Work Matters S4E12: Anna Tavis - The Future of Work

WorkMatters

In today's Work Matters, Thomas welcomes Dr. Anna Tavis, Clinical Professor and Chair of the Human Capital Management Department at NYU School of Professional Studies. She previously held senior HR roles with Motorola, Nokia, United Technologies, and AIG, and is the co-author of "Humans at Work" (with Stela Lupushor).

Anna unpacks the major trends shaping the future of work, including the rapidly evolving relationship between humans and technology. She shares how realigned organizational skillsets, structures, processes, and cultures will emerge from this shifting dynamic.

She discusses how AI will lead to increased efficiencies, improved performance and sophistication, and also replace how a majority of the existing workforce makes its living. Pointing out that AI democratization will challenge the stratified, hierarchical structures of current organizations, Anna cautions that there should be a commitment to solve problems on behalf of the majority of humans - not the elites nor the machines.

She examines the changing role of the manager, compensation structures, and HR in the future of work. With coaching, digital assistance, and built-in AI, humans will be able to invest more in visionary solutions and strategic, entrepreneurial approaches. Anna shares successful examples of innovative organizations - like Microsoft and Airbnb - who have mastered technology enough to put culture and humans first.

Anna concludes by discussing her forthcoming book, "The Digital Coaching Revolution", which highlights examples from sports and healthcare. With AI in many hands, human coaches - like Ted Lasso - are freed-up to focus on strategic, team building activities and take their squads to the next level. Anna advocates bringing this digital coaching model into the workplace to improve performance and effectiveness.