HBS Managing the Future of Work

Latest Episodes:

The energy industry’s cooperative approach to expanding the talent pipeline Jul 31, 2019

Show notes

The Center for Energy Workforce Development was created in 2006 to help the industry prepare for a generational wave of retirements and to diversify its workforce. Utilities are the proverbial canary in the coalmine, as U.S. organizations across the board struggle with skills gaps and demographic shifts. Southern Company Executive Vice President and CEWD Chair, Beth Reese, discusses the task of replenishing the talent pipeline from the dual perspective of utility exec and consortium head.

Advanced placement at work: a 21st Century apprenticeship model for the US Jul 17, 2019

Show notes

CareerWise Colorado is redefining job training and expanding the talent pipeline. The nonprofit apprenticeship program, patterned on the successful Swiss system, places college-track students in businesses from advanced manufacturing to finance. Founder Noel Ginsburg and COO Ashley Carter explain how Careerwise allows students to earn as they learn, become valued employees, and develop career networks and long-term prospects. It’s built to replicate, ramping up in Colorado and expanding nationally.

Expanding access and conveying competencies: How Western Governors University is rethinking higher education Jul 03, 2019

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Western Governors University was founded in 1997 to expand access to affordable higher education and to offer instruction grounded in the requirements of the job market. WGU President and HBS alum Scott Pulsipher tells Bill about the school’s innovative online model, which delivers a proficiency-based curriculum to working adults and members of underserved groups. With over 115,000 full-time students, WGU plans to reach an even wider audience. Is this a model for the future?

Fried chicken and fresh starts: fair chance hiring as a talent strategy Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

More people in the US have criminal records than have graduated from college. Joe DeLoss, founder of restaurant chain Hot Chicken Takeover, argues that people with a range of life experiences that previously kept them out of the workforce, like the formerly incarcerated, homeless, and addicted, defy easy categorization. With appropriate management, including clear expectations, relevant benefits, and frequent feedback, he says they can help create productive, stable, and profitable businesses.

Investing in innovation: boosting growth beyond superstar cities Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

Can a Manhattan Project on steroids revitalize languishing US regions and drive balanced economic growth? In their book Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream MIT economists Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson hearken back to the scientific, technical, and economic juggernaut assembled during the Second World War to make the case that public investment in innovation is the key to stimulating growth and reversing rising inequality across the country.

From gig to gig: Thumbtack’s CEO on the challenges facing contract workers May 22, 2019

Show notes

The phrase “gig worker” often conjures an image of a driver providing a routine service for low pay. But freelancers provide services on a contracted, or “gig,” basis in a wide range of fields from cosmetology to carpentry. In this episode, Joe hosts Thumbtack CEO Marco Zappacosta, whose platform matches hundreds of thousands of professionals with contract jobs across the country. Marco provides a unique view into the shared challenges these varied “pros” face. Will platforms like his provide the solutions?

Prediction: How AI will affect business, work, and life May 08, 2019

Show notes

How should we think about improvements in artificial intelligence? Bill speaks with Joshua Gans, co-author of "Prediction Machines: The Simple Economics of Artificial Intelligence," which argues that AI advances can be boiled down to making better predictions. As a component of a vast array of activities, enhanced prediction will have ripple effects throughout the economy. What new functions and business models will it create? What difficult questions will it force society to answer?

How edX is redesigning learning for the future Apr 24, 2019

Show notes

In a world where jobs are constantly changing, the workforce must be able to continually add skills, and receive credit for them, to remain relevant. In this episode, Joe speaks with Anant Agarwal, MIT professor and CEO of education platform edX, who says “the future of work is the same as the future of learning.” Launched in 2012 as a joint venture of Harvard and MIT, edX has brought to market innovative solutions for today’s learners. But will their approach address the needs of tomorrow's workforce?

The prognosis for AI-assisted radiology Apr 09, 2019

Show notes

Improvements in machine learning and image recognition, and gradual acceptance by regulators, have brought innovative companies the threshold of the radiology lab. Bill sits down with HBS Professor Shane Greenstein to discuss one such company and the challenges of creating effective applications and bringing them to market. Greenstein also shares insights on how AI will impact radiologists, often labeled vulnerable to automation. Will they be freed from routine tasks? Or will they soon be a thing of the past?

How the U.S. is driving away foreign talent and what happens when American companies miss out Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Foreign talent is critical to the success of American companies. But the barriers to hiring skilled foreigners are rising: increased bureaucratic scrutiny and new regulations make it harder to bring workers into the country, and hostile anti-immigrant rhetoric pushes talented foreigners away. Bill speaks to Envoy Global CEO Dick Burke about the challenges companies across the country face and how Envoy helps them navigate the complex immigration environment to meet their talent needs.

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