The Future Of Work Podcast With Jacob Morgan | Futurist | Workplace | Careers | Employee Experience & Engagement |

This episode of the Future of Work podcast I had the pleasure to speak with Paul Green, Jr., co-founder of the Self-Management Institute at the Morning Star Company. Morning Star is an agri-business and processing company who is largest processor of tomatoes. Everyone in some way, shape or form has consumed products that have come from Morning Star. What is really fascinating about the Morning Star Company is that there are no managers, and is the reason why I was so interested in speaking with Paul. Paul and I address some of the principles of self-management and how Morning Star came to this process of self-management. Our discussion includes hiring, firing and problem resolution ─ all functions traditionally handled by managers. He also shares insights into something they created called CLOU - Colleague Letters of Understanding, which is essentially an agreement employees make with each other where they agree upon what type of work they will be doing, how they are going to do it, etc. We cover much more,

This episode of the Future of Work podcast I speak with Cheryl Kerrigan, Vice President of Employee Success at Achievers. Achievers is known for its employee recognition platform that you may have heard of and some of you may be using in your organization. Also, it should be noted that Achievers was recently ranked as one of the best places to work. Cheryl and I talk about how organizations can do a better job of recognizing and incentivizing their employees, how organizations can create a more engaged environment, and some of the tactics and strategies organizations can follow. We also cover what Achievers is doing internally with their own employees. Cheryl talks about the really cool programs Achievers has implemented designed to engage and get employees involved in what the organization is doing. She also covers how organizations can apply some of these concepts and ideas to help create a more engaged workforce and a solid corporate culture. One of the things that I always talk about is that organizatio

In this episode of the Future of Work podcast my guest is Jeffrey Rodman, the co-founder of Polycom. Many of you are familiar with Polycom and, in fact, have used their products. They became famous for their speaker phones found in the conference rooms of most organizations. Jeff and I talk about the role of technology in collaboration. It’s no secret that technology is obviously one of the biggest driving factors that is enabling collaboration today. It’s a topic covered in my first book, The Collaborative Organization; and is also explored in my new book, The Future of Work. Collaboration is a huge theme ─ one that organizations are continuously spending more time and resources investing in. In this episode, Jeff and I explore many topics including differences in collaboration between smaller and larger organizations; and the concept of office space and do we still need offices. We cover Millennials, freelancers and the contingent workforce; and how collaboration plays a role in connecting these different

My guest for this episode of the Future of Work podcast is Ralph Loura, CIO at Hewlett-Packard’s Enterprise Group, and former CIO of the Clorox Company. We looked at technology as tools and not toys. Ralph also shared his perspective on how the role of IT is changing, how the role of the CIO is evolving, and what the future is going to look like. We covered technical issues like IT and business units working together, important skills IT professionals must possess in the new world of work, and technology and the business side. But we also explored some interesting topics such as women and technology, the culture of H-P, millennials, and much more. As with every podcast, Ralph ends with his advice for CIOs, organizations, and employees regarding technology. Tune in for a captivating discussion on technology as tools and not toys with Ralph Loura!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

In this Future of Work podcast, I speak with Josh Bersin. Josh started a company called Bersin & Associates, which was acquired by Deloitte and is now known as Bersin by Deloitte. Since the acquisition, Josh has been working at Deloitte providing a lot of really interesting thought leadership around how the world of HR and talent is changing. Because Deloitte recently released a report called “Global Human Capital Trends 2015: Leading in the new world of work,” I reached out to Josh to talk about what some of these trends are and what that means for us. Josh gives a unique perspective from a “big picture” view as to how these trends are impacting the world of HR and talent. Our talk covers leadership, learning, culture, workforce in demand, performance management, and re-inventing HR. We also talk about analytics, the simplification of work, as well as machines as talent. While this podcast is especially relevant to you if you are a HR leader, it is just as relevant to you if you are just an employee th

This week’s episode of the Future of Work podcast is with Harry Kraemer, the former CEO of Baxter and now professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where he teaches management and leadership. Many of you are familiar with Baxter, the large pharmaceutical company that today has just over 60,000 employees around the world. Harry does quite a number of things, one of which is that he is a best-selling author. His second book just came out titled, “Becoming the Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership.” You will recall that in a recent podcast, I spoke with Herminia Ibarra who also wrote a book on leadership. This episode explores leadership from Harry’s perspective. I must say that it was interesting to compare and contrast these two different models and styles of leadership. Of course, Harry and I examine what makes a leader. One of the common themes in Harry’s book is all about “being yourself.” We discuss the four principles of values-based leadership

In this podcast I continue my exploration of leadership with my interview with Herminia Ibarra. She is a professor at the INSEAD School of Business, one of the top business and management schools in the world, where she teaches leadership. Most of the people I talk to are all pretty much in agreement that there is a leadership crisis within our organizations. We are putting the wrong people in positions of power and we really need to re-think what it means to be a manager and a leader within our organizations. In previous podcasts, I spoke with Barry-Wehmiller CEO Bob Chapman and Rita McGrath, a professor at the Columbia School of Business, about leadership. In this podcast I talk with Herminia about her new book that just came out called “Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader.” This is a very fascinating book, and we talk about a lot of the different concepts contained in it. As you can tell by the title, it’s a bit counter-intuitive. She challenges the common assumption that you should think like a leade

I’m very excited to share this week’s episode of The Future of Work podcast. I interview Rita McGrath, Professor at Columbia Business School, author, speaker and consultant. Rita has been featured in many business publications and is quoted frequently by the press. Her most recent book is “The End of Competitive Advantage – How to Keep Your Strategy Moving as Fast as Your Business.” I believe this podcast will prove to be a very good overview for people that are interested in management and innovation, and how they are evolving and changing. Rita is on the front line of these events because she not only teaches on this, but she works with a lot of organizations. We talk about venture capital and funding in the Bay Area and what is going on with what I like to call “Pinocchio’s Island,” and how innovation is changing. We look at the competitive advantage, which is particularly fascinating because it is something that has been and is still taught in many of our schools. And, it comes up time and again in conv

In this week’s episode of The Future of Work podcast I talk with Pat Wadors, Senior Vice President of Global Talent Organization at LinkedIn. Pat runs all of talent and Human Resources (HR), and she is pretty much responsible for all of the cool things that you keep hearing about LinkedIn. It is no surprise that Pat was ranked as one of the 2015 top 50 women in technology by the National Diversity Council. And, I’m excited to say that Pat will be one of the speakers at our upcoming Future of Work Forum on April 29th in San Francisco. Pat and I talk about everything from Millenials and how HR is changing to what she is doing to leverage big data and analytics to drive HR decision-making. She also shares some great stories about vulnerability that I think will resonate with any senior leader. Considering that LinkedIn’s workforce has almost doubled during her tenure, you have to assume that Pat is doing some really interesting things to make sure that culture can scale, employee engagement stays high, and tha

This episode continues my interview with Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc., a manufacturing company with over 8,000 employees. In the last episode we became familiar with Barry-Wehmiller; and how Bob feels personally responsible for every employee that works at his company, how this perspective came about, the justifications and metrics. In this episode we talk about leadership and management. In a very interesting discussion, Bob shares some of the creative and innovative things that he and his company are doing to really create a workplace where people feel fulfilled and engaged — and where they actually want to show up. It is all about his idea of “truly human leadership.” Tune in and listen to Part 2 of this lively discussion!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

With the crisis in leadership and so many employees in the world disengaged, I’m always looking to find organizations that are doing things differently or thinking about leadership differently. This is Part 1 of the future of work podcast featuring Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller Companies, Inc., a manufacturing company with over 8,000 employees that has shown a growth rate of 16 percent a year compounded over the past 25 years. Bob has a unique approach to leadership whereby he feels personally responsible for every employee that works at his company — a concept that he calls “truly human leadership.” When surveyed, employees described Barry-Wehmiller as “family.” We talk about this idea of truly human leadership, and what Bob and his company are doing differently as far as management and leadership are concerned. We have some very interesting debates and discussions around the concepts that he is implementing, the justifications and metrics he may be using, and more. Bob also shares many interesting a

The world as we know it is becoming more and more connected. But, what will a world look like when devices as small as your watch to as large as a jet engine are all connected to each other and to people? In this episode of the future of work podcast, I speak with Rich Carpenter who is the Chief of Strategy for GE in their Intelligent Platforms division. Rich shares fascinating insight around how connected machines (usually very large machines) and devices are going to impact our economy, our jobs, and our future. He shares several examples and provides some great advice for business leaders and employees alike. Rich also touches on the importance of creating more data scientist jobs at companies around the world. This is definitely an interesting look at what the "industrial internet" is going to look like, we even touch on the possibility of a Skynet-like scenario happening! Listen to learn more!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

Toni Cusumano is a Principal and Technology Sector Human Capital Leader at PwC, and she and her team have been spending a lot of time exploring what the future of work is going to look like. They have created three scenarios or "worlds" that might play out: the orange world, the green world, and the blue world. In this episode of the future of work podcast, Toni shares what the difference between these worlds is and what organizations should be thinking about. We talk about everything from technology and Millennials to talent management and workplace trends. It's definitely an important episode to listen to if you want to know the direction that work is headed in. Tune in to learn more!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

This week’s episode of the future of work podcast is one of my favorites. I talk with Salim Ismail, Founding Executive Director of Singularity University, and co-author of “Exponential Organizations: Why new organizations are ten times better, faster, and cheaper than yours (and what to do about it).” I had a fascinating conversation with Salim covering a lot of topics — jobs and technology to exponential organizations to employee tenure, and more. To sum it up, it’s all about disruption — how do you deal with disruption in this world that we are approaching? Salim describes it best as “you are either the disruptor or you are being disrupted.” Salim provides a very fascinating perspective on what the future of work is going to look like that I’m sure you’re going to enjoy. Listen in and tell me what you think!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

Spiceworks is the world's largest community of global IT professionals that come together online and offline. Spiceworks was recently named by Glassdoor as one of the world's best companies to work for and they have received numerous other similar awards. In this episode of the future of work podcast I talk with Scott Abel, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer for Spiceworks. We explore some of the things that he does to create such a great place to work. From having "slices with Scott" where employees can ask Scott absolutely any question to having open-door meetings with venture capitalists, Scott may just be running one of the world's most open and transparent companies. According to Scott, being open and transparent is one of the best ways to build trust and engagement. Tune in to learn more!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

MuleSoft is another organization that was recently ranked by Glassdoor as one of the best places to work in America and they have also won plenty of other awards for being a great place to work. According to Greg Schott, the CEO of MuleSoft, the key is creating a great corporate culture. I had the pleasure of visiting MuleSoft's offices in San Francisco to speak with Greg in person. In this episode of the future of work podcast Greg shares some of the things he does at his company to help make sure his employees are engaged, happy, and always doing their best. Greg is one of the few CEO's I know who personally interviews every new candidate that applies for a job. This means many hundreds of interviews a year. Listen in to learn what else Greg does to create a great corporate culture.   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

The "skills gap" is inarguably one of the biggest threats for modern day workplaces. Many employers say they can't fill open jobs and employees say that they aren't getting the proper education and training at their companies. So what's the solution? In this podcast, Udemy CEO Dennis Yang shares his perspective on mitigating the skills gap, and how his company is helping people learn and acquire new skills while preparing workers for a future that holds untold possibilities.   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

How does a nuclear submarine captain take one of the lowest performing vessels and make them one of the top performing ones? David Marquet did just that and he explains how he did it in his new book, "Turn the Ship Around." In this episode of the podcast David shares some of the ideas and insights from his book where he provides a contrarian model for leadership in the coportate environment called "leader-leader." Learn how David empowers his team and creates leaders out of everyone!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

Many people are already using technology to track things in their personal lives such as food they eat, steps they take, sleeping patterns, and much more. However, what if we took this same approach of the "quantified self" and applied it to creating the "quantified workplace?" That is, using data and technology to measure and track how we work. In this podcast I talk with Kris Duggan the CEO of BetterWorks that allows organizations to do just that but setting and measuring their goals and objectives. Is the quantified workplace the future of work or is it a bit too much? Listen to find out!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)

F5 Networks recently made it to "Glassdoor's prestigious list of the Top 50 Places to Work in America" and was ranked #4 out of the "large companies" category. This podcast has Staffing Director, Richard James offering an insider view of F5 Networks–the company, core values, the work culture, people, and much more. Tune in to learn why F5 Networks is one of the best places to work in America!   (Music by Ronald Jenkees)