Hi,

I hope your day is going well! I just returned from Unleash, and in this newsletter I will share my observations. It was such a fun event! Hope you were able to join, and if you weren't, put it on your list for next year! Or meet me at Unleash World in Paris in October (and who wouldn't like that?)

Next month I will moderate Deel's Global Payroll Roadshow. We'll kick off on June 13 in Amsterdam and you can sign up here. Or if you prefer London, RSVP here to join us on June 27.

In other news, I received three awards in one week! Thank you to Human Resource Executive for adding me to the 2024 Top 100 HR Tech Influencers. To Thinkers360 for adding me to the Top50 Global Thought Leaders on the Future of Work. And Literal Humans put me on the list of Top HR Tech Influencers as well. Thank you!

My take on Unleash Americas 2024

Last week, I was back in Las Vegas for the first time in five years. (Nothing has changed, except for the Sphere 😉) As I walked through the busy corridors of the Unleash Americas conference, I really felt the energy and excitement from all the HR professionals and HR technology experts from around the world gathered to share, learn, and reshape the future of work. It was buzy and buzzing!

The Pulse of Innovation: AI and Employee Experience

Throughout the event, two themes emerged prominently: the integration of artificial intelligence in HR processes and the ever-important concept of employee experience. I was happy to see that the “should we use AI at all?” or “AI is the solution to everything” questions are behind us.

AI was showcased in a much more measured way: not as a distant future catchy item, but as a present-day tool transforming talent acquisition and management. I was particularly drawn to the discussions of the ethical use of AI, a subject close to my heart. Almost everyone mentioned topics like bias, transparency, and the need for a human-centric approach in AI deployment. This means that as an industry, we are well aware of both the advantages and the pitfalls. HR Tech vendors as well as practitioners are working hard to establish an effective and ethical approach to AI.

Meanwhile, employee experience was not just about satisfaction but also about engagement and empowerment. Companies feel the effects of the labor shortage and are actively defining, designing, and delivering top-notch experiences to ensure their employees are not only satisfied but engaged and connected to their work. Innovative strategies discussed included using intelligent analytics to predict dissatisfaction, introducing unique wellness initiatives, and employing advanced listening tools to better understand employee needs. These efforts are part of a broader commitment to enhancing the daily work environment and ensuring employees feel valued and integral to their organization’s success.

Everyone Partners with Everyone

Data, access to data, and making sure you can fully understand and benefit from the employee data you have in your systems was also a pervasive topic. Including during my keynote session, where I talked about using APIs to tie your HR solutions together, especially when it comes to (global) payroll. I also discussed approaches to leverage integrated data for actionable insights into workforce trends and performance metrics from a compensation and pay perspective. And when it comes to establishing pay equity, which was my other session, being able to tie pay, compensation, benefits and time data together becomes even more crucial. So, it’s key to ensure that your systems are able to serve up that data in a standardized and easily manageable way.

At Unleash, it was clear that HR Tech vendors are expanding their ecosystems more easily and more often than ever before. Several new partnerships were announced before and during the conference. Mostly, these partnerships are powered by APIs, that allow different HR solutions to communicate directly, which helps companies to integrate and use multiple services smoothly. This capability is important because it lets HR professionals access and combine a variety of specialized tools without complicated technical procedures. As a result, their companies can quickly adapt to new opportunities and improve their operations by integrating different services that enhance their effectiveness and innovation. This trend is reshaping how businesses operate by simplifying how they connect and work with other companies.

We need more Pay and Compensation!

I hosted two sessions: one on transformative synergies through payroll, with the aim of putting your employee in the center of pay. The other one was on establishing pay transparency. But I did get some questions from participants why there wasn’t a Pay & Compensation track. And that was a good question, because with all the attention on the employee experience, it’s still critical that you get pay right. Until you do, employees aren’t interested in anything else. It’s a matter of credibility.

While there were some sessions about pay in the other tracks, e.g. how you can use AI to enhance your payroll services, Pay & Compensation deserves a track of its own! I’ll be taking that up with the Unleash organization, to see if we can add it as a future track.

Having said that, the Unleash approach of dividing the sessions into tracks was inspired, because I noticed that people enjoyed the group dynamics that developed from being with each other in the same track all day. You could easily switch between tracks, but there was a tendency to hang out together.

Learning from the Best: Keynotes and Conversations

“You can’t trust anything see you online every again!” The opening keynote was led by Ethan Mollick, who dazzled the audience not only with stats, but with a real-time AI demonstration! The idea that AI can enhance human performance by eliminating mundane tasks and amplifying our innate capabilities is something he touched upon several times. And he showed it by creating a business plan with several iterations using AI tools while he was speaking. He also gave some examples of how these GenAI applications can boost performance, with the largest performance gains to be had by bottom performers. His recommendation was to divide work in three buckets: Human Only, Centaur & Cyborg tasks, Delegated to Agents. And I think that every company should have started on this by now. Because if you haven’t, you’ll end up with the Secret Cyborg problem: employees using GenAI apps in secret. And that can lead to a host of other issues! I'll leave you with a picture of the Four Principles that he shared:

"The labor shortage is real!" The opening keynote by Mark Blyth on the second day was a dazzling array of demographic charts showing how access to skilled labor will be the most important topic of this decade. And it resonated with me, because I believe that companies are not well prepared for the demographic changes.

One of the major takeaways: people that are retiring possess manual skills sets that we badly need, but that young people don’t have (yet). The job groups that are growing most rapidly are customer-focused and client-facing, not desk-based jobs (see picture above). Which means that professionals like electricians, plumbers, care givers etc will be in high demand. And before you think they can be replaced by AI or care-giving robots: Japan has tried that for 20 years, and it just doesn’t work!

The conference ended with an inspiring keynote from NBA legend Magic Johnson. He told us several stories about his transition from the basketball court to the boardroom. His approach to leadership and teamwork, grounded in hard work and authenticity, provided a masterclass in driving change and fostering a culture of trust and respect. What stood out for me was his relentless focus on the customer, always making sure you adapt your offering to their needs. His ability to connect with the audience, walking among us and sharing insights from his career, was not just inspiring but deeply relatable.

I couldn’t attend all the keynotes, simply because there were too many people to talk to. People I had not seen in a couple of years and had now moved to new companies. But also new people in the industry who bring a breath of fresh air and different perspectives. It was refreshing to see that between the Startup booths and the “Incumbent” stands, many HR Tech companies have been founded in the last ten years or so – innovation in HR is front and center, and especially when it comes to topics like employee experience, analytics and services for remote workers, including EoR.

Swag and Jazz: The Lighter Side of Unleash

It wasn't all seminars and lectures, though. The Unleash team also knows how to turn the conference into an HR Fest. From the swag-laden booths—think specialty drinks, cookies, popcorn, unicorns, sun glasses and personalized travel tags—to the lively DJ playing between sessions, Unleash Americas made sure that learning was fun and engaging. And that people were dancing! Oh, and did I mention the after-hours parties? Just look at your Linkedin feed to see what was going on.

And before I finish, a couple of shout outs: congratulations to winner of the startup competition Manifest, the first-ever digital transfer solution for retirement accounts. I also thought the award for most creative booth should go to Reejig who pitched their tent, including a lemonade stand managed by the most enterprising kids ("Want a lemonade? Let me scan your badge!"). And to Marc Coleman and Elliot Thomas and the whole team at Unleash for organizing the most swinging HR conference in the industry!

Next stop: Paris!

As I think back to my experiences and the many conversations with my peers and HR Tech experts, I am struck by one thing: The (global) landscape of work is evolving rapidly, and conferences like Unleash Americas are crucial in providing the insights and tools we need to navigate these changes effectively. There are so many new players that come to market, you can’t keep up. And even though they won’t all be around next year (sorry!), new entrants do bring a much needed focus on innovation and change that we all can learn from.

I came away from the conference reassured that we all agree on one thing: as we integrate more AI and technology into our HR processes, the focus will remain on enhancing human capabilities and enriching the employee experience, with ethics front and center.

Hope to see you in October in Paris at Unleash World. If you are there, let me know and we’ll grab a coffee!

Have a great day, Anita

(PS: I cross-posted this article on LinkedIN)

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