Ep 58: The Future Employee

The Chief Human Resource Officer of the AARP, John Sigmon, joins me today on the Future of Work Podcast. We talk about what it means to be an employee in the future of work. We discuss the very definition of what being an employee is, and how it is changing. John describes with personal detail, how an employee would view their career path when it comes to working for a company. The role of the employee is changing. Organizations need to think differently about the expectation of employees to settle at one company for a long amount of time. Most positions are changing into more dynamic and flexible roles. Many distinctions of employee types are becoming less defined as organizations are looking to the future, and changing as fast as the world around them.

At AARP, one of their goals is to change the dialog regarding what it means to get older. In the HR department, John needs to ask if his department is changing as fast as the rest of AARP and other organizations. His own recruitment to AARP is a great example of how the role of the employee is changing in relation to the organization. When he joined AARP, he was brought on as an HR business partner. He was able to work on projects that allowed him to contribute to the success of the organization, thus increasing his own market value. He accomplished this by receiving more jobs that increased his capabilities. His own story illustrates how his relationship with the AARP has formed into an alliance. John speaks to how this model fits in with the future of work and pushes the innovation of the AARP.

What you will learn in this episode

• How the Concept and Role of the Employee Has Changed
• Millennials vs Older Workers
• How to form an Alliance with your Employees
• Treating Your Employees like Family Members
• Turning Around a Corporate Culture
• The Shift from Transaction to Employee Relationship
• Forecasting the Future Employee

Links from the episode

AARP.org

John Sigmon on LinkedIn

(Music by Ronald Jenkees)