Last week I had the privilege to attend the inaugural Thinkathon session in New York City hosted by the amazing team at purematter and IBM Social Business. Thirty of us were brought together from all walks of digital life to tackle the future of work.
What does it look like?
How will people work?
What will the workplace...and workspace...look like?
What about loyalty?
What about full-time employment?
Will any work get done?
What about the younger-aged (and younger-minded!) workforce? Are they all self-serving work-life balance fanatics who don't appreciate 70 hour work weeks?
We were brought together to destroy the world of work as it exists today.
The Future is Cool...and Scary!
Our session kicked off with a fascinating (and haunting) message from Faith Popcorn, a prophetic futurist who is so accurate you'll want to follow her around and simply listen.
Robots, genetic transformation, and the potential for more than one hundred million displaced workers got us all fired up to continue our mission!
Start Destroying!
The afternoon was then taken over by Hendre Coetzee, an absolutely brilliant facilitator and leader who guided our group of "world-of-work assassins" through a series of highly interactive and challenging sessions on what it will mean to work in the future.
We powered through five key drivers that will change how we work forever:
- the future of work talent
- the future of work culture
- the future of big data/analytics at work
- the future of technology at work
- the future of work collaboration/communication
Whoa! Heavy topics for a group of heavy-hitters!
By the way, when, not if, you seek out Hendre for guidance in your own organization you will not be disappointed. He is masterful at his craft.
How About You
The man that made this all possible was Bryan Kramer, CEO of purematter and the connection to the IBM Social Business team. Kudos to you Bryan and your amazing team for putting together an event that blew me away. (The following two days focused on IBM's #NewWayToWork campaign...more on that later!)
What are you doing to get out in front of the evolving world of work? Are you clinging to the status quo? Don't do it! The future is now! I'm fired up to hack the future of work in my organization! Who's ready to destroy with me?
I'd love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
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I get fired up about work. Specifically, my work. I've had the privilege of being a human resources leader for many years; and the longer I work in that space the more opportunities I see outside HR that can dramatically improve how I get my work done.
More Than HR
In the early part of my leadership journey I couldn't get enough of good "HR" content. I was like a sponge soaking up every legal tidbit, compliance-related issue, or best-practice I could find. I was on a one man HR scavenger hunt.
Sad, when I think about it now; but at the time it seemed like I was focused, driven and learning my craft. That may be true, but for the contemporary HR leader of today, the nuts and bolts of HR represent only a piece of what is important.
Brand
The energy around the term brand crosses many disciplines in the world of work, and HR is one of those that should embrace a brand strategy. Going far beyond a consistent logo on recruitment ads, a brand strategy that integrates organizational strategy with HR outreach (both personally and professionally) is essential.
For those HR teams that still believe they should come up with their own strategies outside of what the corporate plan is are woefully ill-prepared to compete in the modern world. Gone are the days of separate "HR" and "PR" campaigns. The contemporary HR leader leverages the work done on the organizational-side and uses that to multiply the effectiveness of their brand strategy.
Marketing
The breadth of terrific content marketing resources available today feels like finding buried treasure. That is, if you realize these resources are treasure! The strategies, tools, and opportunities to partner with your Marketing colleagues are more important than ever before. Scarce resources, and the ability to leverage similar content across multiple channels makes for wise leadership. But only for the savvy leader.
Convincing yourself that "you can do it better alone" is not only a waste of time...it's wrong too.
Digital
Every effective HR leader should now be comfortable in the digital world. Notice I didn't say "a" digital world...I see "the" digital world. Social media, web strategies, sharing content, building and supporting personal and professional brands, and adding value to the profession all happen in the digital space we live in.
There is no point to try and "get by" or "avoid technology" any longer. If you're not on board, you're living in the 1970s. Open a twitter account and get on with it. The time to move forward is now!
How About You
Has your approach to effective HR changed over the years; or, is the idea that "all this new fangled thinking" is just too much for you? It's never too late to get started. Expand how you think about contemporary HR, start making a difference in your organization and career, and let the beast inside of you break free.
I'd love to hear from you.
No Excuses.
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