The Number One Skill Organizations Will Need to Survive in the New Economy | Steve Cadigan

Steve Cadigan’s boss at Electronic Arts was not happy when he resigned after one year to pursue what he saw as the opportunity of a lifetime – the chance to lead HR for a budding startup called LinkedIn. Unbeknownst to him, Steve was at the forefront of a new era of work – the era of high turnover and low tenure where employees are constantly hunting for new opportunities. According to Steve, how skillfully companies respond to this new norm will determine their survival in the new economy.

Steve has spent more than 30 years in HR. He was named LinkedIn’s first Chief HR Officer and helped scale the company from 400 to 4,000 employees in less than four years. He later founded Cadigan Talent Ventures LLC, where he helps companies like Google and Twitter integrate learning into their work design to increase employee engagement and company growth.

In this episode, Dart and Steve Discuss:
- The current speed of innovation, and its threat to traditional companies
- Hiring for adaptability instead of experience
- The modern roots of workplace dissatisfaction
- How Tesla, Amazon, and Microsoft leverage short tenure to their advantage
- Ways to adapt in a culture of high turnover
- The future value of specialization and generalization
- Creating systems to grow talent internally
- The value of traditional education in the new economy
- Seven models for developing talent
- And other topics…

Steve Cadigan has been a cutting-edge expert in global human resources and talent strategy for 30 years, working with clients like Google, Twitter, BBC, Cisco, and GoPro. He is a keynote speaker, advisor, author, and the founder of Cadigan Talent Ventures LLC, where he works with fast-growing organizations to increase their sustainability, improve company culture, and adapt to the ever-changing future of work and talent acquisition.

Before launching his firm, Steve became LinkedIn’s first Chief HR Officer, scaling the company from 400 to 4,000 employees in less than four years. His work has since led him to build talent solutions across six industries in 3 countries, from Silicon Valley to across the globe. Steve is a highly-coveted expert for news stations and publications as a regular contributor to Forbes and guest on CNBC and Bloomberg West. He has also spoken at conferences at the Harvard Business Review Summit, Stanford University, Google, The Ivey School of Business in Shanghai, and the University of Sydney, among others.

Resources Mentioned:
Workquake, by Steve Cadigan: https://www.amazon.com/Workquake-Embracing-Aftershocks-COVID-19-Working/dp/1645434265
Development, social norms, and assignment to task, by Marcel Fafchamp: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1019457108
Get Talent, by Dr. Paul Green: https://www.amazon.com/Get-Talent-Interview-Actions-Results/dp/097714142X
The Inside Gig, by Edie Goldberg: https://www.amazon.com/Inside-Gig-Boundaries-Unleashes-Organizational/dp/1928055605

Connect with Steve:
Steve Cadigan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cadigan/
Steve Cadigan website: https://stevecadigan.com

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.