The Edge of Work

In early October, I had the chance to attend Linkedin’s Talent Connect Summit in New York City. During this 2 day event, I had the chance to chat, learn and connect with 1500 talent and HR leaders from across the globe, and to hear from speakers including The Reverend Honorable Dame Jacinda Ardern (Former PM of New Zealand) Spike Lee, to Donna Morris (Chief People Officer, Wal-Mart) and Sherry Cassano (SVP Talent, Pfizer) and April Rinne (Author, Flux: 8 Superpowers For Thriving in Constant Change)In this episode, I share some of my takeaways and learnings from the event, and talk about trends including generative AI, career development and internal mobility. I also share some examples of how companies like Wal-Mart, Pfizer, Cisco, Canva, and NBC Universal are embracing new playbooks to create a better world of work.

Susan Lamotte is the CEO of exaqueo, an employer branding consultancy. With extensive experience in helping companies develop strategies that attract and retain talent, Susan has extensive experience and insight into the state of the workplace, what has changed, and the critical dynamics and relationships that exist between employees and organizations.During our conversation, Susan spoke about the changing landscape of work, the evolution of employer branding and the employee value proposition, as well as some of the common challenges employers face when they struggle with attracting and retaining their top talent.Susan also spoke about the importance of understanding the key relationship dynamics of the employment relationship, identified four critical dimensions of that relationship, and offered advice for how employers can construct and deliver upon employer value propositions that attract talent in today’s changing world of work.LinksSusan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlamotte/Article: https://www.inc.com/inc-masters/stop-selling-jobs-the-new-employee-relationship.htmlexaqueo : https://www.exaqueo.com 

Melissa Swift is the US Transformation Leader at Mercer, and the Author of the book Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace.  With expertise in leading human capital transformation across multiple industries, Melissa has a keen eye into what is and isn’t working about work, and in her book, offers a look into the ways in some of the broken and challenging components of the underlying fundamentals of work and the workplace, especially for knowledge workers and what we can do about it to think differently about work.During our conversation, Melissa dove into a history of work, including how elements of work, including the history of human resources, accounting, and performance management impact our workplace today, and how those negatively impact employee engagement, belonging, well-being, and productivity. We also spoke about some of the mindsets and constructs of work, such as “greedy work” and the “anxiety monster” harming companies and organizations, and ultimately, what leaders and organizations can start to do in order to fundamentally shift the way of thinking about how to construct work and create better workplaces.Links:Melissa’s Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swiftmelissa/ Melissa’s Book: https://www.mercer.com/en-us/insights/people-strategy/hr-transformation/work-here-now-think-like-a-human-build-a-powerhouse-workplace/ Al’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Mita Mallick is the Head of Inclusion, Equity, and Impact at Carta, and the Author of Reimagine Inclusion: Debunking 13 Myths to Transform Your Workplace. As a child, Mita grew up not seeing or hearing stories of people who looked or talked like her, and now, as a former brand management executive turned DEI leader, Podcast Host and author, Mita spends her time using her voice to amplify voices and people like her, and creating workplaces that accurately reflect and represent the people in those communities. During our conversation, Mita spoke about her own journey into the corporate workplace and the challenges and successes that she faced along the way, and how those experiences and others factored into her upcoming book, and why it’s so critical to debunk these myths to create a better world of work.  We also spoke about three specific myths that are covered in the book, and some practical and specific actions we can take in order to create a greater sense of belonging and more inclusive workplaces.Links:Mita’s Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mita-mallick-2b165822/Mita’s Book: https://www.amazon.com/Reimagine-Inclusion-Debunking-Transform-Workplace/dp/1394177097 Brown Table Talk Podcast: https://www.browntabletalkpodcast.com/Did you like this episode? Let Al know → https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Erica Keswin is a consultant, podcast host, and author of the newly released book, The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company. As a longtime HR leader, consultant and researcher on workplace trends, Erica has been observing the changes in employee expectations out of work and the workplace, as well as identifying opportunities to truly rethink the way that we work.During our conversation, Erica spoke about some of the changes in the world of work that she has observed that have only grown over the past few years, as well as what prompted her to look at the employee experience and specifically rethinking some traditional norms of the workplace. We also spoke in depth about how to rethinking some of the traditional norms of the of the employee experience, around onboarding, flexibility, retention, and people managers, along with ideas and best practices Erica found from her work and research that she’s seeing companies implement to attract, engage, and develop employees in today’s world of work.Links:Erica’s Website: https://ericakeswin.com/ Erica’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericakeswin/ Erica’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Retention-Revolution-Surprising-Employees-Connected/dp/1265158681 

Eric Girard is the CEO of Girard Training Solutions, and a management development expert, and the author of Lead Like a Pro, The Essential Guide For New Managers.During our conversation, Eric spoke about the transition and changes people managers must navigate when moving from individual contributor to people manager, as well as some of the common pitfalls new managers make, and some critical skills all managers must learn, including goal setting, feedback, and coaching.Eric also shared some thoughts on what is different about being a manager in today’s world of work, and why empathy is a superpower each manager can tap into in order to build a great team.Eric’s Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericpgirard/ Eric’s Website: https://www.girardtrainingsolutions.com/Book Website: https://www.gtspress.com/Podcast: https://www.girardtrainingsolutions.com/podcast.html 

Dart Lindsley is the Host of The Work For Humans Podcast, and a People and HR Leader who has spent time at tech companies including Cisco and Google.Through hosting the Work For Humans podcast, he has further shaped an innovative philosophy which can reinvent how we think about work. Instead of treating workers as "inputs to production" Dart believes that we should be treating employees as customers, upholding the importance of understanding their needs, and then designing a product (ex: their job or role) that provides a satisfying work experience.  During our conversation, Dart spoke about his observations of why work is not working, and what we can do to fix it.  He also walks through his concept of thinking of work “as a product” and how by using concepts of product marketing and  design,  the feedback he's received from using this approach, and how managers can reinvent work that actually works for employees, so they can be engaged, fulfilled and do exceptional work.Links:Work For Humans Podcast: https://dartlindsley.com/work-for-humans-podcast/Dart’s Linkedin Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dart-lindsley/ Like this episode? Let Al know: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Brian Elliott is a Co-Founder of Future Forum, Co-Author of How The Future Works, and a former VP at Slack. One of the leaders in both researching the future of work and enabling new ways of working, Brian has advised numerous leaders on how to experiment and think differently in order to innovate and lead in this new world of work.During our conversation, Brian spoke about some of his observations about what he’s seen change and evolve in the workplace over the past few years, and some of the challenges that hold leaders back from experimentation in the new world of work. Brian also shared what innovative leaders from companies like Slack, Hubspot, Atlassian, and Cotapaxi are doing differently to embrace this new world of work, as well as his own guidance to how leaders can focus on improving key business goals around productivity and engagement by focusing on better team dynamics and focusing on outcomes rather than outputs. Links:Future Forum & Brian's Book: https://futureforum.com/how-the-future-works/Brian Elliott's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/belliott/Al's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/

Dr. Gabriella Rosen Kellerman is the Chief Innovation Officer for BetterUp Labs, as well as the Co-Author of the book Tomorrowmind: Thriving at Work, Now and In an Uncertain Future. As a psychologist, Gabriella has studied the workplace and works each day in her role to help envision and create a better world of work.During our conversation Gabriella spoke about the history of work back from the hunter-gather days until present day, as well as the challenges that leaders and employees face in navigating a constantly changing and evolving world of work. Drawing on the concepts, research, and ideas, from her book as well as from her work at BetterUp Labs, Gabriella provided us with some ideas about the key skills that leaders and managers should both develop in order to lead effectively in today’s world of work, and how they can help their employees navigate the complexities and uncertainties of a constantly changing workplace, ranging from navigating uncertainty, mattering and purpose, and developing social connection regardless of location.Using the PRISM model, Gabriella also shared five key skills that all employees can develop and use to thrive in today’s world of work so that they can thrive LinksWebsite: https://www.gabriellarosenkellerman.com/Gabriella’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grkellerman/Al’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/Book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tomorrowmind/Gabriella-Rosen-Kellerman/9781982159764 

Kelly Monahan is the Managing Director at Upwork, and leads their Future of Work research efforts. Having conducted and led future of work research efforts at leading organizations, Kelly has been studying the workplace and how it’s changed and evolved over the years, and is currently leading efforts at Upwork to identify Workplace innovators who are truly thinking and working about the workplace and designing organizations.During our conversation, Kelly spoke about some of her observations about how she has seen the workplace change, and some examples of how companies and leaders have adapted new ways of working and thinking as a result of those changes, ranging from how companies hire, think about work, and design work. Kelly also spoke about some of the research she and her team at Upwork have been doing on generative AI, and some of the key insights as well as future opportunities for how Generative AI can help organizations reimagine how they work, and truly work in new ways. Links:Kelly’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-monahan-ph-d-18879413/Kelly's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23SYB8ZFEEIUpwork Research on Gen AI: https://www.upwork.com/blog/generative-ai-disconnect Productivity-Trust Paradox: https://alsnewsletter.substack.com/p/the-productivity-trust-paradoxDavid Graeber: https://www.vox.com/2018/5/8/17308744/bullshit-jobs-book-david-graeber-occupy-wall-street-karl-marxSlack's Research on Productivity and Trust (Summer 2023): https://slack.com/blog/news/future-of-work-research-summer-2023Discretionary Effort: https://hbr.org/2004/12/the-things-they-do-for-loveAl’s Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/