Well, Ilya, as you know, we've just come off writing a book together along with Kai Anderson. It's been a year labor of love. I wonder if you want to kick us off with a bit of an overview of what the book's about.
I'd be happy to. So Work Different addresses the issue that traditional workforce models and talent strategies, they no longer fit for purpose in an age where businesses, economies, governments, countries lurch from one anticipated crisis to the next.
We're seeing a greater need for rebalancing the employer-employee relationship than ever before. We need a different set of solutions now to deliver the right outcomes. So the book acknowledges these changes by outlining 10 new truths about work.
It's written in a language and in a form that's super accessible for employers, for leaders, managers, HR professionals, and workers, helping them make sense of these significant changes, understand how others are responding and work in different, more successful way going forward.
Mm, fascinating. Well, 10 truths obviously means that there must have been choices about what 10 truths got in there.
Yeah.
And I know we will have an opportunity to dive more deeper into that. But I just be curious, which truth were you surprised made it into the book?
If you know about Mercer, one of the things that we're famous for is being one of the leading compensation consulting firms in the world. We have a chapter in there called It Doesn't Pay to Stay. I don't think that's something you'd expect to hear from Mercer. But really, it acknowledges that employers need to be aware that it's easier for employees to get paid more by leaving their company than by staying.
So what that means is competitive pay has never been a more crucial factor in the employee value proposition. But at the same time, it's only one of several critical factors for attracting and retaining employees.
Mm-hmm, fascinating. It certainly does make a big difference to how people feel about how they're valued.
It does. And what about you, Kate? Were there any things that you felt should have been in the book or didn't make it in the book, anything that surprised you that way?
Well, I know that when we started the book, we talked a lot about the demographic time bomb that was happening and aging workforce and workforce participation rates. And we talked a lot about the importance of diversity, equity, inclusion that we both feel were really passionate about.
And yet, neither of those topics ended up getting their own truth in the book. And I think for good reason. [LAUGHS] They didn't get their own truth because they actually weave their way into every single one of those 10 chapters.
And I think that's the right way of talking about it because it's much more interesting, I think, to write about diversity and equity in the context of running out of people. And what does that mean to looking at supply? So we've got a whole chapter on Supply Unchained.
And that allows us to tap into more diverse pools. We've also got one where we talk about skills being the currency of work, which again is another way of getting across some of the barriers that hold back people from full workforce participation. We also talk about it in the context of generative AI, which I think is really exciting.
How are different generations-- how are different gender is leaning in? And what are the implications for the future of work? So I thought we would definitely have those chapters. But they ended up, I think, just informing probably some of those recommendations coming out the other end.
And, Kate, what about your hopes for the book? What can you tell us about that?
We mentioned earlier there about trying to make the language accessible. And I think we worked really hard to not be our typical HR techies that we are. [CHUCKLES] And so I really do hope the book appeals to a wider audience-- lots of case studies, lots of anecdotes, and lots and lots of musical references.
I think, actually, if you don't like music, that might be the most offensive part of the book. And also, I think, we've got three musical tastes in there. So that might be really diversive. But we will see.
All right, that's great.
So, Ilya, remind me. We've got this LinkedIn Live coming up. What date?
November 28, Kate. And I believe that's just a few days before the book is released. And the book is already available on Amazon if you'd like to check it out.
Excellent. Well, that should be a lot of fun. I think it's a chance for us to maybe share some of the creative tension and discussions that we have with the book. And I know Kai Anderson will be joining that. So that'll be super fun. And I hope other people will enjoy hearing about the truths but also some of the recommendations that we have in the book.
Definitely. See you all on LinkedIn Live.
