The Future Of Work Podcast With Jacob Morgan | Futurist | Workplace | Careers | Employee Experience & Engagement |

Marco Annuziata is the Chief Economist and Executive Director of Global Market Insights at General Electric. He is relatively new in the company, only having been there for 5 years in a newly created position. Marco is tasked with studying what is happening around the world and how it will affect employment, economies, and growth. He looks at the long term geopolitical, economic, social, and technological trends, then maps that to the risks and opportunities for GE's different businesses around the world.  GE uses the Global Innovation Barometer to learn how people feel about innovation. It is a survey of business executives and the informed public across 26 countries that identifies the implications, obstacles, advantages of innovation. Marco's team uses the barometer to get a sense of what is happening globally and in each country. One of the key findings is surprising... people are generally optimistic about the 4th industrial revolution's affect on economic growth and living standards.   Marco's team es

  Joe Burton comes from a corporate background, working in high stress situations with long hours and constant travel. His career was on an uphill track but his personal life and health started to decline. He even developed insomnia and asthma around the age of 40. Up until then, he would have laughed if someone suggested mindfulness as a way to alleviate his stress. Joe realized that mindfulness training helped him be more present and aware. He developed a deeper relationship with his emotions and central nervous system. It changed the way he is with his family and as a leader.   Now Joe is the founder and CEO of Whil, a mindfulness training company that offers three digital programs that work on any computer or mobile device. Mindfulness and Yoga for Adults which is all about stress reduction and improving performance. Grow is for helping teenagers deal with being a teen in today's world. Search Inside Yourself is focused on leadership, emotional intelligence, teamwork, and collaboration skills. Whil is pri

The workplace of the past is gone... We are now talking about homing from work, not working from home. Tim Oldman uses his background in interior design and architecture, along with his fascination in merging diagnostic tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to get a better understanding of employee spaces. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Leesman, famous for the Leesman Index, which is an independent auditor of the relationship between employees and the space that is provided for them. Tim compares Leesman to the radiographers of the corporate workplace and that couldn't be more appropriate!   Leesman releases a variety of reports on ideas like cost of occupancy and employee retention. They adhere to the concept of open source knowledge so anyone can view the reports on their website.The Leesman Index looks at the impact of work spaces on employees and identifies the most effective spaces. Tim is clear that it isn't about how pretty, or how large, or how expensive a space is designed. The key is know

We are currently in the midst of an industrial revolution with an exponential pace of change and it is disrupting industry in every country. This revolution is different from the past three in terms of velocity, scope, and impact. It is a digital revolution, characterized by a fusion of technology that is impacting every aspect of how we work and how we live, creating threats and opportunities. Skills that we learned in formal education are now becoming irrelevant. Employees should be prepared to completely reskill themselves. I recently spoke with Sandeep Dadlani, the Executive Vice President and Head of Americas for Infosys, on what is going to be required from employees of the future to succeed and thrive. Infosys is a massive, quick growing global consulting firm. Sandeep has been with them for over 15 years in a variety of roles. They have studied the 4th industrial revolution and the impact it is going to have thoroughly. Infosys believes the answer to the challenges we face in this revolution is educa

Lately, I've been surrounded by the theme of management and leadership, and the role of each in the future of work. Today, we are chatting with Sydney Finkelstein to discuss what makes some leaders truly exceptional. Sydney is the Steven Roth Professor of Management and faculty director of the Tuck Executive Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is also the author of the phenomenal new book Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent.    The idea for Sydney's book and the Superboss title arose from a pattern that he noticed in the food industry where sous-chefs at a particular restaurant were moving on to new restaurants and becoming executive chefs. Sydney began to research if the pattern was present in other industries and found that in many fields, one person has immense influence in the development of talent in that field. The book took 10 years to write... the more time Sydney spent on it, the more fascinated he became!   So what exactly is a Superboss? Whi

A few months back while I was doing a keynote in Mumbai, I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. N.S. Rajan. Dr. Rajan is the author of a new book, Quote Me if You Can, as well as Group Chief Human Resources Officer and a member of the Group Executive Council of Tata. The Tata group is comprised of 100 companies with over 600,000 employees globally. It is one of the largest organizations in the world with companies offering a broad range of services and commodities. Each company has body and mind of its own, with Tata being the soul.     As Group CHRO, Dr. Rajan works with the CHRO in every company in the Tata group, providing critical leadership and spearheading diversity initiatives. He believes in putting the effort forth to create more effective and better leaders with a concept similar to servant based leadership. While managers focus on the task to be completed, the process to complete it, and supervising a set of people to get there, the leaders role is more ambiguous. They must envision, set new direct

When you are leading one of the world's largest organizations with hundreds of thousands of employees you need a unique vision to succeed. Jeff Smith, the Chief Intelligence Officer at IBM, has two major missions as CIO. First, to enable a productive work environment and second, to lead the deployment of an agile culture throughout the company. Jeff recently filled me in on the concept of an agile enterprise and how it is shaping the way we work.   With the world changing at such a fast pace, organizations and employees must be agile by continuously adapting to situations, addressing problems, and reevaulating progress. This is important for leadership, collaboration, and delivery practices to allow organizations in any industry and of any size to be more successful. Non-agile enterprises run with a fixed plan as though things won't change when we all know that there is no certainty in life! So when a problem arises, the plan is ruined versus an agile enterprise that can adjust the sails to go with the flow.

This week we are discussing the past and future of jobs and paychecks with Dr. Lawrence “Larry” Mishel. Larry has been a labor market economist for 30 years and is now the President of The Economic Policy Institute, a Washington based think tank. EPI is focusing on how our current economy is affecting low and middle income Americans, what policies are needed to restore the middle class, and how to generate robust wage growth for everyone so they experience a growing standard of living. With a PhD in economics, Larry is increasingly concerned with trends regarding wage stagnation – he believes the preeminent economic challenge of our time is to overcome wage stagnation. The wages and benefits of nearly all workers haven’t grown in 12 years! This affects all workers, even those that are highly skilled. The hourly wages and benefits of the median worker have only grown around 9% since 1979! Larry also disagrees with many articles that claim the freelancer economy is large and rapidly growing. Numbers actually sh

Today, we welcome Julien Smith, cofounder and CEO of Breather, to discuss the factors that are disrupting the idea of traditional office spaces. Julien and I explore how trends, pricing, real estate, and technology are shaping the evolution of physical work places. Julien authored three books on marketing while working from the internet, without an office for about 10 years. As a freelancer with no place to go for work every day, he saw the potential for a totally separate, individualized work space that can be unlocked with your phone. Breather was born… a network of well designed, comfortable but professional small meeting rooms and office spaces. Now there are 100 units across 5 cities. These units generally reside in larger office buildings and can be rented daily, weekly, or just once! They serve as an effective space to be on your own or meet with a small group to brainstorm, rehearse, etc. Many people use Breather spaces when they are traveling or need the use of an outside office. Some users don’t hav

The future of recruiting and retaining top talent is changing.   With new developments in employee engagement, the gig economy, and the rise of Millennials and Generation Z in the workforce, organizations are adapting their methods to find and maintain the best employees. Today, I speak with Mike Preston the Chief Talent Officer at Deloitte.  Deloitte underwent a mass career customization framework, focused on strength based development.  While Deloitte has never had a Chief Human Resources Officer by that name, the Talent Officer title reflects how their employees are viewed.  The people who work for their company, the talent, are the most important component. While this title may have always been the standard at Deloitte, this just shows how they are ahead of the curve in regards to the future of work. Many other organizations are changing the title of their Human Resources departments to reflect the focus on employees themselves.  Deloitte is the world’s largest professional services organization.  Involve

  If the last 20 years was all about digitization and the rise of the internet, what is next?  This is the subject Alec Ross covers in his new book, The Industries of the Future.  If you regularly listen to The Future of Work podcast, then you know what a huge topic the future is.  Alec spent the last few years writing his book, drawing on his experience, and bringing in stories and background from all over the globe.  Alec wanted to cover many topics, pulling them all together in the centralized theme.  This leads to a thorough examination of the future of work that goes beyond the standard topics such as robots and automation. Alec is one of today’s leading experts on innovation and technology.  He is currently a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at John Hopkins University. Previously, he was the Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for the duration of her term as Secretary of State.  Alec also advises startups, and is inspired by people who can imagine and invent the future.  He

Imagine waking up in the morning, and as your coffee is brewing, reflecting on the work that needs to be completed for the day. For many of us, this can include a long commute to an office, sitting down at a desk, and working within restrictions that is set by management or an organization.  For some people, this mental image causes feelings such as dread, resentment and even depression.  Those people need to find a solution, where they cannot just have a job, but a career that makes their daily lives much more enjoyable!  For some, the result is working on a career where they are not tied down by limitations of working for someone else, but cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit inside themselves. With today’s technology advances, there are many options available for different types of freelance work.  Sites like Upwork, and Fiverr, allow people to post and bid for tasks and jobs, Airbnb allows a homeowner to turn their spare bedroom into income, and an Uber driver can make a living while traveling all across

Today’s Future of Work podcast is with Anne Raimondi the SVP of Strategy at Zendesk.   The topic today is a little different than most of the topics covered on the podcast.  Anne speaks on rethinking our personal and professional relationships.  Our relationships drive what we do in our personal lives, and how we interact inside our companies.  They are changing right along with the future of work.  With advances in technology, we are finding that work is spreading into every aspect of our lives.  Anne describes how instead of focusing on work-life balance, the focus should be on work-life integration and how it effects the relationships we build and maintain.   Working with Zendesk for over two years, Anne’s position could be described as, to make sure people are happy, work well together, and get things done.   Zendesk provides a customer service platform and tools for companies to utilize in varies forms.  Growing from around 400 employees, to around 1300 since Anne has been on board, Zendesk has maintaine

Today’s Future of Work Podcast is a very exciting topic!  My guest is Mark Levy, the Global Head of Employee Experience at Airbnb.  Airbnb has been making headlines lately, as they shifted their focus from a Human Resources Department to Employee Experience.  Airbnb has core values that really put their employees first, and want them to feel like they belong with the company.   During today’s podcast, I sit down at their main campus, and you can feel the energy of their open floor and hear new programs being implemented as the podcast is recording.  Airbnb is an alternative accommodation site that connects hosts and guests all over the world.   Mark has spent over 20 years in Human Resources roles spanning his career.  When Mark joined Airbnb, the Human Resources functions were split into multiple groups, which included talent, recruiting, and a group called “ground control” which was responsible for the workplace culture. Talk of bringing the departments together occurred, and Mark questioned, if Airbnb had

The role of IT inside of an organization is transforming. With all of the new technologies being created and utilized in today's workplace, there are a lot of discussions how best to expand the organizations technology infrastructure. Today’s guest on the Future of Work Podcast is Jim Fowler. Jim is the Chief Information Officer of General Electric.   This podcast discusses how IT and the CIO role in particular, is now one of the most exciting departments of an organization.   From device deployment, to production lines, and even keeping an organization secure by maintain badge security, IT touches many different activities within a company. Not only does IT touch employee facing functions, there is a lot of back end work, such as building new applications, technologies and analytics. Jim describes in detail how GE’s IT department has worked closely with other departments to create new technologies to advance the company for the future of work. Jim has been with GE for over 15 years.  GE is a conglomerate tou

Today on the Future of Work Podcast, my guest is Abhijit Bhaduri, the Chief Learning Officer of Wipro Group. Wipro has almost 170,000 employees around the world in IT services. Since Abhijit is the Chief Learning Officer, today’s topic is all around the future of learning and careers.  In his role, he prepares all of the employees in the company for the future so they can be “future ready.” Abhijit’s background has prepared him for his current role in the IT space, as he has to be able work with clients in any field.  As the Chief Learning Officer, he is able to gather information with Wipro’s customers, on where the future of work is going in their fields, and helps prepare their companies for the changes to come.  Abhijit brings his insight to future learning.  He speaks on how future learning will not be driving by others, but by what an individual wants to learn.  Learning will come from our peers, as well as the accessibility of experts and leaders in the fields in which we want to acquire more knowledge

Today’s Future of Work podcast guest is Ellyn Shook, the Chief Leadership and Human Resources Officer of Accenture.  Accenture is a global professional services organization and has over 360,000 around the world.  Their mission is to help improve the way the world works and lives, and lead the digital disruption on behalf of their clients. Ellyn is responsible for leading the global team of human resources experts, who aim to deliver exceptional employee experiences for Accenture’s people.  Today, we speak on talent practices for the 21st century.  Accenture believes that the growth of their people, leads to the growth of their business. Ellyn has been with Accenture since 1988 and became a partner in 2003. She is also on a number of boards including the advisory board of Women in Business at Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and the Women's Leadership Board of the Women and Public Policy program at Harvard's Kennedy School.  Ellyn is helping lead how the workplace is changing, not j

For the first Future of Work Podcast for 2016, I speak with David Rodriguez the Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer of Marriott International. The topic of this podcast is all around the business impact of employee health and wellness. This is a huge theme that we will see and increase in investment for 2016 and beyond. David provides insight on why Marriott is investing in health and wellness promotions, and the benefits of healthy employees who participate in these programs. With over 400,000 employees in their managed locations, Marriott spans 31 brands, across 100 countries all over the world. They are the largest hotel company in the world, knitted together by their people centric culture.   David has been with the company since 1998, holding the Global CHRO title since 2006. Marriot was founded on the principles that if you take care of employees, they will in turn, take care of customers; employees feeling good about themselves will be inspired to serve others. It is this belief t

I’m very excited to share this week’s episode of The Future of Work podcast. I interview Rita McGrath, Professor at Columbia Business School, author, speaker and consultant. Rita has been featured in many business publications and is quoted frequently by the press. Her most recent book is “The End of Competitive Advantage – How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business.” I believe this podcast will prove to be a very good overview for people that are interested in management and innovation, and how they are evolving and changing. Rita is on the front line of these events because she not only teaches on this, but she works with a lot of organizations. We talk about venture capital and funding in the Bay Area and what is going on with what I like to call “Pinocchio’s Island,” and how innovation is changing. We look at the competitive advantage, which is particularly fascinating because it is something that has been and is still taught in many of our schools. And, it comes up time and again in conv