Looking at the evolution of employment

With the availability of enabling technologies and social collaboration tools, work has dramatically changed our working styles and workplace. They are replacing expensive face-to-face meetings with remote technologies, and combining centralized workplaces with alternative workplace programs. As an HR leader, considering how to reconsider the work arrangement to meet business strategies will be one of the biggest work transformations in the 21st century. With the shifting economies and permeable boundaries around "work" across the globe, harnessing this new talent pipeline will be a challenge. It will also be a competitive advantage if done well.

Lead the Work takes an incisive look at the evolving nature of work, and how it's affecting management and productivity at the organizational level. Where getting things done once meant assigning it to an employee, today's leaders are increasingly at risk if they fail to recognize that talent can float into and out of an organization. Long-term employment has given way to medium- or short-term employment, marking the first step in severing the bond that once fixed an individual inside an organization. Getting work done by means other than an employee was once considered a fringe event, but now leading organizations are accepting and taking advantage of the notion that talent has shown itself to be mutable. This book explores this phenomenon in detail and provides a new roadmap to help managers navigate this new environment.

Thinking outside of the box to leverage partners on a project, crowd-sourcing a complex problem, or running a business primarily on a contract workforce will challenge traditional thinking on pay, benefits and rules of engagement in the "workplace". In a simple approach, Lead the Work outlines alternatives and provides provocative solutions to these varied approaches.

This is a must read for HR leaders and CEOs alike. While these creative approaches not only save money and infrastructure, companies can also become a global employer of top talent - attracting and retaining this talent when they need it and for however long they need it to complete desired tasks. The ability to attract and reduce talent in a healthy, open way will allow the company to retain top talent while being profitable.