Josh Bersin

Josh Bersin

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In 2001, Josh Bersin founded Bersin & Associates, which became the leading research and advisory company for corporate learning, talent management, and HR. In 2012, Josh sold the company to Deloitte, when it became known as Bersin by Deloitte. As a Deloitte partner, Bersin was involved in many HR and learning engagements and was a principal author of Deloitte’s annual Human Capital Trends Report. He retired from Deloitte in 2018.
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  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin: When Will The Trillions Invested In AI Pay Off? Sooner Than You Think. 近年来，生成式人工智能（GenAI）的投资已达数万亿美元，但围绕其回报问题的争论不断升级。一些分析师，如麻省理工学院教授达隆·阿西莫格鲁（Daron Acemoglu）和纽约大学心理学与神经科学教授加里·马库斯（Gary Marcus），对AI的经济影响持悲观态度，认为其对美国生产力和GDP增长的推动作用有限，甚至可能导致市场崩溃。相反，另一派如高盛的全球经济学家则乐观地认为，AI有望在未来十年内大幅提高生产力。然而，文章指出，生成式AI的真正价值在于其特定领域的应用。例如，Paradox和Galileo等HR技术平台通过高度专业化的解决方案，显著提升了招聘和人才管理的效率。最终，文章强调，AI行业仍处于早期阶段，成功的关键在于找到具有专注性和精确性的创新解决方案。 In the last few weeks there has been a lot of concern that Gen AI is a “bubble” and companies may never see the return on the $Trillion being spent on infrastructure. Let me cite four analyst’s opinions. Will Today’s Massive AI Investments Pay Off? MIT professor Daron Acemoglu estimates that over the next ten years AI will impact less than 5% of all tasks, concluding that AI will only increase US productivity by .5% and GDP growth by .9% over the next decade. As he puts it, the impact of AI is not “a law of nature.” On a similar vein, Gary Marcus, professor emeritus of psychology and neural science at New York University, believes Gen AI is soon to collapse, and the trillions spent will largely result in a loss of privacy, increase in cyber terror, and a lack of differentiation between providers. The result: a market with low profits and big losses. Goldman Sachs Head of Equity Research Jim Covello is similarly pessimistic, arguing simply that the $1 Trillion spent on AI is focused on tech that cannot truly automate complex tasks, and that vendors’ over-focus on “human-like features” will miss the boat in delivering business productivity.  (He studies stocks, not the economy.) And Goldman Sachs Global Economist, who is a fan, estimates that AI could automate 25% of work tasks and raise US productivity by 9T and GDP by 6.1% over the next decade. He follows the traditional business meme that “AI changes everything” for the better. What’s going on? Quite simply this new technology is very expensive to build, so we’re all unsure where the payoffs will be. Buyers Are Looking For A Return Soon If we discount the work going on at Google, Meta, Perplexity, and Microsoft to build AI-based search businesses, which make money on advertising (Zuckerberg essentially just said that in a few years AI will guarantee your ad spend pays off), corporate IT managers are asking questions. An article in Business Insider pointed to a large Pharma company that cancelled their Microsoft Copilot licenses because the tool was not adding any significant value (Chevron’s CIO was quoted similarly in The Information). Another quoted a Chief Marketing Officer who stated Google Gemini’s email marketing tool and the new AI-powered ad-buying tool performed worse than the human workers it was intended to replace (or support). Given that these tools almost double the “price per user” for the productivity suites, I think it’s fair that CIOs, CMOs, to expect them to pay for themselves fairly quickly. What’s Going On?  The Big Wins Will Be Domain Specific As with all new technologies that enter the market quickly, “the blush on the rose” is over. We’ve been dazzled by the power of ChatGPT and now we’re searching for real solutions to problems. And unlike the internet, where research was funded by the government, there’s going to be a lag (and some risk) between the trillions we spend and the trillions we save. Given that ChatGPT is less than two years old and OpenAI has morphed from a research company into a product company, it’s easy to see what’s happening. Every vendor and tool provider is narrowing its AI “strategy” and not just pasting little AI “stars” on their websites, looking for useful things to do. And this process may take a few years. In the world of HR, I think we can all agree that a “push the button job description generator” is a bit of a commodity. However if the AI analyzes the job title, identifies the skills needed through a large skills engine, and tunes the job description by company size, industry, and role, then it’s a fantastic solution.  (Galileo does this, as does SeekOut, SAP, and some other vendors.) The more “specific” and “narrow” the AI is, the more useful it becomes. Generic LLMs that aren’t highly trained, optimized, and tuned to your company, business, and job are simply not going to command high prices. So while we all thought ChatGPT was Nirvana, we’re now figuring out that highly specialized solutions are the answer. Let me give you some examples. The first is the platform built by Paradox, a pioneering company that started work on AI-based recruiting agents in 2016. Paradox, now valued at around $2 Billion, delivers an end-to-end recruitment platform that automates the entire process of candidate marketing, candidate experience, assessment, selection, interview scheduling, hiring, and onboarding. Most people believe its a “Chatbot” but in reality it’s an AI-powered end-to-end system that radically simplifies and speeds the recruitment process in a groundbreaking way. Companies like 7-11, FedEx, GM, and others see massive improvements in operational efficiency and both candidates, managers, and recruiter adore it. It took Paradox eight years to build this level of integrated solution. The second is our platform Galileo. Galileo, which is now licensed by more than 10,000 HR professionals, is a highly tuned AI agent specifically designed to help HR professionals (leaders, business partners, consultants, recruiters, and other roles) do the “complex work” HR professionals do. It’s not a generic LLM: it’s a highly specialized solution designed specifically for HR professionals, and we’ve added specialized content partners and are building special integrations with other HR platforms. Our clients tell us it’s saving them 1-2 hours a day. The third is the platform HiredScore, that was recently acquired by Workday. Founded in 2012, the HiredScore team built tools to help identify “fit” between individuals and jobs, and tuned its AI to be highly explainable, unbiased, and very easy to use. It took Athena Karp and the team a few years to nail down the use-cases and user interface but now HiredScore is considered one of the most powerful recruitment “orchestration” tools in the market, and is also used for internal hiring and many other applications. Every customer I talk with tells me it’s essential and saves them months of manual, error-prone effort. The fourth is the platform Eightfold, which was invented in 2016 as a way to build “Google-scale” matching between job seekers and jobs. Through many years of engineering, product management, and ongoing sales process the company has become the leader in a new space called “Talent Intelligence,” now a billion dollar rapid-growing category. The company is about ten years old and now has some of the world’s largest companies building their hiring, career management, and talent management processes using AI. Companies like EY, Bayer, and Chevron now use it for all their strategic talent programs. Each of these vendors, including others like Gloat, Sana, Arist, Lightcast, Draup, Uplimit, Firstup, and hundreds of others have patiently taken the power of Generative AI and applied it with laser precision to their solutions. Each of these companies is different, and as we work with them we see lightning bolts of innovation: not in AI itself, but in finding new ways to solve problems and do what I call “crawling up the value curve.” This is the path for AI in the coming years. As with all new technologies, the “trough of disappointment” is always followed by the “bowling pin” of hitting the nail on the head. Innovators, entrepreneurs, and startup founders are the ones who will take GenAI and apply it in unique ways to solve problems. And soon enough, “AI-powered” will be a phrase we barely even need to say. The Best Solutions Will Be Narrow Not Wide GenAI solutions require a large “platform” of data, infrastructure, and software. That alone is not where the value resides. Rather, the big productivity advantages come after years of effort, focusing the data sets and working with customers to find the features, UI designs, and data sets that add enormous value. And we are still in the early stages. If you want to learn more about HR Technology and AI, join me at the HR Technology Conference on September 24-25 in Vegas, or at Unleash in Paris in October 16-17. While I can’t predict who will win the core AI platform game (Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Meta, Amazon will fight it out), I can predicts this: Generative AI will deliver massive improvements in business productivity. You just have to shop around a bit and wait for just the right solutions to arrive.
    Josh Bersin
    2024年08月10日
  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin: 随着经济放缓，关注未来的技能：改变的能力 本周，我们看到美国失业率“上升”到 4.3%，经济学家开始呼吁降低利率。对于那些每天与公司和领导者交流的人来说，我会说我们正经历一个正常的经济周期。 上一次重大衰退（不包括疫情，因为那不是需求放缓）是在2008年和2009年。这意味着我们已经有近16年没有经历严重的经济周期了，几乎是通常周期的两倍。虽然疫情确实让公司放慢了脚步，但我们迅速恢复了。所以从失业率来看，它大致是这样的。 在经历了50年的失业率变化后，目前的失业率比五十年前降低了12%，这让我得出结论，我们正生活在“长期劳动力短缺”中。同时，美国的GDP在此期间增长了1500%。 虽然我们目前的GDP增长可能有所放缓（我认为这是由消费者价格使我们耗尽了支出引起的），但实际上我们只是看到从“工业化、高劳动密集型企业”向所谓的“后工业化”公司的长期转型，这些公司往往需要更少的“工人”和更多高技能员工。（阅读我们的后工业时代研究。） 仍然有大量的小时工工作：护理、医疗、交通、建筑、零售、娱乐、能源和许多其他行业依赖各种类型的“劳动”工人。这些工作随着时间的推移变得越来越自动化，导致工资提高和技能升级，但美国仍有约63%的工人没有大学学位，其中大多数人找到了工作。 虽然每个人似乎对英特尔、UKG, Intuit或其他“与AI相关”的裁员感到有些恐慌，但美国经济的反应良好。我知道许多公司正在试验AI和其他技术，每个公司都担心失去有价值的人才，因为劳动力市场依然竞争激烈。 是的，一些公司会进行裁员。通常这是由糟糕的领导、糟糕的规划或只是对投资者的本能反应引起的。最终，随着出生率保持在低水平，我们仍将面临劳动力短缺，人的价值将继续上升（正如我过去指出的，裁员并非不可避免）。 在过去的三周里，我与欧洲超过20家大公司会面，每家公司都在投资于员工发展、技能再培训、内部流动性和提高生产力的项目。在欧洲，裁员既困难又昂贵，因此公司感受到劳动力短缺的压力，他们仍在投资员工。 至于消费者需求开始下降，我们正面临一个“长期结束”阶段，这是由高价格的延续引起的。消费者对过去五年的高价格感到厌倦，而在此之前，我们经历了近十年的零利率时期，房价和大多数资本品价格持续上涨。现在这两个因素都结束了，我们只是回到了更正常的经济状态。 换句话说，如果你因为“可以”而提高价格，最终你将付出代价，当消费者反抗时。如果你停止投资于员工，他们会“悄然离职”或另寻他处。这些是我认为的“正常商业经济”，我认为我们正看到这种正常性的发生。 作为一个动态组织运营 当然，最大的“趋势”是各行业的数字化和AI革命。汽车制造商被“虚假”引导进入电动车领域，发现混合动力发动机、数字相机和电子产品以及新的购车方式非常具有破坏性。出版商正在找出如何应对AI平台，这次他们保留了自己的知识产权并协商了许可协议。能源公司正在慢慢转向新来源，其他公司都在找出如何实现数字化、AI赋能，并进一步简化我们生产和销售的产品。 这都是商业的“激动人心的工作”，一切都与成为一个动态组织有关。我们的研究指出，以动态方式运营完全是关于人。 经济，通常以周期性变化（通常由过度兴奋和随之而来的疲惫引起）为特征，只是需要应对的事情。对于我这样经历了许多这种高峰和低谷的人来说，当事情不再上升并且我们看到一些冷却期时，我总是感到有点“解脱”。 是的，股市可能会暴跌。它总会在某个时候发生。但那实际上是“众包”效应，通常与我们的公司无关。如果你照顾好你的客户，投资未来，迅速学习AI和所有新技术，你将顺利过渡。正如许多HR领导本月与我谈到的，你的成功很大程度上取决于人。 未来的技能很明确：推动变革的能力 今天我与一群我们每隔几周就交流的HR领导进行了一次有趣的会议。每一位CHRO和其他领导都告诉我们，他们正在投资于员工的“变革管理”和“业务转型”技能。这意味着什么？ 这意味着这样。虽然我们都希望公司有更多的工程师、制造专家、科学家和销售与营销专家，但我们最需要的“技能”是“推动变革的能力”。这种特定的技能非常复杂，需要时间来学习，并且在当前尤为重要。这引出了我的最后一点。 如果你是图凡·厄金比尔吉，劳斯莱斯的首席执行官，你正处于业务转型的过程中，旨在推动工程效率和卓越，你不仅要担心工程师。你要担心那些能够推动、领导、激励和创造变革的人。我相信，这些就是大家常谈的“未来技能”。如果你作为一个专业人士、经理或领导者真正知道如何“推动和执行变革”，这些经济周期在你的职业生涯中只是“一个小波折”。 在与HR领导交谈超过30年并在许多周期中经营我们自己的业务后，我敦促你“不要过于担心”这些大的经济数据。我们正生活在一个每个公司中每个人的经济价值飙升的时期。投资于你的员工和自己，随着经济的变化，你会做得很好。   https://joshbersin.com/2024/08/as-the-economy-changes-focus-on-the-real-skills-of-the-future/
    Josh Bersin
    2024年08月03日
  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin:当组织失去信任时，价值观的价值 在当前激烈的政治环境中，我有一个简单而重要的想法。当一个组织放弃其价值观时，随着时间的推移，它往往会遭受损失。 例如，波音公司是如何牺牲其工程价值观，从而破坏其安全文化的？我相信这是许多“以追求利润为中心”的小决策最终导致了一次飞机坠毁。星巴克的股票为什么会经历十年的停滞？许多“追求收入增长”的小决策逐渐使公司从其被视为“第三空间”的受人尊敬的地位变成了一个价格昂贵的咖啡零售商。 不涉及美国政治，很明显，数百个“小决策”可以诱使一个机构牺牲其价值观。感觉在这里也发生了这种情况。看看Edelman Trust Index如何持续下降。无论你的政治倾向如何，美国政治都损害了我们的机构。一些政客为了获胜而煽动不信任。 这种价值观的丧失对商业有害。虽然政府是最不受信任的机构之一（拜登帮助其有所增加），但今天有59%的美国人不相信商业领袖说实话。对我来说，这是我们自己需要解决的问题。 这种不信任导致对创新的信心低下。令人惊讶的是，今天只有30%的美国人信任AI，主要是因为他们认为这是夺取工作的技术。这就是为什么70%的人希望CEO公开谈论技术对工作、职业和经济增长的影响。人们渴望可靠的信息来源，我认为我们在Intuit和UKG上周的公告中看到了这种诚实。 虽然问题很复杂，但信息很明确。每个机构，尤其是我们的公司，必须遵循其价值观，以建立与客户、员工和利益相关者的信任和信誉。 大多数CEO以增长、盈利和市场份额为价值观。这些价值观虽然看似清晰，但远远不够。如果你的公司没有更广泛的使命或目的，单纯追求利润可能会让你迷失方向。 为什么？因为利润不是最终目标，而是实现使命的结果。当你失去使命并追逐财务结果时，你会失去信任、忠诚和长期价值。在我们的国家，许多“政治动机”决定导致了我们今天的状况。在你的公司中，只有你，作为领导者，才能质疑何时价值观偏离了方向。 我每天都会与许多令人惊叹的公司领导会面。在我最钦佩的公司中，总是有一套坚定的价值观。微软致力于帮助人们提高生产力。Gucci相信奢侈体验能帮助人们找到自我。Colgate相信为人类、宠物和地球创造一个更健康的环境。 这些宏大的理念有时看起来很愚蠢，但在机构中，它们比你想象的更有价值。组织每天做出成千上万个决策（雇佣谁，如何服务客户，如何分配资源），当价值观被“利润”或“增长”所取代时，这些决策可能会降低你的价值。 当“无价值观”的决策积累起来时，灾难可能会发生。波音的刑事起诉协议或安然的最终破产就是很好的例子。在美国，我们的信任排名显示了同样的情况。（美国是GDP全球排名第一的经济体，但信任度排名第46位。） 当价值观被抛弃时，文明也会受损 还有一点。我刚刚读了一份来自SHRM的令人失望的报告，关于美国的文明状态。在政治辩论中，善意和尊重也在下降。 信不信由你，38%的美国工人觉得他们的工作场所不文明，58%的人认为过去两年的不文明程度显著增加。“文明”一词意味着言语中的尊重、礼貌和礼节。我认为今天的政治家和媒体中的“不文明”行为只会使信任变得更加困难。（今天只有9%的美国人信任国会，12%信任电视新闻）。我们在商业中的责任是以价值观来运行我们的组织，并在这些价值观内相互尊重。 我将企业价值观等同于公民意识，即对更大社会的责任感。在这些政治变化的不确定时期，让我们关注公司内部的价值观和文明。我可以向你保证，这将赋予你力量、持久力和繁荣。
    Josh Bersin
    2024年07月18日
  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin谈首席人力资源官 (CHRO) 职责的扩展 推荐介绍：这是Josh Bersin最新的一篇文章，谈到了CHRO角色的问题，这确实是一个好问题！在当今快速变化的商业环境中，首席人力资源官（CHRO）的角色变得尤为重要。随着人工智能变革、全球劳工实践和组织重组等挑战，CHRO的职责显著扩大。企业面临广泛的人事问题，包括混合工作带来的压力、劳动力短缺以及需要提高生产力和内部流动性。CHRO在重新设计传统人力资源实践和整合全球及技术进步方面至关重要。 在劳动力短缺的背景下，CHRO需要将旧的“雇用以增长”模式转变为“提高生产力和内部流动性”的模式，这比看起来更难。全球化也是一个挑战，CHRO必须引领公司进行全球化领导力和薪酬实践的调整。此外，行业整合使得大多数CHRO都在处理收购或被收购的前景，带来裁员和组织整合等问题。 领导力的发展同样是CHRO的重要职责。随着组织趋向扁平化，公司需要在各个层面培养领导技能，这是所有人力资源投资中最重要的。 技术也是一个复杂的问题，CHRO必须整理遗留的人力资源系统，并应对技术带来的挑战。 优秀的CHRO不仅是聪明、有创造力的变革领导者，还是精明的商业人士。他们展示了在我们的领域内进行业务转型的能力。我们的CHRO研究计划将为CHRO的专业发展提供支持。   我们一起来看正文： 随着时代变迁，曾被认为是C级高管中地位较低的职位，如今CHRO可能是最重要的职位之一。随着AI不断改变我们的业务，CHRO的职责每天都在增加。（Jack Welch经常说 CHRO是公司中第二重要的职位，甚至比CFO更重要。） 公司面临着各处的人力挑战 首先显而易见的是：公司在各个方面都面临人力问题。大多数公司仍在努力适应混合办公模式，经理和员工压力巨大，员工幸福感处于历史最低点。疫情的创伤切断了公司与员工之间的联系，使各类员工能够自主做出许多决定。 应对劳动力短缺 在这种背景下，我们还面临着持续的劳动力短缺。低生育率和退休的婴儿潮一代将失业率推至50年来的最低点，这个问题在几十年内都不会消失。旧的“雇佣增长”模式正在失效，我们在快速增长的科技公司中看到了“雇佣，然后裁员”的循环。 CHRO们必须将这种模式转变为“提高生产力和内部流动性”，这个转变比看起来要困难得多。 重新设计组织 此外，在过去几年里，公司终于决定废除职能层级结构。我们交谈的大多数公司都在扁平化，取消中层管理人员，并以更跨职能的方式运营。前瞻性组织（如Bayer、ING Bank、Telstra、Mastercard、Netflix）正在采用我们称之为“动态组织 (Dynamic Organization)”的运营模式，创造新的敏捷性和市场响应时间。CHRO必须领导这一努力，并找出如何重新设计工作设计、薪酬、绩效管理和职业发展的传统实践。 每家公司现在都是全球性的 随着远程工作的普及，每家公司现在都具有全球性。这意味着我们必须了解全球劳工实践、不同的人才市场以及如何领导远程团队。CHRO必须领导决策，例如在哪里雇佣、在哪里设立设施，以及如何全球化领导力、薪酬实践、雇佣政策和劳资关系。 并购 我们也处于一个整合的周期。媒体、零售、医疗和科技等行业正在整合。这意味着大多数CHRO都在处理并购或被收购的前景。这些交易带来了裁员、组织整合和高级领导团队对齐的问题。许多人将波音的问题归咎于1997年收购McDonnell Douglas，这次收购创造了一种新的文化。我觉得我们都在成为收购新公司的专家，这迫使CHRO领导不断的整合和变革。 改变领导力培养路径 CHRO还有另一个棘手的角色：领导力模型已经发生了变化。我们不仅需要培养总经理，领导者现在无处不在。扁平化的组织迫使公司在各个层面建立领导技能。当做得好时（如我在下面讨论的Marriott和Delta），领导力发展是至关重要的。在我们所有的HR投资中，领导力发展带来的价值最大。这也落在了CHRO的肩上。 更新传统HR技术 HR技术有些混乱。公司拥有几十甚至上百个传统的HR系统，这些系统充斥着招聘、培训、排班、入职、调查和合规的工具。AI有望提供帮助，但即使是Workday的客户也对他们的系统感到厌倦，（阅读“为什么每个人都讨厌Workday”）。CHRO不能再忽视技术：他们必须解决这些问题。 重新设计HR职能 最后是运行HR这一极其复杂的工作。CHRO领导着公司中最复杂的职能之一，通常被认为是成本中心。CHRO必须改造自己的团队，建立一个敏捷、智能和咨询型的组织。这意味着创建一个系统性HR运营模型 (Systemic HR operating model)，简化员工体验，并培养能够与高级运营领导者咨询和建议的HR领导者。 高绩效的CHRO是什么样的？ 我们每年与数百位CHRO交谈，有许多衡量成功的方法。优秀的CHRO不仅是聪明、有创意的变革领导者，他们也是精明的商业人士。 这些个人帮助领导他们的消费导向公司渡过了疫情，达到了有史以来最大的增长。Delta现在是美国排名第一的航空公司，Marriott现在是世界上排名第一的酒店公司。在这两种情况下，正如我们的HR Hero奖所指出的，这些人展示了创意、商业头脑和我们领域的广泛技能。 介绍我们的CHRO研究计划：CHRO Insights™ 我们正在启动一个以CHRO为导向的大型研究计划，研究CHRO的角色。该计划包括研究、教育、工具和信息。我们已经发现了一些重要的事情（我们查看了47000名全球CHRO的数据，并将他们的职业与许多业务结果进行了比较）。 首先，我们看到CHRO角色在C级高管中的重要性大幅增加。 CHRO的薪酬迅速增加，越来越多的公司告诉我们，HR正在领导公司的AI计划、生产力计划和文化变革。 其次，CHRO的工作比看起来要难。 大多数公司没有为CHRO提供良好的继任计划（84%的高影响力CHRO职位是外部填补的），这告诉我们需要关注这个角色。这激励我们在这里集中精力，您将在接下来的几个月中看到我们关于CHRO职业发展的更多内容。 第三，CHRO角色必须融合对业务、技术、文化和多种HR领域的深刻理解。 我们的全球HR能力模型涵盖了94个不同的领域，超过11000名HR专业人士的平均信心水平约为3分（满分5分）。想象一下CHRO必须面对的各种问题：从AI战略到全球文化、员工体验、薪酬、多样性等等。 第四，CHRO角色正在扩展。 我交谈的许多CHRO现在负责设施战略（因为设施影响混合工作、福利和工作体验）、整体员工体验战略（包括健康和福祉）、员工沟通战略，以及公司中的所有合规、培训、招聘、薪酬和绩效计划。 最后，强大的CHRO正在改造他们的HR职能。 公司正在使用我们的系统性HR模型来整合HR中的职能孤岛，创建新的产品和解决方案团队，并对HR团队进行交叉培训，以应对AI和这些新问题。优秀的CHRO不仅是出色的领导者和高级HR从业者，他们还是商业变革专家。 今年夏天晚些时候，我们将发布我们的第一份CHRO角色研究，并详细描述我们的CHRO Insights计划。 与此同时，我想庆祝那些承担这些角色或渴望承担这些角色的人，并告诉你们我们正在准备一些令人兴奋的事情。
    Josh Bersin
    2024年06月22日
  • Josh Bersin
    The best HR & People Analytics articles of May 2024 I’m writing the introduction to the May edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly on a flight to London from Mexico City. Together with Jonathan Ferrar, I was in Mexico to conduct an Insight222 workshop with the HR Leadership Team of one of the world’s largest global consumer goods companies. The workshop was composed of a number of modules including: consulting with data, prioritisation and data governance. It was the culmination of a month of notable milestones both within Insight222 and the external market: The Digital HR Leaders podcast celebrated its fifth birthday (see here). The fifth edition of the Insight222 People Analytics Trends study was launched (see below for details). We also opened registration for an Insight222 webinar on AI in HR and People Analytics, which will take place on June 13 (see below for details). In the HR Tech space, Crunchr and TechWolf announced a strategic partnership (see here),  and Cornerstone OnDemand acquired SkyHive (read analysis from Alexandra Nawrat here). Welcome to the 2,513 new subscribers to the Data Driven HR Monthly newsletter, who joined in the last month. This month’s collection features new research from the likes of Microsoft, McKinsey, and the Talent Strategy Group, as well as resources from practitioners in companies including Mastercard, EY, Novartis, IBM, Intuit, Lego, Ericsson, and Marks & Spencer. This edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly is sponsored by our friends at TechWolf The Journey to the Skills-Based Organization Transform your HR strategy with skill-based insights Advancements in technology and evolving market demands are reshaping the skills landscape, making the transition to skill-based essential for organisations to remain competitive. Yet, despite widespread recognition of its value, research by Deloitte showed that less than 20% of companies have embarked on this transformative journey toward becoming a skill-based organisation (SBO). Wondering where to start? Our guide, "Getting Started with Skills," is designed for HR leaders on this journey, covering three actionable steps: Reasons for adopting a skill-based approach. Challenges in becoming an SBO. Practical steps to integrate skills into your strategy. This journey is about setting a new direction for your organisation, one that is agile, resilient, and ready for the future. Read our latest guide today. Download now To sponsor an edition of the Data Driven HR Monthly, and share your brand with over 125,000 Data Driven HR Monthly subscribers, send an email to dgreen@zandel.org. Join me for an Insight222 webinar on June 13 to discover how AI is reshaping HR and people analytics As AI and Generative AI continue to dominate HR conversations, it's essential to explore practical applications, benefits, and challenges. Register to join me for an Insight222 webinar on June 13.  In the webinar, Jasdeep Kareer, PhD (née Bhambra) Andrew Elston Justin Shemeley and I will discuss: Real-world use cases demonstrating AI's impact on HR and People Analytics. Common challenges encountered during AI adoption and strategies for overcoming them. The importance of responsible AI practices and ethical considerations in HR. Register for The Role of AI in HR People Analytics webinar. Invitation: If you are a people analytics leader, participate in the 5th annual Insight222 People Analytics Trends survey... The Insight222 People Analytics Trends study is now in its fifth year, and has grown to be the biggest and most important annual study in the field of people analytics. We have now opened the survey for 2024, which is intended to gain insights into: (1) People analytics operating model, roles, and technology. (2) Measuring the value of people analytics. (3) AI in HR. If you are the people analytics leader at your company and would like to participate in the People Analytics Trends study for 2024, click this link and please complete the survey by Sunday 23 June. Participate in the Insight222 People Analytics Trends Survey for 2024. Share the love! Enjoy reading the collection of resources for May and, if you do, please share some data driven HR love with your colleagues and networks. Thanks to the many of you who liked, shared and/or commented on April’s compendium (including those in the Comments section). If you enjoy a weekly dose of curated learning (and the Digital HR Leaders podcast), the Insight222 newsletter: Digital HR Leaders newsletter is published every Tuesday – subscribe here. HYBRID, GENERATIVE AI AND THE FUTURE OF WORK MICROSOFT AND LINKEDIN - AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part We’ve come to the hard part of any tech disruption: moving past experimentation to business transformation. Just as we saw with the advent of the internet or the PC, business transformation comes with broad adoption. Organizations that apply AI to drive growth, manage costs, and deliver greater value to customers will pull ahead. Microsoft’s 4th annual Work Trend Index, in partnership with LinkedIn provides a comprehensive view of how AI is not only reshaping work, but the labour market more broadly. Three key findings are described in depth: (1) Employees want AI at work—and they won’t wait for companies to catch up. (2) For employees, AI raises the bar and breaks the career ceiling. (3) The rise of the AI power user—and what they reveal about the future. The report contains a series of powerful insights, visualisations, and analysis – such as the impact of AI skills on hiring (see FIG 1). I also recommend watching Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, CEO of SHRM, talking to Kathleen Hogan and Jared Spataro about the integration of AI in enhancing work at Microsoft, insights on AI adoption strategies, and addressing the balance between AI opportunities and workforce implications. FIG 1: The New Hiring Imperative: AI Aptitude Takes Centre Stage (Source: Microsoft Work Trends, 2024) ANSHUL SHEOPURI AND LUCRECIA BORGONOVO - At the inflection of AI and HR: How Mastercard is equipping employees for the AI era We recognize the best way to build trust is to bring our employees along with us on our AI journey, ensuring they are made aware of and educated about our commitment to responsible and ethical AI — in addition to the benefits that AI can bring to their day-to-day experiences and overall career path. Anshul Sheopuri and Lucrecia Borgonovo share five areas where Mastercard is using AI to improve the way their employees work, grow and manage their careers: (1) AI as career coach. (2) AI as wellbeing guide. (3) AI as workflow assistant. (4) AI as co-pilot. (5) AI as workforce planning partner. For more insights, particularly with regards to how Mastercard is using AI in Unlocked, its internal talent marketplace, I recommend watching the recording of the CHRO Panel at the recent Gloat Live event in New York, where I moderated a panel featuring Michael Fraccaro, Mastercard’s chief people officer, as well as Tanuj Kapilashrami and Tamla Oates-Forney. MCKINSEY - A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond Up to 30 percent of hours worked could be automated by 2030, boosted by gen AI, leading to millions of required occupational transitions An insightful McKinsey study, which explores labour markets in ten European countries and the United States, in the years to 2030 given factors including labour shortages, productivity challenges, and the inexorable rise of technology. The report identifies four key priorities for companies: (1) Understand the potential: Leaders need to understand the potential of how AI and gen AI can augment and automate work. (2) Plan a strategic workforce shift: Once they understand the potential of automation technologies, leaders need to plan the shift toward readiness for the automation and AI era. (3) Prioritise people development: To ensure that the right talent is on hand, leaders could consider strengthening their capabilities to identify, attract, and recruit future AI and gen AI leaders in a tight market. (4) Pursue the executive-education journey on automation technologies: Leaders also need to undertake their own education journey on automation technologies to maximise their contributions during the coming transformation. (Authors: Eric Hazan, Anu Madgavkar, Michael Chui, Sven Smit, Dana Maor, Gurneet Singh Dandona, and Roland Huyghues Despointes). FIG 2: Source - McKinsey JEREMIE BRECHEISEN - What Companies Don’t Know About How Workers Use AI Managers influence 70% of team engagement and they can ensure that your AI strategy supports the organization’s goals and expectations in terms of innovation, agility, and productivity. Jeremie K Brecheisen presents Gallup research, which finds that leaders do not fully understand their employees’ use of, and readiness for, AI. The study finds that seven in 10 employees never use AI in their job, with only one in 10 saying they use AI on a weekly basis or more often.  Brecheisen offers three recommendations for leaders to find the right balance of control and trust around AI, including measuring how their employees currently use AI, cultivating trust by empowering managers, and adopting a purpose-led AI strategy that is driven by the company’s purpose instead of a rules-heavy strategy that is driven by fear. FIG 3: Could AI improve how work gets done? (Source: Gallup) HEIDI GRANT, GINNIE CARLIER, AND FRANK GIAMPIETRO - Using Data to Design Your Hybrid Work Policies | JOSE MARIA BARRERO, NICHOLAS BLOOM, SHELBY BUCKMAN, AND STEVEN J. DAVIS - Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes (SWAA) (May 2024) In their article for Harvard Business Review, Heidi Grant, Ginnie Carlier, and Frank Giampietro outline how EY has taken a data-driven approach to questions around hybrid work. Their data comparing the performance and well-being of hybrid employees with their fully in-person and remote counterparts has yielded often surprising insights. For example, EY found that hybrid employees who spent 40% to 60% of their time in person experienced higher well-being, belonging, skills development, and engagement when compared to fully remote or in-person employees. The article also provides guidance on how enabling teams to co-create and commit to ways of working drives work-life balance and wellbeing. Read alongside the May 2024 update of the WFH Research report by Jose Maria Barrero, Nick Bloom, Shelby Buckman, and Steven J. Davis, which amongst its many highlights, finds that 66% of workers use an office at least once a month (see FIG 4). FIG 4: Source – wfhresearch.com PEOPLE ANALYTICS PIETRO MAZZOLENI - Blueprint for Balance: IBM’s Guide to Managing and Protecting People Data In another edition of what it proving to be consistently one of the best newsletters of 2024 – People Data Platform – Pietro Mazzoleni shares the three core principles of how IBM manages and protects people data (see FIG 5). He explains how his team effectively secures data, strikes a balance between protection and accessibility, and establishes clear ownership of every piece of data. FIG 5: Three core principles for managing and protecting people data (Source: Pietro Mazzoleni) MCKINSEY - Master data management: The key to getting more from your data Master data management can give organizations a leg up by allowing them to easily organize and access data about customers, suppliers, products, and employees. An essential read for HR and people analytics professionals looking to bring their people and other organisational data together to drive value for the company, customers and employees.  The article by Aziz Shaikh Holger Harreis Jorge Machado and Kayvaun Rowshankish, provides findings from a McKinsey study on how large companies organise, use, and mature their master data management (MDM). It includes examples of how MDM creates value in five ways (e.g. how MDM standardises data across entities to provide a unified view across various systems), common challenges (e.g. poor data quality – see FIG 6), and guidance on how to implement MDM effectively (e.g. establishing a robust data governance model to maintain integrity and reliability of MDM capabilities). FIG 6: MDM quality issues (Source: McKinsey) ANNETT ZIPPEL AND PATRICK COOLEN - Finding the right People Analytics Leader for your organization | MARTHA CURIONI - People Analytics for HR: Demystifying People Analytics | SERENA HUANG - Winning Over Gen Z: How AI & Data Can Create the Ideal Workplace | RORY O’GALLAGHER - Bridging Surveys and Conversations with Generative Listening Tools | WILLIS JENSEN - Moving Beyond Correlation to Causation in People Analytics | LOUISE BAIRD - How To Use People Analytics to Improve Manager Effectiveness In recent editions of the Data Driven HR Monthly, I’ve featured a collection of articles by current and recent people analytics leaders. Six are highlighted here. (1) In an interview with Annett Zippel of KennedyFitch, Patrick Coolen shares insights on the components of a successful people analytics practice, how to get started, and the skills to look for and build in a people analytics leader. (2) Martha Curioni outlines a five-step methodology to undertake a people analytics project, with the first step perhaps being the most important: Define the Problem Statement. (3) Serena H. Huang, Ph.D. provides guidance on how AI and data can help create effective wellbeing and DEI strategies that resonate with Gen Z. (4) Rory O'Gallagher breaks down the what, why, and how of generative employee listening tools, including how they differ from traditional surveys, how to integrate them into your employee listening ecosystem, and how they will evolve. (5) Willis Jensen sets out the challenges of establishing causation in people analytics and provides guidance on how to get past these challenges such as identifying actionable variables (see FIG 7). (6). Louise Baird, Head of People Analytics at Marks & Spencer, offers practical steps on how to drive manager effectiveness through people analytics. FIG 7: Examples of non-actionable and actionable variables in people analytics (Source: Willis Jensen) THE EVOLUTION OF HR, LEARNING, AND DATA DRIVEN CULTURE NORM SMALLWOOD AND DAVE ULRICH - HR Transformation: Common Pitfalls and Tried and True Tips Not developing the HR professionals to do strategic work is the #1 reason HR Transformation fails Norm Smallwood, Dave Ulrich and The RBL Group outline four common HR Transformation pitfalls and tips to overcome each: (1) HR transformation is about transforming the entire HR Department to create value for the business. (2) It requires an understanding of the work that creates value for the business and then designing the organisation and building HR leaders and professionals to enable it (see FIG 8). (3) Invest in providing HR professionals with frameworks, tools, and shared language to do strategic work – “For impact on the business, HR must invest in itself.” (4) Capabilities are the link between business strategy and HR actions. FIG 8: Source – The RBL Group ZAC UPCHURCH | TALENT STRATEGY GROUP – CHRO Trends 2024: Insights from the Fortune 200 Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief People Officer Changes Zac Upchurch presents the key findings from the seventh annual edition of The Talent Strategy Group’s CHRO Trends report. Three of the ten trends are: (1) A Decline In CHRO/CPO Appointments - 2023 had the fewest Fortune 200 CHROs/CPOs appointments since the report’s inception, with 22 new CHROs/CPOs appointed in 2023. (2) The Rapid Increase in Internal Succession - 73% of 2023 appointed CHROs/CPOs came to the role via internal succession, a rate not seen since 2017. (3) The HRBP as the CHRO/CPO Stepping Stone - The vast majority of the 2023 CHRO/CPO appointments consisted of individuals that served in a HRBP role prior to their CHRO/CPO appointment. FIG 9: Internal vs. External CHRO/CPO hires in 2023 (top) and from 2017-2023 (bottom) (Source: Talent Strategy Group) STORYTELLING WITH DATA SPECIAL JAY DORIO - How to Empower HR Through Data Literacy | BRENT DYKES - Data Storytelling Arc: Demystifying Narrative Structure In Data Stories | NANCY DUARTE - How to Create Slides That Suit Your Superiors: 11 Tips | GANES KESARI - The Enduring Power of Data Storytelling in the Generative AI Era | COLE NUSSBAUMER KNAFLIC - How HR professionals can Master Storytelling with Data As Jay Dorio reveals in his article, which is based on Insight222 research on how to build data literacy in HR at scale, storytelling is one of the five core skills HR professionals need to build to improve their data literacy. Four resources I recommend on storytelling are: (1) Brent Dykes analyses alternative narrative models for data storytelling and presents his Data Storytelling Arc (see FIG 10). (2) Nancy Duarte outlines 11 tips for preparing slides for an internal presentation, which includes four things you must have in every exec’s slides: start with an executive summary, have a logical organisation, make it skimmable, and focus on concise insights. (3) Ganes Kesari presents a 2x2 (see FIG 11) to help select the best approach to drive decision-making with data. (4) In a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders Podcast, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic discusses the transformative power of storytelling in the context of people data and analytics. FIG 10: Data Storytelling Arc (Source: Brent Dykes) FIG 11: What kind of decision are you making? Four Situations (Source: Ganes Kesari) WORKFORCE PLANNING, ORG DESIGN, AND SKILLS-BASED ORGANISATIONS AMANDA EVANS - Applying People Analytics To Organizational Design Amanda Jane Evans draws on recent collaborative research by Andrea Derler, Ph.D. of Visier Inc. and Amy C. Lewis, PhD to demonstrate how people analytics can inform actions on team size that drive business performance. The research highlighted that smaller teams—specifically those with six to 10 members—tend to harbour more high performers and have lower resignation rates (see FIG 12). In her article, Amanda explains that people analytics revealed that smaller teams at Partners Group are more likely to be successful in scenarios with direct client contact where high expectations for performance and stakeholder management are set. Amanda also explains how the firm proactively uses people analytics to analyse span of control during business transformation. FIG 12: Smaller teams have lower resignation rates (Source: Visier) EMPLOYEE LISTENING, EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE, AND EMPLOYEE WELLBEING MCKINSEY - To defend against disruption, build a thriving workforce To build a thriving workplace, leaders must reimagine work, the workplace, and the worker. Generative AI provides organisations – and HR professionals – with the opportunity to reimagine work, the workplace and the worker. In their article, the McKinsey team of Jacqui Brassey, PhD, MA, MAfN (née Schouten), Aaron De Smet, Emily Field, Taylor Lauricella, and Brooke Weddle, break down what a ‘thriving culture’ is (and what it isn’t) and offer five actions companies can adopt to maximise healthy work environments, team effectiveness, and employee well-being so that more workers can reach their peak performance. FIG 13: Employee segments as a share of an organisation’s workforce (Source: McKinsey) DAWN KLINGHOFFER - The Key to a Thriving Workforce? A Smart Approach to AI What we find is that AI is really there to help you take friction and toil out of the system, and to remove the drudgery of work. And when people are able to remove some of that drudgery, we see that they’re more productive, and they thrive more. Dawn Klinghoffer, Global Head of People Analytics at Microsoft, shares insights from the company’s recent Employee Signals survey. The findings not only highlighted the tangible benefits of thriving, but also identified a key catalyst for fostering it: access to AI. The article then highlights how thriving – and access to AI – has a positive impact on three indicators of high performance: (1) Meaningfulness (incorporating AI into the day correlated to a 20% jump in scores relating to meaningful work). (2) Empowerment. (3) Energy (scores on energy-related questions for those using AI jumped almost 27%). Dawn also shares the ABCs of thriving with AI: Accelerate alignment, Be inclusive, and Cultivate collective growth. This is another example of how Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to employee listening (see FIG 14) – coupled with the sponsorship of the CEO, Satya Nadella, leads to insights that drive positive outcomes for the business and the workforce. For more on Microsoft’s approach to employee thriving, listen to Dawn in conversation with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How Microsoft Created A Thriving Workforce By Going Beyond Employee Engagement. FIG 14: Microsoft’s Employee Listening Ecosystem (Source: Dawn Klinghoffer) EMILY PELOSI AND PAIGE MCGLAUFLIN - Intuit’s ‘head of employee listening’ talks about the science of worker feedback—and the art of asking the right questions In an interview with Fortune, Emily Pelosi, PhD, Head of Employee Listening at Intuit, discusses why her role was created, what it involves, and how she helps Intuit’s leaders harness employee feedback to make better and more informed decisions based on data. Two areas that really resonate, are (1) how Emily partners closely with Intuit’s CEO and chief people officer to shape their bi-annual survey and take action on the results. (2) the importance of asking the right questions. BENJAMIN LAKER AND STEFANIA MARIANO - The Unexpected Upsides of Letting Employees Define Their Jobs | JACKSON ROATCH - The Work-GPT Paradox, AI and Job Crafting Job crafting creates an environment of autonomy, encouraging employees to take initiative and innovate. Three resources about ‘job crafting’, which in the article by Benjamin Laker and Stefania Mariano is described as: “Job crafting is a proactive approach where employees reshape their roles to infuse more meaning and engagement into their work.” Their article describes the three primary components – task crafting, relational crafting, and cognitive crafting – and discusses the benefits, challenges and considerations for implementing job crafting successfully. In the second article, Jackson Roatch explains how using AI more can enable employees to use job crafting to make their jobs 5-10% better. He cites research by Amy Wrzesniewski, as well as the work of Ravin Jesuthasan, CFA, FRSA and John Boudreau in deconstructing jobs, to provide an example of how AI can shape the role of a data analyst (see FIG 15). Finally, for more on job crafting, I recommend listening to Dan Cable in discussion with me on the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Help People Love What They Do At Work. FIG 15: Using AI to ‘job craft’ the role of the data analyst (Source: Jackson Roatch) LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND INCLUSION ALLAN H. CHURCH, JAMES SCRIVANI, AND MARKUS GRAF - Unleashing The Power of Assessments for Leaders and their Organizations Based on their experience of working with assessment tools in organisations such as PepsiCo and Novartis, Allan Church, Ph.D. Jim S. and Markus Graf present a three-step guide to building an effective, impactful and meaningful assessment system: (1) Focus Assessments on Future Capabilities Needed for Your Organisation. (2) Take a Multi-Trait, Multi-Method Approach to Assessment, aka Use Multiple Lenses. (3) Unlock the Value of Assessment Insights for Leaders, Teams, and the Organisation (see FIG 16). FIG 16: The Three Levels of Assessment Insights (Source: Church et al) MCKINSEY - In the spotlight: Performance management that puts people first Companies that focus on their people’s performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers, realizing an average 30 percent higher revenue growth and experiencing attrition five percentage points lower. While effective performance management systems support employees to develop, new research by McKinsey finds that most companies fall short of best practices. In their article, Amaia Noguera Andrea Pedroni Asmus Komm and Simon Gallot Lavallée provide insights on how leading companies approach performance management across four elements - goal setting, performance reviews, ongoing development, and rewards (see FIG 17). The article also digs into five enabling factors: (1) Ensure that performance management systems are agile. (2) Provide regular feedback. (3) Establish an effective fact base. (4) Maintain rating and differentiation. (5) Employ gen AI. FIG 17: Designing a performance management system (Source: McKinsey) CATHERINE COPPINGER - Manager Effectiveness: 5 Metrics That Matter More than eSat Scores Catherine Coppinger presents findings from Worklytics research on manager effectiveness, which highlights the top drivers of low and high manager satisfaction (see FIG 18). The article also recommends metrics for measuring manager effectiveness, which are based on five things top-performing managers tend to do: (1) Provide regular coaching. (2) Define and implement reasonable team norms. (3) Support their team (without micromanaging). (4) Elevate and unblock their team via network connections. (5) Routinely engage with team members in-person. For more insights on this topic, listen to Catherine on a recent episode of the Digital HR Leaders podcast: How to Use Passive Data to Enhance Manager Effectiveness. I also recommend checking out the deck Philip Arkcoll and Michael Arena presented recently at Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP): The ONA Hype Cycle: Why this Time is Different. FIG 18: The drivers of lower and higher manager satisfaction (Source: Worklytics) HR TECH VOICES Much of the innovation in the field is driven by the vendor community. I’ve picked out a few resources from May that I recommend readers delve into: ARCTIC SHORES - The pragmatist’s playbook for skills-based hiring – An indispensable guide to skills-based hiring from Robert Newry and the team at Arctic Shores. It features: why companies are shifting from experience to skills-based hiring (see FIG 19) a seven-step framework for skills-based hiring, case studies from Siemens and Molson Coors, and contributions from the likes of Hung Lee, Gemma Aldridge, Joe Sidley, and Yasar Ahmad. FIG 19: The shift from experience-based to skill-based hiring (Source: Arctic Shores) ANDY PRZYSTANSKI - Lattice Data Reveals Lower Engagement, Stretched Managers, and More – Andy Przystanski presents findings from analysis of over one million employees on Lattice’s people platform including (1) Engagement is down - between 2022 and 2023, eNPS decreased from an already low 33.33 to 24.8 (see FIG 20). (2) Manager span of control is increasing. (3) Soft skills are in high demand. FIG 20: Source - Lattice FRANCISCO MARIN - Embracing Generative AI in Organizational Network Analysis: 8 Key Considerations for Success – Francisco Marin of Cognitive Talent Solutions sets out eight key considerations for successfully incorporating GenAI into organisational network analysis including: (1) Define clear objectives, (2) Ensure data quality, and (3) Prioritise privacy and ethics. KEN OEHLER - Unlocking the Power of Personality – Ken Oehler presents new research from RADICL, which explores the link between personality traits and areas such as hybrid collaboration, trust, employee experience, and productivity. A fascinating read. FIG 21: Source - RADICL FRESIA JACKSON, HEATHER WALKER, AUBREY BLANCHE-SARELLANO - Workplace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion 2024 Report – Culture Amp’s Workplace DEI Report is always an insightful read and the 2024 edition is no exception. As Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano writes in the Foreword: “DEI has become both a buzzword and the target of significant backlash.” The report by Fresia Jackson, Heather Rose Walker, PhD and the team provides detail on five key findings including: (1) Perception of DEI in the workplace is falling globally. (2) Intersectionality has a compounding effect. (3) Embedding DEI into existing programs has a bigger impact. FIG 22: Source – Culture Amp PODCASTS OF THE MONTH In another month of high-quality podcasts, I’ve selected four gems for your aural pleasure: COLE NAPPER, SCOTT HINES, AND GUESTS – Live from SIOP 2024 – If you only listen to one podcast this month, I highly recommend this episode of the Directionally Correct podcast, recorded live at the recent SIOP 2024 event. Joining hosts Cole Napper and Scott Hines, PhD, are a stellar list of people analytics practitioners: Anthony Ferreras, Amy Frost Stevenson, PhD, Rob Stilson, Ph.D., Emily Pelosi, PhD, and Kelsie L. Colley, M.S. PhD ABD. SERGIO EZAMA - Unlocking the Secrets of Netflix's Innovative HR Strategy – Netflix CHRO Sergio Ezama joins Lars Schmidt on the Redefining Work podcast to share a unique approach to compensation that's setting new benchmarks in the HR landscape. VIDYA KRISHNAN AND PETER SHEPPARD – Why Skills are like Oxygen – Vidya Krishnan and Peter Sheppard join Stacia Sherman Garr and Dani Johnson on RedThread Research’s Workplace Stories podcast to share Ericsson’s skills-based approach and why “Skills are like oxygen, invisible but necessary.” TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC - Why so many bad bosses still rise to the top – Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Bryan Hancock, and Brooke Weddle join host Lucia Rahilly on the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast to discuss why the traits that propel us to the top seem to diverge so widely from those that make us great leaders—as well as how to choose stronger, more successful, and more diverse candidates for leadership roles. VIDEO OF THE MONTH NEHA UPADHYAYA – Building an Impactful People Analytics Practice I recently had the privilege of attending the Wharton People Analytics Conference - thanks to Matthew Bidwell, Laura Zarrow, and team. All the sessions from the event can now be viewed including this one featuring Neha Upadhyaya presenting the findings of interviews and surveys of people analytics leaders. The talk presents the initial findings, including the trends they've uncovered, and the pitfalls to avoid in order to build and sustain an impactful people analytics team. BOOK OF THE MONTH ANISH LALCHANDANI – The Skills Advantage: A Human-Centered, Sustainable, and Scalable Approach to Reskilling In the ‘Book of the Month’, Anish Lalchandani breaks down ‘why’ companies should make the paradigm shift towards a skill-centric approach, ‘how’ it contributes to business success, and provides guidance on ‘what’ steps practitioners can take with regards to Agility, Awareness, Application and Alliances in building a comprehensive reskilling strategy. The book is an indispensable guide for HR leaders looking to embrace a successful skills-based approach. RESEARCH REPORT OF THE MONTH STEFANO DI LAURO, AIZHAN TURSUNBAYEVA, GILDA ANTONELLI. AND LUIGI MOSCHERA - Disrupting human resource management with people analytics: a study of applications, value, enablers and barriers in Italy In their paper, Stefano Di Lauro, Aizhan Tursunbayeva, PhD, GRP, Gilda Antonelli, and Luigi Moscheraexplore the adoption and impact of people analytics in Italy. Key findings suggest that people analytics, particularly descriptive, is growing, and that benefits are being enjoyed at both an organisational and employee level. FIG 23: People Analytics value for organisations in Italy (Source: Di Lauro et al) FROM MY DESK May saw four episodes of the Digital HR Leaders podcast - with two each sponsored by our friends at Worklytics and Crunchr. Thank you to Philip Arkcoll and Laura Morris from Worklytics and Ralf Bovers and Dirk Jonker from Crunchr for your partnership and support. LASSAAD ESSAFI AND DAVID GREEN - How EDLIGO Enhances Organisational Performance with Skills-Based Models - In this Expert Interview, I sit down with Lassaad Essafi, CEO at EDLIGO Talent Analytics and Learning Analytics to explore why a skills-based approach to talent management is not just a strategic imperative but a significant driver of business value and organisational performance, drawing upon recent studies and real-world examples. LOREN SHUSTER - Lego’s Blueprint for Modern HR: People, Places and Culture - Loren I. Shuster, Chief People Officer at the LEGO Group joins me to discuss Lego’s blueprint for modern HR. CRAIG STARBUCK – Understanding the Build vs. Buy Dilemma in People Analytics and HR Tech – Craig Starbuck, PhD reflects on his decade long journey in the field and provides insights on aligning people analytics with business priorities, build vs. buy, ONA use cases, partnering with finance, and building data literacy in HR professionals. DAVID GREEN - How can HR use people analytics to revolutionise the workplace experience? – A round-up of Series 38 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, with insights from Nickle LaMoreaux, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, Catherine Coppinger, Loren I. Shuster and Craig Starbuck, PhD. DAISY AUGER-DOMINGUEZ - Four Steps Towards Building a More Diverse and Inclusive Company Culture – Daisy Auger-Dominguez (she/her/ella) joins me to share insights from her book, Inclusion Revolution, including her four-step model (Reflect, Vision, Act, Persist) and how these principles can be practically applied to instigate meaningful change. KATE BRAVERY AND ILYA BONIC - Navigating the Future of Work: AI, Skills, and Trust in the Modern Workforce – Kate Bravery and Ilya Bonic of Mercer, two of the authors – along with Kai Anderson – of Work Different: 10 Truths for Winning in the People Age join me for a discussion on how AI and skills are shaping the future of work, workforce and workplace, and how organisations that prioritise trust and transparency will ultimately win. DAVID GREEN - Five Ways HR Creates a Thriving Organisational Culture – An article inspired by Series 37 of the Digital HR Leaders podcast, where we dug in to the anchors of culture to identify five ways in which HR can support a thriving organisational culture. These include employee listening, continuous learning, and empowering line managers. The article features insights from episodes with Rebecca Thielen, Didier Elzinga, Rob Briner, and Louise Millar / Olivia Edwards. LOOKING FOR A NEW ROLE IN PEOPLE ANALYTICS OR HR TECH? I’d like to highlight once again the wonderful resource created by Richard Rosenow and the One Model team of open roles in people analytics and HR technology, which now numbers over 525 roles. THANK YOU Amit Mohindra for including me in his post about people analytics and power, and for calling out Jeremy Shapiro’s seminal 2010 Harvard Business Review article, Competing on Talent Analytics, which was co-authored by Tom Davenport and Jeanne Harris. Paul David and the team at Literal Humans for including me in their list of The Top 43 HR Tech influencers to help promote your product. Anastasia Mizitova, SHRM-SCP, CPCC for endorsing Excellence in People Analytics. Sanja Licina, Ph.D. for her post about Excellence in People Analytics. Olimpiusz Papiez for sharing his key learnings on storytelling in people analytics, inspired by the recent Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic: Mastering Storytelling for HR Transformation. Christopher Cerasoli for posting about the Digital HR Leaders podcast episode with Craig Starbuck, and highlighting the need for HR to speak the language of finance. Helena Turpin for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in her six recommended podcasts for learning. Charlotte Chandler for also including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in her list of five recommended podcasts for HR professionals. Similarly, Mirro.io for including the Digital HR Leaders podcast in their list of 13 top HR podcasts Thomas Kohler for including the April edition in his round-up of recommended HR resources. Julia Reis for also including the Data Driven HR Monthly in her list of resources for HR professionals Juliette Matharan for including the podcast episode with Louise Millar and Olivia Edwards in her five podcasts of the month Qandle for including me in their list of Top 25 HR Influencers and Leaders to follow ABOUT THE AUTHOR David Green ?? is a globally respected author, speaker, conference chair, and executive consultant on people analytics, data-driven HR and the future of work. As Managing Partner and Executive Director at Insight222, he has overall responsibility for the delivery of the Insight222 People Analytics Program, which supports the advancement of people analytics in over 90 global organisations. Prior to co-founding Insight222, David accumulated over 20 years experience in the human resources and people analytics fields, including as Global Director of People Analytics Solutions at IBM. As such, David has extensive experience in helping organisations increase value, impact and focus from the wise and ethical use of people analytics. David also hosts the Digital HR Leaders Podcast and is an instructor for Insight222's myHRfuture Academy. His book, co-authored with Jonathan Ferrar, Excellence in People Analytics: How to use Workforce Data to Create Business Value was published in the summer of 2021. SEE ME AT THESE EVENTS I'll be speaking about people analytics, the future of work, and data driven HR at a number of upcoming events in 2024: June 4-5 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Nestlé in Vevey, Switzerland) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program June 25-26 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (Minneapolis, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program September 16-19 - Workday Rising (Las Vegas) September 24-26 - Insight222 Global Executive Retreat (Colorado, US) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program October 16-17 - UNLEASH World (Paris) October 22-23 - Insight222 North American Peer Meeting (hosted by Workday in Pleasanton, CA) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program November 12-14 - Workday Rising EMEA (London) November 19-20 - Insight222 European Peer Meeting (hosted by Merck in Darmstadt, Germany) - exclusively for member organisations of the Insight222 People Analytics Program
    Josh Bersin
    2024年06月03日
  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin:AI最终会连通整个企业界吗？问问ServiceNow，他们的回答是肯定的。 本周，ServiceNow在其年度用户大会上迎来了超过22,000名IT和技术专业人士，同时公布了几项对其战略的重大增强。ServiceNow的目标是通过一个全新的工作流软件层整合企业资源，使之能够实现全面连接，进而让员工、顾客以及企业领导通过一个统一的界面访问信息和系统。 历史上，ServiceNow主要通过一系列案例管理和服务交付工具来实现这一目标，这些工具主要服务于IT部门。这个平台极大地帮助IT服务团队自动化和优化了他们日常面临的各种IT请求和问题处理。但随着公司的发展及其野心的扩大，尤其是在Bill McDermott这位我所见过的最杰出领导者的带领下，ServiceNow的发展已经远远超出了原有范畴。 在员工服务领域，ServiceNow即将推出一系列雄心勃勃的产品。首先，原名为HR的员工工作流服务现已扩展到包括工作场所管理、员工入职、调查问卷以及技能分析工具等，还包括从Hitch收购的人才智能平台、内部职位调动与招聘等功能。公司正在开发专门的招聘工作流程，以帮助企业简化面试安排、候选人管理以及内外部候选人关系协调等复杂问题。这个看似小众的领域实际上正变得越来越重要，因为越来越多的公司开始重视内部职位流动和动态。 但在我本周参加这次会议时，我注意到ServiceNow的战略叙述发生了显著变化。Bill McDermott花了近一个小时重申他之前的讲话，但这次他将重点从工作流转移到了人工智能。他基本上将原本的工作流引擎战略替换为了“商业转型的AI平台”，显然，他们不再仅仅关注“数字化转型”。 ServiceNow的商业转型AI平台 他们强调的一个非常重要的信息是，AI将成为企业变革的技术，这与数字化变革的影响相似。 几个月前我们还在讨论数字化转型，现在，这已成为过去式：未来的变革将借助AI实现。没错，从某种意义上来说，每种技术都能成为业务变革的工具，但AI带来的变革程度将远超过互联网本身。这一点我稍后将进一步解释。 ServiceNow将其视为一个集成了异构系统的集合，中心是一个AI引擎。会议上的一个关键案例是一家面包店，因应不同地点的天气变化而调整各种烘焙产品的生产。中心的AI系统能够感知这些变化，预测接下来的行动，并指导工厂调整生产策略，从而满足市场需求，提升销售额。这是一个非常吸引人的案例。 ServiceNow的AI架构 有趣的是，像SAP在20世纪80年代推广集成供应链管理，Qualtrics推广客户体验管理时讲的故事，似乎都在用不同的方法解决相似的问题。Bill McDermott凭借丰富的经验，将这一叙事应用于ServiceNow，展现了他作为CEO的卓越远见和沟通能力。 那么，AI真的能成为未来的企业协调系统吗，将各种遗留平台联系起来，提供解决方案吗？ 我确信这将成为现实。虽然这不会一夜之间实现，但最终会发生。这种变革同样适用于我们的消费者生活。 我们日常工作中的效率之所以低下，往往是因为在寻找信息、处理文档、查询库存等活动中分心。如果能直接通过AI查询并获取答案，无疑会极大提升工作效率。（正如我尝试让Siri帮忙却发现它做不到的那样。） 正如我在本周的播客中讨论的，通过语音或文本提出问题比在Workday、Oracle、SAP等系统中四处查找要简单得多。我们曾努力使这些系统更加用户友好，现在，生成式AI的出现将为这些努力带来新的变革。 ServiceNow之所以能够很好地定位自己，有两个主要原因。 首先，他们长期以来一直在开发工作流工具，很多系统都设计得非常用户友好，即便是普通用户也能轻松使用。这就是为什么有这么多IT开发者选择使用ServiceNow的原因。（我在这周的大会上亲眼见证了这一点。） 其次，他们对这些后端系统的工作原理非常熟悉。ServiceNow的工程和产品团队对SAP、Oracle、Workday等系统进行的工作流程和交易处理有深入了解。 我与HR产品团队有过深入的交流，他们向我展示了如何将员工交易集成到ServiceNow平台中，以便构建生成式AI解决方案，与公司内部的系统进行交互。这一过程需要时间，也不会十全十美，但他们已经在正确的道路上迈出了坚实的步伐。这也引出了一个问题：我们是否应该将所有企业系统整合到这种新的界面下。 ServiceNow的HR产品 然而，这种架构也有潜在的缺点。 首先，成本较高。你现在不仅要购买ServiceNow这一复杂的企业平台，还要维护你现有的复杂企业平台。Oracle、SAP、Workday、Salesforce和Hubspot等都在尝试提供类似服务。你已经为他们的建设付出了巨大的成本，现在又要为ServiceNow付费。ServiceNow的产品不便宜，这从他们的收入就可以看出。 其次，这可能会造成系统的脆弱性。ServiceNow的工作流本身可能会因为业务规则的嵌入而变得过时，你必须管理许多小型应用程序，这些应用程序位于你的其他应用程序之上。当这些应用程序更新或被替换时（很多软件公司被收购后，其产品线会发生变化），作为客户的你需要重新配置在ServiceNow中所做的设置。 这让我回想起我在IBM的日子，当时我在主机世界工作，我们的应用程序都是定制开发的，我们有大量的COBOL程序员在构建这些系统。我曾与数据处理部门合作，探讨他们是如何在公司内部整合所有这些系统的。现在，你可能需要在ServiceNow基础设施中构建类似的工具。 如果我现在能与Bill McDermott面对面交谈，我相信他会说：“这是一种更有效的运营方式，我们ServiceNow将为你自动化这一切。”我相信这将随着时间的推移逐渐成为现实。但这也引出了一个问题：你希望将多少组织功能和经验整合进ServiceNow，而不是选择其他核心系统？ 每当我们需要构建新功能时，我们都必须决定将其部署在何处。我们是应该将职业管理平台部署在Workday、Eightfold、Degreed还是Cornerstone？你的决定将决定你依赖于哪个供应商及其发展路线图。 考虑到ServiceNow已经取得了巨大的成功，许多公司都在说：“既然我们已经为此付出了代价，那就让我们继续吧。” 生成式AI能否实现这一承诺？例如，在天气变暖时，它能否提前告诉你需要烘焙更多的面包圈？ 根据我们通过Galileo®获得的AI经验，我认为答案是肯定的。 这项技术的重要性堪比电力的发明。虽然这听起来有些夸张，但我是认真的。我从未见过如此自我发展、强大并且发展迅速的技术。我们正处于生成式AI进入市场的初期阶段。 在未来几年内，生成式AI很可能会改善这些连接，开发代码，并优化这些端到端的“单一视窗系统”。Google正在消费者领域推进此类工作，Microsoft则在办公生产力领域努力。如果ServiceNow能成为企业级应用中的佼佼者，那将不足为奇。
    Josh Bersin
    2024年05月10日
  • Josh Bersin
    是时候重塑人才招聘了 -Research Shows It’s Time To Reinvent Talent Acquisition Josh Bersin 的文章 "研究表明，是时候重塑人才招聘了 "强调了人才招聘亟需进行的变革。由于只有 32% 的人力资源高管参与战略规划，而且许多人觉得自己只是个接单员，因此这篇文章呼吁进行战略改革。在劳动力短缺和急需技能型招聘的情况下，目前削减成本和减少招聘力度的方法与对技能型专业人才日益增长的需求相矛盾。文章敦促企业将人才招聘作为一项重要的战略职能，利用现代技术并将其与学习和发展相结合，以提高效率并关注内部人才流动。 原文如下： This week we published a disappointing research study, Talent Acquisition at a Crossroads. The study, conducted in partnership with AMS, points out that talent acquisition leaders (this is a senior position) are largely left out of their company’s strategic planning process and many feel they operate as “order takers.” In today’s world of labor and skills shortages, this is a wakeup call for change. Here’s the data: Among these 130+ HR executives only 32% are involved in any form of strategic workforce planning, 42% believe their company has no workforce plan at all, and 46% say “they’re running around to keep up.” And when layoffs do occur, often the recruiters go first. (Witness Tesla this week.) All this is happening in a world where 58% of companies feel skills shortages are significantly impacting their business plans, more than three-quarters believe they must transform their talent practices to grow, and “skills-based hiring” is a top priority yet difficult to implement. Here’s the paradox: companies are cutting their talent acquisition spending at the same time CEOs feel that skills shortages are getting worse. What’s going on? Talent Acquisition Needs A Reinvention Let’s just face it: recruiting as a business function has to change. Once considered the “staffing department,” where companies posted jobs and scanned resumes, talent acquisition has become highly strategic operation. What skills do we need? How do we find people who will fit our culture? What internal candidates should fill our key positions? Who are the right leaders for us to hire? Unfortunately, almost 80% of talent acquisition functions are quite tactical. PwC’s CEO survey found that CEOs rate “hiring” as the third most bureaucratic process in their companies, tied with “too many emails” and “too many meetings” as a time-wasting process. And that explains why two-thirds of TA leaders are being asked to cut costs. I had a conversation last week with a former TA leader for one of the Big Three automakers. He told me that in the fervor to hire staff for EV engineering he was asked to hire “any engineer he could find, regardless of skill,” because the company was in such a hurry. No time for skills assessment, competitive planning, or even location analysis. Just “go out there and hire engineers.” We have been studying the auto industry as part of our GWI study and found that important EV roles (reliability engineer or power plant engineer, for example), are quite specialized and hard to find. Strategic recruiting departments need to understand these roles and source these individuals carefully. Just hiring engineering grads from a local community college is not going to move this needle. (Consider the data by Draup on what these roles are. Talent Acquisition teams with talent intelligence skills can pinpoint who to hire.) And it gets worse. In our Dynamic Organization research we found that high performing companies focus heavily on internal hiring, talent intelligence tools to find hidden talent, and continuous internal development to fill skills gaps. We can’t simply throw job requisitions over to the recruiting function any more: the people we need may be buried inside the company. This week Tesla announced a layoff of 10% of their workforce. Was their time to balance and redeploy talent internally? Absolutely not. According to my sources every business unit had to let 10% go, and and many of the people being fired were talent acquisition leaders, the very people who help with these issues. We talk with many HR executives and there is an enlightened group. Companies that understand this issue (about one in eight) have elevated Talent Acquisition to a strategic function, they merge or integrate TA with L&D, and they redefine their recruiters as “talent advisors.” Mastercard, as a leader, just renamed their recruiters as “Career Coaches,” demonstrating their role in helping people find the right jobs. Despite the onslaught of AI, this role is becoming even more human-centric. High-powered recruiting teams source internal candidates, understand company culture, and have a deep knowledge of jobs, roles, and organizational dynamics. When well supported and trained, these professionals are strategic advisors, not just “recruiters.” And companies that understand this often outsource or automate much of the administration in recruiting. Technology plays a major role in this reinvention. Most large companies have dozens of legacy systems, many of which make the candidate experience difficult. When organizations focus on modernizing and streamlining their technology, talent acquisition can become 10-100X more efficient. This, in turn, gives recruiters and talent advisors the time to search for the right skills, carefully select the best candidates, and focus on internal hiring and development as a strategy. Technology Is Here But Not The Entire Answer Of all the HR technology markets, recruiting is the most innovative of all. New AI-powered systems like HiredScore (just acquired by Workday), Paradox (leader in conversational AI), Eightfold, Gloat, Draup, and Lightcast (pioneers in talent intelligence), and many others can reduce time to hire from months to weeks and weeks to days. But none of this technology works if the Talent Acquisition team is left on an island. In the last year I have met with more than 50 heads of talent acquisition and once the door is closed and we talk honestly, they always tell me the same thing. “We are not treated as a strategic function, we are being asked to cut costs, and we are constantly running from fire to fire to keep executives happy.” This type of “service-delivery” focus simply will not work in the new economy. What should companies do? As part of our Systemic HR initiative, we help companies evolve their TA Function to operate in a more strategic way. Organizations like Bayer, Verizon, and many others have elevated the role of recruiter to talent advisor, they’re building skills in talent intelligence, and they’re integrating the recruiting function with L&D, career management, and employee engagement. I’ve always felt that recruiting is the most important things HR professionals do. If we can’t get the “right” people into the company, no amount of management can recover. But what does “right” mean? And how can we source, locate, and attract these particular people? This is a highly strategic operation, and one that must integrate with internal mobility, culture, and employee experience. I encourage you to read our Systemic HR research, join our Academy, or reach out to us or AMS for advice. In this new era of talent and skills shortages, we simply cannot run recruiting in this tactical way any longer.
    Josh Bersin
    2024年04月24日
  • Josh Bersin
    Josh Bersin 谈Workday的创新论坛：Why I’m Bullish On Workday Again: The Innovation Summit 本周Workday创新峰会揭示了公司由产品主导向市场主导的战略转型。Workday一直以云技术为核心，自主开发了面向对象的数据系统和全球安全架构。然而，随着市场的演进和竞争的加剧，公司在新任CEO Carl Eschenbach的领导下，开始转向市场导向的商业模式。 在这次转型中，Workday开始拓宽其业务模型，更加开放地与合作伙伴合作。公司不再限制API的使用和合作伙伴的接入，而是致力于构建一个像苹果iPhone那样的开放平台，允许更多的行业应用集成到其系统中。这一策略旨在提供更加灵活和综合的企业解决方案，以适应不同行业的需求。 同时，Workday也大力投入到人工智能技术的开发中，推出了基于企业自有数据的微型机器学习模型（micro-LLMs），并在全球范围内调整这些模型以满足本地客户的需求。此外，Workday正在将其人才智能市场向外扩展，通过与多个行业解决方案提供商的合作，强化其在健康护理和金融等领域的业务。 AI技术的应用不仅仅限于技术层面的改进，Workday还通过这些技术优化了用户体验，使得各种任务的完成变得更加便捷。例如，在Workday平台上，用户可以看到AI图标，通过点击即可获得智能辅助完成工作。 在人才管理方面，Workday引入了许多新功能，如智能工作架构中心（Intelligent Job Architecture Hub）以及加强的Workday人才市场，这些都是为了帮助企业简化和改进职位描述和技能需求。 此外，Workday的领导层也展现出了更开放和实用的态度，这对公司未来的发展是一个积极的信号。总的来说，Workday的这一系列战略调整，旨在更好地适应快速变化的市场需求，提高公司的竞争力和市场份额。 Josh Bersin 写了这篇文章，强烈推荐给大家了解下：以下是中英文的供参考   This week I attended the Workday Innovation Summit and there’s a lot to discuss. Having just celebrated its 19th birthday, the company is embarking on a major transformation . And it’s not just product innovation that’s happening, the company is greatly expanding its business model. Workday Has Been A Product Led Company Much of Workday’s success goes back to its focus on being “born for the cloud.” Rather than build business apps in a typical database-centric architecture, Workday developed its own object-oriented data system, integrated workflow system, and global security architecture from scratch. Nobody knew the cloud would be so big nor that we’d have “superscalers” like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon as platforms. Nor could we predict the advent of global data governance, AI, or data and apps distributed across thousands of servers. Well Workday, led by Aneel Bhusri, pulled this off. And not only did they sell architecture, they sold “the Power of One.” In Workday, unlike other ERP business systems, all the applications were designed to work together. No acquisitions, no integrations, no open systems: just a beautifully designed, easy-to-use, scalable enterprise application. (I noted that it reminded me of the i-Phone at the time: beautiful, easy to use, and closed.) This “beautiful walled garden” served Workday well. While Oracle, SAP, and other vendors struggled to redesign their client-server apps and acquire missing pieces, Workday grew like wildfire and is now a global ERP vendor with more than $7.3 Billion in recurring revenue, 10,000+ enterprise and mid-market customers, and a brand known for trust, customer focus, and quality. And all this happened with a founding team that was largely still in place. Last year Workday’s co-founder and CEO Aneel Bhusri decided it was time to step back and the company brought in Carl Eschenbach to be CEO. And now things are starting to change. The company is becoming a “markets-led” business. The “product-led” focus for Workday was both good and bad. Workday was not easy to integrate, there were few APIs for developers, and the company limited its partners. As part of its mission to be pure, Workday prevented many vendors from “partnering” and forced integrators to pay large fees and certify dedicated teams. This “scarcity” strategy created high demand and high prices, and customers actually appreciated it. All was good, until things started to change. Today, with many competing vendors at all levels of the ERP stack, Workday is becoming more pragmatic. And as I’ll explain below, they’re changing their message from “The Power of One” to “Workday is a Platform.” Workday Is Becoming A Markets-Led Company The HCM and Financials market is complex. There are dozens of sub-markets, application areas, and industry solutions to address. An HR system designed for a large hospital system is unlikely to need the same features as a system for a global insurance company. So Workday started to realize its system, while integrated and highly functional, couldn’t keep up. And within HR itself there are hundreds of vendors who sell recruiting tools, career systems, learning platforms, engagement tools, mobile apps, benefits, and data analytics systems. And each of these sub-markets are being transformed by AI. (Our upcoming research on Talent Intelligence, for example, will show you how fragmented this is.) Workday was having a hard time keeping up. The company embarked on a series of acquisitions (Platfora, Mediacore, Adaptive Insights, VNDLY, Peakon, HiredScore, and others). This forced the product teams to focus on user interface and architectural integration, somewhat slowing the feature expansion. And many partners who wanted to integrate with Workday (which customers demand) were ignored. Well under Carl’s leadership, all this is changing. Workday is now fully open to partners, ISV’s, resellers, and industry solutions. Almost 25% of the entire Innovation Summit was focused on Workday’s open partner strategy. And the big message was this: Workday is not a “system,” it’s a “platform.” What does this mean? It means that if you buy Workday you’re buying a platform like the i-Phone. It works amazingly well, it’s safe, and will sport a family of industry apps to help you build a total solution. This worked for Apple and Salesforce and it’s likely to work well for Workday. SAP has a similar offering, but its level of integration is far more complex. This lets Workday move deeply into new domains and sub markets. (Workday highlighted its new integrations with Shiftwizard in healthcare, Auditoria and Kyriba in finance, and many others. These are not just ISV relationships: Workday is reselling these products. But there’s much more. Workday Unveils Its AI Strategy At last year’s event Workday really waffled about AI. They gave us a lot of arm waving discussions of “Workday AI” but it didn’t make a lot of sense. Well they’ve figured it out, so let me briefly explain. Enterprises don’t want AI for its own sake and they definitely don’t want crowdsourced data which creates legal risk. They want AI solutions that work on their own data. Well Workday has now embarked on a wide variety of AI features, each delivered through its own “micro-LLMs” trained on a company’s own data. (Very similar to how we implement Galileo, our AI HR expert assistant.) And for larger AI capabilities they use a global LLM with local weights and biases for each client. (This is similar to how the Microsoft Copilot works.) So your enterprise data trains your “version” of Workday without sharing any data with others. In some cases (the Skills Cloud, for example), customers can opt to share data anonymously. This lets Workday build a “global skills database” which everyone can share. Vendors like Eightfold, Lightcast, and Draup do this at a massive scale (far beyond what Workday does today), so Workday is now moving into this “talent intelligence” market. (Lightcast is now a Workday Skills Cloud partner.) Many of these features are simple (rewriting a job description or matching invoices to purchase orders) but powerful. All over Workday you now see a little AI icon to help you complete a task. In fact Workday has already re-engineered about 280 different tasks and is working on around 2,000 in total. Customers constantly tell me Workday is difficult to use, and it’s largely just because the system is quite complex. These AI-enhanced experiences are slowly going to make the system more and more “I-Phone like.” Many New Talent Features Now that the product teams have a strong underlying architecture, they’re going crazy with features. Workday is introducing a new “Intelligent Job Architecture Hub,” for example, to help companies simplify and improve job names, levels, descriptions, and skills. (It also shows trending skills in the external market.) Everyone is going to use this. The Workday Talent Marketplace, which is not widely used yet, is being enhanced through HiredScore: employees will get Teams or Slack messages recommending jobs. This is an example of “orchestration,” a new buzz-word among AI systems. (Imagine AI booking your trip including hotels, air, car, etc.) The Workday Manager Hub now shows managers detailed employee engagement data (Peakon has more than 18 billion responses now) and will gives managers “Conversation Starters” to help them start performance coaching, all based on feedback from other employees. There is a major focus on contingent, gig, and contract workers. For the first time I believe Workday can handle most professional services businesses (including pricing projects based on staff pricing), healthcare and retail (AI-powered scheduling and shift management), and many deskless worker needs. It turns out that healthcare and retail are two of Workday’s biggest industries, so these talent-constrained industries are now a good market. Let me talk briefly about HiredScore. This company built an in-line “talent orchestration system” that uses AI to show recruiters who is most suited for a job, explain why it made its decisions, and use this data to find and source internal candidates automatically. While this type of technology is widely used in systems like Eightfold, Beamery, Phenom, and others, the HiredScore system is workflow-oriented. Recruiters love it and it greatly improves hiring speed, quality, and internal mobility. And by the way, despite lots of complaints from users, Workday Recruiting is starting to dominate the ATS market. With more than 4,000 customers it’s becoming a more “safe buy” as companies rationalize their old ATS systems. As David Somers (head of product) put it, HiredScore is the acquisition that “keeps on giving.” In other words the AI team at HiredScore is now going to work with Workday’s Skills Cloud team to evolve and improve that system. The Skills Cloud, while beautifully visioned and named, has had limited success. With HiredScore’s help (and the leadership of Athena Karp, founder and CEO), this system will get more attention. (That includes more content partnerships and a broader set of tools.) This means Workday’s recruiting system (which is one of the most critical business systems in today’s talent shortages) is now highly coupled with the internal mobility and job architecture system, something customers desperately want. I still believe systems like Eightfold and Gloat are far more advanced, but Workday is catching up. Management Culture And Trust And then there’s the biggest issue of all: Workday’s leadership. I spent some time chatting with Carl Eschenbach and he has a very different persona than Aneel Bhusri. Carl clearly wants Workday to go after new markets: new geographies (EMEA, Asia, Japan), new industries (healthcare, pharma, retail), the mid-market segment, and channel partners. Workday is now actively searching for resellers, mid-market integrators, and ISVs to round out the solution. As always, the leadership team at Workday is highly aligned and much more pragmatic. Many times I would attend a Workday event and feel a slight sense of arrogance at the top. As with all successful software companies, it’s easy to think you’re always right when things are going well. I believe this has changed. I actually found Workday to be humble, attentive to new issues, and open-minded to new ideas, new partners, and self-inspection. This, to me, is a bullish sign. And from top to bottom the company is focused on trust, AI safety, and customer service. One more thing I want to point out: the “Workday as a Platform” idea. The company now realizes that this highly proprietary, business-optimized system can no longer be sold as a beautifully walled garden. The company is building a massive set of easy to use development tools, expanded APIs, and programs to attract software developers, partners, and integrators. Now, when customers ass for functionality Workday can look for a partner to resell or embed. The company is losing its “if we didn’t build it we don’t trust it” mentality. I also believe this leadership team really likes each other. As many of you know, team culture is massively important in the tech space. Things change so fast and there are so many competitors the company has to stay aligned. I sense everyone really understands what’s going on. Growth Potential Will Workday accelerate its growth above its respectable 17% per year? Well the company has challenges. Many of its legacy clients have found a plethora of advanced tools around Workday and I know large companies that are switching back to SAP. And despite all the new features, Workday is an older, complicated, rigid system. That all said, I think the company is managing its transformation well. Let’s watch to see how all this plays out.   本周我参加了Workday创新峰会，有很多内容值得讨论。在刚刚庆祝了其成立19周年之际，该公司正在进行重大转型。而且，不仅仅是产品创新在进行，公司的业务模式也在大幅扩展。 Workday一直是一家以产品为导向的公司 Workday的成功很大程度上归功于其专注于“为云而生”。Workday没有采用典型的以数据库为中心的架构来构建商业应用程序，而是从零开始开发了自己的面向对象的数据系统、集成的工作流系统和全球安全架构。没有人知道云计算会如此重要，也没有人预料到我们会有像Google、Microsoft和Amazon这样的“超级计算”平台。我们也无法预测全球数据治理、AI或者跨数千服务器分布的数据和应用程序的出现。 在Aneel Bhusri的领导下，Workday做到了这一点。他们不仅销售架构，还销售了“一体化的力量”。在Workday中，不同于其他ERP商业系统，所有应用程序都被设计为可以协同工作。没有收购，没有集成，没有开放系统：只有一个设计精美、易于使用、可扩展的企业应用程序。（我注意到这让我想起了当时的iPhone：美观、易用且封闭。） 这个“美丽的围墙花园”为Workday服务良好。而Oracle、SAP和其他供应商在重新设计其客户端-服务器应用程序和获取缺失部分时挣扎，Workday却如野火般成长，现在已成为一家全球ERP供应商，拥有超过73亿美元的经常性收入、超过10,000个企业和中端市场客户，以及以信任、客户关注和质量而闻名的品牌。而且，这一切都是在创始团队基本上仍在位的情况下发生的。 去年，Workday的联合创始人兼CEO Aneel Bhusri认为是时候退居幕后了，公司聘请了Carl Eschenbach担任CEO。现在，事情开始改变。该公司正在成为一家“以市场为导向”的企业。 Workday的“以产品为导向”的重点既有好处也有坏处。Workday不容易集成，开发者可用的API很少，公司也限制了其合作伙伴。作为其保持纯净使命的一部分，Workday阻止了许多供应商的“合作”，并迫使集成商支付高额费用并认证专门团队。这种“稀缺”策略创造了高需求和高价格，而客户实际上对此感到满意。 一切都很好，直到情况开始改变。如今，随着ERP堆栈各层面的竞争供应商越来越多，Workday正在变得更加务实。正如我将在下文中解释的那样，他们正在将信息从“一体化的力量”变为“Workday是一个平台”。 Workday正在成为一家以市场为导向的公司 人力资源管理(HCM)和财务市场非常复杂。有数十个子市场、应用领域和行业解决方案需要解决。一个为大型医院系统设计的HR系统不太可能需要与为全球保险公司设计的系统相同的功能。因此，Workday开始意识到，尽管其系统集成且功能强大，但它无法跟上。 而且，在HR本身，有数百家供应商销售招聘工具、职业系统、学习平台、参与工具、移动应用程序、福利和数据分析系统。每一个子市场都在被AI转型。（例如，我们即将发布的关于人才智能的研究将向您展示这是多么的碎片化。） Workday很难跟上。该公司开始了一系列收购（Platfora、Mediacore、Adaptive Insights、VNDLY、Peakon、HiredScore等）。这迫使产品团队专注于用户界面和架构集成，从而在某种程度上减缓了功能扩展。许多希望与Workday集成的合作伙伴（客户需求）被忽视了。 在Carl的领导下，所有这些都在改变。Workday现在对合作伙伴、独立软件供应商、经销商和行业解决方案完全开放。整个创新峰会将近25%的时间专注于Workday的开放合作伙伴策略。而且重要的信息是：Workday不是一个“系统”，它是一个“平台”。 这是什么意思？这意味着如果您购买Workday，您就是在购买一个像iPhone那样的平台。它运行非常好，安全，并将配备一系列行业应用程序以帮助您构建完整解决方案。这对Apple和Salesforce有效，对Workday来说可能也会很有效。SAP也有类似的产品，但其集成程度要复杂得多。这让Workday能够深入新的领域和子市场。（Workday突出显示了其在医疗保健领域与Shiftwizard、在财务领域与Auditoria和Kyriba的新集成等。这些不仅仅是独立软件供应商关系：Workday正在转售这些产品。 但还有更多。 Workday公开其AI战略 在去年的活动中，Workday对AI真的犹豫不决。他们给了我们很多关于“Workday AI”的手势讨论，但这并没有太多意义。好吧，他们已经想通了，让我简单解释一下。 企业并不是因为AI本身而想要AI，他们绝对不想要可能产生法律风险的众包数据。他们想要的是可以在自己的数据上运行的AI解决方案。 现在，Workday已经开始了各种AI功能，每个功能都通过其自己的“微型大语言模型”交付，这些模型是在公司自己的数据上训练的。（这与我们实现的Galileo，我们的AI HR专家助手非常相似。）对于更大的AI功能，他们使用一个全球大语言模型，为每个客户本地调整权重和偏差。（这与Microsoft Copilot的工作方式类似。）因此，您的企业数据训练您的“版本”的Workday，而不与其他人共享任何数据。 在某些情况下（例如技能云），客户可以选择匿名分享数据。这让Workday能够构建一个“全球技能数据库”，每个人都可以分享。像Eightfold、Lightcast和Draup这样的供应商在大规模（远超Workday目前的做法）上做到了这一点，所以Workday现在正在进入这个“人才智能”市场。（Lightcast现在是Workday技能云的合作伙伴。） 这些功能中的许多都很简单（重写工作描述或将发票与采购订单匹配），但功能强大。在Workday的各个地方，您现在都可以看到一个小AI图标，帮助您完成任务。事实上，Workday已经重新设计了大约280个不同的任务，并且正在处理大约2,000个总任务。 客户不断告诉我Workday很难使用，这主要是因为系统相当复杂。这些通过AI增强的体验将逐渐使系统越来越像“iPhone”。 许多新的人才功能 现在产品团队拥有了强大的底层架构，他们正疯狂地推出功能。例如，Workday正在推出一个新的“智能工作架构中心”，以帮助公司简化并改进工作名称、级别、描述和技能。（它还显示外部市场中的趋势技能。）每个人都将使用这个。 Workday人才市场尚未广泛使用，现在正在通过HiredScore进行增强：员工将通过Teams或Slack消息获得推荐工作。这是“编排”的一个例子，这是AI系统中的一个新的流行词。（想象一下AI预订您的旅行，包括酒店、飞机、汽车等。） Workday经理中心现在向经理们显示详细的员工参与数据（Peakon现在有超过180亿的反馈）并将给经理提供“对话开始器”，以帮助他们开始绩效辅导，所有这些都基于其他员工的反馈。 还有一个主要关注点是临时工、零工和合同工。我相信Workday首次可以处理大多数专业服务业务（包括基于员工定价的定价项目）、医疗保健和零售（AI驱动的排班和班次管理），以及许多无固定工作场所的工人的需求。事实证明，医疗保健和零售是Workday的两个最大行业，所以这些人才匮乏的行业现在是一个好市场。 让我简要谈谈HiredScore。这家公司建立了一个内嵌的“人才编排系统”，使用AI向招聘人员展示最适合某个职位的人员，解释为什么会做出这样的决定，并使用这些数据来找到并自动获取内部候选人。虽然这种技术在Eightfold、Beamery、Phenom等系统中广泛使用，但HiredScore系统是以工作流为导向的。招聘人员非常喜欢它，它极大地提高了招聘的速度、质量和内部流动性。 顺便说一句，尽管用户有很多抱怨，Workday招聘正在开始主导ATS市场。现在已有超过4,000个客户，随着公司对旧ATS系统进行合理化，它正在成为一个更“安全的购买”。 正如产品负责人David Somers所说，HiredScore是一笔“源源不断的收益”。换句话说，HiredScore的AI团队现在将与Workday的技能云团队合作，以发展和改进该系统。技能云虽然构想得很美，名字很漂亮，但成功有限。在HiredScore的帮助下（以及创始人兼CEO Athena Karp的领导下），这个系统将得到更多关注。（这包括更多的内容合作伙伴和一套更广泛的工具。） 这意味着Workday的招聘系统（这是当今人才短缺中最关键的商业系统之一）现在与内部流动性和工作架构系统高度耦合，这正是客户迫切需要的。我仍然认为像Eightfold和Gloat这样的系统更先进，但Workday正在迎头赶上。 管理文化和信任 然后是最大的问题之一：Workday的领导层。我花了一些时间与Carl Eschenbach聊天，他与Aneel Bhusri的个性非常不同。Carl明确希望Workday进军新市场：新地理区域（EMEA、亚洲、日本）、新行业（医疗保健、制药、零售）、中端市场细分市场和渠道合作伙伴。Workday现在正在积极寻找经销商、中端市场集成商和独立软件供应商来完善解决方案。 一如既往，Workday的领导团队高度一致，更加务实。很多时候，我参加Workday的活动，都能感受到顶层有些自负。就像所有成功的软件公司一样，当事情进展顺利时，很容易认为自己总是对的。 我认为这已经改变了。我实际上发现Workday很谦虚，对新问题很关注，对新想法、新合作伙伴和自我检查持开放态度。对我来说，这是一个看涨的信号。而且从上到下，公司都专注于信任、AI安全和客户服务。 我还想指出一件事：关于“Workday作为一个平台”的想法。该公司现在意识到，这种高度专有的、业务优化的系统不再能作为一个美丽的围墙花园来销售。公司正在构建一套大型的易于使用的开发工具、扩展的API和吸引软件开发者、合作伙伴和集成商的计划。现在，当客户询问功能时，Workday可以寻找一个合作伙伴来转售或嵌入。公司正在失去“如果我们没有构建它，我们就不信任它”的心态。 我还相信这个领导团队真的很喜欢彼此。正如你们许多人所知，团队文化在科技领域非常重要。事情变化如此之快，竞争对手如此之多，公司必须保持一致。我感觉每个人都真正理解发生了什么。 增长潜力 Workday能否将其每年17%的尊重增长率加速？好吧，公司面临挑战。它的许多老客户发现在Workday周围有大量的先进工具，我知道一些大公司正在回归SAP。尽管所有这些新功能，Workday仍然是一个较老、复杂、僵化的系统。 话虽如此，我认为公司正在很好地管理其转型。让我们拭目以待，看看这一切将如何发展。
    Josh Bersin
    2024年04月19日
  • Josh Bersin
    BetterUp Manage: Pioneering AI-Powered Platform For Leaders BetterUp公司最近在其Uplift大会上推出了一个名为BetterUp Manage的领导力发展平台，这一平台采用人工智能驱动的评估和个性化学习方案，彻底改变了专业发展的途径。该平台具有高度的可扩展性和可定制性，能够与Workday、Oracle和SAP等主要系统无缝连接。BetterUp Manage不仅为领导者提供服务，也支持任何寻求发展专业能力的个人。通过整合最新的人工智能技术，BetterUp Manage为传统的领导力培训行业带来了革命性的变革。 这次大会中，BetterUp还邀请了英国的哈里王子Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex 和亚当·格兰特，哈里王子是BetterUp的首席影响官。。。 This week I attended the BetterUp Uplift conference and I really was impressed. This is a company that exploded into the market with an innovative coaching and employee wellbeing network built around an assessment called the “whole person model.” Through a set of shrewd marketing and sales strategies BetterUp established a leadership position in this market, growing to a billion dollar+ valuation. This success encouraged many competitors to form and now the market for AI-enabled, targeted coaching is large and crowded (vendors include Torch, CoachHub, Growthspace, Sounding Board, Bravely, and a new breed of AI systems). Essentially what BetterUp did was democratize business and professional coaching. Before this trend coaching was a rarified, expensive offering reserved for under-performing leaders or high-potential executives. Today, with BetterUp, anyone can go through a meaningful assessment, get assigned a relevant coach, and start a coaching session in minutes. The system is well designed and easy to use and BetterUp’s coaches are all trained (most of the coaching vendors use a lot of the same certified coaches – they are not BetterUp employees). As a corporate solution, BetterUp goes much further. The data collected through assessments is available for analysis (anonymized) so companies can find pockets of stress in the organization. You can look at assessments by team (minimum of 10 people), tenure, level, and other factors. This lets companies like Chevron or Cisco understand the issues new employees or new managers have, for example. In the last few years the company moved into wellbeing by offering a solution called BetterUp Care, which targets benefits buyers. But the more strategic and interesting offering is the new platform I saw this week, now named BetterUp Manage (it was originally called Connect). BetterUp Manage is the first highly personalized, scalable management development platform I’ve seen. It brings together AI-enabled assessment, personalized learning, coaching, and AI-driven narrative support. It’s quite an impressive product, much of it was developed by the team at Motive, who was acquired by BetterUp in 2021. BetterUp Manage is an out of the box personalized leadership development solution. And you don’t need to be a “leader” to use it. The system steps you through the Whole Person assessment, then asks you questions about the types of soft-skills issues you face (many specific scenarios), and then gives you a customized learning path, week by week, along with a professional coach. Since it’s built on an AI platform there is very little manual work behind the scenes so it’s enormously scalable. Large companies will want to customize it and BetterUp is prepared for some of these requests. And the system connects to Workday, Oracle, SAP to automatically understand your role and level. The reason I’m so excited is this: the management training industry is a confusing, messy, red ocean. There are thousands of consultants, coaches, books, courses, and executive education programs. L&D executives have to constantly build custom solutions, evaluate vendors, and hope that an offering will stick. This pure complexity, coupled with the fact that every company is unique, has led to many specialized leadership development firms (and some big ones like Franklin Covey). So what most companies do is mix, match, and custom-build leadership solutions. And they’re not simple: we developed a model we call the 4-E’s to understand this: Education (courses), Experience (developmental assignments), Exposure (mentoring and coaching from leaders), and Environment (a company-wide focus on leadership values and behaviors). All these elements play a role in developing leadership skills. Companies like IBM, Cisco, and Marriot can afford to custom build these solutions, but many companies don’t have the focus. BetterUp Manage is a way to personalize, scale, and democratize this solution and leverage the increasingly important role of AI. I met Alexi Robichaux almost a decade ago and his passion and energy still drives the company. While BetterUp is a bigger company going through the growing pains of any $billion valued growth business, the culture and passion for clients is clear. Remember that buying L&D solutions is not as simple as buying a product and turning it on. Every training solution, platform, or program you buy must be carefully aligned with your company’s culture and rolled out with care. Otherwise people simply say “another training program from corporate I can ignore.” BetterUp, for all its startup-like innovations, has overcome this problem. Customers value the system, they get strong adoption from employees, and the company works hard to advise and consult. It has always been interesting to me that very few content companies ever become very big (Skillsoft is the only one that never seems to stop). And the reason for this is simply the nichey, highly diversified needs of many industries and companies. BetterUp, as a platform-centered company delivering a high-touch solution, has the potential to break this paradigm. It has enormous potential, given the rapid acceleration of AI behind the scenes. I consider BetterUp one of the “Trailblazers” I talk about with clients, and BetterUp Manage is definitely something to watch.
    Josh Bersin
    2024年04月12日
  • Josh Bersin
    Will Chatbots Take Over HR Tech? Paradox Sets The Pace. 在快速发展的人力资源技术领域，Paradox.ai 已成为领跑者，其先进的对话式人工智能平台彻底改变了招聘流程。通过利用自然语言处理和人工智能，Paradox.ai 提供了一个全面的解决方案，涵盖了从最初的职位申请到入职的整个招聘过程。该平台不仅简化了筛选和面试安排等繁琐流程，还提升了应聘者的整体体验，显著改善了招聘时间和招聘质量指标。 Paradox.ai 由亚伦-马托斯（Aaron Matos）于 2016 年创立，目前为联合利华、CVS Health 和通用汽车等大客户提供服务，实现了 90% 以上的招聘流程自动化。 Paradox.ai 凭借其强大的集成能力和大幅缩短招聘时间、降低招聘成本的能力，在人力资源技术领域充分体现了对话式人工智能的变革力量。 Chatbots used to be tinker-toys. You type, try to get help, but usually result in “please call support.” Well all this has changed. Thanks to advanced NLP (natural language processing) and AI (retrieval-augmented generation) chatbots are entire applications. They can answer complex questions, search databases, and invoke transactions on your behalf. Pretty soon we’ll be able to ask our phones “please find me a flight to Los Angeles next Tuesday morning” and the system will check your location and calendar, look at flights, and book you a seat. Where is this going in HR? Well the leader in this space is Paradox.ai, a company that pioneered the application of conversational AI in recruiting. And their system “defines the category.” Let me explain. Recruiting Is The Perfect Market For Conversational AI Recruiting is a goldmine for automation. When you post a job, applicants want to ask many predictable things: “How much does it pay?” “What are the hours?” or “What uniform do I need” or “What are the benefits?” The recruiter, a person devoted to filling positions, has to answer all these questions and more. They have to screen candidates, schedule interviews, check for qualifications, and look at credentials, experience, and more. It’s time-consuming, error-prone, and filled with wasted time. (That’s why talent acquisition teams have many “scheduler” and admins.) The average “time to hire” is over 45 days and often the process goes on for months. And throughout the experience the job seeker is left wondering “when will they call back” or “what else do I need to know?” (CEOs cite hiring as the third most time-wasting process in companies, following emails and meetings, estimated at “40% wasted time.”) Paradox uses Conversational AI to solve this problem. And because this is a “narrow but deep” space, the system does many things we can learn from in all our AI efforts. Paradox was founded by Aaron Matos in 2016. Aaron’s vision was to transform the candidate experience, revolutionizing the way candidates apply to jobs. Today Paradox has become a complete Conversational AI Recruitment Platform (chat to apply, scheduling, candidate support, ATS, assessments, onboarding, career site, and more), serving clients like Unilever, CVS Health, Pfizer, L’Oreal, Nestle, McDonald’s FedEx, Compass Group, Disney, and General Motors. The platform automates tasks such as screening for requirements, interview scheduling, reminders, offers, and new hire onboarding. And because it’s so easy to use, it helps companies radically improves time-to-hire and quality of hire. Based on my conversations with clients, Paradox can automate more than 90% of the end-to-end hiring process, saving hiring managers hours every week and increasing candidate conversion by more than 10 times. But this innovation did not happen overnight. As you know, going to a candidate website and looking for a job is a frustrating process. There are often hundreds of jobs listed, a complex scrolling website and very hard to even determine what job to apply for. You might argue that the website paradigm for job applications was never really a good idea in the first place. People don’t want to browse for jobs: they want to apply for a job that’s best for them. So the first thing Paradox did was create an easy to use assistant (Olivia) so candidates could ask questions and schedule interviews. And this meant that Paradox had to build integrations with every ATS and personal email and calendar tools out there. Then, as companies started to use Paradox for scheduling, the company added more. Today Olivia, the chatbot, can integrate with background check vendors, schedule interviews, deliver assessments (Paradox acquired a conversational assessment Traitify designed for this), and function as an ATS … all from a mobile phone. In many ways Paradox can be “the integration platform” for candidates and recruiters, stitching together the messy systems behind the scenes. This turned into a massive opportunity. Just as the Google Assistant or Siri hopes to be our single contact with the internet, Paradox partners with systems of record like Workday, SAP, and Oracle to bring conversational AI to any company. The company’s revenues have grown 11 times in the last four years, and are now nearly doubling each year. For customers Paradox has been amazing. As the candidate pipeline speeds up (by an order of magnitude), clients get higher quality candidates with dramatically reduced staff. (Staffing administrators can almost go away.) Consider high-volume hiring companies. These businesses (McDonald’s, Compass Group, Neighborly, FedEx, Disney) hire service-related workers on a regular basis. Their revenue is dependent on having enough people. With Paradox they can set up a “continuous recruitment process,” one that even hires people the same day they apply. Paradox has become essential to these companies growth, often paying for itself in less than a year (through reduced hiring staff, reduced spend on job ads, and reduced turnover.) Today, as Paradox built out its ATS, customers can rely on the platform to integrate front end tool (job portals and candidate support) to back end tools scheduling, ATS, onboarding) most of which are legacy. One of our clients has 27 recruiting tools and they anticipate replacing more than half of them with a platform like Paradox. What about higher level white collar roles? Paradox works here too. General Motors uses Paradox along with Workday (ATS), (branded Evie) to redesign the process. Interview Scheduling: Evie automates scheduling of phone screens and interviews between recruiters, candidates, and internal teams. This has reduced the time taken for interview scheduling from an average of five days to 29 minutes. Candidate Experience: Evie interacts with candidates from the moment they land on GM’s career site until the completion of their interview. Candidates appreciate the immediate communication from Evie after they apply or complete an interview, and enjoy the autonomy to select and change interview times. Efficiency and Cost Savings: The automation of interview scheduling has led to a major reduction in the cost of external contractors for coordination. Career Site Interaction: Evie sits on GM’s career site, answering questions from potential candidates about jobs, benefits, and company culture. This interaction enhances the candidate’s experience and provides them with immediate responses to their queries. Where Is Paradox Going The company is perfectly positioned to continue its growth as companies look for AI solutions to improve the productivity and effectiveness of recruiting. And demand is high: the 2024 PwC CEO survey found that recruiting was considered the #3 “most bureaucratic process” by CEOs (following email and meetings). The impact on recruiters? All positive. Clients tell us they can redeploy hiring staff to help recruiters focus on the most important part of their job: talking with candidates. But there’s a much bigger story. When a job candidate is handled efficiently and effectively the process becomes a brand-builder for the candidate, improving quality of hire. Ambitious job seekers will not put up with (or wait for) a messy, confusing hiring process. So not only is the process faster and more efficient, the quality of hire goes up. Companies are desperately looking for AI solutions that work. As Paradox has proven, when you focus deeply on the problem, conversational AI can be transformational. Listen to my conversation with Adam Godson (CEO) and you’ll hear the details. This is where the HR Tech market is going.
    Josh Bersin
    2024年04月04日
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