A lot has happened in 2018. Remember when we had the Olympics in February? Seems forever ago, doesn鈥檛 it?
A lot has happened in the world of talent this year, too. HR teams and organizational leadership have become increasingly aware of what many are calling the 鈥渇ourth industrial revolution鈥� 鈥� a new wave of automation that will wipe out 75 million jobs, but at the same time, create 133 million human jobs. Enterprise organizations are preparing to face unprecedented upskilling and workforce planning challenges, and as a result, the status quo of talent management has come under scrutiny. Will the way we鈥檝e always done things in the past sustain a mass migration of talent from dying jobs to net new roles? Probably not. Thankfully, many of the world鈥檚 top thought leaders are already having the conversation 鈥� how can we prepare our talent practices for the future of work?
As we reflect on 2018, we鈥檝e rounded up some of our favorite articles from this year that address the new world of talent and how you, as a talent expert, can adopt future-ready practices in the new year. Start 2019 strong by familiarizing yourself with our top reads from this past year.
1. 鈥淎re You Overlooking Your Greatest Source of Talent?鈥� Deloitte
"Internal mobility鈥攈ow that happens鈥攊s not just a way to retain talent. It also helps to create a powerful magnet for people outside your organization who seek professional growth. The result? The talent market can see your organization as one that champions ambition and performance in everything it does."
Internal mobility is often overlooked as a talent source. The business opportunity is pretty clear-cut: not only does it help reduce costs incurred when people leave your organization, but it also provides a great employee experience, giving your talent diverse work experiences across the organization and propelling their career path. But in most organizations, it still feels a little 鈥渃ivil war-ish鈥� to snag talent from another business unit or team within your own organization. This article addresses that mindset as a top barrier to why internal mobility gets such a bad rap. If you need a an introductory guide to creating a culture of internal mobility at your organization, we highly recommend .
2. 鈥淥n Becoming a Scientific HR Function 鈥� Learning from Amazon and Google.鈥� TLNT
"Technology and AI have finally begun to drive HR. Our leaders must now start to realize that no HR department will ever be able to make the transition into a digital, AI and technology driven HR function until they first commit to make all HR decision-making as precise and scientific as engineering decisions."
Did you know that at Amazon and Google, 鈥渂ecoming scientific鈥� is a top strategic goal shared by both of their HR functions? Surprised? For some reason, even though every other business function has already shifted to the scientific model, it鈥檚 still hard to picture a 鈥渟cientific鈥� HR function. If you want to learn more about the differences between 鈥渢raditional HR鈥� and 鈥渟cientific HR,鈥� and why a scientific approach is critical to preparing for the future, .
3. 鈥淐ompanies are on the Hook if Their Hiring Algorithms are Biased.鈥� Quartz
鈥淭here鈥檚 a whole body of predictive science out there that tells us what predicts a top performer and what doesn鈥檛, but yet 98% of the world is using poor quality, crap data that does not predict that, and only introduces a boatload of bias."
Speaking of Amazon...did you know that this year, Amazon tried to build an algorithmic system to analyze resumes and suggest the best hires? It tanked 鈥� the word 鈥渨omen,鈥� like in women鈥檚 sports, would cause the algorithm to specifically rank applicants lower. If you鈥檙e worried your organization may be on the hook for the social and legal implications of AI that you use in your organization, and you want to learn more about what you can do about it, you should check out
4. 鈥淲hat is Your Super Power at Work?鈥� Forbes
"If you take the time to identify the super powers of your people, you will not only discover hidden talent, but you will inspire everyone to bring their personal best to work."
We often have a tangible reference point for our employees鈥� skills and knowledge 鈥� after all, those are the kinds of things we鈥檇 find on a resume or performance review. We don鈥檛 so often have the same quantification of a person鈥檚 super power 鈥� what this article describes as their 鈥減articular genius: the specific, unique and specialized skill that they bring to the workplace.鈥� We love this article because it provides such a powerful argument for quantifying that 鈥渟ecret sauce鈥� 鈥� what we at 夜色直播 call 鈥渢alents鈥� 鈥� to engage your employees by making it front of mind for them that what they are contributing to the organization is unique and impactful. You can read the article
5. 鈥淲hy Talented People Don鈥檛 Use Their Strengths.鈥� Harvard Business Review
鈥淓xperts have long encouraged people to 鈥榩lay to their strengths.鈥� And why wouldn鈥檛 we want to flex our strongest muscle? But based on my observations, this is easier said than done. Not because it鈥檚 hard to identify what we鈥檙e good at. But because we often undervalue what we inherently do well.鈥�
Speaking of super powers...why do so many people neglect to operate within their super powers at work? Probably because our super powers are things we do effortlessly, so many individuals don鈥檛 value their innate talents as much as they do the skills that have been hard-won. After you鈥檝e read article #4 to learn how to start identifying your employees鈥� super powers, we highly recommend this to learn how to convince your people that you value their talents, and begin building a team of employees that bring their super powers to work.
6. 鈥淚t鈥檚 No Longer About Getting a Seat at the Table. Tomorrow鈥檚 CHROs Need to Lead Business Change.鈥� TLNT
"The CHRO鈥檚 role for today has expanded well beyond administering payroll and benefits. Effective CHROs need an entrepreneurial mindset to drive and impact key business outcomes, especially around crucial customer and employee behaviors."
With all the incoming (and already instigated) disruption happening among the global workforce, the role of the CHRO is facing a similar disruption. This article compares it to the changes happening in marketing leadership over the past decade; emerging technologies have provided access to data and tools that help marketing leaders take a much more data-driven, ROI-focused approach to their work, and now marketing is a key business leader. Why can鈥檛 it be the same for HR? This article lists 3 behaviors of the strategic CHRO, which we highly recommend you familiarize yourself with before heading into 2019.
7. 鈥淭he Corporate Challenge of Fitting the Future of Work with the Workforce of Today.鈥� Forbes
"For every dollar invested in technology upgrades or disruptive services, companies must recognize the value of matching that investment in retraining their people. They not only require the technical skills for today but the mindset to remain agile and reinvent themselves with every innovation, transformation or new environment."
The 鈥渇uture of work鈥� and the 鈥渇ourth industrial revolution鈥� have definitely been some buzzwords in 2018, and we only see the conversation around robots replacing human jobs becoming more ubiquitous in 2019. But let鈥檚 be honest, some of the talk can feel a little 鈥渄oomsday-ish鈥� 鈥� we may see the stats of how many jobs will be replaced by machines in the next decade and almost immediately picture a Blade Runner-esque scene. What we like about this Forbes article is its much-needed reminder that the future of work will demand a whole new breed of human jobs, from space tourism, drone delivery pilots, and digital managers for remote teams. And these new jobs will require very human skills, like agile thinking. Take a look at the full article
8. 鈥淭ech鈥檚 Obsession with Cultural Fit Feeds Its Diversity Problem.鈥� The Globe and Mail
鈥淢anagers who are willing to sacrifice diversity for the sake of harmony are making a bad business decision.鈥�
鈥淐ulture fit,鈥� for a lot of tech companies especially, is often used as a determining factor whether someone is (or is not) hired or promoted. And we can pretty easily justify the use of 鈥渃ulture fit鈥� as a hiring or promotion criteria. Isn鈥檛 it just more efficient to hire or promote someone who will immediately mesh with the team? This article makes a very convincing case for why 鈥渃ulture fit鈥� is only perpetuating bias 鈥� after all, the idea is all about prioritizing harmony over differences. You can read the full article ; plus, we wrote a deep dive blog post about 鈥渃ulture fit鈥� and why it鈥檚 different than 鈥渏ob fit,鈥� which you can take a look at here.
9. 鈥淭he Future of Recruiting Will Combine Hiring Machines With Psychology.鈥� ERE
鈥淔or hire-bots to be able to do their job as well or better than humans they are going to have to understand individual differences the same way that humans do. In other words, to be truly game changing, hiring assessment AIs are going to have to think like psychologists.鈥�
This article presents a very convincing argument as to why training AI with psychology can solve a lot of problems with current recruiting AI (remember the Amazon example?). Essentially, AI struggles to understand individual differences in humans 鈥� they are not suited to complex judgements required to infer meaning from a pile of data. Individual differences, however, are exactly what psychologists measure, through methods like psychometrics and expert judgement. Getting AI to think like psychologists may be the key to predicting job success and mitigating bias.
10. 鈥淲ant to Debias Hiring? Change What Hiring Managers Focus On.鈥� Behavioral Scientist
鈥淭ake bias out of the decision-making process rather than the decision-maker.鈥�
Speaking of psychology, as a talent expert, it鈥檚 always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the research going on in the field that will optimize your talent processes in the new year. Research across seven experiments revealed that how we think about and evaluate people is not immutable; it depends on the context in which we鈥檙e evaluating them, specifically in the context of other people. The conclusion 鈥� take bias out of the decision-making process rather than the decision-maker. Dig deeper into the research .
2018 was a huge stepping stone for innovation and thought leadership in the talent world, with topics spanning AI, the future of work, leveraging your employees鈥� super powers in your organization, diversity, and more. We鈥檙e confident that 2019 will only be more exciting and innovative, and that more and more talent experts will be finding themselves in seats at the table, contributing to data-driven decisions that drive your organization forward.
From all of us here at 夜色直播, we wish you all the best in 2019, and we hope that it鈥檚 a year filled with exceeding your talent acquisition and talent management goals!