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Rick Levin is the CEO of Coursera. In 2013, he completed a 20-year term as president of Yale University, during which time he played an integral role in growing the university’s programs, resources, and reputation internationally. He was named to the Yale faculty in 1974 and spent the next two decades teaching, conducting research, serving on committees, and working in administration at the university. Rick served on President Obama’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology. He is a director of American Express and C3 Energy. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Rick received his bachelor's degree in history from Stanford University and studied politics and philosophy at Oxford University, where he earned a bachelor of letters degree. In 1974, Rick received a PhD from Yale University and holds honorary degrees from Harvard, Princeton, Oxford, and Peking Universities.

Rick Levin

Lisa Kahle-Piasecki is an associate professor of management at Tiffin University and has served as director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and chair of the management and marketing areas.Lisa completed a PhD at the University of Toledo, with an area of concentration in human performance improvement, which is the study and ethical practice of improving productivity and competence in organizations. A performance improvement and talent development specialist, Lisa is a follower of systems theory and uses a systematic approach in solving performance problems. She is actively engaged in research and is a frequent presenter at both international and U.S. conferences. Her current research interests include performance solutions such as mentoring for performance improvement. She spent a summer living and teaching in Costa Rica, and has additional international teaching experience. She is on the board of directors of the Greater Toledo Chapter of the Association for Talent Development.

Lisa Kahle-Piasecki, APTD

If you aren’t rethinking your sales talent strategy in 2022, you could be putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage. Finding great sales talent in today’s tight labor market can be a time-consuming, expensive venture—to add to the challenge, top talent is constantly being targeted and recruited. In the last two years, more people have changed jobs than at almost any other time in modern history—with the pandemic-driven remote workforce accelerating this trend. Consider these statistics:Forty percent of workers globally say they might leave their jobs in the near future (McKinsey).Turnover rates for sales roles are nearly three times higher than any other line of business (HubSpot).The average cost to replace a single sales rep is 1.5–2-times the rep’s salary, and it takes 6.2 months on average to fill an open sales role, costing organizations hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue potential (Hire Velocity).The good news is that there are steps you can take to proactively address these challenges. Attract the next rock star seller and retain your most valuable talent by exploring these problems and their solutions:Lack of career advancementBetween April 2021 and April 2022, the number 1 reason (41 percent) people quit their jobs was due to a lack of career development and advancement.How to address it: Discuss career aspirations with your direct reports early and often—for new hires and tenured employees. This is not a one-and-done conversation and should involve both sales leadership and HR. Take the time to understand their career goals, and set up regular one-on-one meetings to discuss their paths and progress towards those goals. It will motivate new hires early on to strive for greater achievement and re-engage your tenured sellers knowing they have an upward trajectory.CompensationAnother top-rated reason employees stated they quit a job in the last year was due to inadequate compensation. With hundreds of thousands of sales jobs currently unfilled, there is significant competition for top talent. Employers are willing to pay more to attract the right talent.How to address it: Evaluate and benchmark your compensation structure to ensure you are remaining competitive in attracting new talent—especially if you haven’t done this in the last two years. Consider the level of tenure, expertise, and geography of the seller as these factors will influence the competitiveness of the offer you’re making. If you are unable to increase base pay to compete with other companies, consider other nonfinancial incentives as part of the overall benefits package like flexible hours, tuition reimbursement, or additional PTO.**Uncaring and uninspiring leaders (workplace culture)**In a recent McKinsey survey, 35 percent of respondents listed uncaring leaders as one of the top reasons they left an organization.How to address it: A great corporate culture combined with a competitive compensation strategy is a recipe for any healthy sales organization to thrive. However, one without the other is doomed to fail. Focus on building a culture of trust, accountability, and recognition. When you help sales reps realize their full potential and reward behaviors that drive success, you will make it harder for them to leave.Make wellness and work-life balance a priority, and don’t shy away from those conversations. Today’s employees want to know their leader cares about them; so instead of focusing only on deal reviews and pipelines during one-on-one meetings, take a few minutes to talk about their well-being and take appropriate actions if burnout or other life challenges are hindering their success.Absence of meaningful workNearly 70 percent of people say they define their purpose through work with seven out of 10 employees reflecting on their purpose because of the COVID-19 pandemic (McKinsey). As younger generations of talent enter the labor force, doing meaningful work ranks high among their ideals, and if they don’t feel a sense of meaning in the work they’re doing, they won’t stay long.How to address it: Build a supportive and reliable community within your sales organization that emphasizes meaning and purpose. Focus on your mission, vision, and values, and help connect the dots to your sellers’ definition of purpose and personal career aspirations. Create a culture that fosters diversity in talent, experience, background, and ideas and that engages all levels within the organization. Focus on the business challenges your solutions solve. Document and share how you’ve helped individuals or businesses achieve a specific outcome. If a seller never sees the result of their sales efforts, it’s difficult to see the greater purpose of what they are doing.Looking for ways to improve sales outcomes?Turn knowledge into action through high-impact sales performance frameworks.

4 Reasons Your Sales Talent Is Leaving and What You Can Do About It 

In an era of high employee turnover and increasing job complexity, traditional training methods fall short. Task-based training is a strategic solution to build a skilled, resilient, and adaptable workforce. It also provides the essential framework for identifying competencies, which, according to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), “specify the ‘how’ of performing job tasks, or what the person needs to do the job successfully.” By focusing on the specific tasks required for job success, organizations can accelerate skill transfer, retain critical knowledge, and develop agile teams ready for future challenges.The Modern Workforce CrisisOrganizations today face a significant challenge at all levels: retaining institutional knowledge amidst constant employee turnover while equipping their teams for increasingly complex roles. When employees leave, they take valuable, often undocumented, expertise with them, disrupting operations and incurring significant replacement costs.At the same time, modern jobs demand more than rote memorization; they require critical thinking, adaptability, and problem-solving. Generic, one-size-fits-all training programs fail to build these essential skills, often providing information that lacks direct application to an employee’s daily responsibilities.A task-based training approach offers a powerful solution. By deconstructing jobs into their core tasks, organizations can deliver targeted, effective training that accelerates onboarding, preserves knowledge, and builds a more capable workforce.The Power of Job Task AnalysisEffective training begins with a clear understanding of what a job actually entails. This is achieved through Job Task Analysis (JTA), a systematic process of identifying and documenting the specific tasks that constitute a role. JTA moves beyond a simple job description to create a detailed blueprint of what an employee must do to succeed.This granular approach ensures that training is directly relevant to real-world responsibilities. When this detailed analysis is used to inform the design of a training program, such as within the ADDIE framework, the result is a learning experience that is practical, efficient, and immediately applicable. The JTA provides the essential content for the “Analysis” phase, aligning the entire training effort with concrete performance outcomes.The Task List: A Roadmap to CompetenceThe primary output of JTA is a comprehensive task list, a simple yet powerful tool that revolutionizes the training process for both new hires and their trainers.For New Employees: A task list provides a clear path to proficiency. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, a new hire can focus on mastering one manageable task at a time. This structured approach reduces cognitive load, builds confidence through incremental successes, and helps them quickly understand how their role contributes to the team's objectives.For Trainers and Managers: A task list standardizes knowledge transfer, ensuring every employee receives consistent, high-quality instruction. It serves as a living repository of institutional knowledge, mitigating the risk of expertise loss when key personnel depart. This framework allows managers to easily track progress, identify skills gaps, and provide targeted support, dramatically shortening the time to full productivity.Building Resilient and Agile TeamsThe ultimate goal of workforce development is to create a team that can adapt to future challenges. Task-based training is fundamental to achieving this agility. By mastering the core tasks of their roles, employees develop a deep understanding of processes, which cultivates the critical thinking skills needed to handle unexpected situations.An employee who understands not just what to do but why they are doing it is better equipped to troubleshoot problems, suggest process improvements, and adapt to new technologies. This fosters a culture of competence and continuous improvement, leading to a more engaged and motivated workforce. The result is a team that is proficient in its current duties and resilient and prepared for what comes next.Conclusion: A Strategic ImperativeIn a competitive landscape defined by rapid change, the ability to develop and retain talent is a critical advantage. Task-based training, grounded in the proven methodology of Job Task Analysis, provides a practical and effective solution to the challenges of turnover and skills gaps. By focusing on concrete, real-world tasks, organizations can accelerate learning, preserve vital expertise, and build the resilient, agile workforce needed to drive future success.

The Resilient Workforce: Why Task-Based Training Should Be the Cornerstone of Modern Workforce Development

Uncertainty is no longer the exception in business; it’s the rule. Whether it’s economic shifts, technological disruption, or organizational change, managers are often tasked with keeping teams steady in the storm. Yet for many, uncertainty breeds one common response: resistance.When people feel a lack of control, their instinct is to push back, protect the status quo, or retreat into familiar patterns. While this resistance is human, it can quietly stall progress, erode morale, and make the road ahead feel even harder.The role of a great manager is to transform that resistance into resilience, helping teams adapt, refocus, and keep moving forward with confidence. In Lead In 30, we call this creating movement: the ability to identify the scripts, narratives, and barriers holding people back, and then shifting them into new patterns that drive progress.So how do you, as a manager, lead your team from resistance to resilience?Acknowledge the Uncertainty Out LoudThe worst thing a leader can do in uncertain times is ignore what everyone already feels. Silence breeds fear and speculation. Great managers instead lean into clarity, acknowledging the unknowns while providing a grounded picture of what is certain.You don’t need to have all the answers, but you do need to communicate consistently. Even saying, “Here’s what we know today, here’s what we don’t know yet, and here’s how we’ll keep moving forward” creates confidence. Clarity reduces noise and allows people to focus on what matters most.Reconnect the Team to PurposeWhen uncertainty rises, motivation often falls. Resistance can look like disengagement, blame, or simply slowing down. To counter this, managers must help the team reconnect to the why behind their work.This is where Team Key Results (TKRs) come in. Setting a few measurable, relevant priorities and showing how they connect to the organization’s mission gives your team something solid to rally around. Purpose is the antidote to paralysis.Shift the Script From Victim to OwnerChanging the narrative is one of the most powerful ways to build resilience. Instead of letting the team fall into "The Excuse Trap, “We can’t because…”, great managers ask, “What’s in our control, and how do we own it?”This is where alignment becomes essential. Invite the team into the process: What obstacles are we facing, and what shifts need to happen to keep moving forward? When people participate in writing the new script, they become invested in living it out. Ownership transforms resistance into resilience.Model Optimism and EnergyHuman energy is contagious. If a manager projects fear, exhaustion, or pessimism, the team will absorb it. However, when you choose optimism, even in uncertainty, you create a different kind of culture.At Lone Rock Leadership, we often say optimism is a choice. It doesn’t mean ignoring challenges, but deliberately focusing energy on solutions and what can be influenced. When leaders show up energized and optimistic, they recharge their team’s batteries, giving them the resilience to keep moving.Learn to Guide Through UncertaintyResistance is natural, but it doesn’t have to be permanent. With clarity, alignment, and movement, managers can guide their teams through uncertainty and emerge stronger, more adaptive, and more resilient.Uncertainty will always be part of leadership, but great leaders don’t just weather the storm; they help their teams grow through it.

From Resistance to Resilience: A Manager’s Guide to Navigating Uncertainty

Across industries, burnout is leaving its mark on leaders and organizations, affecting nearly one in six leaders worldwide. Defined as chronic, unmanaged workplace stress, burnout’s impact extends far beyond temporary fatigue. Burnt-out leaders are 3.5 times more likely to leave their roles to improve their well-being, threatening succession plans and disrupting retention strategies.Ahead, we’ll break down burnout’s hidden costs, warning signs, and, most importantly, how talent development teams can protect their leadership pipelines.Burnout’s Triple Threat to Your Leadership PipelineOnce leader burnout takes root, its effects spread across your organization:1. Performance RiskBurnt-out leaders are 34 percent less effective than their peers. When leaders are just trying to survive the day, decision-making and strategic execution suffer. They may also struggle to develop the skills they need for promotion, weakening your leadership bench.2. Retention RiskWhen high-potential leaders exit, they don’t just leave gaps—they disrupt teams, take institutional knowledge and training investments with them, and cost the business in recruitment and onboarding. Burnout increases departure risk by 3.5 times.3. Engagement Risk Burnt-out leaders are half as likely to be engaged, which affects more than just their individual performance. Disengaged leaders can't develop or inspire others, leaving future leaders without critical mentorship. This disengagement spreads, passing on to high-potential employees.Warning Signs in Your Succession CandidatesHigh performers are particularly vulnerable to burnout. Driven to deliver, they often take on too much at the expense of their mental and emotional health. But burnout isn’t a sign of poor leadership fit—it’s a signal they need support. Spotting these symptoms early can save your pipeline:Decision fatigue and difficulty concentratingLonger work hours with lower productivityIncreased irritability with team membersDecreased enthusiasm for projectsNeglected self-carePhysical symptoms, like headaches and sleep issuesFactors Undermining Your Leadership PipelineFour key factors fuel leader burnout and weaken succession plans: Time scarcity: Only 30 percent of leaders say they have enough time to perform their job well. This constant overload leads to exhaustion.Resource constraints: Leaders without proper tools and information are twice as likely to burn out.Lack of trust: Leaders who don’t trust senior leadership are 4.3 times more likely to burn out, often due to emotional labor and moral strain.Work arrangement misalignment: Remote and hybrid leaders face higher burnout rates, due to blurred boundaries and communication gaps—especially when their manager’s work arrangement doesn’t match their own.These factors make it harder for high-potential leaders to advance, damaging leadership pipelines. These systemic issues require organizational, not individual, solutions. How to Protect Your Leadership InvestmentHere are three critical leader burnout prevention strategies to shore up your pipeline and improve leader well-being. 1. Strengthen Delegation Skills Delegation is the most critical skill for preventing burnout, yet 81 percent of leaders lack proficiency. High-potential talent promoted into leadership often resists delegation because they must abandon the hands-on approach that earned them recognition. But success at the next level requires shifting from being valued “doers” to strategic “delegators” who empower others.2. Improve Conflict Resolution Conflict resolution is another essential skill that reduces emotional labor and keeps teams working together smoothly. Leaders who handle conflict effectively are less likely to burn out.3. Build TrustTrust is foundational to psychological safety. High-potential employees are 3.8 times more likely to leave if they don’t trust senior leaders. In trusting cultures, leaders and teams feel safe being honest, asking for help, and collaborating.Not only do these skills support leader well-being, but there’s a competitive retention advantage: leaders in organizations that apply these strategies are 11.8 times more likely to stay. To build these skills into your pipeline, prioritize them in high potential development programs, reinforce them through coaching, and make them part of your succession planning criteria.ConclusionLeader burnout isn’t inevitable, but it can be costly. Ignoring it risks losing your best talent and weakening your leadership bench. But when organizations recognize burnout as a systemic issue and take steps to prevent it, the payoff is clear.Leaders in companies with effective burnout prevention are 2.6 times less likely to burn out—and 18.5 times more likely to enjoy leading.Resilient leaders create resilient organizations. Is your pipeline protected from burnout?Explore succession management on DDI’s website.

The Hidden Costs of Leader Burnout: Impact on Succession and Retention

A little over a year ago, LinkedIn launched its AI-powered coaching chatbot. You can ask it for advice on workplace issues, and it will help with suggestions on how to build skills, tackle issues, or move your career forward. Could this be the future for coaching at scale?The prospect of deploying an AI-powered virtual coach that could support thousands of employees simultaneously with their workplace challenges and aspirations is an attractive one. Imagine the savings on coaching and the benefits for employees of having access to a coach, round the clock, to respond to their every need almost instantly.Can AI replace a human coach?For incoming, younger employees, this may be just what they’re looking for: A recent survey found 66 percent of 25–34 year-olds would rather talk to AI about their problems than a loved one.And it’s easy to see why. With the power of generative AI, a chatbot can communicate with empathy. People report that the experience feels just like texting with an actual human, leading to concerns that we are rapidly becoming too attached to or dependent on these AI companions.The potential of providing this kind of support to employees is not without risk. While the interactions feel real, we must remember that the chatbot has been trained to mimic empathy. It knows what an empathic response to challenges and vulnerability sounds like and gives a seemingly appropriate reply. But it lacks genuine human empathy. It doesn’t actually care like a person may.Unlike a human coach, AI can’t think, feel, or relate to a person. No matter how sophisticated its language model, a coaching chatbot lacks the nuances of personal connection—and it cannot draw on a lifetime of emotional intelligence to offer support. Without that vital human connection, AI cannot effectively deliver workplace coaching.What are the benefits of AI in the coaching process?Where AI can significantly enhance coaching is by automating some logistical aspects, such as coaching provision and mechanics, making it easier and more efficient to build strong, effective coaching relationships. For example, AI can analyze hundreds of data points to match an employee with a suitable coach, increasing the likelihood that the two individuals will work well together, rather than leaving it to chance or asking an employee to choose from a list of coach bios.AI can then manage administrative tasks, such as scheduling calls, taking notes, and curating personalized content and learning materials from the vast quantity of resources organizations provide to their employees. This helps employees take post-coaching action and removes the administrative burden of managing the relationship, driving greater engagement and improving ROI.When deploying coaching at scale across all levels of the organization, AI platforms can minimize administrative overhead for learning and development (L&D) teams while delivering a seamless, engaging employee experience.AI also has the potential to analyze data from across an organization’s HRIS, recognizing patterns and identifying employees who could benefit most from coaching. For example, AI can detect factors that increase the probability that key employees could become flight risks, thereby creating an opportunity to intervene with career development resources before they decide to leave the organization. What’s next?It’s inevitable that AI will advance exponentially, potentially even creating life-like avatars that mimic human interaction. Until we have artificial general intelligence (where machines can truly think like humans), behind those lines of code, AI-powered coaching misses the spark of humanity that makes coaching so effective.Learn how you can offer scalable, personalized career coaching—that’s powered by people and technology—to employees at all levels of your business within your budget. 

What Is the Future for AI in Coaching?

Nigel Gan, APTD has been a member of ATD since 2017 from Japan. Here's his story in his own words.Tell us a little bit about yourself.I've found that no matter where you are living, you can make a difference. I'm originally from Sydney, Australia, and started my career—my first taste of training—as a privacy advisor in the Department of Justice in Victoria, Australia. I now work at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima office in Japan, where I wear a few hats as part of UNITAR's Division for Prosperity.I am the lead for instructional design and quality assurance, the project manager for our Afghanistan and disarmament capacity building training portfolios. I mainly work on leadership, empowerment, and entrepreneurship programs and manage the division’s media and communications team. I am lucky that I get to meet people from all walks of life from all around the world, having developed and delivered training to participants from more than 60 countries.What are your professional goals?I'm working to obtain my CPLP this year and to supercharge our e-learning at UNITAR so we can reach more people, more effectively, leaving no one behind.What challenges have overcome in your career?Like many of us, I was originally thrown by accident into design and facilitation. I was not good with public speaking, and I still starkly remember the first training session I facilitated—on mandatory privacy compliance—and totally bombed. Yet it sparked my interest in designing and facilitating effective training, and here I am now.What’s the most valuable thing you’ve gained or experienced during your membership with ATD?Upskilling and networking. I did my first formal training three years ago—the ATD Master Trainer—and it was game-changing. I've since completed the Master Instructional Designer and the APTD, and it provides valuable insight into not only, "Oh, that's why we do it this way" and "Oooh, we should do it this way," but also into a broad platform of good practice and theories that we can implement to take our everyday work to the next level.Linked to this, networking with colleagues from around the world who often are facing, or have faced, similar challenges, is invaluable. I attended the ATD International Conference & EXPO and spoke at the ATD Japan conference last year, and I learned something from everyone I met.Can you share any professional tips, specific to talent development, that you have picked up along the way?What I've found, and what I always emphasize, is that it all comes down to communication. Good communication is hard. Whether it is working with government officials to identify the needs among the wants, engaging project stakeholders, or supporting individuals as they upskill, everyone has their own rich tapestry of experiences and circumstances from which we can all learn, yet we often don’t. Having open, two-way communication, using lessons learned, and working to ensure that participants are walking away with the ability to undertake change all comes down to effective communication.What’s a common misconception you see when it comes to talent development?I'm sure many of us see this. Needs versus wants. The idea that training can fix any problem and is the solution to all performance issues, "We need training."Do you have any advice for people looking to further their careers?It's so easy to get caught up in the everyday busyness of building the capacity of your organization and beneficiaries. Don't forget to upskill yourself and find mentors who can guide you.What is your personal definition of talent development?Talent development is about enabling people—building their knowledge and skills to empower them to be effective in their communities or organizations.How do you stay motivated?As talent development professionals, we make differences in people's lives. I have been fortunate to work with, and for, beneficiaries who are determined and passionate to improve and make a difference while living in countries that are war-torn and still developing, with unimaginable pressures and difficulties. Being able to help them, to upskill them, and to build their capacity, brings all the motivation that I need.How do you find meaning in your work?Similarly, working to support and build the capacity of our beneficiaries—highly intelligent and motivated people from government, NGOs, civil society, media, and universities in countries that are emerging from conflict, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and South Sudan, and seeing how our training can make a difference—improve lives, careers, organizations and communities, is humbling, and gives great meaning to the work I do.Have your own story to tell? Share it with us.

"Don't Forget to Upskill Yourself"

They're creating computer code, carting food and passengers around in their own cars, and popping in monthly for a project meeting. What's their story? Are these occasional workers underemployed, unable to secure a salaried job? Are they Millennials and Generation Z-ers sampling different occupations before they commit to a career? Or Baby Boomers making some extra cash to supplement their retirement savings?They could be any of those―or none of them. Meet the gig workers, a burgeoning population in the labor force that is changing the way company leaders look at workforce planning and the way people view work."As individuals have entered the workforce and evolved, they are asking for more flexibility," says Kurt Heikkinen, president and CEO of staffing company Montage. And, as access to health insurance has become increasingly separate from full-time employment, "workers have really gained a sense of freedom. They look at [their careers] as a series of gigs, a series of projects and experiences, as opposed to a long-term career at a given employer."Figure 1: Gig Workers Look Like the Broader WorkforceThe following charts illustrate the demographics of self-identified gig workers compared with those of the entire U.S. workforce. Source: Morning Consult.But these aren't the typical temp staffers of yore―the "Kelly Girl" secretaries and Manpower workers who filled in for office staff when an employer had a hole in the schedule. Nor are they limited to the classic freelancers in creative fields―writers, editors, musicians, and graphic artists. Nowadays, gig workers run the gamut, from Uber drivers to IT technicians to travel nurses. And they are an integral and growing part of the knowledge economy.Many businesses have embraced this pipeline of on-demand talent. Yet, despite all the promise of the gig economy, it is a work in progress. The rules are still being written as companies and workers alike adjust to new ways of getting work done.Two Types of Gig WorkersGig work itself is not new. "People have always worked this way," but the prevalence and types of gig jobs have changed over the years, says Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy: The Complete Guide to Getting Better Work, Taking More Time Off, and Financing the Life You Want (Amacom, 2016). "This kind of work is growing at a rapid rate," she says, particularly in white-collar jobs and the tech economy.There are two types of gig workers, Mulcahy says: first, those who are searching for full-time work and need to make some cash and contacts while they job-hunt and, second, those who simply don't want or need full-time employment.The latter group includes a lot of younger people, for whom the idea of a 40-years-and-you-get-a-gold-watch kind of job is something their grandparents did. They aren't attracted to what they see as an outdated model of sticking with one company―or even one profession―for an extended time. But this group also includes retired or semi-retired people who may or may not need the money but who want to stay engaged and active regardless. And there are also mid-career folks who want the flexibility and freedom of doing what they want more or less when they want, drawing on years of experience to cherry-pick appealing projects.In the United States, more than 40 percent of workers are employed in "alternative work arrangements," such as contingent, part-time, or gig work, according to Deloitte's 2018 Global Human Capital Trends study. In a 2016 Adobe survey, 56 percent of office workers predicted that everyone will do some gig work in the future. Asked to look ahead to 2020, 28 percent of business leaders and chief human resource officers said they anticipated an increase in gig workers, the Deloitte study found."The vast majority [of gig workers] are folks who easily could go get [traditional full-time] jobs somewhere," says Lori Williams, vice president of fulfillment at Gigster, a software developer that has 80 employees on staff and works with 1,000 gig workers. "They've chosen this lifestyle."The top benefit of the arrangement for them is autonomy. They have greater control over their schedule and they can avoid routine annoyances such as bad managers, office politics, and interminable staff meetings. They also might learn new skills and gain valuable experience at a temporary stint, ultimately giving them the tools to advance in other gigs or in staff jobs.Employers, too, enjoy the perks of an open relationship, gaining access to skills and talent without having to commit to a full-time hire. And managers can supplement staff with gigsters who have the talent and knowledge not only to advance a project, but to teach regular employees new skills."It's really [about] how can we continue to scale as an organization?" says Vlasta Dusil, senior vice president of HR for computer technology company SAP's Cloud Business Group. "We talk about diversity, with gender, with different generations. In our view, this is another way of looking at diversity."Growing PainsStill, there are some drawbacks―for both sides. The "flexible schedule" so many people crave can lead to them being underemployed. The gig worker might also miss out on the advantages that come from committing to one employer. Among those advantages is professional development."How are these people going to train and develop and grow?" says Jennifer Graham-Johnson, SHRM-SCP, recently retired chief HR officer at WestRock Co., a paper and packaging products manufacturer."I do worry we are going to have a group of people who are . . . unable to advance" if they ever decide they want full-time employment because they haven't had the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge through training and classes.Then there's the issue of employee benefits.Gig workers don't get health insurance, paid time off, or 401(k) contributions from employers. Offering them the same perks that staff members get could set an employer up for legal challenges and negate savings typically associated with hiring gig workers.It could also harm recruiting efforts. After all, good benefits are one of the selling points companies use to attract full-time talent. Why would people want to join your team as full-time employees if they can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of gig work and get the same benefits as regular employees?The bigger issue may be that offering the same benefits to contractors and regular staff could get the company in trouble with the IRS, which has a 20-point test to determine whether workers are independent contractors or employees entitled to the employer-paid share of FICA taxes. Microsoft and other employers have had to pay millions of dollars in back taxes and damages after being sued by workers who said they were paid like independent contractors but treated like employees.Figure 2: What Motivates Gig Workers? Source: Shiftgig, Profile of a Gig Worker, 2018.Playing Catch-UpGovernment and businesses are lagging on other fronts related to the gig economy, too. Banks, for example, might be skittish about lending money to a potential homeowner who doesn't hold a permanent job. And gig workers don't get unemployment benefits, COBRA, or worker’s compensation.Companies can help fill the gaps. One way is to offer voluntary benefits that are fully paid for by the worker but administered by the employer. E-commerce website Etsy, for example, has partnered with Stride Health to act as a health insurance broker for the people who create the art, jewelry, and other items sold on Etsy.Still, the gig economy is clearly moving faster than the institutions that deal with these workers."I don't think we've caught up to this type of worker," says Arthur Tacchino, chief innovation officer at the compliance technology company SyncStream Solutions. "The workforce is changing. So how are the coverage, insurance, and benefits going to evolve to fit the newer kind of workforce we are seeing?" There's no clear to answer that, Tacchino says."Regulators and courts are trying to apply 20th-century law onto a 21st-century problem," says Richard Meneghello, an employment attorney and partner at Fisher Phillips. "Our hope is that once people realize it's not just a passing fad, regulators and legislators will get more serious."One agency trying to change with the times is the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is taking a fresh look at compensation for gig workers. The agency is considering revising its rules to make it easier for people who are classified as independent contractors to receive stock awards from the companies that employ them, the New York Times reported.While governments and financial institutions adjust, the market for gig workers is maturing, fueled by technology platforms that help both sides of the work arrangement find each other. Online labor platforms such as Upwork, Gigster, TaskRabbit, and Freelancer are not only empowering the gig economy, but revolutionizing the way workers and companies connect."The technology is making the whole market more efficient," says Marion McGovern, author of Thriving in the Gig Economy (Career Press, 2017) and co-founder and former CEO of M Squared Consulting.Upwork, for example, connects computer-industry freelancers in 170 countries to employers who need their services, charging the worker a fee of 5 percent to 20 percent of the job's pay. ShiftPixy and others hire workers (paying the employer share of payroll taxes and taking care of other compliance issues), then "lend" them to clients in the hospitality and restaurant industries. The company has an app that allows people to broadcast their availability and apply for certain shifts in their communities.As Uber was creating its digital platform for drivers, the job market for gig work was exploding, says Scott Absher, ShiftPixy's CEO. "People are looking for ways to recobble their income," and these platforms make that more efficient, he says.Managing the GigSo how do today's people managers handle gig workers, follow the law, and head off potential tensions with full-time staff? Some tips:Decide who will drive the decision-making on hiring. A simple procurement process may be enough to fill an open gig for an IT techie, while a speechwriter for a CEO will likely require input from the chief executive.Pay people promptly. "I can't tell you how many companies are on 60- to 90-day schedules" for contracts, McGovern says. But individuals expect to be paid faster and more often.Know the law—and do not treat gigsters like employees. In fact, don't even use the word "hire" to describe the working arrangement, advised Rebecca Cenni-Leventhal, founder and CEO of staffing and recruitment firm Atrium. People who work gigs are "engaged," not hired, she cautioned.Protect confidential company information. This is especially important when using outside contractors for a business dealing with sensitive client information, such as health data and Social Security numbers.Let your own staffers gig―even at your company. Since many workers crave the opportunity to learn something new, offer full-time staffers the chance to develop by giving them a gig in-house.Keep staffers and gigsters separate, when warranted. "Having [gig workers] participate in regular team meetings or asking them for regular updates and reporting is not wise," says Cenni-Leventhal, as that may cause them to be viewed as employees rather than independent contractors. "Inviting them to one holiday party isn't too much of a risk, but when you start having them participate in team-building activities and attending company functions, it can get tricky."Make your gig workers feel welcome and valued. "Make sure you afford them the correct level of respect," McGovern says. "This is someone who is going to add to the team, bringing in skills or knowledge and experience to help the effort."On top of that, she adds, it's important to recognize the dignity of their career choice. After all, it's a work arrangement more business leaders can expect to manage in the coming years.Copyright 2019, SHRM. This article is reprinted from www.shrm.org with permission from SHRM. All rights reserved.

Gig Workers Challenge Old Order

A learning environment is a deliberately curated collection of learning resources and activities related to a specific learning need.The environment metaphor is an important one—it’s an image that encompasses all the components that surround living things. In a good environment, the components contribute to well-being and growth. In a well-designed landscape, for example, the environment includes sunlight, soil, water, and other elements, and the landscaper ensures the right elements to help the desired plants thrive.As defined here, a learning environment is intended to help people to learn and develop, and it, too, is designed using a wide range of components that support that endeavor. But to list all of the possible components of a learning environment would be as challenging as listing all of the possible plants to grow in a garden. Species of plants have multiple varieties, and new cultivars are created every day. In planting a garden, choices depend on climate, location, soil type, and gardener’s preferences.A similar process takes place when designing a learning environment. There is a world of options for resources and activities—and because new activities and resources are created regularly, it would be impossible to list all the possibilities. Even so, it’s helpful to start with a solid list of potential components to include.Breakdown of ComponentsThe typical components of a learning environment can be sorted into six broad categories:resources, people, training and education, development practices, experiential learning practices, and learner motivation and self-direction.Resources-Performance support-Personal knowledge management-RSS feeds and other filtered information feeds-Shared documents and wiki spaces-Online databases and knowledge management systems-Books, articles, and Internet resources-Job aids-Podcasts and video-casts-Briefings (content delivery without activities)-Procedure manuals and technical manuals-Tools to support learner content sharingPeople-Peer support systems-Social media connections (blogs, microblogs, social bookmarking)-Group forums or discussion boards-Expert directories-Communities of practice-Mentor relationships and developmental networks-Coaching Professional networks (live and online; professional organizations, user groups) Conferences and professional meetings-Tools to support interactionTraining and Education-Courseware and seminars (internal or external; in any delivery format)-Formal coaching after training-On-the-job training Academic courses, degree programs, MOOCs (massive open online courses)Certificate, certification, and licensing programs-Follow-up activities and exercises designed to support learning and application (enrichment and reflection activities)-Tools to support delivery of engaging learning activitiesDevelopment Practices-Action learning programs-Stretch assignment management-Rotation and other experiential learning programs based in workplace activities-After-action review practices-Supervisor support, feedback, and coaching-Communication activities to influence learning readiness and application-Career coaching and developmentExperiential Learning Practices-Learning by doing-Engaging in critical reflection-Experimenting-Collaborating-Self-monitoring and analysis of outcomes and feedback-Creating personal notes, job aids-Teaching and creating resources for othersLearner Motivation and Self-Direction-Desire to learn-Belief in link between learning and performance-Confidence in ability to learn-Self-directednessThese components can be curated into a learning environment to provide a wide range of possible supports for learning. Each project will have different particulars, and this list is not meant to be exhaustive; instead its aim is to prompt ideas for creating a robust, well-designed learning environment.You’ll notice as well that several of the categories suggest specific tools—such as blogging or microblogging tools, screen capture soft­ware, and video tools—not because the tools are learning assets, but because the learners can use them to create and add to the learning components available in the environment. Designers often include links to these kinds of tools when they create the learning portals that act as the entry point to the learning environment.It’s also important to notice how much of a learning environment is intangible, embedded in relationships and work practices. While an electronic portal is often useful for assembling materials and activities, the environment is physical and interpersonal as well as virtual.Finally, the list of components is compiled from a larger pool of potential items derived from industry models and long-term experience. Those familiar with the theories will notice elements of blended learning, transfer of learning, informal learning, and social learning theory and practice, along with ideas contributed by personal knowledge manage­ment and constructivist learning advocates. Looking across these streams of thought yields a very rich list of potential learning resources, activities, and practices, which were categorized to make identifying and selecting them a bit easier.For more advice on how to make your learning environment grow, check out Learning Environments by Design (ATD Press, 2015). This book empowers you to customize learning for your workforce and unearths the answers to the questions you’ve been asking: How does learning happen? What is the future of instructional design? What makes learning environments work?

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