The future of sales and work culture: Colleen Francis

The skills required to succeed in the workplace today are changing rapidly. Workers who are aged fifty plus can still remember a time where their jobs did not involve using the internet, while those joining the workforce today do not know a time before Facebook.

This time of dramatic change is coinciding with a decrease in the amount most employers are investing in employee training.

In this episode, Sunil Johal, Fellow at the Public Policy Forum, discusses the drivers of reskilling and change in the world of work, and looks at how employers and policy makers can prepare themselves and their workforce.

The world of work was already bracing for massive change before the arrival of COVID-19. Businesses that have been feeling the sting of automation, an aging workforce, and rapid changes in technology have been forced to adapt to remote work, social distancing, and dramatic shifts in consumer expectations and needs.

Though the arrival of the novel coronavirus has had a lasting impact on many businesses, it would be a mistake to think that this one event has brought about the Future of Work. While most of us enjoy fewer meetings, the new and widespread delivery and online ordering options, and less paper, there is still lots of change happening to the ways we will work and operate our businesses in the future.

In this episode, Stephen Harrington, Deloitte's National Lead – Workforce Strategy, will explore how organizations need to reimagine - not redesign - their operations around the key future of work drivers.

“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.” This quote by Carol Dweck, the pioneering academic who coined the term growth mindset, contains a lot of great ideas - but how do we actually adopt these practices individually, as a team, and as an organization?

In recent years, we have seen many companies and even some whole industries disrupted because they did not initiate or adapt to change. Instead, they believed their business models and processes were fine and always would be, and they settled for modest growth...until, all of a sudden, they were left in the dust. They were victims of what we call a 'fixed mindset'.

What if, instead of being left behind while your competitors both new and traditional zoom past you, you could be the one to lead the change? That sort of thinking, known as a growth mindset, prepares your organization for massive growth and industry-leading disruption.

In this episode, Katrina Moss, Learning Acceleration Lead for Shopify, discusses how organizations can reframe our current challenging circumstances into an opportunity for unparalleled discovery through practicing a growth mindset.

During her talk, Katrina shows us how to develop and harness growth mindset within your organization to help you navigate challenge and change.

For many companies, COVID-19 may have brought to light systemic issues, challenged long-held beliefs, and upset business models. Trying to sell in the midst of that disruption can feel wrong or awkward. Yet it is vital that we keep our motivation to help our economy get back on its feet and help our organizations navigate the new normal.

In this Future of Work podcast, Colleen Francis shares some of the challenges her clients are facing, and ways they are adapting so they can keep selling both today and tomorrow. 

Colleen and Doug delve into three key needs:

• Flexibility
• Empathy
• Redundancy

About Colleen Francis, Founder and President, Engage Selling Solutions

Colleen is driven by a passion for sales - and results. A successful sales leader for over 20 years, she understands the challenges of selling in today's market. Clients note her frank, no-nonsense approach to solving problems and addressing opportunities – an approach that delivers sales results.

Colleen is the best-selling author of popular sales books including the recent Nonstop Sales Boom. She is a Certified Sales Professional (C.S.P.) and an inductee into the Speaking Hall of Fame. She is recognized as one of the foremost thought leaders on the future of selling by leading publications worldwide, including being named the #1 sales influencer to follow in 2020 by LinkedIn.

Learn More

Visit our website at futureofworkseries.ca.

Learn more about SkyHive at skyhive.io.

The future of work is changing, and so is human capital management. Organizations are reframing their people practices to meet people where they are and provide them with opportunities to thrive.

In this episode, we sit down with Greg Pryor – Workday’s SVP, People & Performance Evangelist – to discuss the next big IDEA in human capital management: inclusion, digitalization, enabling experiences, and adaptive organizations. Greg explores trends and technologies including:

• Shifting from managing to enabling performance
• Leveraging data to create a great place to work for all
• Workday’s Feedback Fridays and canine chat bot, Wex
• Why capabilities are the new career currency
• How automation can elevate essential human skills

About Greg Pryor

Greg Pryor is Senior Vice President, People & Performance Evangelist at Workday, responsible for applying Workday’s technology to optimize the company’s internal talent management programs, including leadership and manager effectiveness, learning management, career engagement and performance enablement.

Learn More

Visit our website at futureofworkseries.ca.

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” – but what does that really mean? How can organizations build a culture that empowers their team to embrace innovation and thrive in change?

In the first episode of our Future of Work Series podcast, we sit down with Konval Matin, Chief of Staff to the Chief Product Officer at Shopify. Konval shares her insights on ambiguity and the need to embrace it in today’s workplace. In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Defining the culture, vision and values in a fast-growing global company
• Weekly Town Halls, Book Bars, and other rituals at Shopify
• Empowering employees through transparent, humble leadership
• Unlocking the courage to be curious
• Leveraging systems to build engaged, customer-focused, results-driven teams
• Shopify’s approach to coaching and continuous learning

About Konval Matin

Konval Matin is Chief of Staff to Shopify's Chief Product Officer (CPO). In addition to acting as a trusted advisor to the CPO, she’s a strategic partner in defining product strategies across the company to meet merchant, partner, and buyer needs both up and down market. Previously, she was Director of Culture and Talent Development, defining and building Shopify’s culture as it scaled from 100 to 4000+ employees across the globe.

Learn More

Visit our website at futureofworkseries.ca.