more than ever, big change requires bold ideas . . . and you'll find them in these pages. As I write this foreword, our country is facing unprecedented challenges that seem poised to shift the paradigm of our future.
A health crisis that is amplifying existing income and racial disparities, long-held institutional inequities that have given rise to racial and social unrest, and an environmental crisis that will shape not only the job market for future generations but also the very planet they will inherit. How well we respond and react to these changes will dictate our success as a nation for decades to come.
From manufacturing to transportation, technology is rapidly remaking entire industries through automation and artificial intelligence. As someone who's always championed college affordability and practical training, I believe it's never been more important to recalibrate American education to available jobs that offer a living wage. Read on to find out how creative educational institutions are doing just that.
Ultimately, as Rick points out, it will be companies that can flex in the face of change that will win the war for talent and be rewarded by the market. Perhaps no event in American history has made this clearer than our recent pandemic.
Will your organization be disrupted? Or will it become a disruptor that thrives for impact and prosperity? Now is the time to be proactive. Fortunately, this is just the guide you need to master change.
—Lisa Blunt Rochester
Cochair, Future of Work Caucus
PREFACE
“What do you do for a living?”
It's one of the very first questions most of us ask in a casual conversation with a new acquaintance. That's because, for most of us, work is at the epicenter of our lives. It informs our identity. Understanding another's métier provides quick insight about someone. After all, work is how we feed our families and fund our dreams.
And if we're very fortunate, it feeds our creativity and sense of purpose and accomplishment in the world. For better or for worse, work is a defining characteristic of our lives.
But here's the thing: The world of work is changing rapidly and in new and unprecedented ways. And that change is occurring faster than ever before. Truths about workers and what they want in a job—things that have seemed self-evident up until now—are just no longer true.
Those who are leading for tomorrow understand this seismic shift. They recognize that their success is predicated on recruiting a skilled workforce as well as their ability to engage and retain those workers in service of the company's goals in the years ahead.
Those who ignore these trends do so at their own peril and will lose the war for talent (and thereby risk their business) in the coming years. Never has it been so urgent to put a finger on the pulse of trends shaping tomorrow's labor force and respond quickly.
We're living in an age when a company's good reputation can fizzle fast with a single viral Facebook post or cringeworthy Glassdoor review. As a labor attorney and employee relations specialist, I've worked with dozens, if not hundreds, of companies that have fought with unions, suffered expensive lawsuits, treated their employees poorly, and lost lucrative business to competitors as a result.
However, I have also been privileged to work with companies that really get it. They recognize the value of calibrating their business to what matters most to employees. They actively work to hire and maintain a diverse workforce. And they are leaning in to experiment with new ways to adapt to the changing needs of the world. The market has rewarded these companies.
Forward-thinking leaders keep close tabs on the many implications of the ever-evolving world of work and reshape their policies and procedures with creative solutions that work for everyone.
That's a mission-critical skill today with the whirlwind of changes remaking the landscape of work. Just consider the stratospheric rise of the gig economy. Is it a good thing for tomorrow's organizations? A bad thing? The gig economy's not going anywhere soon so businesses must understand that the next generation of talent is no longer motivated by “30 years and a watch.”
Plus, the advent of new technology is now expanding the economic pie for some even as it unemploys and underemploys others. Assistive technologies are enabling more people with disabilities to join the workforce just as factories are trading out their unskilled workers on the factory floor for college-educated individuals who can run computers. What will this mean for vast populations of workers who can no longer work?
That depends on the commitment and creativity of the companies who employ them. Will you be part of the solution?
INTRODUCTION
The Future is now.
Source: George Allen, Legendary Football Coach.
Recently, my daughter, a newly minted college graduate, kicked off a search for her very first job. She posted her resume on LinkedIn, networked via Facebook, and then submitted scores of applications to online job boards and other internet-based career sites.
After that, those websites scrubbed her application—and those of thousands of applicants just like her—for “key words” to match her with potential employers through an algorithm not unlike Tinder's “match, chat, date” approach to pairing prospective love interests in our disconnected yet wired world.
My daughter and I shared any number of late night conversations about weighty topics related to work. We talked about the arc of a career and the many changes taking place today in the world of work.
And it got me thinking about the quantum leaps I've observed and experienced in my own lifetime immersion in work as I interacted with my bosses and colleagues, conducted business, managed employees, and advised others about how to be good employers.
I've done it all . . . from selling newspapers on the beach to washing pots and pans at restaurants. I've waited tables, saved lives as a summer lifeguard, made change at a pinball arcade, and worked at a water circus. (No, not as an aqua clown.)
I flipped burgers at a Philly cheesesteak joint (practically a rite of passage for Philly kids), served up cocktails with late night advice at a bar, and during my college years, I “candled” eggs during the graveyard shift at an egg processing company to ensure they were safe for shipping to consumers. I pumped gas and worked retail, hawking menswear.
Later, I built my own law firm and served as deputy general counsel to a governor. I managed 200 attorneys in the legal office of a government agency and helped set labor policy for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. I shaped human resources policy for a large multinational corporation. And I taught business ethics to community college students (including convicted prisoners at the state penitentiary).
I've even worked as an AM talk radio host while also continuing to practice law for 30 years now, mostly working for employers.
In short, I understand—through considerable personal and professional experience—what it means to be both an employee and an employer. What it means to be a manager of people and be managed by others. I've represented unions and employees as well as small family businesses and huge corporate employers. So I know a bit about the world of work.
As you've no doubt observed through your own work experiences, there are clearly poor places to work and great places to work. There are poor leaders and exceptional leaders. There are truly outstanding employees and, unfortunately, there are also employees who cannot be redeemed.
I've had the privilege over my career to enjoy a close-up view of how each of these dynamics work separately and together in the world of work and what they mean for employees, leaders, and organizations who want to excel in the years to come.
These observations—and the current unprecedented pace of change—have fundamentally shifted the way I view the world of work. And that shift has required me to adapt in ways I never could have imagined when