As a multifaceted Latina who was raised by a single mother with limited access to educational and financial resources, I understand all too well the hurdles we face in the workplace. Early in my career I often wondered how I could bring my most authentic self to work—with big curly hair, caramel skin, and a New York accent.
Many of us have an inner dialogue that comes from our rich heritage that we dial back so as to be seen more like others. Now, as a channel sales manager and global cochair of LinkedIn’s Hispanic Employee Resource Group, I aim to create spaces where Latinos don’t have to question whether or not they can be authentic at work the way that I did. The answer, for them, is always a resounding ‘yes.’
Every business strives to stay on the leading edge of trends—it helps ensure they remain competitive in a global marketplace. For example, companies that had already embraced remote work were certainly in a stronger position when Covid-19 struck. The explosion of technology, as well as the ripple effects of the pandemic, are likely to be wide-ranging and long-lasting, so it’s essential for companies to prepare now for what lies ahead.
So what trends in technology, working arrangements and more will impact businesses in the months to come? Below, 14 industry leaders from Forbes Technology Council share their predictions for the developments that businesses should be ready for sooner rather than later.
“People with disabilities were the original hackers,” says Quemuel Arroyo, the first-ever Chief Accessibility Officer at State of NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). “We have to hack our lives every day, because very little is designed for us.”
We build our lives one conversation at a time. Great conversations become once-in-a-lifetime interactions that lift us up, shift our trajectory and motivate us to take action. We often rely on conversations to help us get what we want or need from others, and we make great efforts to ensure a positive outcome.
But what if we could codify and replicate the concept of a great, impactful conversation that is both inclusive and inspiring? What if we could design and structure conversations around the goal of achieving the best outcomes?
Conversation design—a fairly recent design principle—is a language based on human conversation. Its popularity has increased due to the global explosion of voice technology and engagement platforms.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Biden administration over recent federal guidance issued to protect LGBTQ people in the workplace, including a directive that says employees should be allowed to use the bathrooms, locker rooms and showers that correspond with their gender identity.
The guidance also clarifies that misuse of a person’s preferred pronouns could be considered harassment in certain circumstances.
As upskilling and reskilling are increasingly part of the workplace conversation, business leaders need to approach these programs as far more than short-term campaigns with perks to attract employees in a tight labor market.
Advancing employees’ skills should be viewed through the lens of their business objectives. When leaders can see a clear return on investment (ROI) for upskilling and reskilling, apart from just recruiting strategies for a competitive market, their commitment to learning and development (L&D) will become many orders of magnitude larger than what we’re seeing today.