Best of 2023: The Future of Work

In 2023, expert guests joined the Gartner Talent Angle to lay out their visions for the future of jobs, the office and HR. Marshall School of Business professor Dr. John Boudreau and Mercer’s Transformation Services global leader Ravin Jesuthasan propose a new work “operating system” based on deconstructed work and deconstructed talent. Author Julia Hobsbawm offers advice on how organizations should shape the role of the office in an era of work marked by unclear boundaries and changing attitudes. And Vail Resorts CHRO Lynanne Kunkel explains how the HR function can strive for excellence by developing capabilities like change leadership and human-centered experience design.

Ravin Jesuthasan is the global leader of Mercer’s Transformation Services business. He has led multiple research efforts on the global workforce, the emerging digital economy, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the transformation of work. Ravin has led numerous research projects for the World Economic Forum on the transformation of work and the global workforce. He is a regular participant and presenter at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and is a member of the forum’s Steering Committee on Work and Employment. He is the author of “Transformative HR”, “Lead the Work: Navigating a World Beyond Employment,” “Reinventing Jobs: A 4-Step Approach to Applying Automation to Work”, and the Wall Street Journal bestseller “Work Without Jobs: How to Reboot Your Organization’s Work Operating System”.

Dr. John Boudreau is recognized worldwide as a leading evidence-based visionary on the future of work and organization. John is Professor Emeritus of Management and Organization and a Senior Research Scientist with the Center for Effective Organizations, at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California. For 40 years, he has conducted breakthrough research on the bridge between work, superior human capital, leadership and sustainable competitive advantage. His research addresses the future of work and the global HR profession, work automation, HR measurement and analytics, decision-based HR, executive mobility, HR information systems and organizational staffing and development. John helped to establish and then directed the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS) at Cornell University, where he was a professor for more than 20 years.

Julia Hobsbawm is an award-winning business author and futurist of work who writes the “Working Assumptions” column for Bloomberg’s Work Shift. The author of the acclaimed book “The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future,” she was a founder of the U.S.-led Workforce Institute, was chair of the inaugural U.K. Demos Workshift Commission, and now co-hosts the popular podcast, “The Nowhere Office.” Julia is the author of six books, including the award-winning “The Simplicity Principle,” and she was awarded an OBE in the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honours List in 2015 for services to business. She regularly consults for and speaks to corporations, governments and changemakers around the world.

Lynanne Kunkel is the CHRO for Vail Resorts. Prior to joining Vail Resorts in 2017, Lynanne served in various executive positions for Whirlpool, most recently as senior vice president of global HR. Throughout her career, she has led all aspects of HR to deliver enhanced business performance in areas that include business HR, talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development, organizational effectiveness, diversity and inclusion, and talent analytics.