (Source: Accenture)
ROGER W. HOERL AND THOMAS C. REDMAN - What Managers Should Ask About AI Models and Data Sets
The decision on whether to deploy AI models within an organisation ultimately lies with business leaders who may not be qualified to identify risks and weaknesses related to AI models and data sets. In their article, Roger Hoerl and Tom Redman provide (1) A framework (see FIG 7) designed to equip leaders with context and based on their concept of the right data. (2) A set of six questions for leaders to ask their AI model developers before and during modelling work and deployment. (3) Guidance for leaders on how to assess AI model developers’ answers to those six questions.
FIG 7: The Right Data Framework (Source: Roger W. Hoerl and Thomas C. Redman)
PEOPLE ANALYTICS
STEVE HATFIELD, SUE CANTRELL, AND BRAD KREIT - Beyond the quick fix: How workforce data can drive deeper organizational problem-solving
The premise of this thoughtful article by Steve Hatfield, Susan Cantrell, and Brad Kreit is that without the right context, even simple measurements can undermine efforts to convert people data into value. They then explore several examples – in the workforce, in the workplace, and in the work – where organisations might be limiting their analysis to the surface level and how deeper analysis can reveal systemic issues that lead to opportunities for transformation. Guidance on three actions leaders can take to help ensure they are not missing important context in their data analysis are provided: (1) Bring data from different domains and sources together for analysis. (2) Make sure you’re measuring what you should—not just what you can. (3) Identify potential biases in data collection algorithms.
If organizations want to move beyond quick fixes and use work and workforce data to drive deeper—and often more challenging—problem-solving, it is important that they look at the data in context.
NAOMI VERGHESE - How to Measure the Value of People Analytics
My Insight222 colleague Naomi Verghese digs how to measure the commercial value of people analytics, highlighting a powerful case study from Jaesun HA and LG Electronics. Naomi provides detail on four key areas where people analytics adds value (business performance, workforce experiences, driving an analytics culture and societal benefit) as well as providing data on the characteristics of companies that ARE creating commercial value from people analytics (see FIG 8).
FIG 8: Characteristics of people analytics that disclosed and measured commercial value of people analytics solutions (Source: Insight222 People Analytics Trends, 2023)
ANDRÉS GARCIA AYALA - 5 Change Drivers Impacting People Analytics & How To Thrive In Them | WILLIS JENSEN - Attrition versus Retention: Which Should I Use? | KEITH McNULTY – Regression Modeling in People Analytics: Survival Analysis | LYDIA WU - The Market Sucks and You are Looking for a Job, Now What? | SEBASTIAN SZACHNOWSKI - 16 HR Metrics for IT | ERIN FLEMING AND NICK JESTEADT - People Analytics Perspectives from the Fringe: Current Priorities and a View on Optimized Teams in 2024
January saw a slew of articles from current and recent people analytics leaders, which typically act as a spur and inspiration for the field. Six are highlighted here: (1) Andrés García Ayala highlights some of the key change drivers impacting people analytics and ways to incorporate them into our work. (2) Willis Jensen builds on the recent primer on attrition metrics by Ben Teusch that I highlighted in December’s edition. He explains why we should be using attrition and retention as separate terms that lead to distinct metrics with different objectives (see also FIG 9). (3) Keith McNulty provides another indispensable practical guide for people analysts with a step-by-step tutorial to conducting survival analysis in R. (4) The prolific Lydia Wu turns her attention to providing some handy guidance for those looking for their next people analytics / HR tech role. (5) Sebastian Szachnowski provides a useful breakdown of 16 HR metrics for technology companies. (6) Last but definitely not least, Erin Fleming and Nick Jesteadt provide insights from their survey of fellow people analytics practitioners. Insights include a) 41% of respondents (n=49) operate as a one-person people analytics team, and ii) the main current focus areas of work include employee turnover, cultural engagement, return to office, and restructuring.
FIG 9: When to use Attrition and Retention (Source: Willis Jensen)
MAX BLUMBERG - The Big List of GPTs to Revolutionize Your People Processes | JOHANNES SUNDLO - GenAI for People Analytics
Two articles addressing the opportunity for generative AI in the people space. (1) Max Blumberg (JA) ?? sets out 93 potential ways to upgrade your People Processes with AI and GPTs across four categories – workforce planning and strategy, recruitment, learning and development, and employee wellbeing. (2) Johannes Sundlo provides examples of companies using GAI in their people analytics work to support analyses on engagement data, skills, and tailoring training recommendations.
GPTs are an amazing tool for scenario planning, forecasting future workforce needs, identifying talent gaps, and developing integrated talent strategies.
THE EVOLUTION OF HR AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE
DAVE ULRICH, NORM SMALLWOOD, AND JOE GROCHOWSKI - Why and How to Move HR to an Outside-In Approach
When asked the question, “What is the biggest challenge in your job today?” HR professionals will typically provide answers such as: “Build a skills-based organisation” or “Help our employees have a better experience”. As Dave Ulrich, Norm Smallwood, and Joe Grochowski write, these answers would be far more powerful when a “so that” is applied e.g. “Help employees have a better experience so that customer experience improves.” The article demonstrates that greater value is created with an outside-in approach that starts with the needs of external stakeholders (customers, investors, community) and then figuring out the implications inside the company for meeting those needs. Dave, Norm, and Joe also present their Human Capability Framework and a tool that provides an assessment of an organisation’s outside-in performance (see FIG 10).
FIG 10: Human capability from the outside-in - diagnostic questions (Source: Dave Ulrich et al)
WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS
AMY WEBB - Bringing True Strategic Foresight Back to Business
In her article for Harvard Business Review, Amy Webb defines strategic foresight as “a disciplined and systematic approach to identify where to play, how to win in the future, and how to ensure organizational resiliency in the face of unforeseen disruption.” Her article also advocates for the integration of strategic foresight as a core competency in every organisation, regardless of size. Moreover, Amy provides guidance on how to operationalise strategic foresight by unveiling a ten-step process. Read alongside another article authored by Amy for HBR: How to Do Strategic Planning Like a Futurist, which includes Amy’s Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (see FIG 11).
FIG 11: A Futurist’s Framework for Strategic Planning (Source: Amy Webb)
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM AND PwC - Putting Skills First: Opportunities for Building Efficient and Equitable Labour Markets
As the introduction to this compelling collaboration between the World Economic Forum and PwC begins: “Skills and talent shortages are critical challenges facing societies and economies today. The absence of relevant skills impedes business growth, hinders economic prosperity, and inhibits individuals from realizing their full potential.” The report identifies five specific opportunities for intervention where the gains from skills-first solutions are most likely for employers and workers alike (see ‘Skills-first Framework’ in FIG 12). Additionally, the report also showcases 13 Skills First “Lighthouses”, including IBM, Siemens, Standard Chartered and Sanofi. It concludes by offering key takeaways regarding six success factors in implementing skills-first approaches including (1) Sponsorship from leadership, (2) Alignment with business needs, and (3) Data and evaluation for iteration. (Authors: Genesis Elhussein, Mark Rayner, Aarushi Singhania, Saadia Zahidi, Peter Brown MBE, Miral Mir, and Bhushan Sethi).
A cultural shift to skills-first approaches needs both sponsorship from executives and governance from human-resources professionals
FIG 12: Skills-first Framework (Source: World Economic Forum
PETER SHEPPARD - Learning from our Skills Journey | BEN AUTY - What are the new skills people will need for the future of work? | TANUJ KAPILASHRAMI - How Standard Chartered is Unlocking the Power of Skills in the Workplace
Many of the organisations we work with at Insight222 have embarked on the road to becoming a skills-based organisation. It is not an easy journey, so it is helpful to learn from other companies who are treading this path. Three of these are Ericsson, Lloyds Banking Group, and Standard Chartered. (1) In his article, Peter Sheppard shares learnings from Ericsson’s skills journey including a) it’s not jobs or skills; it’s skills and jobs, b) it’s a whole organisation activity, c) Less is more with skills, and d) Data drives value. (2) Ben Auty shares insights as to why Lloyds Banking Group is developing a learning culture to build the workforce of the future at the bank, the main skills they are focusing on, and the central role the recently established Reskilling Team is playing. (3) Tanuj Kapilashrami shares how Standard Chartered catalysed their work on skills by identifying adjacencies between ‘sunset’ and ‘sunrise’ roles.
We looked at skills adjacencies between ‘sunset’ jobs and ‘sunrise’ jobs: so, what are the jobs that are going to go away? What are the skills that help employees get reskilled into some of these sunrise jobs? We ran five proofs of concept, we showed some real redeployment opportunities and started making the skills narrative real.
EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING
JENNIFER E. SIGLER WITH STEPHANIE DENINO - So Many Stakeholders, So Little Time: State of EX 2023-2024
The fifth annual State of EX study authored by Jennifer E. Sigler, PhD on behalf of The EXchange, Inc, TI PEOPLE and FOUNT Global, Inc. is a treasure chest of insights on the fast-evolving practice of employee experience. It highlights the top four priorities for EX as: (1) Redesigning experiences, (2) Getting broader buy-in for EX work across the organisation, (3) Building an EX roadmap for the organisation, and (4) Getting more / better data. One other standout finding from the study suggests that senior leaders are increasingly focused on EX with a majority of respondents (63%) saying their organisation’s senior leaders view EX as equal to or even more important than other corporate priorities. This bodes well for the future of EX. Thanks to Stephanie Denino and Volker Jacobs for highlighting the study.
FIG 13: EX Team Priorities YOY Change (Source: The EXchange, TI People and FOUNT Global, Inc)
LEADERSHIP AND CULTURE
NADJIA YOUSIF, ASHLEY DARTNELL, GRETCHEN MAY, AND ELIZABETH KNARR - Psychological Safety Levels the Playing Field for Employees | PETER CAPPELLI AND LIAT ELDOR - Can Workplaces Have Too Much Psychological Safety?
Two perspectives on psychological safety in the workplace. In the first article, Nadjia Yousif, Ashley Dartnell, Gretchen May, and Elizabeth Knarr present the findings of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) research, which finds how psychological safety benefits inclusion, reduces attrition in diverse groups and effectively acts as an equaliser - enabling diverse and disadvantaged employee groups to achieve the same levels of workplace satisfaction as their more advantaged colleagues. The study also highlights the direct relationship between empathetic leadership and feelings of psychological safety in the workforce, giving leaders a clear directive to be empathetic and thereby engender psychological safety. The second article by Peter Cappelli and Liat Eldor presents research that found that when you move from average to high levels of psychological safety, performance in routine jobs actually declined.
FIG 14: Psychological safety has an outsize impact on retention for diversity groups (Source: BCG)
RASMUS HOUGAARD, JACQUELINE CARTER, AND ROB STEMBRIDGE - The Best Leaders Can’t Be Replaced by AI
While there are some areas where AI is already surpassing or will surpass human capabilities, there are several it cannot replace. Based on their research into employees’ comfort with AI in management, as well as their decades of research on the qualities of effective leadership, Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Robert Stembridge identify the promise (and perils) of AI-enabled management (see FIG 15), as well as the three uniquely human capabilities leaders need to focus on honing, especially as AI begins to figure more in management: (1) awareness, (2) compassion, and (3) wisdom. For more from Rasmus, I recommend listening to his podcast discussion with me: How To Be a More Compassionate Leader.
Leaders who deepen their ability to lead with humanity will win at attracting, retaining, developing, and motivating top talent.
FIG 15: AI versus Human: A matric of leadership activities (Source: Potential Project)
DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION, AND BELONGING
JULIE COFFMAN, ALEX NOETHER, BIANCA BAX, CASSY REICHERT, AND KRYSTLE JIANG - The Business of Belonging: Why making everyone feel included is smart strategy
Revealing data from a Bain survey of 6,000+ employees across four countries, which finds employees who have seen their companies intentionally invest in inclusion since 2020 are three times more likely to feel fully included than employees who have not seen such investment from their employers. Other findings include (1) Combining diversity and inclusion maximises a company’s capacity (by 4x) to innovate, and (2) Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (see FIG 16). (Authors: Julie Coffman, Alex Noether, Bianca Bax, Cassy Reichert, and Krystle Jiang).
FIG 16: Employees with inclusive leadership are 9x more likely to feel fully included at work (Source: Bain)
SHUJAAT AHMAD - DEIB Is At A Crossroads—It’s Time for Bold Action and Clear Metrics
Given recent developments it’s reasonable to say that Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is at an existential crossroads. As Shujaat Ahmad writes in his excellent article for Round: “Boards, leadership teams, and investors hold the power to set the tone, shape the policies, and allocate the resources to support DEIB initiatives: for DEIB to work effectively, they must shift from well-intentioned wordsmiths to committed drivers that hold the organization accountable for outcomes and positive change.” Shujaat then unveils his blueprint to help leaders assess progress and drive meaningful change, clarifying the ‘why’ before diving into the ‘how’ covering measuring what matters and interventions (see FIG 17). For more from Shujaat, I recommend visiting Belong and Lead.
FIG 17: Source – Shujaat Ahmad
HR TECH VOICES
Much of the innovation in the field continues to be driven by the vendor community, and I’ve picked out a few resources from January that I recommend readers delve into:
ERNEST NG - If the Pitch is Too Smooth, It Probably Is: Why AI in HR is Difficult – Part 2 of an insightful essay from Ernest Ng, PhD of HiredScore (see also Part 1 on disclosures here) where he cuts through the hype to assess how we should be implementing AI in HR.
LOUJAINA ABDELWAHED - A Tale of Two Cultures - In One Company - Loujaina Abdelwahed, PhD from Revelio Labs highlights the growing disparity between junior and senior employees (see FIG 18) and identifies the factors causing this malaise. Thanks to Ben Zweig for highlighting.
FIG 18: The growing disparity in sentiment between junior and senior employees (Source: Revelio Labs)
JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - Where Employees Think Companies’ DEIB Efforts Are Failing – Jeremie K Brecheisen presents findings from Gallup that reveals a disconnect between how well employees and HR leaders believe their organisations are doing when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging: 84% of CHROs say their organisations are increasing investment in DEIB, while only 31% of employees say their organisation is committed to improving racial justice or equity in their workplace (see FIG 19). The article then outlines ten needs employees say are not being met and then offers strategies to help organisations address the disconnect.
FIG 19: How employees and HR leaders differ on perceptions of DEIB progress (Source: Gallup)
FRANCISCO MARIN - Navigating the ONA Landscape: Trends and Challenges for 2024 - Another good read from Cognitive Talent Solutions, as Francisco Marin explores the key trends and challenges shaping the ONA space in 2024.
IAN WHITE - The three C’s of effective performance management – Ian White, CEO at ChartHop, presents the three C’s of performance management — continuous, contextual and cultural — designed to help companies understand their employees more holistically.
CHRISTINA JANZER - The surprising connection between after-hours work and decreased productivity – Christina Janzer presents findings from Slack’s Workforce Index, which identifies findings on how to structure the workday to maximise employee productivity, well-being and satisfaction – including the connection between after hours work and decreased productivity.
FIG 20: Source – Slack
PODCASTS OF THE MONTH
In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected five gems for your aural pleasure: (you can also check out the latest episodes of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast – see ‘From My Desk’ below):
AMY EDMONDSON AND LAURIE RUETTIMANN – Right Kind of Failure – Amy Edmondson joins Laurie Ruettimann on the brilliantly named Punk Rock HR to explore the essential role of failure in our professional and personal growth.
STACIA GARR, COLE NAPPER, AND SCOTT HINES - People Analytics & HR Tech Research by Industry Analysts – Stacia Sherman Garr, one of the industry’s top analysts, joins Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD on the Directionally Correct podcast to discuss the research Stacia and her team at RedThread Research do in the people analytics and HR technology space.
RICHARD ROSENOW, MADDIE GRANT, AND SANJA LICINA - How to Build an Integrated Framework for Workforce Listening – In an episode of the Empowering Workplaces podcast, Richard Rosenow joins hosts Maddie Grant and Sanja Licina, Ph.D. to talk about The Three Channels of Workforce Information: conversations (“what people say”), surveys (“what people say they do”) and systems (“what people do”) as a way to build a comprehensive understanding of your workforce.
McKINSEY - The shape of talent in 2023 and 2024 - In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Bryan Hancock, Brooke Weddle and host Lucia Rahilly highlight the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to ‘redefine its contours’ yet again in 2024.
MATTHEW BIDWELL AND DAN LONEY – Forecasting 2024 Workplace Trends – Wharton Professor and convenor of the Wharton People Analytics Conference, Matthew Bidwell, joins host of the Wharton Business Daily Dan Loney to look at the year ahead in the workplace.
VIDEO OF THE MONTH
CHRIS LOUIE, TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC, TERRI HORTON, AND LINDSEY SHINTANI - Power a dynamic workforce by embracing AI
An enlightening panel discussion from the recent LinkedIn Talent Connect where Chris Louie, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Terri Horton, EdD, MBA, MA, SHRM-CP, PHR, and Lindsey Shintani discuss how AI is changing learning and career paths. They provide guidance on how to overcome AI anxiety and empower impactful futures.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
KEVIN WHEELER AND BAS VAN DE HATERD – Talent Acquisition Excellence
An excellent new book published by Kogan Page and authored by Kevin Wheeler and Bas van de Haterd (He/His/Him). It provides an insightful and detailed analysis of how technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning in combination with analytics can improve talent acquisition and recruitment.
RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH
YUYE DING AND MARK (SHUAI) MA - Return-to-Office Mandates
A huge thank you to Nick Bloom for bringing my attention to this paper from Yuye Ding and Mark Ma, which studied the impact of 137 Return to Office mandates on the performance of S&P500 firms from 2020-2023. The key findings, as summarised by Nick, are illuminating: (1) RTO mandates are more likely in firms with poor recent stock performance, and in those with powerful male CEOs. (2) Glassdoor data finds RTO mandates significantly reduce employee ratings for job satisfaction, work-life balance, and senior management. (3) There is no significant impact of RTO mandates on either firm profitability or firm stock-returns.
FIG 21: Distribution of firms’ RTO mandates (Source: Yuye Ding and Mark Ma)
FROM MY DESK
January saw the first three episodes of Series 36 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, sponsored by our friends at ScreenCloud. Thank you to Luke Farrugia.
DAVID GREEN - The best 60 HR & People Analytics articles of 2023 Part 1 | Part 2 – My tenth annual collection of HR and people analytics resources is spread across two articles and ten themes. Part 1 covers i) the future of work and people strategy, ii) workplace design and strategy, iii) AI and the world of work, iv) people analytics, and v) employee experience, listening and wellbeing. Part 2 covers: vi) the evolution of HR, HR operating models and the CHRO, vii) building a data driven culture in HR, viii) workforce planning, skills, and talent marketplace, ix) leadership and culture, and x) diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
THOMAS RASMUSSEN, DAWN KLINGHOFFER, AND JEREMY SHAPIRO - HR in 2024: The Impact of People Analytics, AI & ML – In a special episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast to kick off 2024, I was joined by Thomas Rasmussen, Dawn Klinghoffer, and Jeremy Shapiro to discuss the outlook for HR and people analytics in the coming 12 months.
SERENA HUANG - How to Enhance Your Career in People Analytics - Serena H. Huang, Ph.D., who has led people analytics functions at companies including GE, PayPal and Kraft Heinz, joins me to discuss the common career paths observed in the people analytics field and how they have evolved over the years.
KAZ HASSAN AND LUKE FARUGGIA - How to Bridge the Gap Between Customer and Employee Experience - What can HR learn from marketing's journey in using data, analytics and technology to understand and personalise the customer experience? How can we leverage these insights in HR to boost our employee experience initiatives? Kaz Hassan and Luke Faruggia join me to discuss these topics and more.
THANK YOU
Finally, this month I’d like to thank:
Recruit CRM for nominating me as ‘The People Analytics Pioneer’ in their list of 50 Recruitment Influencers to Follow in 2024
Likewise, a huge thank you to 365Talents for including me as one of the Top 50 HR Influencers to Follow in 2024
Similarly, thanks to HRCap, Inc. for including me in their list of 10 HR Influencers who Provide Remarkable Insights
The Social Craft (here) and The Talent Games (here) for also including me in their lists of HR and HR Tech leaders to follow.
HRDConnect for quoting me in their article Data Literacy: A must-have for HR professionals in 2024.
Gianni Giacomelli for including the Data Driven HR monthly in his list of seven must-read newsletters.
HR Geckos for including Excellence in People Analytics as a book recommendation in their HR Bytes Newsletter for January 2024.
Sebastian Szachnowski for including Excellence in People Analytics in his list of books to get better at people analytics.
Leapsome for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of its Top 10 HR Podcasts for 2024.
Similarly, Alexandre Darbois for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast as one of his 5 HR Podcasts.
Melissa Meredith for using my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article to highlight the importance of the HR-Finance partnership in building a thriving company.
Bill Brown for also highlighting my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 article in his Eleven Trends Transforming the Future of Work in 2024.
Mirro.io for including me as a contributor in their list of 15 HR Trends for 2024.
Dhanesh K for including as one of his 10 Top HR Leaders to Follow.
Lanteria HR for recommending me as one of their HR Experts to Follow in 2024.
Semos Cloud for including my 12 Opportunities for HR in 2024 as part of their round-up of HR insights.
Thomas Kohler for including my Best HR and People Analytics Articles of 2023 in their collection of HR resources to read.
Thinkers360 for including me in their Top Voices EMEA 2023.
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 90 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.
SEE 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 2024:
Feb 21 - Discover how Leading Companies shift People Analytics from insight to impact (Webinar)
Feb 28 - People Analytics World 2024: Exploring the Potential of Analytics and AI in Employee Experience (Zurich)
March 4-6 - Gloat Live! (New York)
March 14-15 - Wharton People Analytics Conference (Philadelphia)
April 24-25 - People Analytics World (London)
May 7-9 - UNLEASH America (Las Vegas)
September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris)
More events will be added as they are confirmed.
leadership
2024年02月01日
leadership
HR Predictions for 2024: The Global Search For Productivity2024年的HR预测强调了生产力和AI在商业和雇佣实践中的关键作用。这篇文章讨论了公司在动态的经济条件和不断变化的劳动力市场背景下,如何适应他们的人才管理和招聘策略。强调了员工赋权的增加,劳动力市场的变化,以及技能发展的重要性。文章还探讨了劳动力囤积、混合工作模式和员工激活等关键概念。此外,还涉及领导力挑战、薪酬公平、DEI计划,以及可能的四天工作周。
一起来看Josh Bersin 带来新得见解
For the last two decades I’ve written about HR predictions, but this year is different. I see a year of shattering paradigms, changing every role in business. Not only will AI change every company and every job, but companies will embark on a relentless search for productivity.
Think about where we have been. Following the 2008 financial crisis the world embarked on a zero-interest rate period of accelerating growth. Companies grew revenues, hired people, and watched their stock prices go up. Hiring continued at a fevered pace, leading to a record-breaking low unemployment rate of 3.5% at the end of 2019.
Along came the pandemic, and within six months everything ground to a halt. Unemployment shot up to 15% in April of 2020, companies sent people home, and we re-engineered our products, services, and economy to deal with remote work, hybrid work arrangements, and a focus on mental health.
Once the economy started up again (thanks to fiscal stimulus in the US), companies went back to the old cycle of hiring. But as interest rates rose and demand fell short we saw layoffs repeat, and over the last 18 months we’ve seen hiring, layoffs, and then hiring again to recover.
Why the seesaw effect?
CEOs and CFOs are operating in what we call the “Industrial Age” – hire to grow, then lay people off when things slow down.
Well today, as we enter 2024, all that is different. We have to “hoard our talent,” invest in productivity, and redevelop and redeploy people for growth.
We live in a world of 3.8% unemployment rate, labor shortages in almost every role, an increasingly empowered workforce, and a steady drumbeat of employee demands: demands for pay raises, flexibility, autonomy, and benefits. More than 20% of all US employees change jobs each year (2.3% per month), and almost half these changes are into new industries.
Why is this the “new normal?”
There are several reasons. First, as we discuss in our Global Workforce Intelligence research, industries are overlapping. Every company is a digital company; every company wants to build recurring revenue streams; and soon every company will run on AI. Careers that used to stay within an industry are morphing into “skills-based careers,” enabling people to jump around more easily than ever before.
Second, employees (particularly young ones) feel empowered to act as they wish. They may quietly quit, “work their wage,” or take time out to change careers. They see a long runway in their lives (people live much longer than they did in the 1970s and 1980s) so they don’t mind leaving your company to go elsewhere.
Third, the fertility rate continues to drop and labor shortages will increase. Japan, China, Germany, and the UK all have shrinking workforce populations. And in the next decade or so, most other developed economies will as well.
Fourth, labor unions are on the rise. Thanks to a new philosophy in Washington, we’ve seen labor activity at Google, Amazon, Starbucks, GM, Ford, Stellantis, Kaiser, Disney, Netflix, and others. While union participation is less than 11% of the US workforce, it’s much higher in Europe and this trend is up.
What does all this mean?
There are many implications.
First, companies will be even more focused on building a high-retention model for work (some call it “labor hoarding.”) This means improving pay equity, continuing hybrid work models, investing in human-centered leadership, and giving people opportunities for new careers inside the company. This is why talent marketplaces, skills-based development, and learning in the flow of work are so important.
Second, CEOs have to understand the needs, desires, and demands of workers. As the latest Edelman study shows, career growth now tops the list, along with the desire for empowerment, impact, and trust. A new theme we call “employee activation” is here: listening to the workforce and delegating decisions about their work to their managers, teams, and leaders.
Third, the traditional “hire to grow” model will not always work. In this post-industrial age we have to operate systemically, looking at internal development, job redesign, experience, and hiring together. This brings together the silo’d domains of recruiting, rewards and pay, learning & development, and org design. (Read our Systemic HR research for more.)
What does “business performance” really mean?
If you’re a CEO you want revenue growth, market share, profitability, and sustainability. If you can’t grow by hiring (and employees keep “activating” in odd ways), what choice do you have? It’s pretty simple: you automate and focus on productivity.
Why do I see this as the big topic in 2024? For three big reasons.
First, CEOs care about it.
The 2024 PwC CEO survey found that CEO’s believe 40% of the work in their company is wasted productivity.
As shocking as that sounds, it rings true to me: too many emails, too many meetings, messy hiring process, bureaucratic performance management, and more. (HR owns some of these problems.)
Second, AI enables it.
AI is designed to improve white-collar productivity. (Most automation in the past helped blue or gray collar workers.) Generative AI lets us find information more quickly, understand trends and outliers, train ourselves and learn, and clean up the mess of documents, workflows, portals, and back office compliance and administration systems we carry around like burdens.
Third, we’re going to need it.
How will you grow when it’s so hard to find people? Time to hire went up by almost 20% last year and the job market is getting even tougher. Can you compete with Google or OpenAI for tech skills?
Internal development, retooling, and automation projects are the answer. And with Generative AI, the opportunities are everywhere.
What does all this mean for HR?
Well as I describe in the HR Predictions, we have a lot of issues to address.
We have to accelerate our shift to a dynamic job and organization structure. We have to get focused and pragmatic about skills. We have to rethink “employee experience” and deal with what we call “employee activation.” And we are going to have to modernize our HR Tech, our recruiting, and our L&D systems to leverage AI and make these systems more useful.
Our HR teams will be AI-powered too. As our Galileo™ customers already tell us, a well-architected “expert assistant” can revolutionize how HR people work. We can become “full-stack” HR professionals, find data about our teams in seconds instead of weeks, and share HR, leadership, and management practices with line leaders in seconds. (Galileo is being used as a management coach in some of the world’s largest companies.)
There are some other changes as well. As the company gets focused on “growth through productivity,” we have to think about the 4-day week, how we institutionalize hybrid work, and how we connect and support remote workers in a far more effective way. We have to refocus on leadership development, spend more time and money on first line managers, and continue to invest in culture and inclusion. We have to simplify and rethink performance management, and we have to solve the vexing problem of pay-equity.
And there’s more.
DEI programs have to get embedded in the business (the days of the HR DEI Police are over). We have to clean up our employee data so our AI and talent intelligence systems are accurate and trustworthy. And we have to shift our thinking from “supporting the business” to “being a valued consultant” and productizing our HR offerings, as our Systemic HR research points out.
All this is detailed in our new 40-page report “HR Predictions for 2024,” launching this week, including a series of Action Plans to help you think through all these issues.
And let me remind you of a big idea. Productivity is why HR departments exist.
Everything we do, from hiring to coaching to development to org design, is only successful if it helps the company grow. As experts in turnover, engagement, skills, and leadership, we in HR have make people and the organization productive every day. 2024 is a year to focus on this higher mission.
One final thing: taking care of yourself.
The report has 15 detailed predictions, each with a series of action steps to consider. The last one is really for you: focus on the skills and leadership of HR. We, as stewards of the people-processes, have to focus on our own capabilities. 2024 will be a year to grow, learn, and work as a team. If we deal with these 15 issues well, we’ll help our companies thrive in the year ahead.
Details on the Josh Bersin Predictions
The predictions study is our most widely-read report each year. It includes a detailed summary of all our research and discusses fifteen essential issues for CEOs, CHROs, and HR professionals. It will be available in the following forms:
Webinar and launch on January 24: Register Here (replays will be available)
Infographic with details: Available on January 24.
Microlearning course on Predictions: Available on January 24.
Detailed Report and Action Guide: Available to Corporate Members and Josh Bersin Academy Members (JBA). (Note you can join the JBA for $495 per year and that includes our entire academy of tools, resources, certificate courses, and SuperClasses in HR.)
leadership
2024年01月19日
leadership
Josh Bersin:2024: The Year That Changes Business Forever (Podcast)The podcast "2024: The Year That Changes Business Forever" by Josh Bersin explores anticipated transformations in business by 2024. It highlights the impact of AI, labor shortages, and evolving organizational structures. The podcast delves into the 2023 economic performance, changes in employee engagement, and the necessity for businesses to adapt strategically. It emphasizes a shift towards dynamic, flatter organizations and the critical role of systemic HR practices in shaping future business landscapes.
Josh Bersin探讨了2024年企业预期的转型。这些转型由AI的应用、劳动力短缺和组织结构的变化驱动。播客讨论了2023年的经济表现、员工参与度的变化以及企业为应对未来挑战所需的适应策略。它强调了向动态、扁平化组织的转变和系统性人力资源实践在塑造未来商业环境中的重要作用。
In this podcast I recap 2023 and discuss the big stories for 2024, and to me this year is a tipping point that changes business forever. Why do I say this? Because we’re entering a world of labor shortages, redesign of our companies, and business transformation driven by AI. We’ll look back on 2024 and realize it was a very pivotal year.
(Note: In mid-January we’re going to be publishing our detailed predictions report. This article is an edited transcript of this week’s podcast, so it reads like a conversation.)
Podcast Begins:
Interestingly, the entire year 2023 people were worried about a recession and it didn’t happen. In fact, economically and financially, we had a very strong year. Inflation in the United States and around the world went down. We did have to suffer rising interest rates, and that was a shock, but it was long overdue.
I really think the problem we experienced is we had low interest rates for far too long, encouraging speculative investment. Now that the economy is more rational, consumer demand is high, the business environment is solid, and the stock market is performing well. The Nasdaq is almost at an all time high, the seven super stocks did extremely well: the big tech companies, the big retailers, the oil companies, many of the consumer luxury goods companies did extremely well. And the only companies that didn’t do well were the companies that couldn’t make it through the transformation that’s going on.
On the cultural front we had the Supreme Court overturning affirmative action in education, which led to a political backlash on diversity and inclusion. The woke mind virus by Elon Musk and similar discussions further pushed back DEI programs, which has made chief diversity officers life difficult. We’re living through two wars, which have been very significant for many companies. I know a lot of you have closed down operations in Russia, and anybody doing business in Israel is having a tough time. And we’ve had this continuous period where every piece of data about employee engagement shows that employees are burned out, tired, stressed. They feel that they’re overworked.
Despite this employee sentiment, wages went up by over 5% and people who changed jobs saw raise wages of 8% or more. The unemployment rate is very low so there are a lot of jobs. You could ask yourself, why are people stressed?
I think it’s a continued overhang of the pandemic: the remote work challenges, the complexities and inconsistencies in hybrid work. And something else: the younger part of the workforce, those who are going to be living a lot longer than people who are baby boomers, are basically saying I don’t really want to kill myself just to get ahead. I want to have a life. I want to quietly quit. If my company don’t take care of me, I’m going to work my wage, meaning I’m going to work as hard as I’m paid, no more than that. And that mentality has created an environment for the four-day work week, which I think is coming quicker than you realize. And unions, which are politically in favor, are rising at an all time increase in about 25, 30 years.
Inflation and the need to raise wages to attract talent leads to pay equity problems. This domain is more complex than you think. You can read about it in our research and in 2024 it belongs on your list. 2024 will also see enormous demand for career reinvention, career development, growth programs, coaching, mentorship, allyship and support amongst the younger part of the workforce. And that means that if you’re in retail, healthcare, hospitality, or one of the other industries that hires younger people you have to accommodate this tremendous demand for benefits. These are things that became very clear in 2023.
But let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the biggest thing that happened in 2023 was AI.
AI has transformed the conversations we have about everything from media to publishing to HR technology to recruiting to employee development to employee experience. As you probably know, I’m very high on AI. I think it’s going to have a huge transformational effect on our companies, our jobs, our careers, and our personal lives. AI will improve our health, our ability to learn, the way we consume news (note that the NYT just sued OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement). Almost every part of our life will be transformed by AI.
I know from our conversations that most of you are trying to understand it and see where it fits. And many of you have been told by your CEO, “we need an AI strategy for the company as well as in HR.” And the AI strategy in HR is one thing, but the bigger topic is the rest of the company. So HR is going to have to be a part of this transformation: the new roles, jobs, rewards, and skills we need.
This year I’m very excited that we introduced Galileo™, which about 500 or so of you have been using. We’re going to launch the corporate version for everybody in the corporate membership in February, so corporate members stay tuned (or join). Galileo brings AI to HR in an easy-to-use, safe, and high-value way, so it will help you get your strategy together. It’s basically ready to go. Then later in the year we’ll launch a version to the JBA community and more. AI, despite all the fear-mongering, is already a very positive technology.
Where are we going next? Well as the title of this article states, I think this is the year that changes business forever. And I’m not trying to be hyperbolic, I really see a tipping point. Let me give you the story.
For about a decade I’ve been writing about the flattening of organizations, breaking down of hierarchies, creating what I used to call the networked organization. And this is now mainstream and we’ve decided to call it the Dynamic Organization.
And what we mean by this, as you read about in the Dynamic Organization research or in the Post-Industrial Age study, is that the functional hierarchies of jobs, careers, organizations and companies are being broken down for really good reasons.
The reason we have functional hierarchies, job levels and siloed business functions is because they’re patterned after the industrial age when companies made money by selling products and services at scale. The automobile industry, the oil and gas industry, the manufacturing industries, the CPG industries, even the pharmaceutical companies are essentially building things, bringing them to market, launching them, selling them, and distributing them in a linear chain. And that “scalable industrial business model” is how we designed our organizations.
So we built large organizations for R&D, large organizations for product management and product design and packaging, large organizations for marketing, large organizations for sales, large organizations for business development and distribution, supply chain, and so on (including Finance and HR). And all these ten or fifteen business functions had their own hierarchies. So you, as an employee, worked your way up those hierarchies. When I graduated from college in 1978 as an engineer, I went into one of those hierarchies.
For each employee you were an engineer, a salesperson, a marketing manager, or whatever and you worked your way up the pyramid. And at some point in your career you crossed over and did other things, but that was fairly unusual. That wasn’t really the career path. You worked about 35-40 years in that profession and then you retired.
And a lot of companies had another construct: management and labor. Management decided “what to do” and labor “did it.”
And all of these designs helped us build most of the HR practices we use today, including hiring, pay, performance management, succession, career management, goal setting, leadership development, and on and on. Today, if you look at how the most valued companies in the world, they don’t operate this way any more. Why? Because it slows them down like molasses. If you have to traverse a functional hierarchy to come up with a new idea it takes months or years to create something new.
Today value is created through innovation, time to market, closeness to customers, and unique and high-value offerings. The “hierarchy” wasn’t designed for this at all.
Here are a few dogmas to consider. We used to think that all new ideas come out of R&D. That’s crazy. Of course R&D is important, but some of the most innovative companies in the world don’t even have R&D departments, they have product teams. The Research Department at Microsoft didn’t even invent AI, the company had to partner with OpenAI, a company that has less than a thousand employees.
Here’s another one to consider. Deloitte consultants used to talk about “innovation at the edge,” otherwise known as “skunk works.” We used to advise clients to “separate the new ideas from the scale business” so they new ideas don’t get crushed or ignored. Well today all the new ideas come from the operating businesses, and we iterate in a real-time way. So there’s another industrial organization structure that just no longer applies.
So what we’ve been going through in the dynamic organization, and we’ve studied this in detail, is that we’ve got to design our companies to be flatter. We’ve got to simplify the job titles and descriptions so people can move around. We have to organize people into cross functional teams, we have to motivate and train people to work across the functional silos. We have to build agile working groups, we have to redo performance management around teams and projects, not around individual goals and cascading goals. We need to build pay equity into the system so you’re paid fairly regardless of where you started.
Let’s talk about pay. One of the problems with the hierarchy is you get a raise every year based on your performance appraisal. And after a few years your pay may have been quite a bit different than somebody sitting next to you simply because of your appraisals. But you may not be delivering any more than them. That wasn’t fair.
If you came into the company with a background in marketing, you made less money than somebody who came into the company with a background in engineering. But five years later you might be doing the same stuff but making different amounts of money. And then there’s gender bias, age bias, and other non-performance factors. In a “skills meritocracy,” as we call it, pay equity has to get fixed.
We’ve got to have developmental careers and talent marketplaces and open job opportunities and mentoring for people. And these people practices are the facilitation of becoming more dynamic. And the problem of not being dynamic is what happened at Salesforce, Meta, and other tech companies last year. Salesforce hired thousands of salespeople during the last upcycle after the pandemic, and then a year later laid most of them off. Meta did the same thing. Google’s probably next.
These companies, operating in the industrial mindset, thought that the only way to grow is to hire more salespeople, more engineers, or more marketing folks. But the quantity of people in one of these business functions doesn’t necessarily drive growth and profitability. What matters is how they work together and what they do, not how many of them there are.
This old idea that we’re going to grow the company by hiring, hiring, hiring is gone. It doesn’t work anymore. It’s still a part of the growth part of the company, you’re always hiring to replace people, to bring new skills, et cetera, and to bring new perspectives. But in a dynamic organization, a lot of the growth comes from within. People grow too.
Even the word growth mindset has become overused. We need to have an organizational growth mindset so that we can grow as an organization. A great example of this is Intel. Intel lost their way in the manufacturing of semiconductors and also in the R&D. Now they’re reinventing themselves internally and their stock is skyrocketing. They didn’t hire some guru to tell them what to do, they know what to do. They just need to get around to doing it.
Google has more AI engineers than OpenAI, Anthropic, and all the other little guys put together, but they didn’t execute well. Now they’re executing better. They brought their AI teams together into cross-functional groups and they’re sharing IP from YouTube with other business areas. I bet they stomp many of the others in AI once they get it going. That’s part of being a dynamic organization.
You as HR people know better than anybody how dysfunctional it is when there are multiple groups in the company doing competing things and they’re not working together because they don’t know about each other, or they don’t talk to each other. There’s no cross fertilization or they’re protecting their turf. All of these are the things that get in the way of being a dynamic organization.
And the reason it’s relevant in the next year is this has taken hold. Things like talent marketplaces and career pathways and skills-based organizations, skills based hiring, skills based pay, skills based careers, skills based development, et cetera… these are not just HR fads, they’re solutions to this big shift: making companies more dynamic. Despite their value in the past, hierarchical stove-piped companies don’t operate very well anymore.
Now this isn’t an A-B switch type of thing. This is an evolution, but it’s taking place very quickly. And the reason we came up with this concept of Systemic HR is we in HR have to do the same thing. The HR function itself operates in silos. We’ve got the recruiting group, the DEI group, the Comp group, the L&D group, the business partners, the group that does compliance, the group that worries about wellbeing. We’ve got somebody over here is doing an EX project, somebody over there is doing a data management project, a people analytics group.
Okay. Those are all great functional areas that belong in HR. But if they’re not working together on the problems that the company has, and I mean the big problems, growth, profitability, productivity, M&A, etc., then who cares? Then you’re at level one or level two in systemic HR. We built the Systemic HR initiative around business problems. And that’s how we came up with the new HR operating model (read more details here or view the video overview).
I think Systemic HR will be a very big deal for 2024, and there are many reasons. Not only are we living in a labor shortage but there’s another accelerant, and that is AI. For those of you that have used Galileo, and I hope you all get a chance to use it this year, it’s absolutely unbelievable how AI can pull together information, data, text from many sources in the company and make sense of what your company is doing.
You know as well as I do, if you’ve worked in sales, if you’ve worked in marketing, if you worked in finance, these are siloed groups. Few companies have a truly integrated data management system for all of their customer data match to their sales, data match to their revenue, data match to their marketing. Customer data platforms are a idea, but it doesn’t really happen very often, and it takes tens to hundreds of millions of dollars and many, many systems to do that. Well, AI does this almost automatically.
So when you pull together a tool like Galileo, and you use our research as part of the corpus, and you add data about employee turnover, for example, in your company, or pay variations, you’ll see the relationship between pay and turnover just by asking a question. You don’t have to go spend months doing an analysis and trying to figure out if the analysis is any good. And that’s happening all over the company in sales and customer service and R&D and marketing – everywhere.
So this more integrated, dynamic organization is happening before your eyes. In 2024, this is the context for almost everything we’re going to be working on now.
The other context is the labor market, which is going to be very tough. You’ve read about from us and others about how tight the labor market is now. Unemployment in the United States is 3.8%, and it’s not going to get much better. Even if we do have a recession, which is questionable, there aren’t enough people to hire. The fertility rate is low, and even if every company gives employees fertility benefits and they all have babies, it will take twenty years for these people to go to work. So all of the developed countries: US, UK, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Nordics, China, Russia, the fertility rate has been low for a long time. The World Bank sees working population shrinking within ten years in almost every developed economy.
Since hiring is going to get harder and we’ll see fewer and fewer working people, companies have to be much more integrated in hiring. And we all have to look the Four R’s: Recruit, Retain, Reskill, Redesign. This puts HR in the middle of a lot of job redesign, career reinvention, and a serious look at developing skills, not hiring skills, and using the tools we have as hr professionals to help the organization improve productivity without just hiring and hiring and hiring.
I measure the success of companies by two things. One is their endurance: how well have they fared over ups and downs? The second is their revenue per employee. Companies with low revenues per employee tend to be poorly managed companies relative to their peers. Of course there’s a lot of industry differences.
When we went through our GWI industry work: healthcare, consumer goods, pharma, banking, we could see the high performing companies were very efficient on a headcount basis. And we found out these companies are actually implementing Systemic HR practices.
The other driver that we’re living in a service economy. Interestingly enough, in the United States, more than 70% of our GDP is now services. So the people you have, the humans in your company, are the product. And if you’re not getting good output per dollar of revenue per human, you’re not running the company very well.
And this leads to many management topics.
How are we going to build early and mid-level leaders?
How can we rethink what employees really need? The topics of employee engagement and employee experience are really 25 to 30 years old. They need a massive update.
How are we going to implement AI in L&D and replace a lot of these old systems that everybody kind of hates, but we’re stuck with?
What’s going on with the ERP vendors and what role will they play as we replace our HR tech with AI powered systems?
How will we implement scalable talent intelligence? In a world of labor shortages talent intelligence becomes even more important, whether you think of it for sourcing and recruiting or an internal mobility or just a strategic planning initiative.
How do we all get comfortable with AI?
And then there’s this issue of Systemic HR and developing your team, your function, your operating model to be more adaptive and more dynamic.
So I look back on 2023 I feel it was one of the most fascinating and fun and enriching years that I’ve had. I am always amazed and impressed and energized by you, by you guys who were out there on the firing lines, dealing with these complex issues and companies with old technologies and all sorts of changes going on and how you’re adapting. I continue to be more impressed and more excited about the HR profession every year. I think a lot of people who aren’t in HR think we do a lot of compliance and administration stuff and we fire people. That is the tiniest part of what we do.
2024 is going to be an important year. You as an HR professional are going to have to learn a lot of things. You’re going to learn about Systemic HR issues, you’re going to learn about AI, and you’re going to learn to be a consultant.
There’s no question in my mind that over the next decade or two dynamic organization management is going to become a bigger and bigger issue – how we manage people and companies. And I don’t mean manage like supervise, I mean develop, move, retain, pay, et cetera, culture, all of those things.
I leave 2023 very energized about what’s to come with AI. And if you’re afraid of AI, just take a deep breath and relax. It’s not going to bite you. There’s nothing evil here. It’s a data driven system. If you don’t have your data act together, you’re not going to get a lot of good value out of AI.
I talked to Donna Morris at Walmart last week; I talked to Nickle LaMoreaux at IBM; and I talked with the senior HR leaders at Microsoft. They’re all seeing huge returns on investment from the early implementations, and seeing hundreds of use cases. We’re going to have a lot of new tools and lots of vendor shakeout. (Check out what SAP is up to and where Workday is going.)
Stay tuned for our big Predictions report coming out in mid January. That report is my chance to give you some deep perspectives on where I think things are going, recap things that have happened over the last couple of years, and give you some perspectives for the year ahead.
As always we would be more than happy to walk through these things with your team.
I hope you have a really nice holiday season and you take a deep breath.
The world is never perfect. It’s never been perfect. It wasn’t perfect in the past. It won’t be perfect in the future.
But the environment you live in and the environment that you create can be enriching, enjoyable, productive, and healthy, and fun if you decide. And I think we all have the opportunity to make those decisions.
It has been a pleasure and an honor for me to serve and work with you this last year, and I’m really looking forward to an amazing 2024 together.
–END OF PODCAST–
Irresistible: The Seven Secrets of the World’s Most Enduring, Employee-Focused Organizations