The 10 Must-Read Articles for Talent Professionals This Week

In a recent report, The Working Future: More Human, Not Less, the management consulting firm Bain & Company highlights that many “predictions about the future of work have not played out exactly as forecast.” Here are some examples that they cite:

• If a RAND Corporation prediction from 1964 had come to pass, starting just two years ago in 2020, we’d be seeing specially bred and highly intelligent apes taking care of many of humanity’s manual labor needs.
• If the United States postmaster general got it right back in 1959, we’d be receiving paper mail via rocket instead of sending out emails.
• And if economist John Maynard Keynes nailed his prediction in 1930 that we’d only be working 15 hours a week, we definitely wouldn’t be debating the merits of a four-day workweek today.

In spite of these somewhat laughable misses, Bain & Company still urges business and talent leaders to take the time to peek into a crystal ball and get creative. “The next decade,” the report says, “will be one of significant experimentation around work. There is still much to learn about which approaches will be effective. There’s also a large blank canvas for creative new approaches. But one thing is clear: Firms that doggedly cling to old modes of thinking will struggle to stay relevant.”

Although the report says nothing more about apes and rockets, it does focus on three key takeaways: the importance of employee learning and development, the need to treat workers as people and not machines, and the necessity of creating a workplace with a strong sense of belonging.

To read the full report, be sure to check out the top link in our list below of must-read articles for talent professionals.

Here are the must-read articles from this week:

1. The Working Future: More Human, Not Less (Bain & Company)

2. Fleeing War in Ukraine, They’re Met with Employers Offering Paychecks (The New York Times)

3. A Call to Action: Provide Employees with Room to Grow (McKinsey Organization Blog)

4. This Ontario Company Will Pay You for a Job Interview and Here’s How Much (CTV News)

5. How to Instantly Spot a Great Employee, According to Warren Buffett (Inc.)

6. A Skills-First Hiring Pilot Showcases How Companies Can Give Every Candidate a ‘Fair Shot’ (LinkedIn Talent Blog)

7. The Great Resignation or the Great Rethink? (Harvard Business Review)

8. Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work (Microsoft WorkLab)

9. Talent Pros Reveal Top Tactics to Fill Roles Today (ERE)

10. It’s the End of the World As We Know It. And We’re Still at Work (Elle)

This week’s must-listen podcast:

Digital Talent with Matt Alder (The Recruitment Flex Podcast)

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