This Week's Top 3 Must Reads on the Future of Work

These are my top three article picks for the week of July 11th on the future of work, AI, the Metaverse, and humanizing work. This week's selection includes insights on the role that HR will play in the Metaverse, the power of skills-based hiring and the impact of withholding salary information on candidates. I hope the articles inspire and ignite your imagination about the future of work and provide insights and strategies you can leverage to help your organization thrive and make work more human.

The Metaverse is coming for HR – here's what to expect

This article made the top of this week's list because the metaverse is indeed coming for HR, and HR leaders will be the orchestrators of the transition of work into the metaverse. Spoiler alert: I am a LinkedIn instructor and developed a course about HR's role in moving work into the metaverse. My course will be available in Fall 2022, so stay tuned. In the article, the author argues that focusing on technology like VR to bring hybrid and remote workers together can enable organizations to take a business to the next level with employees and customers. Of course, virtual reality is different from the metaverse, but the technology enables the transition into immersive virtual environments. According to the article, "whether it's brainstorming, or working on a document, or people just hanging out and socializing and building those relationships, we are seeing that VR does aid people's ability to collaborate and communicate and connect remotely." The author recommends three business tactics for HR leaders to consider when using VR as a strategic business solution. The first is to connect with the workforce to create a shared sense of space. The second is to find out what technology works best, as VR may not be a fit for all employees. The third consideration is to strengthen the workforce by leveraging VR for training. The future of work will continue to pull forward, and the evolution of the metaverse will pull the work of HR leaders forward and deeply into the metaverse. The question is, are you ready?

The secret to hiring is skills based

In this article, the head of LinkedIn’s global talent acquisition explains why a skills-first mindset should be normalized. LinkedIn’s head of global talent acquisition explains everything you need to know to make skills-first hiring the norm. According to the article, in the past, most people were hired primarily based on meeting educational requirements, their previous roles, or the people they knew. Of course, skills were essential but not determinates of whether someone was a viable candidate. A shift is occurring in which less significance is given to these traditional “proxies” and a deeper focus on aligning candidate skills with the job opportunity. My key takeaways from the article are: 1) skills are emerging as the currency of the labor market, 2) make skills-first hiring the norm, 3) upskilling and reskilling equal retention, and 4) harness the momentum. What resonated with me the most was this statement “A skills-first model to pinpoint new talent and grow existing talent from within is a more equitable and efficient way of doing things that will not only open more doors for workers to achieve economic mobility but also help them stay engaged and achieve the careers of their dreams.”  

The Candidate Walked Out: Why You Need Salary Ranges Upfront Candidates are bolder now and you better be prepared.

The subtitle for this article says everything…Candidates are bolder now, and you better be prepared. The article references a Reddit post from a candidate inquiring about the job salary range during an interview. The post read, "15 minutes in, they had not talked at all about compensation, so I asked. The interviewer told me that "it's bad-mannered to ask for a salary this early in the process." I just smiled and said that I disagree and that I was not going to waste my time entertaining an offer if they could not compete. He tried to argue back that they were a startup and yada yada, so I just did what I did before. Stood up, thanked him for his time, and left." According to the article, withholding salary information as a strategy is a terrible strategy. The article includes three reasons employers should be upfront about salary ranges instead of withholding the information. 1) Candidates think you're low-balling them 2) You waste everyone's time 3) the internet makes sharing information easy, and 4) in some places, it's against the law. The article ends as profoundly as it started, "Keeping key information confidential isn't good for your business or your candidates. And if you refuse to share the information, don't be surprised when a candidate walks out." 

Be resilient, be relevant, be bold and let's thrive in the unfolding of the future of work together! Want more insights? Click on my logo below and sign up for my newsletter. Want to learn more about training to prepare your leaders and teams to thrive as the rapid unfolding of the future of work continues? Click on my logo below and schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation. Need a futurist speaker for your next event? Click on my logo below, download my speaker sheet and schedule a complimentary consultation. Have you purchased your copy of my book titled Force Majeure: A Futurist's Guide to Boldly Thriving on Your Terms in the Future of Work? If not, grab it today, it too is a must read!