This Week's Top 3 Must Reads on the Future of Work

These are my top three article picks for the week of July 4th on the future of work, artificial intelligence, the Metaverse, and humanizing work. This week's selection includes insights from the Pew Research Centers' latest report on the Metaverse in 2040, reimagining employee retention and the new job candidate revolution. I hope the articles inspire and ignite your imagination about the future of work and provide insights and strategies you can leverage to help your organization thrive and make work more human.

Pew Research: The Metaverse in 2040

The new Pew Research Center 2022 Metaverse, 2040?Canvasing of the Experts?report was released a few days ago and, as a result, made the top of this week’s list. However, full disclosure…I am humbled to share that I was selected for the second year in a row, along with an incredibly impressive list of experts to provide insights on our perspectives on what we envision for the Metaverse in 2040. According to the report, “Six hundred and twenty-four technology innovators, developers, business and policy leaders, researchers, and activists provided open-ended responses to a question seeking their predictions about the trajectory and impact of the Metaverse by 2040. The survey revealed that 54% of the experts said that they expect by 2040, the Metaverse WILL be a much-more refined and truly fully immersive, well-functioning aspect of daily life for a half-billion or more people globally. The report provides profound positive and negative insights and predictions about how the Metaverse can impact how we work, live, and move through life in broad contexts. My insights are specific to how the Metaverse will transform work and how futuristic technologies will be so advanced that interactions will mimic the physical world in remarkable ways. I also caution that “if not carefully crafted, organizations risk creating work environments in the metaverse that exacerbate societal issues and biases that exist in the physical world.” The report is huge, so take your time. It is a must-read as you rationalize what the Metaverse will mean to you and how it will transform how you live and work!??

It’s Time to Reimagine Employee Retention

This article resonated with me deeply because I have worked with several clients this year to develop future of work leadership development strategies centered on driving employee engagement, performance, and retention. The article cites research from Gartner that is riveting. “According to Gartner, the pace of employee turnover is forecast to be 50-75% higher than companies have experienced previously, and the issue is compounded by it taking 18% longer to fill roles than pre-pandemic.” The authors argue that leaders must develop strategies and actions and create environments for managers to hold on to top talent and deliver results. The recommendation is to reimagine retention by focusing on career development. The advice, supported by the same Gartner report, revealed that 65% of employees are now reconsidering the role of work in their lives and that only one-third are open to addressing the issue with internal career opportunities. The authors recommended three solutions to “enable managers to support people in growing beyond their teams and increase the chance that top talent will choose to stick around.” The recommendations are 1) focus career conversations on progression, not promotion, 2)?make career experiments easy, and 3) Measure managers on people potential, not team performance. The third recommendation is my absolute favorite because “a manager’s role in supporting someone’s career must expand to support people to explore opportunities beyond the boundaries of their existing team. Metrics matter in driving behavior changes, and managers need to be recognized and rewarded for enabling internal mobility.”

?How The Great Resignation Is Driving A Candidate Revolution

The impact of the Great Resignation continues. This article was fascinating because it discusses the emergence of a new job candidate persona that recruitment firms and hiring managers should pay attention to as the “shift in power” continues to take hold. The article states, “The new personality in the employment scenario is the ‘Taker.’ High perspective, holistic, inspiring, grassroots social media feeds with warning signs. Today’s taker has a distinctive signature. They tend to tilt reciprocity in their favor, putting their own interests ahead of those of others, withdrawing without gratitude or reciprocity. It’s a stronger rebellion than any hiring manager could expect.” According to the article, the shift in power and actions of the ‘Taker’ has permeated all industries. It has even hit the C-suite. The article ends with a profound statement, “ We are all takers. It depends upon which prism you choose to view from. The social and economic upheavals following the pandemic taught us to tolerate uncertainty better and embrace change. It also tests the fundamental human relationships, where giving and taking is a sacred dynamic. I am confident we will find a path and equilibrium.” In my view, finding a path forward can lay the pavement for a runway that humanizes worker experience and aligns with the new realities of The Great Resignation.?

?Be resilient, be relevant, be bold and let's thrive in the unfolding of the future of work together! Want more insights? Click on my logo below and sign up for my newsletter. Want to learn more about training to prepare your leaders and teams to thrive as the rapid unfolding of the future of work continues? Click on my logo below and schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Need a futurist speaker for your next event? Click on my logo below, download my speaker sheet and schedule a complimentary consultation. Have you purchased your copy of my book titled Force Majeure: A Futurist's Guide to Boldly Thriving on Your Terms in the Future of Work? If not, grab it today, it too is a must read!