In an election cycle with an unprecedented number of female candidates, the nebulous quality of “likability” hangs over the women making a presidential bid. Over the last six months, we’ve seen moments on and off the debate stage that reflect the experiences many women face in the workplace and beyond: Men interrupt, women wait their turn. It’s a double bind for women. Speak up, and risk being seen as aggressive, or stay quiet, and risk being characterized as invisible. Also, Elizabeth Warren has repeatedly referenced a setback early in her career, when she claims to have been fired from her first teaching job because she was pregnant. Right-leaning media outlets challenged Warren’s claims. The skepticism could, in part, be chalked up to politics as usual. But it’s also a reflection of how allegations of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace are often received, despite data that supports an increasing number of claims in recent years. Fast Company
One small number was perhaps the biggest news of 2019: the low unemployment rate. The tight talent market has inspired many recent employment trends, from the importance of learning to the evolution of recruiting. So long as the market continues to contract, these trends will likely deepen even as new challenges appear in 2020. The evolution of technology, employment law, and the way work gets done will also shape 2020, according to experts who spoke to HR Dive. As the work world changes, HR professionals from every industry will face similar challenges. Some include: C-suite shakeups, recruiters rethinking their ideal candidate, employers bringing their pipelines within, preparing employees to deal with massive change, more tech, and virtual employee healthcare. HR Dive
What skills does the workforce value most? LinkedIn Learning surfaced timely data from our network of over 660+ million professionals and 20+ million jobs to reveal the 15 most in-demand soft and hard skills of 2020. Whatever your goals are for 2020 — to take on a bigger project, start a new job, lead a team — learning these skills can help you stand out for that next opportunity. Soft skills needed most in 2020: Creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, emotional intelligence. Hard skills: Blockchain, Cloud computing, analytical reasoning, AI, UX design, business analysis, affiliate marketing, sales, scientific computing, and video production. LinkedIn
Each year, around 185,000 MBA students graduate in the U.S. alone. A significant portion of these students spend more than 100 hours each preparing for so-called case interviews — the favored evaluation method of elite consulting firms such as McKinsey, in which candidates are presented with a business problem and asked to talk through how they would solve the problem. This is a colossal waste of time. Case interviews are a terrible evaluation method; it’s time to end their use in hiring. Why? Case interviews are not a reliable way of predicting job performance. They are designed so there is no right or wrong answer. Not having a clear and structured way of evaluating candidates makes it more likely that interviewers will be influenced by their biases and leads to arbitrary decisions. HBR
This week on the HR Happy Hour Show, Steve Boese was joined by Nishika de Rosairo, CEO & Founder of Experiential Insight, to talk about how organizations can think about addressing the skills and capability gaps in their workforces, and how to work toward unlocking people’s potential in the workplace. On the show, Nishika talked about her view on how work and workplaces are changing, and how people in the workplace have changing needs as well — searching for more meaning and belonging at work. Preparing people for the workplace of the future is not just about arming them with the latest set of technical skills, it is equally about helping them to adapt, be tolerant of ambiguity, and be open to embrace change. HR Happy Hour
