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As we write this note in late December 2020, it's remarkable how distant March of this year feels. So much of our thinking has evolved since then, but in some ways, so little of the world has changed. In March, almost all non-essential workers were ordered to work from home, and the entire landscape of the working world shifted as we knew it. Nine months later, many of us are still working from home (while so many essential workers are on the frontlines throughout this pandemic), but there's a lot of hope on the horizon, with now two FDA-approved vaccines and new future-focused thinking for how we can work.
We had our first virtual event on April 2nd, where leaders joined us to talk through managing this suddenly remote workforce, dove into their crisis playbooks, and revealed a new focus on mental health for a resilient workforce. Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke to Thrive Global's Arianna Huffington – she affirmed that the future of work is fundamentally changing. She explained "one of the delusions driving us all is in order to be successful we basically need to be on all the time – that's going to be completely sacrificed. We are all seeing much more clearly the price we pay for that." A focus on quality of life and work became undeniably intertwined and employers started to (finally) ask employees a simple question: how are you? This mattered.
In June, the death of George Floyd caused many to take to the streets to demand change. This outcry was heard loud and clear in the workplace and a new demand for equity and inclusion became a business must. Dallas Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall, recruited by Mark Cuban, joined our June 25th @Work event to talk about diversity and inclusion, and the rapid turnaround she needed to bring to this NBA team following an expose on its toxic culture. The first black female CEO in the NBA, Marshall implemented to 100-day plan, setting a global D&I standard. "It's not just a good thing to do, it's not just a moral imperative – there's a business case that says when you have a diverse group of people around the table and an inclusive culture, your financials are better, your employee engagement scores are higher, your customer satisfaction scores are higher, your productivity is better." She explains that it's always about the bottom line and once you lay out the business case for equity, you can educate and engage and people will see how they can benefit from diversity.
Later in the summer, we talked about more ways to change and stay competitive as both a business and an individual worker – XPRIZE's Peter Diamandis shared the need for rapid reskilling and focused on A.I. as the tool to keep a job after the coronavirus. The focus on automation and creative solutions will drive society forward.
This October, the permanency of this new working world fully set in, and our @Work Summit discussions addressed key issues we dove into throughout the year – organizational resilience, mental health, ending racial inequity, calm in crisis and more, but something that really hit home was trust and transparency. Chief people officers got a run for their money this year – Intel's Sandra Rivera and Walmart's Donna Morris joined us to talk about the talent equation. Rivera focused on rallying behind a vision and a mission – clarity behind objectives and success metrics are key. Morris explained how she hopes this is making us all "more human," and we're all thinking of new ways to create connectivity, physically and digitally. And from our recent insights from tech pioneer Paul Jacobs, AR and VR could revolutionize connectivity and a digital twin or avatar could be in our futures to humanize us all in a future hybrid world.
We look forward to seeing what the new year brings, and we'll be back with this newsletter, livestreams and more. Mark your calendars for March 30 – our 2021 Summit is set and we'll address what's on everyone's minds: what's next. Join us. And until then, happy holidays. |
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