Former Disney Workforce Futurist to speak at #MasterPlan2014 – Intro to Yvette Montero Salvatico…

As we prepare for the Master Plan conference in March (Melbourne) and April (Wellington) next year, a consistent theme of the conference is that workforce planning, to be strategic, involves more than just the numbers. Change management, executive buy-in, and a recognition of the changing world of work are critical to the successful development and execution of workforce strategy. Many Workforce Planning Strategists are trying to capture the imagination and buy-in of the C-Suite and Executive by applying Futuring techniques to workforce issues. Yvette Montero Salvatico has done just this. Yvette established Future Workforce Insights at the Walt Disney Company, and as partner at US-based Kedge Futures, helps organisations like Mars, Kraft, Marriott Hotels, and many others to create their future.

We are lucky to have Yvette introducing the ‘Futuring’ stream of the MasterPlan Conference. She will present insights into the fluidity of the modern workplace, and provide a framework for navigating the changing world of work.

Managing talent in the 21st century requires new approaches and mindsets. The growing fluidity of the global economy, the dramatic disruptions of the digital revolution, and the radical empowerment of individuals through mobile computing and micro- manufacturing have combined to create a challenging future landscape for talent management and workforce strategies.

In an attempt to make sense of this growing volatility and complexity, organisations have turned to monitoring trends in their external environment, subscribing to research reports and maintaining their own “top 10 trends list.” Unfortunately, this strategy was most effective in an era when your only competitors were from within your industry, lifetime employment was the norm, and globalisation simply meant cheaper goods at Kmart or Costco.

Trends tend to keep us connected to what is immediate and surrounding us, but fail to stretch us to see what is changing, what is emerging, and what is possible. We must move beyond trends to recognize a new world of guiding narratives driven by values, implications, systems, design, and aspirations. These narratives are more than just stories, they help us to explain the world in which the trends exist, why different trends have not emerged, what new trends and patterns might arise, and how designing new outcomes can change our dominant culture and trajectory.

For workforce planning to be effective in a world that is changing faster than ever before, a framework is needed to foresee the coming changes before they disrupt our business models. Yvette will show us the why – and the how – of navigating an uncertain future.

Yvette Montero Salvatico is set to speak at the Inaugural ATC Events/Kienco Strategic Workforce Planning Conference, themed, MasterPlan: How to make HR a true strategic business partner, 26-27 March in Melbourne and 1-2 April in Wellington.