Each week I’m going to provide a round up of what I consider to be important and interesting articles on the future of work (not authored by me). These will include a variety of sources and topics ranging from workplace practices to robots and automation to leadership and everything in between. There’s a lot of information out there so I’m hoping that these weekly round ups will help make life a bit easier for you by giving you just the good stuff. Let’s get into it!
Amazon Tests Out 30-Hour Work Week
In this article, David Morris discusses Amazon’s new program that is testing out a 30-hour work week for a select group of employees. While it will be interesting to see if it works for them, the testing could also become more widespread as the future of work moves towards more automation and less labor intensive jobs for employees in companies like Amazon. A shorter workweek could help keep the balance during this shift towards automation and could possibly lower the risk of income inequality. The article touches on some of the other benefits of the 30-hour workweek including increasing innovation and creating a better work-life balance. It’s especially interesting to see this after the New York Times expose on Amazon that trashed their corporate culture.
Empathy: The One Tool You Need to Humanize Your Employee Experience
This article by Christopher Kelly discusses the most important asset in your company, your employees. He begins by laying out the reality that as an employer you are involved in one third of your employees’ days; you contribute to whether they have good days or bad days. He then goes on to list 4 important steps you can take to ensure that you are impacting their lives for the better and extracting the best work possible. He discusses how to play a role in your employees’ lives, the importance of remembering that every one of your employees is a CEO at home, how to write their hero story, and developing and building people 1% better each day. In this article he makes some great points and it is a must read for anyone in a leadership role. This is especially relevant given all the conversation taking place around robots and automation.
Hilton’s HR on How to Keep Your Millennials Happy
If you are looking to figure out how to attract or retain Millennials in your organization, look to Hilton as an example. According to this article, written by Nicola Middlemiss, Hilton has been recognized as a top workplace for Millennials. How have they achieved this recognition? By spending a great deal of time researching Millennials and what they are looking for in a place of employment. Some of the most important things to Millennials, according to Hilton’s research: Being able to be heard, feeling like they are involved in something meaningful, and being valued as an individual.
Have you heard of “Office Astrology”? The marketing agency of CLEVER is using it to help their employees be more efficient at communicating and to cut down on inter-office misunderstandings. When employees are first hired they go through a week of intense training in Myers-Briggs types, astrology signs, and how different personalities communicate. In the article the founder and president of the company, Stefania Pomponi, discusses how the work culture at CLEVER helps them produce the best work possible. Instead of an office full of gossip, protocol and disengaged workers they have produced an environment where workers can be open, honest and empowered to be themselves at work.
There you have it, the first weekly Future of Work roundup. Make sure to check back each week for the latest updates!
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