Transforming Work with Sophie Wade

Jeremy Fleming, the Founder and CEO of Stagekings, discusses how he evolved and grew the Australian event and theater staging business after a necessary radical pivot at the beginning of the pandemic. Re-applying everyone's crafts' skills to design, develop, sell, and distribute innovative desks, they engaged new customers online and used feedback to help expand the product range. Jeremy also shares how encouraging people to work across all areas of the business as well as diversifying revenue and vertically integrating is creating resiliency to ensure the company's ongoing stability and success. [02:57] How Jeremy started his career in bridge carpentry and scaffolding. [04:11] Jeremy brought his event staging experience from Europe to launch Stagekings in 2015. [05:52] Versatile use of their skills expanded services into building theater sets and whole theaters. [06:52] Jeremy's scaffolding and event experience and innovative approach enabled rapid assembly and dismantling. [08:07] Friday March 13th 2020: Devastating news for Stagekings' business. [10:03] Friday March 20th: Jeremy's difficult decision to let employees go after exhausting all options. [11:58] How chatting with a former employee seeded the idea of creating desks for people working from home. [12:22] Sunday March 22nd: Mick's furniture-making hobby and skills are engaged to explore desk ideas. [13:13] Unique desk designs: no-tool quick assembly/disassembly, one packs flat for easy storage. [14:15] Monday March 23rd: The business now needs ecommerce to sell the new desk products online. [15:18] How Jeremy's frank letter shared on social channels to market their desks goes viral. [16:11] Tuesday March 24th: StageKings' former employees are called back to work! [16:55] Stagekings hires more people as the demand for IsoKing desks grows. [18:25] New desk designs and other products are added as the business expands rapidly. [19:19] Customers enjoy receiving desks delivered by entertainment event roadies. [20:07] The product line expands driven by 'community-led innovation' with surprising requests! [23:01] Stagekings consolidates IsoKings' products and operations after rapid first year growth. [24:27] A new brand of at-home furniture is launched as well as IsoKing becoming its own brand. [26:42] With continuing uncertainties, the focus becomes establishing more income streams. [27:58] Vertical integration enables Stagekings to broaden their offering and customer base. [30:55] Jeremy attributes their success to the team, their adaptability, and positive attitudes. [34:02] How Stagekings gives back to the event industry, supporting unemployed event workers. [34:59] Discussing the challenges for freelance workers during the pandemic. [37:02] The optimism Jeremy has about 2022 for Stagekings across market segments. [37:39] What flexible approaches to work and encouraging employees to move around business areas means for them and the company. [39:21] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: If you have an idea, go for it. And it doesn't have to be massive steps. Small, consistent steps will get you much further. RESOURCES Jeremy Fleming on LinkedIn Stagekings.com.au Stagekings on YouTube Stagekings on Facebook Isoking.com.au IsoKing on Instragram Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink Supportact.org.au/get-help/crisis-relief-grants Jeremy Fleming's website QUOTES "There's a time when the show must go on—and wherever we're up to, that's where it is when it happens!" "We called it community-led innovation, where it was the community telling us what they wanted, and we'd design it." "Out of anything bad, something good will come, and you need to work on that. Don't focus on the bad, focus on the good that'll come from it." "It's real event mentality—problems are going to come up, and you're just going to deal with them, you've still got to get through it." "We lost all of our work, what can we do? What can we do? Yeah, there's something you can do." "I've really focused over the whole of the last 18 months on establishing more pillars of income." "I think that's what people like about it here—it's that nothing is every the same!" "The big thing for me is if people have an idea, just really go for it."

Laurel Farrer, Founder and CEO of Distribute Consulting—a virtual organizational development consulting firm, is well aware of the rewards of transitioning long-term to remote working, and the risks, especially with hybrid models. As a 15-year seasoned remote worker, Laurel has identified the key factors that are critical for success and benchmarking goals for healthy virtual organizations. She shares her experiences, insights, and cautions as we all work through our inevitable, work-related transformations. KEY TAKEAWAYS [04:02] Laurel's accidental exposure to remote working and her early experiences. [07:43] The primary barrier to success was credibility. [08:21] Determination to overcome the credibility gap fueled her company's internal culture development. [08:46] How the success of their creative team was not dependent on the existence of a [physical] whiteboard. [09:46] The benefits of facilitator in virtual discussions, especially for brainstorming including introverts and extroverts. [10:53] How asynchronous communications and pre-work boosts collaboration and outcomes. [12:29] Laurel works on benchmarking to develop goals for healthy virtual organizations. [13:48] How to navigate the challenges as we explore new work arrangements. [14:37] The importance of balance and transparent communication. [15:29] Companies with economic challenges in offering work from home options benefit from explaining the situation to their employees. [18:17] Company culture is impacting the management process because it takes time to develop a strong culture. [21:03] Culture is one the six pillars of Laurel's company's methodology. [21:21] Training is key for remote workers to be equipped as successful self-managers. [22:11] Managers need training to be able to manage people they can't see—replacing supervising with support and encouragement. [23:14] The difference between deliverables and results and the importance of tracking both. [25:15] How a knowledge management system unifies a team to streamline communication and collaboration. [26:16] Virtual infrastructure encompasses documenting culture and workflows with virtual handbooks. [27:01] Compliance is a major issue - we haven't yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet. [28:16] Understanding what you are getting into is essential. [29:05] When we were forced to work remotely, it was an emergency not a long-term plan—which are two very different things. [30:52] Hybrid teams are complicated. The risks and rewards of hybrid work models. [32:15] The ultimate goal is to be operating as location irrelevant as possible, but we have not broken our habits enough as organizations. [34:09] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Communicate! Employers and employees need to be talking and listening to each other! Together you can work out how to unleash the power of remote work for your specific and unique organization and organizational culture. [34:34] Remember, remote work is not a one-size fits all. [35:23] Go at your own pace—if some people are stressed and resistant, slow it down. RESOURCES Laurel Farrer on LinkedIn DistributeConsulting.com QUOTES "We also leveraged asynchronous communication. So everybody always felt safe in the systems." "What is the checklist of things that I have to do in order to be better? That doesn't exist for virtual organizational development. It doesn't exist necessarily for remote work at all." "We really need to figure out how to communicate as transparently as possible about why decisions are being made the way that they are." "You might have those cat posters on the wall that say you're humble and that you're innovative and that you're adaptable, but are you really?" "We need to be able to create space to measure and track all types of outcomes, all types of diverse productivity as opposed to just deliverables." "We haven't yet achieved operational models for location irrelevancy yet." "There are so many organizations that say, "No, it's not possible. Everyone come back to the office." And it is possible. You just need to know what to do." "We haven't broken habits enough to have location irrelevant mindsets yet so naturally we are dividing people by location which is going to be problematic as we try to move forward as a unified team."

Ramon Ray, founder of SmartHustle.com, has been involved in the small business sector for over twenty years as a serial entrepreneur, podcast host, author, and expert advocating for small business success. As a vocal participant and active contributor, he helps small businesses adapt to new marketplace dynamics—from developing meaningful client relationships to motivating and supporting employees. He shares five priorities to focus on and the strategic importance of empathy. TAKEAWAYS [02:27] How Ramon's experience working at the UN was the embryonic beginning of his focus on entrepreneurship and small businesses. [03:56] Technology advice and understanding have been core to Ramon's support to small businesses growth which has evolved with platform, application, and digital media advances. [05:41] Ramon bridges the chasm between small emerging businesses and large tech companies trying to reach them—their empathy factor and influencer. [08:36] Five priorities for small businesses to focus on to transform for the new era of work. [11:34] How empathy came to the forefront for Ramon in 2020 as many significant events occurred. [13;16] What it means to wear someone else's shoes—in life and when offering business advice. [14:59] Empathy can mean recognizing but not agreeing with another person's perspective. [16:14] Ramon encouraged a client to empathize with him, facilitating an effective way to work together. [17:46] Understanding and fulfilling your own needs as well as supporting others during tough times. [19:51] The power of contentment to appreciate the positive aspects of your situation. [22:35] How empathy is particularly important now to bridge differences, connect with more people, and mitigate our more insular situations due to COVID19 restrictions. [24:02] Managing differently in small companies to adjust to a less predictable marketplace while staying profitable—being more transparent, flexible, and supportive with employees. [26:57] The reciprocal benefits of empathy, trust, and communication especially in changing conditions. [27:56] Ramon shares the challenges of his kids—navigating work as a recent graduate and coping with very restrictive situations overseas during the pandemic. [30:02] Wondering about new labor market entrants learning new work conditions as the standard. [31:13] Aligned intention, shared values, and empathetic understanding with customers promotes strong relationships. [34:33] The benefit of clients recognizing you for who you are! [36:06] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Encourage and care about people. Be empathetic. Build and focus on your personal brand. Don't be afraid to amplify who are you—in an empathetic way! RESOURCES Ramon Ray on LinkedIn Ramon Ray on Twitter Ramon Ray on Facebook Ramon Ray on Instagram Ramon Ray's video "I'll Wear Your Shoes" Ramon Ray's latest book "Celebrity CEO" Smarthustle.com RamonRay.com QUOTES "We cannot predict the future. Be comfortable with that." "It comes to the human dimensions, right? That make the biggest difference." "It's not just shooting the target. 60% of it is mindset." "Somebody reading this may want to do it a different way. That's okay." "We all need someone to reach out to us. It's not a business thing. I go on WhatsApp once a week and send a message to 10-15 people and let them know I care." "I understand the broad strokes of your company [and your values], now unleash me and let me do what I do." "Don't be afraid to amplify who you are."

Sacha Connor—Founder and CEO of Virtual Work Insider—was a remote work pioneer for The Clorox Company. Sacha explains how she transitioned to working 3000 miles away from HQ for eight years and became the first fully remote member of the Leadership Team of a $1 billion division. Sacha shares how processes were reimagined, what issues arose, what solutions were developed, as well as surprising benefits gained along the way. KEY TAKEAWAYS [03:50] Sacha discusses her career in marketing. [05:28] Why Sacha chose to go remote and move 3000 miles away from her company HQ. [06:29] How Sacha planted seeds over time to get agreement to work remotely as an experiment. [08:32] A trusted relationship laid the foundation for constructive conversations about how it could work. [09:29] How Sacha was allowed to lead an innovation team remotely. [10:43] The three major career limitations that were initially part of Sacha's remote arrangement. [11:26] How risk was assessed in allowing this remote experiment. [12:15] Potential was initially linked to promotability which was tied to location. [12:38] How acceptance was enabled by The Clorox Company's existing performance management system which tracked her defined and detailed objectives and measured her success. [13:55] Surveys allowed Sacha to monitor team sentiment and development of trusting relationships that were important for virtual collaboration. [14:40] What were some of the challenges and benefits of remote working across time zones? [15:50] How to work effectively with new team members. [17:27] Sacha's steep learning curve and technology challenges in 2010. [20:19] Adapting workflow for a distributed innovation team. [21:54] Sharing experiences, learnings, and resources improved effectiveness. [22:24] How the Employee Resource Group for remote workers helped employees bridge gaps between office locations too. [23:40] Sacha became an influential pioneer regarding Future of Work adaptations at a 100-year old organization. [25:06] Definitions of workplace flexibility, hybrid models and working, and remote working. [26:47] 'Virtual' used as a term to encompass work and relationships across locations. [28:51] Myth #1: The 'magic' generated by chance office encounters does not happen in virtual environments. [31:03] Intentionally establishing rituals to create the interactions that enable creativity, influence, problem-solving, and ideation for virtual and multi-office workers. [32:58] The importance of stimulating intersections of people across divisions and networks. [34:05] Myth #2: Brainstorming effectively is not possible in virtual environments. [36:09] Unintended (beneficial) consequences of new processes for virtual brainstorming. [38:35] Hybrid meetings: reducing the challenges and biases, and improving inclusiveness requires facilitation and conscious action. [40:10] The impact of a 'virtual-first' work approach and being intentional about how work is done. [44:05] Whatever workforce and workplace strategies companies are working on now are not the final answer—it takes a flexible and iterative approach. [45:21] It takes an infinite mindset to tackle the Future of Work—with each organization iterating and adjusting as they go. [47:15] Everyone needs to upskill for new work circumstances and learning virtual leadership skills, whatever role employees are in. [48:30] More areas to emphasize to enhance virtual work—setting expectations clearly; building relationships; fostering a culture of trust and inclusion; having the right technology tools; and teaching how to use the tools. [49:05] Empathy is key for understanding each other beyond the virtual curtains between people and other 'soft' skills which are critical. [50:42] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Have empathy for yourself and others in order to be able to adjust and iterate and make this next transition. Everyone is at a different stage and comfort level about what's next. RESOURCES Sacha Connor on LinkedIn Sacha Connor on Twitter Virtualworkinsider.com Special resources available for podcast listeners '10 Tips from 10 Years of Remote Work' and 'Hybrid Work Kickstarter Toolkit' The Medici Effect: Breakthrough Insights at the Intersection of Ideas, Concepts, and Cultures by Frans Johansson The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek QUOTES "Do we want to live near the careers that we love or near the people that we love?" "They trusted me and trust is a huge component with remote work. They knew I was dedicated." "Innovation felt like one step removed from the risk (of being remote) because it was something that we were preparing for the future." "Potential was linked to promotability which was linked to location." "You think about measuring performance. You need to have that in place whether you're located together or not." "The seemingly innocuous moments that happen on the way to the elevator, they're actually moments of influence. They're moments of problem-solving, connection, and idea generation."

This episode is about using sophisticated traditional marketing techniques to transform employees' apathy and ambivalence into engagement and enable change initiatives to succeed. Neil Bedwell is a Founding Partner of LOCAL where he applies his extensive expertise in consumer marketing to internal corporate audiences to effect lasting change. The key is understanding how culture impacts new initiatives from ideation through development and execution. Neil explains what marketing techniques are core to LOCAL's effective 'Change Marketing™'. KEY TAKEAWAYS [02:49] How Neil fell into marketing. [04:49] Realizing the effect of corporate culture on ideas as they are developed. [7:10] In big organizations, it is a challenge not to weaken ideas as they become more complex, trying to solve additional asks. [10:06] Neil shifts to marketing to employees, founding LOCAL with two partners. [11:00] What is 'marketing' and what is 'Change Marketing'™? [12:08] Why knowledge about your employees is a central sources of competitive advantage. [13:30] Understanding the dire effect of unengaged employees on your business. [14:33] Insights—Why Neil believes listening to employees is the difference between success and failure. [15:23] Narrative—Change is a journey with employees as the heroes of the story. [16:40] Helping people understand every step of transformative change by taking them along the storytelling journey. [17:26] Craft—creating the quality of messaging to the win attention of employees. [19:29] The significance of employees' participation in change initiatives. [20:17] What stories can fill the void if companies don't communicate to their employees. [21:32] How culture allows new initiatives to survive or die. [21:57] Culture is created by your people, not you as a leader. [22:42] How to influence employees by listening and crafting an intentional story. [23:40] How to craft a story that is going to resonate with each employee. [25:52] The meaningful role of a company's 'Believers'. [26:46] Who influences the 'Swayables' in the middle? [27:21] How to shift the norms within a company. [30:30] The level of empathy in your company's culture has determined resilience to disruption. [32:36] Talented people are moving to cultures that have natural empathy built in. [33:33] What it takes to foster, strengthen, and maintain a culture. [34:10] Being in one place together used to be a key part of cultural 'glue'. [35:25] How cultural 'cyclones' can be developed away from the corporate hub and help solve the problem of cultural dilution. [37:54] The powerful 'Infinity Loop': two connected halves—the customer and employee experiences. [39:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The Assumption Problem – Marketers don't assume anything. Start with employees' apathy and ambivalence. You have to earn their caring and their belief. RESOURCES Neil Bedwell on LinkedIn LOCAL on LinkedIn Neil Bedwell on Twitter — @Neilbedwell LOCAL on Twitter - @insidelocal Localindustries.com QUOTES "I'm a big believer that people shouldn't have one career, that you should have as many different careers as you can." "Culture is what allows things to survive or die." "It doesn't matter how helpful your idea is, if you don't actually think about how it travels through culture, you're likely going to lose that battle." "Marketing is 'the orientation of everything you do around your audience.'" "Around 2/3 of adults in the US are disengaged at work. They are unhappy, miserable, with the thing they spend half their waking life doing." "If you're not listening to your employees and understanding how they think and feel, you are in danger of not understanding the impact of that disengagement." "Disengagement hampers innovation, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, customer service, the quality of your products, etc. Anything that you attribute to growth can be linked back to employee engagement." "Two thirds of those [change] initiatives require significant employee behavior change in order to succeed." "Smart talented folks are voting with their feet…they are seeking out those culture that have natural empathy built in."

Paul Reid is the CEO and Founder of Trickle and a serial entrepreneur. He shares how his early employment experiences taught him to build trust-based, thriving cultures at his first two start-ups. Now, these learnings have been encoded into the software that powers his latest venture, Trickle. Trust—which is key for employee engagement, effective communication, and collaboration—is generally earned, slowly. However, Paul explains how to generate trusting relationships more quickly through a purposeful combination of anonymity and action, supplemented by transparency. KEY TAKEAWAYS [04:00] Paul's first work experience at a tech start-up and the work conditions for employees. [06:05] How Paul tried to solve employees' issues by sharing anonymous data. [07:18] The surprising response he got from the company's founders. [08:34] The recurring process established to fix the problems and its impact on the culture. [10:12] How important was the co-founders' role in the process? [11:15] Paul's first venture—a tech start-up that focused on feedback and open discussion to create a high-performance culture. [13:15] Recruiting software engineers and then setting them free to do the right thing. [14:22] As a business scales up, how trust can be sustained. [15:09] The 'Broken Windows' criminology study of derelict buildings and what it signals. [17:00] The benefit of Trickle's internal 'broken window sessions'. [18:25] How do you 'trigger' trust in a company, enabling it to build quickly? [19:00] Psychological safety is a huge component of a highly-functioning team. How do you cultivate that? People feel they can speak up without fear of negative consequences. [20:18] Why Trickle doesn't record anything if someone wants to contribute anonymously. [21:14] Action must follow quickly after listening to employees. If you survey employees, it is important to show them progress is being made based on their feedback. [22:01] Trickle's effectiveness is based on tying engagement to the actual issues. [22:58] Why Trickle focuses on introducing three things: inclusivity, transparency, and agility. [23:25] As trust builds within an organization, many employees start to feel comfortable enough to submit feedback without being anonymous. [25:05] How champions spend five minutes a day to support habit-forming. [27:19] Due to the pandemic, people were afraid to ask doctors how they were doing, so Trickle added a feature to check in with them and gathered insights to help improve their well-being. [31:20] How Trickle helps nudge people to establish new habits—e.g. sending a fist-bump! [32:35] Why the sign of a healthy organization is engagement with a rolling cadence responding to issues of interest to talk about. [33:45] The three stages of check-ins to engage employees feedback on key issues. [35:16] What will happen when people go back into the office and how can Trickle help? [36:23] How transparency is always a key theme for Trickle. [36:51] Why not to fear anonymity – it helps more people engage in and contribute on key issues. [37:47] The hybrid model that Paul anticipates for Trickle going forward and why. [38:58] What is Paul's onboarding process like, especially sharing the company's culture? [41:52] How Paul helps employees speak up during uncertain times and Trickle shares targeted mental health advice responding to anonymous check-ins. [43:51] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Don't get hung up on how to respond to employee feedback. Gather the data so you can understand how people feel. Without that, you can't create the environments that people are going to thrive in. RESOURCES Paul Reid on LinkedIn Paul Reid on Twitter — @TricklePaul Trickle on Twitter - @TrickleWorks Trickle.works Smart and Gets Things Done by Avram Joel Spolsky QUOTES "You're here because you're very talented and you've got a desire to get things done and we've got a desire to be the best at what we do, and in order to do that, we are going to need to challenge each other." "The premise of Trickle is about helping people to speak up within an organization. So, we built it because we know that people don't often speak up about things that they care about." "When Google studied their highest-performing teams, what was the thing they had in common? Psychological safety. The ability to speak up without fear of negative consequences." "People don't often see the value in speaking out, because they feel that things don't change." "The idea is to tie the engagement and the action into one thread." "You're trying to embed this openness." "When there's massive uncertainty, that's when you want to be giving people a chance to speak up and get feedback." "If you don't understand how people feel, you can't create the environments that people are going to thrive in."

Laetitia Vitaud is an author and authority on the Future of Work and brings a European perspective with her experience living, lecturing, consulting, and doing research in France, the UK, and Germany. She has long been concerned about the unbundling of jobs and the impact on employees, especially women. In this episode, Laetitia shares her views on new employment dynamics and emerging options that mean proactive attention and re-bundling can change future outcomes for workers. KEY TAKEAWAYS [03:51] Why did Laetitia have a mid-life crisis at 20 and what did she do about it? [06:28] Laetitia initially focused on how individuals make professional transitions successfully. [07:39] Evangelizing the idea of freelancing which was a novelty in France in 2016. [08:10] Laetitia compares the difference between US healthcare vs. French healthcare. [10:29] There was a rise in freelance job opportunities during the mid 2000s. Why is that? [12:06] Consulting contracts for younger people are common in Europe because the full salary bundle has become a barrier to hiring someone as an employee. [13:09] Rigid employee contracts for well-protected bundles led to outsourcing to service companies as well as freelancers. [14:50] The evolution of the social contract with specialization, alienation, and subordination. [16:23] The broad attractive work bundle offered by Ford and other auto manufacturers. [18:01] Laetitia shares some key traits that have disappeared from the job bundle. [18:56] Unalignment, exploitation, and inequalities are effects of the unbundling. [19:45] Corporations' attempts at realignment and filling in the gaps. [20:34] Laetitia describes broad job dissatisfaction about trade-offs. [22:18] What is a 'good job' now? [23:33] Considering the concept of 'good work' which could mean bundling gigs. [24:52] What questions should you be asking about your work? [26:36] People aren't calculating if their current bundle enough for the long-haul. [27:32] The disparity in younger and older employees recognizing the reality of job bundles. [29:08] How someone can become a craftsperson and remain relevant and valuable in the market. [29:59] How employers can redefine contracts, employment arrangements, and open up work to be more flexible, attractive, and creative. [31:09] How the pandemic has increased flexibility in work models to adapt to uncertainties. [32:57] Managers are so reluctant to have a distributed workforce. Why? [33:45] The return to the office is about order and rituals. [37:07] 'Hybrid work' means many different things and must be applicable for everyone's needs. [39:28] Flexible working is a mindset first and not enforcing one model for everyone. [40:28] How to create an inclusive workforce in a hybrid context. [42:35] Increased options for creating new bundles—especially beneficial to counter ageism and discrimination against women. [45:01] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Thinking about the impact of increased longevity, before you make any important decision, invite past and future selves to the table to confer with your current self. You should all have a say in discussing important issues before making your mind up! RESOURCES Laetitia Vitaud on LinkedIn Laetitia Vitaud on Twitter — @Vitolae Subscribe to Laetitia's Newsletter Laetitiavitaud.com QUOTES "In France, whatever you do, you will have access to healthcare insurance and it would not cost you more [as a freelancer]. So, it's easier to leave a salaried job and become self-employed even if you have a preexisting condition." "This quote what's good for GM is good for America and vice versa is actually a very profound thing because there's perfect alignment between what you do and the interest of the country, the nation, the planet, and that's that, that's also something that disappeared from the bundle." "What made the Fordist deal attractive was that in exchange of this alienation—division of labor and subordination—you had a very attractive bundle." "The more rigid the contract is, and the more companies want a flexible workforce and on demand work, the more hesitant they are to recruit people with that rigid contract." "The business of consulting is booming in those countries where the work contract is so rigid. You have so many consultants everywhere." "It's not all bad for everybody. Some people have a satisfactory bundle, but by and large a lot more people are dissatisfied with the bundle that they have." "A lot of people are trapped in the vision of the old bundle and do not realize that without the job security [in this new bundle], they need to do some financial calculations that incorporate the risk of losing their jobs and transitioning to other jobs." "One way of inventing a new bundle by becoming a craftsman or craftswoman." "The question about what a good job is too narrow, because it's based on the assumption that basically there is a bundle behind a job."

Muriel Clauson brings a rich background in industrial and organizational psychology and psychometrics to the discussion about the importance of reorienting our employment focus from 'jobs' to 'skills'. As co-Founder of Anthill—which enables adaptive talent management with employee buy-in using talent-mapping software—Muriel explains how we can emphasize people and skills, since talent, not technology, will ultimately determine competitive advantage. KEY TAKEAWAYS [03:32] Muriel started in finance, but soon realized it wasn't for her. What next? [03:50] With a mentor and determination, she got a job, then did a PhD in industrial and organizational psychology. [04:48] On a NASA program, looking at humanities' challenges, she missed the connection to work. [05:57] Muriel was asked to fill a keynote spot at short notice. Without experience, she stepped up! [06:45] If you're passionate about something, tell everyone! [07:27] - How we have typically been cataloguing and defining different occupations—by KSAOs: knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics. [08:40] Instead of thinking about how people can keep their jobs as automation comes to the forefront, what are people bringing to a work experience, starting with skills? [09:40] Using a relationship database with a more understanding of people's skills and their jobs, the projections on job replacement went down dramatically. [11:25] Muriel wanted to change databases so technologies being created to navigate Future-of-Work changes would be built on top of data organized around skills. [12:29] How executives need to help employees navigate work changes as technology won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people. [12:42] Employers over-correct for a gap in skills, training everyone on that skill. [13:50] The perfect world? Where each person understands all they bring to the table, what next steps they could take, where each could lead them, and what their priorities might be [14:32] The 30 year linear "one" career is gone. [15:08] How can companies best track and manage employees' new non-linear careers? [16:20] Public school systems still use the Strobe Test to assess what job someone should do, although it is most correlated to their parents' socioeconomic status. [17:51] Muriel helps companies think about the skills their people can bring to the table and develop a strategy and jobs around them. [19:18] People leave companies not because they're disengaged or overworked, but because they don't see a progression and a future. [20:44] More enterprises are adopting a people-first approach, realizing treating people well is aligned with incentives. [21:03] After a necessary mental shift, how can employers individualize skills'-based solutions at scale? [22:56] What are YOUR skills today? [24:20] Muriel digs into psychometrics to help people identify what their skills are. [26:10] Context for different tests is important in order to understand what they are assessing. [28:28] Using a relational database and much historical data, answering a few questions can generate a good hypothesis which is then refined. [29:29] Sharing test results with employees so they also benefit from insights. [30:59] The importance of establishing a culture of trust at organizations. [32:28] The benefit of asking employees: What skills and interests are you not bringing to the table now that you'd like to use more of? [37:01] The pandemic catalyzed many leaders to change their mindsets, strategies and thinking about work. [39:06] Muriel has been surprised by the shift in executives' approach to internal talent mobility. [41:10] We do robust modeling for resources and companies, but not talent. [41:55] Employers began to have more empathy—helping employees get the most out of work. [43:00] Imagine employees feeling comfortable enough to say "Hey, I'm not feeling fully leveraged" so they can be moved to a new opportunity. [44:14] Talking about the future of work, it always boils down to deciding between technology/profits or putting their people first, but it's a false choice. [47:09] Muriel considers how we can bridge the gap between employers and employees. [48:35] As a new generation of graduates enter the workforce, what do they need to be aware of in this new work environment? [50:40] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: The future doesn't have a 'type'. In a rapidly-changing world, there is no one type of person that is most 'future ready'. Each of us has a seat at the table and plays a role in creating our future. RESOURCES Muriel Clauson on LinkedIn Muriel Clauson on Instagram — @anthillai Anthillai.com Onetonline.org QUOTES "There is so much more to people than job description." "I became obsessed with actually helping governments restructure their labor data in a way that was skills first." "When people started to take a skills-based approach, the projection on job replacement went down dramatically." "Technology actually won't be a real differentiator in the future, it will be people." "We have employees who want to learn and develop their career but lack that navigation on how to do it." "We need to come up with a way to help people really understand what they bring to the table."

Matthew Bishop—author of Philanthrocapitalism, visiting senior fellow of the Brookings Institution and a founder of the Social Progress Initiative—discusses how we can begin to rethink, and reform, capitalism and better value all workers' contributions. As we plan to emerge from a period of extreme disruption, our economic framework needs to be reconfigured and the human capital of America assessed as to whether it's well-suited for the Future of Work. KEY TAKEAWAYS [04:00] The pandemic highlighted existing fault lines and intensified and accelerated disruptions that were already underway. [05:37] Why does capitalism need to be reformed? [06:55] After the crash of 2008, it became clear that we have a system of two halves – with almost all benefits going to the half with financial capital. [07:45] COVID caused economic justice to rise to the top of the political agenda because of its impact on the average worker who already felt insecure about work. [08:48] Capitalism wasn't delivering for the average family and COVID accelerated the need to address this. [08:57] The significance of the Business Roundtable announcement about all stakeholders, not just shareholders, benefiting. [09:56] Why it makes sense to separate workers out from the rest of 'social' in the 'S' of ESG. [10:43] There are a lot of conversations right now on how to be a better employer--but a big challenge is to figure out how to find broad agreement. [11:49] WorkMoney is a new organization lobbying for working family rights in Washington—including the delineation between employees and independent contractors. [12:50] What can be reconfigured to reform capitalism—setting an enabling context? [13:33] Next steps--vocal companies talking about long-term stakeholder strategy. [14:23] Measuring how companies are performing against UN Sustainable Development Goal targets. [15:20] Is it time to reformulate GDP since it has never adequately measured progress? [16:33] Matthew co-founded the Social Progress Index—a series of measures of the good society to use alongside GDP. [17:22] COVID highlighted places with poor social performance as more vulnerable to deaths. [18:39] What 'normality' may look like with the release of pent-up demand! [20:28] Companies will be judged on how they responded during the crisis. [22:00] CEOs know they have to change, but will their investors punish them if they do? [23:40] The younger generation has seen nothing but chaos and catastrophe which likely results in jadedness and low trust levels. [24:31] Without long-term career prospects, employees are happy to share opinions about their companies publicly especially credentials about social issues. [26:40] Google has a large percentage of contract workers who are treated differently to employees. [27:57] A bifurcated workforce can exist where high-paid employees are not focused on the social contract as regular employees are. [29:47] Gender bias in management may improve after men have been more exposed in home-based chores and challenges during the pandemic. [30:51] Matthew believes the ability to work from home will be an option for almost every job going forward. [31:17] African American billionaire Robert Smith has proposed the 2% Solution to the Business Roundtable to address structural social challenges. [33:17] COVID has highlighted deep social and structural problems in the economy and how difficult it is to get ahead. [34:35] There will be a need for a massive re-skilling. [35:19] The average American family needs to be equipped for the new world of work. [36:02] A new initiative to create a national human capital strategy for America. [37:03] The private sector needs to collaborate with universities and colleges and discuss future skills' needs and what degrees will prepare future employees best. [38:44] Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like even though you can't predict how technology is going to evolve. [39:51] The pandemic has shaken up the traditional four-year in-person degree. [41:14] Where is 'Philanthrocapitalism' headed in the upcoming years? [44:02] We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society. [45:56] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: Big picture - demand a national Human Capital Strategy and be willing to participate. Within your own company - Talk with your own team and find out what they really want, what their expectations are and what good practice looks like. RESOURCES Matthew Bishop on LinkedIn Matthew Bishop on Twitter — @Mattbish Philanthrocapitalism.net WorkMoney.org Socialprogress.org Worldbenchmarkingalliance.org Association of American Colleges and Universities Robert Smith's 2% Solution Businessroundtable.org QUOTES "There was already a recognition that capitalism wasn't delivering for the average family." "You look at the last year and the richest people in the world, they've done fantastically well, and the average worker with no benefits, their life has gotten much harder." "I do think a lot of CEOs get it, they get the need to change, but they are concerned that investors are ultimately going to punish them for doing that rather than reward them." "There is a need to look seriously, not just at economic growth, but about how the money is spent in terms of really investing in a healthy society." "The average working family needs to be equipped for the new world of work. What's striking to me is that we don't have a lot of ideas about what to do beyond going to college." "Nobody really knows what the human capital of America is and whether it's well-suited to the work of the future." "Employers, educators, and the government ought to get together and talk about what the future of work looks like." "We have the opportunity to have a more constructive dialog between business and society."

This episode Rob Tercek—author of Vaporized: Solid Strategies for Success in a Dematerialized World—discusses the reality of where we are, how to forecast appropriately, and plan strategically for 2021—understanding the opportunities and challenges. Rob poses questions to consider, identifies trends and advantages we can capture, as well as alerting us to dematerialization's impact and how to work with it rather than be disrupted by it. KEY TAKEAWAYS [02:56] Humans are used to adapting for short crises which made 2020 endless and hard. [03:55] Business decisions were paralyzed as many people were unable to decide how to move forward in 2020. [04:27] There is light at the end of the tunnel in 2021 with the vaccine rolling out. [05:02] The vaccine doesn't mean 'normality', but we can start to plan to go back to the office. [06:10] COVID19 has just accelerated the process the internet began. [06:53] Companies are not going to abandon the investment they made in work-from-home infrastructure leading to two kinds of workforce—distributed and onsite. [07:56] Executives secret desires to go back to the office and concerns about remote working. [08:46] Questions to consider as leaders assess strategic options about how to configure their workplaces for 2022. [10:04] Companies may use a faulty forecasting process when planning for beyond crisis mode. [10:57] Organizations can mistakenly think they are the only ones dealing with these circumstances. [11:41] What is the impact of the broad shift in consumer behavior—changed habits and products they are no longer buying? [12:35] Invest for the future will not be to rebuild the company as it was in 2018 and 2019. [13:47] For B2B businesses, user and developer conferences are turning into tutorials for users—creating new habits and switching costs. [14:57] How to use data to counter some of the loss in face-to-face meetings for sales people. [16:47] Putting the IT department and CIO at forefront of rebuilding for the future. [18:02] The importance of HR gathering and tracking data for C-suite discussions. [18:46] The balance of responsibility between employer and employee to maintain skillsets. [22:37] Rob describes how to create an actionable forecast. [23:42] The only way you can tell if a prediction is accurate is after it's happened. [24:40] Why confidence intervals and probabilities matter. [27:18] How to adjust for different geographic restrictions and vaccine rollout to develop a rough hypothesis and timeline. [31:39] For companies to be laying a foundation in 2021 for 2022 and beyond. Robert thinks we will have two quarters this year that will not be great. [32:19] Plan to deploy new digital infrastructure for 2022, since it usually takes 12-18 months. [34:07] Robert describes the significant impact of COVID19 on digital healthcare. [35:59] What smart companies are doing differently now to gain market share. [37:00] Critical focus needs to be on the customer journey, which may be different now. [38:15] We have to have more self-awareness, especially about our emotional state [39:27] The impact of digital media immersion which can act as an outrage-generator. [40:56] Disruption is scary. It's hard. Cutting people some slack is being empathetic. [42:49] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: What parts of your work and life can—and will—be replaced by software or 'dematerialized'? Consider carefully taking action or leave the opportunity for someone else! RESOURCES Robert Tercek on LinkedIn Robert Tercek on Facebook Robert Tercek on Twitter — @Superplex Roberttercek.com QUOTES "There is a feeling, it's a depressing thought, that 2021 seems like it's going to be a continuation of 2020, and everyone knows 2020 was a terrible year on many levels." "Based on the current deployment of the vaccine, it seems unlikely we're going to be through this COVID-19 until the latter half of 2021 and it could be as late as 2022. To set expectations." "You can't turn back the hands of time. Many big organizations reallocated massive budgets to create a structure to work from home. That investment isn't going to go away." "We lost two channels of information: Face-to-face meetings and conferences, but what we've gained is a different channel of feedback which is real-time usage data." "Everyone knows that we live in a changing world. Everyone knows that sudden dislocation seems to be the theme of this century."