We all spend a lot of time and money trying to create great and meaningful experiences for ourselves. As humans, this is something we all care about and value. But what happened to experience at work? In today’s rapidly changing and competitive world the war for talent has never been fiercer and organizations can no longer rely on their brand power or compensation packages to attract people. So what can organizations do? We are approaching a new world where experiential organizations will dominate. These organizations look beyond engagement and focus on creating a place where people want to show up, not where they need to show up. Based on Jacob’s ongoing research of the world’s most forward thinking organizations he will explore how to design this type of an organization that focuses on culture, technology, and the physical workspace. The future of work is all about the employee experience.

Is your organization ready?

Key Points Discussed

• Why and how the workplace is changing
• The three employee experience environments: culture, physical space, and technology
• Employee experience vs employee engagement
• How to design and create employee experiences
• What some of the world’s most forward thinking organizations are doing
• What employees care about most in the workplace

What Happens When Everything Talks to Everything?

By 2020 it’s estimated that we will live in a world where between 50-70 billion devices will be connected to each other and to us. That’s almost 10 devices per person on planet earth. These devices include cars, jets, washing machines, lights, buildings, parking garages, and anything else you can think of. Imagine one day having to pay a premium to take a vacation in a place where there is no connectivity, this is the world we are heading towards. While living in a connected world sounds intriguing and magical there are also some challenges we will be faced with. In this keynote Jacob paints a picture of what it will be like to work and live in a world where everything and everyone are connected.

Key Points Discussed

• Exploration of the Internet of Things
• How a connected world impacts work
• A day in the life of a connected employee
• Pros and cons of a connected world
• Privacy and security
• Strategies for a connected organization

Innovating Innovation to Stay Ahead of Change

Most of our organizations operate like factories that are process-centric, linear, and enforce the status quo. In the modern business world this type of an approach kills innovation. Laboratories on the other hand are dynamic; they embrace failure, and encourage experimentation. How can we shift our organizations from being factories to thinking like laboratories? An organization’s best ideas used to be sourced from a few people. This model no longer works. Disruption is happening in every industry and to every company around the world. This creates challenges for organizations that aren’t able to adapt but also unlocks tremendous opportunities for organizations that are. Is your organization ready to change? It’s time for us to innovate innovation and In this keynote Jacob will explore how organizations can look beyond their walls, design new approaches, and implement strategies around one of the most critical functions inside of our organizations, innovation.

Key Points Discussed

• Ideas vs inventions vs innovations
• Building ecosystems
• Examples of innovating innovation
• Doing business in a disruptive world
• New approaches for innovation
• Thinking differently

When most people think of HR they think, “boring”, “uninspiring”, “hiring and firing” and “outdated.” Let’s be honest they’re right. For decades this exactly what HR looked like. Today HR is becoming one of the most exciting roles inside of our organizations, but it’s changing. The very title of HR is disappearing and the function is being redesigned. So what does this mean for the future of HR? What is it going to look like and how do we prepare for it? In this keynote address Jacob takes a fresh perspective on the role of Human Resources and how it will impact the future of work. This keynote is sure to inspire and engage the HR professionals in the audience!

Key Points Discussed

• How HR is changing
• What the future of HR looks like
• Skills for the future of HR
• The new HR team of the future
• Trends that are changing HR
• People analytics for HR

If you look up the word “manager” in the dictionary you will find synonyms such as “slave-driver” and “zookeeper.” Managers used to sit at the very top of our organizations and they controlled all of the information, the rules, and the decision-making capabilities. Going forward, managers sit at the very bottom of a flatter pyramid and they push everyone else up. The goal of a manager should be to make people more successful than they are. Managers are now coaches and mentors instead of dictators and rulers. In this keynote talk Jacob explores how why the role of management is changing, how it’s changing, and what the future of management looks like. This talk is based off of Jacob’s 10 Principles of The Future Manager.

Key Points Discussed

• Management vs leadership
• Trends shaping the future of management
• 10 principles of the future manager
• The manager as a coach and a mentor
• Shifts in organizational structure and power
• New skills and behaviors for managers

Adapting to the 5-Generation Workforce

By 2020 Millennials are expected to comprise 50% of the workforce, by 2025 this number will grow to 75% But are millennials really that different from everyone else and are we spending too much time focusing on them? While this new demographic is indeed a bit part of the future of work we have to remember that we have other generations to consider as well. The future employee is anyone whose attitudes, values, expectations, and behaviors have shifted to adapt to the new world of work. This means they can be 22, 42, or 62. In this keynote Jacob will explore some of the common myths and misconceptions we have about millennials in the workplace and provide some strategies for how organizations need to adapt to having five generations working side-by-side.

Key Points Discussed

• Workforce demographic similarities and differences
• What millennials and Gen Z care about
• Strategies for working with 5-generations
• Common generational myths
• Leading and managing millennials
• Attracting and retaining the future employee

What does the workplace look like when your co-worker is a robot, or better yet, a software bot? Would you be ok with that and do you even have a say in the matter? As technology continues to evolve, the concern over jobs continues to grow. Robots and automation are predicted to take over millions of jobs in the coming years so where does that leave us? Will new jobs be created or will we all be unemployed? More importantly what should we be doing to prepare for this kind of a world and what will the impact be on how we work and even how we live? In this keynote Jacob will present several perspectives on the robot and automation debate to help attendees make up their own minds about what the future looks like.

Key Points Discussed

• The elimination of jobs
• The creation of new jobs
• Skills for the employee of the future
• Automating jobs vs replacing a person
• Types of jobs at risk of automation and those that are not
  Solutions and challenges for a robot and AI world

Most successful business leaders in the world today have personal brands. Building a personal brand is one of the most important things anyone can do to help future proof their career. This is true regardless if you’re an executive looking to gain more credibility and recognition or an employee looking to move up in the corporate world. Job security and job loyalty are disappearing and nobody is going to look out for you except…you! The good news is that in today’s connected world anyone can build a personal brand but how do you do it? Over the past decade Jacob created a personal brand that has made him one of the world’s leading thought leaders and experts on how the workplace is changing. This means he knows first hand why building a brand is so crucial and more importantly, how to build it. Jacob will share personal stories, mistakes he has made along the way, strategies, and go over valuable tips he has used to build his own personal brand. This keynote is just as applicable for a large audience of attendees as it is for a small group of senior executives who want to increase their reputation and thought leadership.

Key Points Discussed

• What a personal brand is and is not
• Why building a personal brand is so crucial today
• How having a personal brand can future-proof your career
• Strategies for building a personal brand
• Common personal branding pitfalls and mistakes
• The future of personal branding and where it is headed

Disrupting Traditional Employment

There used to be a time when the only way you could earn a living was by working full-time for an organization. Today the traditional employee-employer relationship has dramatically changed and is no longer static. Lifetime and long-term employment are all but dead. Instead we are seeing shorter tenures, portfolio workers, and the rise of freelancers. Today the workplace has become much more dynamic and fluid. Organizations are able to tap into freelancers to do pretty much anything, anytime, and these same freelancers are no longer willing to commit to a single organization full-time. This challenges the very foundation of work and organizations are struggling to figure out how to operate in this new world where talent is fluid and always shifting. In this keynote Jacob will explore what the freelancer economy is, how it’s disrupting traditional employment models, and what organizations should do to adapt.

Key Points Discussed

• Naming and classification of workers
• Trends shaping the freelance economy
• Ways organizations are taping into freelancers
• The benefits and risks of working with freelancers
• Strategies for working in a new dynamic world
• The future of the freelance economy and the impact to organizations