Sparks: Think Beyond Borders: How to Cultivate a Global Citizen Mindset With Solvay CEO Ilham Kadri

Conversations about AI are nearly unavoidable these days. It seems like everyone has an opinion about how AI is taking jobs from humans and how it will impact and transform our work situations. Many of those conversations are full of fear that the machines are taking over and soon employees in all industries will be replaced. Here’s the truth: yes, AI is impacting jobs. But we should let it. That doesn’t mean that machines will soon leave us completely unemployed and take over our world. Instead, it means that AI is augmenting and transforming jobs to make them better. Just because it’s new and unknown doesn’t mean it has to be scary. Here are three reasons you should let AI impact your job. AI removes mundane tasks.  AI is built to do repetitive tasks like data entry, analysis, and scheduling. The best applications for AI are areas where humans don’t typically want to spend their time. AI takes over those boring, mundane tasks and does them faster and more accurately than humans, which gives humans a chance to work on other projects that are more exciting and engaging. Think of AI as a skilled assistant who frees your schedule to work on more interesting things.  AI provides a chance to learn new skills.  A growing number of companies, including Accenture and McDonald’s, are re-vamping their workforces with AI without losing a single human employee. That’s because employees that are being replaced are being up-skilled to work in other areas of the company. Accenture replaced many of its entry-level data entry employees with machines but then trained the human employees on business strategy and moved them to other areas of the company where their skills could be better used. By allowing AI to work in areas where it thrives, humans have the chance to expand our skillsets and careers into new areas. AI could be the boost that takes your career to the next level and encourages you to learn something new.  AI allows us to focus on human qualities.  Even the most advanced robot can’t collaborate with humans or be as creative as a human can. There are certain skills that are uniquely human and can’t be duplicated by a machine. As AI takes over many of the mind-numbing tasks humans used to do, it frees us to focus on what makes us human. We get to build relationships and be innovative. AI in the workforce is unavoidable. Instead of living in constant fear of being replaced by machines, we should be excited for the change. Embrace AI and encourage its growth in your organization. AI is going to impact your job, but with the right attitude, that impact could be a great starting spot for your next step forward.

9 Okt 20193min

Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is the Chief Talent Scientist at ManpowerGroup and Professor of Business Psychology at Columbia University and the University College in London. Tomas has written 10 books and over 150 scientific papers on the psychology of talent, leadership, innovation and AI. He has also delivered multiple TED Talks, including one on “The Power of Negative Thinking” and another on “Why do so Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders”.    What is a Chief Talent Scientist? In Tomas’ case it means combining his expertise and background in organizational psychology and analytics & assessments. Tomas says, “If you combine both things, and an interest in understanding human performance, then you get the kind of interface or the main area niche that I specialize. And at Manpower Group, our agreement is to really use all of our data, our tools and expertise to predict performance and understand human potential in a deeper way.”    ManpowerGroup’s main purpose is to “understand where people can be deployed most effectively, and where people will be thriving, and what role, job, or capacity. And then helping organizations not just deal with their current talents, but predict what their future talent issues might be.”    They are currently working to help match people with jobs that they have the potential for, but have never actually done in their lives. For example, there may be a marketing employee who would be great in more of a customer service role, but they have never worked directly with customers before. In the past, this employee may not have been considered for a role in customer service because of their lack of experience. But ManpowerGroup is looking at how data assessment and AI can be used to match the employee with a role that matches their skills without past experience.    One of the biggest trends that Tomas has been paying attention to is the growing need for soft skills like empathy, emotional intelligence, teamwork, resilience, and creativity. As technology advances and we start using more AI, automation, and data assessment inside of our organizations, there is going to be a greater need for people to be more human.    “The last things machines are going to be able to do is to show respect, appreciation, or care for others. So in a way, even though you would think that as technology and AI becomes a more prominent aspect of jobs and careers, we should all become data scientists, geeks of one sort or another, and learn coding, actually the real need is for people who develop and boost their human skills, the soft side of talent, which is actually the hardest one to develop and to find.”   Tomas’ advice to job candidates today and in the coming future is to be flexible, adaptable, and well-rounded. Things are changing and in order to succeed you can’t pigeon hole yourself into one role, or a specific job title. It is important to be curious and to constantly learn new skills. AI and automation will disrupt jobs, individuals can thrive, but they can’t expect to do so if they sit back and expect to be safe in one single role for the rest of their life.    “Fundamentally, we believe that there will always be three core employability skills that will continue to matter in the future. This is what we use when we assess candidates, when we evaluate potential and when we try to almost distill all the different jobs and careers to their fundamental core elements. These are learning ability, so the ability to learn new things, reason and acquire new knowledge and expertise. The second is work ethic or drive, determination. And the third is, people skills.” What you will learn: What is the role of a Chief Talent Scientist  Tomas’ view of science vs. intuition when it comes to hiring talent Why we need to rethink the way we promote and train leaders Tomas’ advice for candidates looking for a new job The best way to take criticism and negative feedback Why soft skills are becoming so important for the future of work

7 Okt 20191h 3min

AI and technology are at the forefront of so many conversations today, but why is that when neither AI or tech are new concepts, they have been around for decades. The reason is there are 4 major elements that are working together to create the perfect storm that is causing AI and tech to progress more quickly than ever before. The 4 elements are: We have more data than ever before The cost of technology is decreasing The speed of technology is increasing Moore’s Law: the number of transistors on a chip doubles every year while the costs are halved. All of these things are coming together to cause AI and technology to progress at a much faster pace than we have ever seen before.

2 Okt 20193min

John Jordan is the Head of the Academy at Bank of America, an award-winning employee development organization that trains around 40,000 people per year. As John puts it, The Academy is, “truly an environment where people can practice, where they can learn that goes beyond just the typical sort of learning environment into a really high-touch coaching environment and we've really seen great results so far.”   John has been with Bank of America for about 16 years in a wide variety of roles, all of which have prepared him to lead The Academy.    The Academy is used to onboard new employees, to support and train employees looking to move into a leadership position, to help employees enhance their current skills and more. They use a combination of web-based training and hands on practice. One example of training they have is a client engagement simulator that allows employees to practice using the online systems while having client conversations at the same time. This allows employees to get comfortable interacting with customers live on the phone before they officially step into their role.    Since starting The Academy, Bank of America has seen a lot of benefits from the program. Their turnover rate is the lowest it’s ever been and their client experience rating is the highest it’s ever been. John and his team understand the importance of investing in their people.    John says, “I've heard a stat that I've just sort of repeated over and over again, which is if you have a bad onboarding experience, you're six times more likely to leave the company within the first year. We saw a pretty high turnover amongst people within our first year and it just became a question of, were they onboarded well? Were they trained to do the job well? Did they get good practice?”   When you have great employee experience, you have people who want to stay at the organization a long time. And when you can have tenured employees who know what they are talking about and who can give great advice you get great customer experience.    One set of skills that The Academy is focused on teaching is soft skills such as empathy, problem solving, good communication, adaptability, creativity, etc...And John shares that they actually teach the basics such as how to give a proper handshake, make good eye contact, and how to hold a conversation.    “I think empathy is such an important skill in this day and age to really understand where the person sitting across the table is coming from. We have really put a lot of money where our mouth is on that front and through The Academy really invested in empathy. We feel like there's a lot left to do there. I believe talking about technology of the future, things like virtual reality are going to maybe help us with that, to put us in someone else's shoes or help us to see some of the challenges that our clients may be facing that we can't necessarily know or see on a daily basis. Lots to learn there and I'm really excited about and hopeful for just continuing to build a more and more empathetic workforce.”   What you will learn: What is The Academy and how does it work A look at how learning and development has evolved over the years How the program is impacting turnover rates How John and his team are leveraging AI for training How leadership has evolved over the years inside of Bank of America What skills will be needed for the future of work

30 Sep 20191h 3min

There are a lot of people who feel like they are the lone changemaker in their organization. You may be in that position right now. It can feel extremely frustrating and lonely at times, but that shouldn’t stop you. Changemakers are persistent, resilient, and determined--they have to be.    As a changemaker you will probably get told ‘no’ a lot, you may be rejected, and you may find that people around you have a hard time keeping up. There is a price to pay to be a changemaker, but it is worth it.    Don’t give up! Keep pushing your organization and the people around you. The change will happen, maybe slower than you want, but it will.

25 Sep 20192min

Michelle Murphy is the Chief Diversity Officer and VP of Global Talent Acquisition at Ingersoll Rand, a manufacturing and sustainability company that creates products and services for commercial, industrial and residential customers. Some of their products include heating and air conditioning systems, golf carts, and power tools. They were formed in 1905 and today they have 40,000 employees around the world.   Michelle recently wrote an article, titled Truly Effective Diversity Training Can Be Measured in Goosebumps where she opened up about the moment when she realized the importance of diversity and inclusion inside and outside of the workplace. Her experience ignited a passion for creating a safe place to work inside of Ingersoll Rand as well as encouraging others to do the same in organizations around the world.    With the current world of work, where we are all so connected and where we can interact with customers and coworkers from countries all around the world the issue of diversity and inclusion is more important now than ever before. It is crucial for all of us to have empathy and compassion and to be able to see the world through the eyes of others.    Ingersoll Rand has some great programs in place to foster and develop a culture of diversity and inclusion. They include:   Relaunch--a program offering the opportunity to help qualified engineers in the community relaunch their careers after having to step away for a time Level Up--A 1 ½ day immersive and experiential learning forum tailored to bring leaders and high potential black talent together to learn, further a sense of community, and convene a discussion among other companies for strategic initiatives to advance black leadership Strengthen Economic Mobility--A commitment to achieving a workforce that is reflective of their community populations – a maintaining livable market-competitive wages and progressive benefits; including broadening community access to well-being services including food/nutrition, housing and shelter, transportation, education and climate comfort. Paradigm for Parity--Ingersoll Rand has pledged to bring gender parity to leadership roles by 2030     The question is, is it possible to teach someone to be empathetic or to focus on diversity and inclusion? Michelle says, “When I think about how do you teach someone, I feel like what we do is we try to create opportunities to offer experiences for people, because I'm not sure that there's a training you could go to, or that you could teach people what it's like to feel certain ways. So, creating experiences where people get to watch others describe their feelings, and share in that, tend to take us a little bit further than I'll call maybe a typical training class. Because what you realize in that setting is, "These are the people I see and work with every day, and I know them pretty well, and I think they're smart people and good people, and I like them, and wow, I had no idea that that's what they were dealing with." Sometimes that acknowledgment is part of what helps create the opportunity for learning, for maybe that person who doesn't demonstrate empathy easily or well. Sometimes creating those experiences where they have those opportunities is the best way to do it.” What you will learn: What events shaped Michelle’s view of diversity and inclusion How to teach diversity, inclusion, and empathy A look at some of the programs in place at Ingersoll Rand that help foster diversity and inclusion Michelle’s view on the current war for talent How to measure diversity and inclusion What skills will be needed in the future of work What Michelle looks for during the interview process  Some of the future challenges we will face when it comes to diversity and inclusion

23 Sep 20191h 5min

One of the most important skills to have for the future of work is learning how to learn, but a major component that goes along with being a perpetual learner is consistently reinventing yourself. It’s not just about learning new things, it’s about how the outside world sees you.   Reinvention is about how you position yourself, it’s about how you market yourself and it is about the brand that you build. This is something that should be taking place consistently, whether it is every 3 years or every 10 years.   So when did you last reinvent yourself? If the answer is never, it’s time to start.

18 Sep 20191min

My guest today is Maria Bartiromo, anchor and Global Markets Editor for FOX Business. Maria has been a journalist for 30 years, starting back in 1989 as a production assistant at CNN Business News. She has seen and reported on some of the world’s most major events which you will hear about in our discussion. Maria has an upcoming special debuting on September 22, 2019 tied to how Artificial Intelligence is changing the face of business and the workplace. Her research for this special included traveling across the country over the past year and interviewing the top tier CEOs leading the charge on this topic. In today’s conversation, you will hear some of her findings and what CEOs are saying about AI and technology. You will also hear Maria’s advice on how we should prepare for what’s to come, what assumptions she had at the beginning of the process that were proven wrong, what jobs will be most on-demand in the future, and how AI might impact leaders. Maria Bartiromo is a FOX Business Global Markets Editor and Anchor. She has been a journalist for 30 years and has worked for CNN, CNBC, and FOX. She has received two Emmys and a Gracie Award and in 2009 the Financial Times named her one of the “50 Faces That Shaped The Decade”. Maria was the first journalist to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on a daily basis and she was the first female journalist to be inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame Class of 2011. She has written three books, The Weekend That Changed Wall Street, The 10 Laws of Enduring Success, and Use The News: How to Separate the Noise from the Investment Nuggets and Make Money in Any Economy. She has a one-hour special coming up on September 22, 2019, called Artificial Intelligence: The Revolution Happening to Our Work and Our Lives, which will air on FOX News. The report is based on research Maria has been conducting for over a year on how Artificial Intelligence is changing the face of business and the workplace. She has traveled around and interviewed the leading technologists of the world, people like Marty Schmidt, Provost at MIT, Peter Thiel, founder of Palantir and co-founder of PayPal, Ginni Rometty, Chairman and CEO of IBM and Jim Hackett, Chairman and CEO of Ford Motors. After all of her in-depth research, what does Maria think will happen to jobs in the next 5-10 years? “I mean this is today in 2019, we have more job openings than we have people. I mean, the labor force is so tight right now with a 51-year low in unemployment, and jobs are plentiful. I think that will only get worse, whereas there won't be enough people for the jobs that we need, and the jobs that we have will be able to be filled by computers. I think longer term, you are going to see a massive displacement in work and in jobs. I think the most important thing that people have to do is first of all recognize that machines are getting smarter and smarter, and they will take your job. You need to make sure to arm yourself with the right information and education, where you are savvy with technology, because if you're not savvy with technology in the next 10 years, you will be left out.” There’s no doubt that AI is becoming smarter and smarter and implementing it into business can save money and time. It can also allow humans to get involved in more creative roles and it will free us up to do the things we actually want to do. So what can we do as individuals to prepare for the future of AI and technology? Maria says first and foremost we have to enjoy every moment of everyday because life is short and it is precious. Secondly she says that education is key. Things are changing in a rapid pace and it’s not going to slow down. We need to be perpetual learners, constantly growing, innovating, dreaming, creating, and learning so that we can keep up in this upcoming world of work. What you will learn: How Maria conducted research for her upcoming piece on Artificial Intelligence A look at the assumptions she had in her mind before she started working on this report and how they changed in the process What Maria thinks will happen to jobs in the next 5-10 years How AI and technology will specifically impact leaders Who is responsible for upskilling? Organizations or individuals? What jobs will be in demand in the future Why some CEOs are worried about AI and some are optimistic Advice for what individuals should do to prepare for the future of work

16 Sep 20191h 11min