Ever since the dawn of human civilization till the time of Napoleon, few major changes were experienced by human beings. However, it all changed with the industrial revolution as steam power replaced muscle, implying that humans could now rely less on power, more on their intelligence. This led to the abandonment of child labour in the developed countries and land became less important a resource in comparison to the intelligent use of capital. Companies such as GE and Kodak were able to leverage such technological advancements to develop business innovations. Now with the digital age upon us further changes are afoot. Robots can now process a large part of human work with IBM’s Watson supercomputer being particularly capable of solving complex problems. Yet robots and computers will possibly never develop human skills such as social interaction, compassion or collaboration. Thus instead of totally abandoning the human intelligence, the most capable of work streams now combine the collaborative powers of the human brain with the Artificial Intelligence supplied by computers.

Source:http://innovationexcellence.com/blog/2016/11/16/why-social-skills-are-trumping-cognitive-skills/

Different forms of rebels exist in the corporate world. There is one type that is self-important and rebels without any cause just to stand out. Such people may not be of much value but another type involves those rebels who do so because they want to genuinely improve operations, add value and imbibe business innovations. Such rebel talents must be embraced by the organizations. However, in spite of their best of intentions, the second type are often confused with the first due to some inherent mistakes often made. One such common error committed is they fail to prioritize ideas. This is because being nonconformists means they would be having a plethora of revolutionary ideas, but they get lost within the heap so cannot differentiate which ones to first target being most implementable or in greater need. They often go solo perhaps due to ego or because others aren’t on the same wavelength but lack of collaboration more often than not leads to scrapping of the proposal. Due to such trends they often need to give up early. Sometimes the inward motivation is so high, the actual meeting where the idea is to be pitched goes bad, perhaps due to anxiety or having too much to speak. This over zealousness to get their pitch across can lead to a lowering of popularity across the organization that eventually hurts the person’s morale or resilience.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/11/5-mistakes-employees-make-when-challenging-the-status-quo?referral=00563&cm_mmc=email-_-newsletter-_-daily_alert-_-alert_date&utm_source=newsletter_daily_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert_date&spMailingID=15976846&spUserID=OTY0OTMwNTk5NwS2&spJobID=904287451&spReportId=OTA0Mjg3NDUxS0

Lazlo Bock who is the HR Head of Google has shared some perspectives on how his organization has become a beacon for talent recruitment while maintaining its position as one of the industry leaders. He feels that organizations must give meaning to employees’ work. Trust must be maintained with the team members. No compromise must be done while hiring, as only the best of them must be taken on. During performance reviews or appraisals, developmental conversations must be kept aside as these are independent of each other. Quietly the company has to keep track of the best performers and those on the other side of the scale. Being generous is important yet a lot of inexpensive methods can be more effective. Contrary to usual perception, Bock actually says that disparities in payments are a good thing as only the best ones then get star level treatment. Employees must be directed towards the best of practices. The workflow must involve a sense of fun and innovation. Changes are a normal part of work, so disruptions must be embraced and not shied away from.

Source:http://hrmanagementapp.com/googles-hr-boss-shares-his-10-best-management-tips/#noredirect

The new work pattern is very different to traditional forms. Six telltale signs exist which in case any organization is still undergoing, clearly points to being behind present norms. One of them is not being sensitive to the environment by going green. Environmentally sustainable practices such a using renewable energy improves the brand’s goodwill while also attracting millennial customers and employees alike. In case the organization does not offer work-from-home options, it is another such sign. Another could be the use of obsolete technology. Such organizations remain steadfastly stringent on work timings without paying heed to work or employee requirements. Work patterns are bureaucratic and hierarchical at such places. These kind of outmoded workplaces do not have a proper mutual feedback loop for employees to voice their opinions. Such places are then exposed to dangers such as high employee attrition rates, difficulties in talent recruitment, ineffective PR and vulnerability against competitors.

Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryalton/2016/11/07/6-signs-youre-behind-on-new-workplace-norms/#ce4a228452e8

Human beings on average are living much longer lives than they used to even a single generation back. This is especially true for the developed world but increasingly also for developing ones. This trend has major implications for the work life, individuals as well as for organizations. For individuals it means that productive assets such as knowledge, skills and reputation keep need to be upgraded. A one-time education may be less relevant but an Executive MBA could provide them with continuous learning. An increase in openness towards newer streams is vital as is maintenance of friendships, love, health and relationships. For companies, this could be a great opportunity to engage with couples as that builds greater loyalty. A lot of female leadership gets lost during the early thirties due to pressures of parenthood, but now with longer lifespan and thus related longer career, thus few years lost seem somewhat insignificant. Cross-cultural corporate training can be built by multinational firms at an even later date due to greater flexibility. Alternative career paths could now be fomented rather than the traditional ladder approach.

Source:https://hbr.org/2016/10/what-happens-when-careers-last-20-years-longer

Performance management in organizations has moved on from the annual reviews. Instead it is a constant aspect, with regular feedback demanded by younger professionals. Companies are still searching the key to a perfect talent management loop, yet some best practices have already been signaled out by experts. Firstly, the performance review process needs to be flexible and not rigid to stick to old world norms. It also needs to be a quick process. Performance review needs to be ongoing throughout the year. The manager – employee relationship also needs to move away from the hierarchical setup to a more democratic structure. The senior pro must take up the position of a coach rather than a boss. Good performance management depends a lot on positivity. The strengths must be leveraged rather than regret about weaknesses. Areas where strengths exist can be further fortified through training programmes. Performance review must be linked with other talent development programmes and must in fact encourage those as well. Leaders must be identified at an early stage so that they may be groomed to take up senior positions

source:https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/feature/getting-performance-management-right

The modern trend especially among youngsters of quickly moving over to other jobs, has created certain unique challenges. Talent management now includes an understanding of the risks involved. Organizations must not suffer indiscriminately due to decisions taken at individual level. Some steps have been recognized which must be taken into consideration while undergoing any such analysis. First of all, the entire talent pool needs to be assessed and categorized as per level of likely departure, future requirements and criticality. The ones whose skills are most in demand need to be prioritized at first. That talent risk can be mitigated by using certain strategies such as capturing the knowledge, outsourcing of certain tasks or developing innovations from within the ranks. Benchmarks must be established to check the progress made in such mitigation measures. This must involve both the employee retention levels as well as the rate of knowledge transfer to more stable personnel.

source:http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/how-adept-are-you-at-mana_b_12641044