Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization Show

“We are now experiencing two, once-in-a-century trends happening at the same time—the labor shortage is one and the shift to remote work is the other.” Gad Levanon, Chief Economist at the Burning Glass Institute, has won awards for accurately forecasting U.S. economic trends. What’s his take on the shift to remote work? It’s dramatically changing the labor and economic playing field. In this episode of Geeks, Geezers, Googlization, Gad joins hosts Ira Wolfe and Jason Cochran to break down the numbers behind the labor shortage and discuss ways businesses are adapting to keep filling job openings. Resources:  A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz  

On this episode of Geeks, Geezers, Googlization, show hosts Jason Cochran and Ira S Wolfe are joined by the Dulead leadership team of Eric Hiler and Scott Himes to explore the importance of growth mindset and how a micro-learning coaching experience can give everyone from the front-line to the C-Suite the power to make change work. While winning the gold at the Olympics is every athlete’s goal, less than 3 percent of the athletes get an opportunity to stand atop the world stage. How these world-class athletes respond to untimely falls on the ice and aerial routines gone bad is really what separates the true champions from gifted athletes. Mindsets aren’t just important for athletes. They play a crucial role in our parenting, leading, wellbeing, and business success too. One such critical mindset is the growth mindset. Listen to how you and your team can develop a growth mindset one day at a time. Click here to start the Growth Mindset journey here!

Last year over 18 billion dollars were infused into HR tech, yet only 40% of senior HR leaders say they have a digital transformation plan in place for their businesses. According to Chad Sowash, the issue isn’t the tech, it’s the planning and integration. Chad is an HR legend, especially in recruitment, and is currently co-host of “Chad and The Cheese,” HR’s most dangerous podcast. In this episode of Geeks, Geezers, Googlization, Chad joins hosts Ira Wolfe and Jason Cochran to explore why so many HR leaders are stuck in the dark ages when it comes to their tech stack.

Burnout and stress are at all-time highs. In what has been dubbed The Great Resignation, over 26 million people have said adios to their bosses in just 5 months. Nearly one-third of the workforce has changed jobs over the past 12 months. Not only are more and better opportunities available, but a global study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence found that 78% of employees reported that their mental health was negatively impacted by the pandemic. Half of the workers say they’re experiencing burnout. What can business leaders do to stem the mass exodus of workers and attract or retain the top talent it needs? How can they assure they have the right leaders in place? Vivian Blade, author of #1 Amazon best-selling book, Resilience Ready: The Leader’s Guide to Thriving Through Unrelenting Crises, joins Geeks Geezers Googlization on this episode to unpack what needs to be done to thrive in these Never-Normal times. About Vivian Blade Recognized as one of Engagedly’s Top 100 Global HR Influencers of 2021, Vivian Blade is a sought-after leadership expert and thought leader. She works with the world’s top brands to build better, more resilient workplaces, equipping leaders to solve the pressing burnout, turnover, and workplace culture challenges your company is struggling with right now.

In Geeks, Geezers, Googlization, Ira Wolfe and Jason Cochran explore the new, challenge the old, and dare to push back on everybody who’s said “When we’re back to normal times…”. Join them weekly for fresh conversations around all topics pertaining to talent management.

If there ever was a time that HR and business leaders needed to reimagine their future and how they approach managing people, it's right now. Ben M. Bensaou, author of Built to Innovate and Professor of Technology Management at INSEAD, (home of the Blue Ocean Strategy) says that HR "needs to begin taking "innovating seriously." Instead of reaching for one more piece of HR Tech (which is innovation), we need to create an innovating culture that gives people permission to innovate and take risks  - motivating them to share ideas and contribute. We interviewed Ben on this week's Geeks Geezers Googlization Show. Ben was captivating. He'll leave you wanting more.

Imagine yourself loving to go to work, where your office workspace is equipped with perfect air quality, light, sound, and personalized design (even if you're left-handed!). This workspace helps you be more efficient and productive, all while offering flexible privacy and psychological safety. Mo Hamzian took his love for working at what he calls “analog coffee shops'' and started VEL, a hyper-localized tech-enabled, highly productive workplace based on a coffee shop concept. Sounds pretty good, right? Mo is betting hybrid, flexible, dedicated co-working spaces are here to stay and he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Is Mo’s vision of Workplace 3.0, the future of the workplace, correct? Will co-working replace working at the office and working from home? Are there better alternatives? With nearly every employer and worker struggling to figure out how, what, and where to work in this new world of Never-Normal, you don’t want to miss what Mo Hamzian has to say. 

Modern HR is not about HR, according to the “father of modern HR,” Dave Ulrich. Dave has eloquently described the major stumbling block in HR’s pursuit of change and leadership: HR is not about HR!  For far too long HR has been clamoring that it wants a seat at the table. Dave's response: "If HR isn't at the table [in 2021,] you don't belong in HR!" So then ...what is HR about? Where does it belong? Why should a CEO rely on HR in the first place? Start by asking: What does HR contribute?  HR is about contributing value to the marketplace. It's about making sure you have the right talent in the right places in the right culture. It's about leadership. These are just a few of the highlights you'll hear! Few words were minced and truths were told about why HR is not about HR and what role it must be playing. Grab a pen and paper (or your favorite digital device) because you'll definitely want to jot down a few notes. Then click here for this captivating interview with Thinkers 360 Top 5 HR Global Thought Leader Dave Ulrich. Dave is ranked as the #1 management guru by Business Week, profiled by Fast Company as one of the world’s top 10 creative people in business, a top 5 coach in Forbes, and recognized on Thinkers50 as one of the world’s leading business thinkers. Dave has written 30 books and over 200 articles. It’s no surprise that he’s been called the “HR thought leader of the decade.”

Plagued by the double whammy of a record number of job openings and employee resignations, many companies have opened up their purse strings to toss money at revolving doors of talent. But according to Recruiter.com chairman and CEO Evan Sohn, who is at the epicenter of what is going on, 75 percent of candidate priorities are not compensation-related. Paying more money isn’t the long-term solution. So what is? What’s going wrong in the job and labor markets and what must companies do right now to fix it?  What can you expect in 2022?  Right before Evan’s interview, Recruiter.com released their 6 Recruiting Predictions for 2022 beginning with this #1 headbanger: It will be an employee’s job market through at least the first half of 2022!  What’s behind this shift? Let’s start with the job-hopper economy, remote work, hybrid workforce, and diversity. You’re not going to want to miss this episode. Click play now.

Making the right business (and personal) decisions heading into 2022 can be freaking terrifying! We want certainty and predictability. We’re experiencing “VUCA-fatigue” from all the Volatility-Uncertainty-Complexity-Ambiguity). We’re hungry for facts and answers. Unfortunately facts these days get lost in the noise, misinformation, and abundance of bulls***.  That’s why in one of our most favorite Geeks Geezers Googlization episodes each year, we’re excited to welcome the experts from ITR Economics and this year we get to talk with Jackie Greene, Vice President of Economic and an “Economics Geek.” Here's why it's so important you pay attention to what Jackie has to say: ITR Economics holds the remarkable distinction of being the oldest privately held forecasting firm in the country (USA) and most accurate with a forecasting accuracy rate of 94.7% since 1985! Their employment forecast accuracy is even higher than that - 99% in most years.  What’s ahead for jobs and hiring?  Will businesses still struggle to fill open positions?  Will workers continue to quit jobs and reshuffle careers?  Beyond the threat of COVID and its variants, what economic and labor trends should we be watching?  Are we headed for more growth or a recession?  Which industries will see the most growth or contraction?  How will the Infrastructure Bill impact us, who will benefit, and when?   What you’ll learn here is there is no going back to normal or magic bullet solutions. But there is a way to make smarter decisions heading into 2022 and that starts right here. It’s time to click play.