Join us today for a webinar on the future of work

Today at 1 pm ET/10 am PT, join Ed Cone of Oxford Economics, Anne Dacy of IBM, and David Swanson of SAP for a discussion around the future of work.

We’ll be talking about our research findings and focusing on how the survey results are different for executives and employees in North America. Listen in to learn about:

  • The increasing role of contingent, non-payroll employees
  • Gaps in knowledge and resources for managing tomorrow’s diverse workforce
  • An urgent need for HR-specific analytic tools, skillsets, and data
  • Insufficient board-level understanding of strategic workforce issues

Click here to register for the webinar.

Workforce insights from the Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit

Yesterday, we attended the Bloomberg Enterprise Technology Summit in New York City.

There was a lot of discussion about how technology is influencing HR priorities and outcomes. The former CIO of the CIA, Gus Hunt, said that access to security talent can be a limiting factor for companies migrating to the cloud. Kirsten Wolberg, VP of Technology at PayPal, said using a hot technology was a good way to attract top talent.

Meanwhile, Duncan Angove, president of Infor, said, “Cloud is about delivering completely new work experiences.”

And employee expectations are changing as well. More and more, employees are asking why they can’t access and use certain apps at work that they can at home.

It sounded pretty familiar to us,  because our surveys address the ways technology is influenced and constrained by human factors. At the end of May, we will be able to identify some key gaps and suggest solutions to decision-makers looking to address these issues. Stay tuned.

The workforce of the future

Jean-François_Millet_-_Gleaners_-_Google_Art_Project_2Nothing is more critical to the success of a business than its people. Workforce issues have become a high-level strategic concern in a global, technology-saturated economy — and a growing challenge as well. Executives must make sure that talent and skills are available when and where they’re needed, and that the shifting expectations of a diverse, mobile employee population are Chaplin_-_Modern_Timesanticipated and satisfied.

Employees, meanwhile, have come a long way from the old days of field and factory (represented here by the work of Jean-François Millet and Charlie Chaplin). They must compete for jobs with people around the world, and master a changing set of skills, and adapt to the demands an ever-changing economy. At the same time, they want jobs that fit their personal and generational preferences for compensation, workplace environment, and meaning.

How well are executives prepared for the challenges of Workforce 2020? How many of them have a strategic vision, much less an action plan, and how well do those plans match the views of their employees? The answers will help determine financial results and competitive outcomes, and separate the winners from the rest of the pack.

These issues are the focus of this blog and the research program behind it. Over the next several months we’ll share results from our global surveys of 2,600 executives and 2.600 non-executive employees in 26 countries; publish excerpts from our series of exclusive interviews with corporate decision-makers; analyze news and break down trends; and preview the original reports and infographics that come out of our research. We’ll also share expert opinion and insight – including yours, if you wish to join in.

Look for us on Twitter and LinkedIn, too.