Let’s be clear: I wouldn’t have to spend so much time writing about ‘The Future of Work’ if we all felt like the culture inside of most organizations created a strong sense of community and belonging. Until we actually reach this undefined future, I continue to evangelize the opportunity that we have to build ethical technology that embraces the right security, framework and transparency necessary for creating effective cultures that serve the needs of every employee, leaving no group behind or marginalized.
Having spent the past 30 years consulting to large technology firms like Cisco, ServiceNow, Siemens, Western Digital, and Adobe, I clearly understand the complex challenges that organizations face as they recruit employees, train them with new skills, track their performance, provide feedback, and motivate them to continue delivering value to the organization. I have witnessed a few failures, but also helped design many solutions that transformed organizations into the #1 spot on Fortune’s Top Places to Work for multiple years in a row.
I ask every organization I work with to stop and ask a very simple question – “Are we building our culture around competition or community?” You can’t have both.
If organizations are building a community of dynamic teams that require strong relationships between individuals, then our technology needs to also focus on building trusting connections and communities between people where everyone is treated with dignity, privacy and respect.
Having consulted for several of the leading data security firms, I clearly understand the urgent need to stop treating employees like a ‘product’ or ‘user’ forced to create data for somebody else and start creating a community-first platform where employees trust and support each other as they create value for themself, their peers, their teams, and their organization. I look forward to the day when data is put into the hands of every employee who needs it, when they need it, with the People Analytics tools to help them lead successful teams in every company. This data democratization can become the framework to collectively hold everyone accountable to a higher standard and begin to affect meaningful change across organizations and employees everywhere.
Until this happens, I will continue to share my thoughts on what ‘The Future of Work’ should feel like for every employee.
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