Amazon has filed a patent that makes it possible to interpret users’ emotions and feelings. By analyzing the pitch and volume of speaker commands Alexa will respond to the user’s “feelings”. This could be a huge leap for ecommerce. But this also leaves you more vulnerable. Understanding emotions and moods helps build trust even with machines.
Career 3.0 will be about bulk of the workforce becoming gig workers and operating outside the payroll of an employer. This workforce will come to the marketplace with multiple skills and offer it to multiple buyers and paid at different rates depending on the level of proficiency. This model will allow people to bring in all their skills, education and hobbies to the marketplace and monetize it.
Look around and see how much has changed about work and the worker. It is a clear signal that we need to redesign HR. So drop the assumptions of rational human beings. Maybe we will call it Behavioral HR. Google already has taken a lead in this space by starting a lab called Irrational Lab. Maybe it is time for all organizations to start one too where HR will remove outdated policies and replace them with ones that assume people do not make rational choices (mostly).
This year saw the dark side of leadership coming through for some of the most iconic leaders in some of the most high-profile companies in the world. The pattern is always the same. When high-profile leaders are questioned by the media, they tend to ignore or mislead the media rather than take it as a way for course correction. 2018 showed us three glaring examples of the dark side of leadership.
Kibeom Lee and Michael Ashton are convinced that Honesty-Humility is a new personality element that is made up of five attributes: Sincerity, Modesty, Fairness, Truthfulness and Unpretentious behavior. Leaders who are high on "the H -actor" put the spotlight on the team rather than on themselves. While such leaders are high on ambition, they liberally seek help from others and listen to feedback from others. Such leaders handle success without glowing in the I-did-it-all feeling.
Ever noticed how in most organizations the leaders rarely join workshops and training events. They will sit at the back, doing their email. That signals to the team that they do not need to learn all this, but they are joining the workshop just to encourage the team. This is patronizing and tells the participants, the new ideas will not be implemented because the leaders have not accepted their own need to learn and accept new ideas.Even now, in most organizations, the learning opportunities are segmented by hierarchy rather than learning needs. The seniors feel embarrassed to attend the same workshop that their team members are attending. It’s a sign of an antiquated mindset when leaders project themselves to be “beyond learning”. They will not be the role models employees need to stay curious and humble — two qualities that help a person to learn.
If you want to be an Algorithm Mechanic for a bank, who will tweak the logic behind algorithms, you will need “skills in risk management, service design, and financial literacy, rather than technological proficiency.” Problems are becoming too complex to be solved by one individual or one discipline. That may provide a clue to what can trigger "hot streaks" in any career - especially in a world of algorithms.
Employers no longer own the brand. Leaders were just about starting to take the voice of the customer seriously. Now they have to also deal with the collective power of a hyperconnected world of workers. Employees are keen to force the employers to make ethical choices. Leaders have no choice but to follow the employees. This time they are leading.
A few weeks ago, the McKinsey Global Institute released a report on skill shift, automation and the future of the workforce. They spoke about the major reskilling challenge that lies ahead. The strongest growth in demand will be for technological skills. The next big surge will be for social and emotional skills such as leadership and managing others. In the technology-charged world of work, empathy is the leadership essential...
