Talent Brand FTW
The Future of Work. Return to Work. Hybrid Work. The Great Resignation. The Great Reckoning. Okay, STOP. We’re all tired of hearing these SEO-inspired, of-the-moment, not-wrong-but-not-right soundbytes talking about a shift we never expected to see.
But what we’re not tired of, and what we’ll always seek, are stories that resonate authentically and deeply. Stories that cut through the clutter, strike a chord, and move people to action. Right now, many of us are looking to write more compelling, purposeful stories with the work we do. You’ve heard the stats before, but two in particular are worth repeating because they spawn great incredulity: In the US, as many as 1 in 4 people have quit their jobs so far in 2021, and fully 44% plan to look for a new job within the next year. Burnout, insufficient growth opportunity, and a lack of flexibility are some of the reasons people are finally willing to bid adieu to work that wasn’t working.
This moment provides all of us an opportunity to take stock of what matters most in our lives, to be clear on our purpose in life, and to discover and seize opportunities to align that purpose to the work we choose to do. For some, that can be accomplished with a candid conversation at a current employer that opens up new paths. For others, it will mean a more holistic and complete shift in what work they do, how they do it, or where they do it. But for all of us, the question of why we do it should be front and center given the Great Reshuffling (sorry, couldn’t help it ;)) that’s underway.
People may struggle to define their purpose, let alone articulate it and act on it. But organizations have to do their part by using their Talent Brand as a mechanism for communicating their purpose, values, and convictions. As humans, we may not always be great at saying “I was put on Earth to do ___.” But we are a species of pattern-recognizers who know what resonates with us and what repels us. Companies that tell a clear, compelling story through their talent brands will be the ones with a huge leg up in a world where The Many – rather than The Few – are finally calling the shots.
I chose Talent Brand as the theme for this week’s newsletter for a few reasons. First, we’re fresh off our most recent performance management cycle at Qualtrics, and it’s so enjoyable to be in meaningful and important conversations about people’s career goals and trajectories. Of all the things I loved about Prophet, one of the most salient to my well-being was my involvement in talent development and strategy. It’s wonderful to benefit from and contribute to that part of the culture here at Qualtrics. Second, we’re in the midst of 2022 Planning, meaning that I’m in the midst of many dialogues about the possibilities that will be afforded to our business and brand as we continue to invest in people. And, third, I’ve just been running across so much great content on the Future of Work that I wanted to share.
A Thought
“The future of work consists of learning for a living.”
A Conversation
In today’s upended world of work, some questions have moved to the forefront: What does the future hold? How can People Leaders responsibly embrace change to move past old obstacles, inequities and biases? Few are better prepared to answer these questions than Stacia Garr of RedThread Research. I wanted to talk to Stacia on the Breakthrough Builders podcast because of her unwavering commitment to uncovering truth and turning data into compelling stories about employee experience.
In her talk with me, Stacia shares how her love of history turned into a mission to improve peoples’ lives at work, discusses her most unexpected research findings, and provides a vision for New Work: where it should go, where it shouldn’t, and why moving work forward should be everyone’s concern.
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or the web.
A Reflection
In its November issue, Fast Company profiles its list of the Brands That Matter in 2021.I am honored (although I must proudly yet humbly say not surprised) to share that Qualtrics made the list based on our contributions to business and culture. In particular, Fast Company took note of the way we pivoted our business to respond to the urgent needs of our customers in 2020, the commitments we stood up and actions we took with respect to DEI, and the innovation agenda we’ve set to deliver on our purpose of reducing the world’s tolerance for bad experiences. It’s incredible to be recognized by such an incredible publication for the great work that our team of 5,000 (and growing!!) amazing people are doing to create empathy at scale and build breakthroughs that improve the human experience.
A Collection
Here are some pieces about Talent Brand x Future of Work that I found compelling:
We’ve gotten to the point where it can be hard to unearth original reporting and storytelling on the Future of Work, but the November 5 episode of Vox’s Today Explained podcast (“OOO”) had me deeply engaged from minute 1. The sharpness of the points of view, the salience of the data, the delightfulness of the dialogue, and the interstitial music and audio that kept it going – all of it was a great listening experience and a revelatory, relevant point of view. Check it out on Spotify, or if you’re old-school, Apple’s got it too. 🎧🎧🎧
Slack CEO and Co-founder Stewart Butterfield and PagerDuty Jennifer Tejada came out and basically said what we were all thinking – that if you’re not optimizing for Work Anywhere, you’re optimizing for FOMO. They cite personal experience and published data indicating that remote-work job posts are drawing more qualified interest than location-specific ones. The upshot? Companies that embrace and manage flexibility will be the ones that win. Check out their take from a few weeks ago at this year’s Dreamforce. 🌴 🏠
Rarely have organizations been forced to tackle volatility in so many areas at once. But with the right approach, the gravity of the current situation is an opportunity – a slingshot to accelerate transformation and speed an organization’s course. The Slingshot Effect, a report from my friends and former colleagues at Prophet, lays out the shifts organizations need to make now. With the right processes, commitments, workforce, and mindsets, organizations can accelerate their transformations, build the flexibility to thrive on change, and develop the agility to respond to future shocks faster. 🚀
Perhaps no employer has as clear, provocative, or productive of a talent brand as Netflix. Going back to its famous 129-slide presentation from 2009 entitled “Culture” in which the company The Keeper Test, ‘Brilliant Jerks,’ and the seemingly-audacious claim that “adequate performance gets a generous severance package,” Netflix has quietly grown from 1,800 to 9,400 employees and become the leading brand at the intersection of media, tech, and culture. Its talent brand may not be rainbows and sunshine, but it sure is attracting and retaining the builders, makers, and doers behind everything we stream and see. 👊🏾