Last week I talked about how virtual reality is predicted to affect the recruitment process
In this week’s article I’m going to look at things we take for granted today.
If you find yourself struggling to hire the best talent because you’re not providing the latest gadgets then let’s have a chat. We’re used to placing amazing talent into organisations that are using “old” technology, platforms and gadgets.
Some employees want the latest and greatest
In the ever technologically changing world, it’s hard for employers to stay ahead of the “tech” game. Investing in new technology, gadgets, apps, platforms, devices costs money. Big money.
Some employers have already discovered they’re unable to attract the human talent they want because they don’t provide the latest, brightest or shiniest object for employees to work with.
Maybe our ancestors who were on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution felt like how we’re feeling now: that time has sped up to a point where we’re all struggling to keep up, and “things” are getting more sophisticated.
Today, we’re working and living in a time of unparalleled technological innovations, advances and inventions.
Knowledge Doubling Curve
Back in 1982, American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist, Buckminster Fuller coined the “Knowledge Doubling Curve”.
Mr Fuller noticed that until 1900 human knowledge doubled approximately every 100 years. By around 1945 (at the end of WWII) this (human) knowledge had increased in speed 4x where it was doubling every 25 years.
Today – maybe because we have the increased technology to measure and record such things – we know that different types of knowledge have different rates of growth.
For example, nanotechnology knowledge is doubling every two years and clinical knowledge every 18 months. But on average human knowledge is doubling every 13 months.
Further, back in 2013, IBM predicted the “internet of things” would lead to the doubling of knowledge every 12 hours!
18 technological things that have been “born” since 2008
Today, we take everyday things for granted. Apps. Tools. Gadgets. Technology.
We’ve become so familiar with these “things” it’s surprising to discover they’re actually not that old.
The iPad – sold by Steve Jobs on stage back in only 2010 as being way better than a laptop. Today, the word “iPad” is used as a noun (much to Samsung’s disgust I’m sure) when people really mean “tablet”.
Google Chrome – this browser was launched on the 1st of September 2008. Again – another recent noun. We Google things using Chrome.
Snapchat – first launched in 2011 as a messaging app for disappearing photos. Who would ever have thought there’d be a need for that!? The name changed from Pictaboo to Snapchat in 2011. It’s now a public company with a 2018 revenue of US$1.18 billion.
Airbnb – the idea was first formed in 2007 because a couple of flatmates thought they might be able to rent out their apartment to make a few bucks. It was finally launched as a service in 2008. Airbnb is one of the highest valued startups in the US ever. As at May 2018 it had a value of around US$38 billion.
Spotify – a Swedish music playing platform first launched in 2008 in Stockholm. In April 2018 – the first day of Spotify’s trading – it delivered a US$26.5 billion valuation. Not bad for one of the founders who started it sleeping on a mattress on a bare floor!
Oculus VR (a virtual reality company) – started in June 2012 by a 19 year old using Kickstarter (raised $2.5m for a headset). Then raised an additional $16m and was sold to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion.
Stripe (an online payment system – similar to Paypal but different). Stripe wanted to be known as one of the online payments disrupters. Today big companies like Target and the NFL use Stripe to process their payments. In September 2018 Stripe was worth US$20 billion.
Instagram – launched in 2010 with 25,000 people, bought by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion.
Kickstarter – launched in 2009 because one of the cofounders wanted to crowd-source the cost of inviting musicians to a jazz festival in New Orleans. No one knows the exact value of Kickstarter, but in 2015 it was estimated to be worth in the region of US$520 million.
GPS on smartphones – Although GPS has been around since 1978 and available commercially from 1993, it’s only been on our smartphones since about 2008/09. Apple first launched the app in the iPhone 3G – using turn-by-turn navigation. Can you believe Tom-Tom even had a $100 app for that?!). At the same time Apple was charging for GPS access, Google launched a free Android option (2009).
Lyft – a ride sharing app in the USA and Toronto – has 1.4 million user drivers and is valued at $15.1 million.
Pinterest – launched in March 2010. Pinterest has plans to go public sometime this year (2019).
Square – conceived as a mobile payments service that could process credit card payments with an app and reader plugged into smartphones. Started because someone couldn’t process Amex cards the way he wanted. Today Square is a $29 million public company.
4G – Can you believe 4G has only been around since 2010 (Samsung) and 2012 (iPhone5).
Uber – 2009
Venmo – first went online in 2009 as a music startup. However, the founders decided to switch to payments after one of its founders, Iqram Magdon-Ismail, came to visit cofounder Andrew Kortina in New York City for the weekend and forgot his wallet.
Venmo was acquired by Braintree in 2012 for $26.2 million. In 2013 PayPal bought the company.
WhatsApp – originally started as a messaging app in 2009, the app grew organically in developing countries as a way to avoid txt sms messaging fees. Facebook bought the app in 2014 for $19 billion.
Slack – a work chat app built in 2012. According to Wikipedia, Slack is an American cloud-based set of proprietary team collaboration tools and services, founded by Stewart Butterfield. Slack began as an internal tool used by his company, Tiny Speck, in the development of Glitch, a now defunct online game.
Exponential Technological Advances
The technology revolution we’re currently experiencing is marked by a series of exponential technological advances. Words that weren’t even in our vocab with their current meanings a few years back are now everyday parlance: cloud, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented and virtual reality, internet of things, robotics, quantum computing.
As businesses enter the “post-digital” era, where employees want to work with the latest, greatest, shiniest and fastest “thing”, it’s becoming increasingly challenging for employers to hire (and keep staff) when they don’t have pockets deep enough to use the latest toys.
According to Accenture’s Technology Vision 2019 annual report: “The Post-Digital Era is Upon Us – Are You Ready for What’s Next?,” it predicted that over the next three years Human+ Workers will be required.
Human+ Workers
They predict that if you don’t change your work place you’ll hinder your workforce.
As workforces become “human+” – with each individual worker empowered by their skillsets and knowledge plus a new, growing set of capabilities made possible through technology – companies must support a new way of working in the post-digital age.
Seventy-one per cent (71%) of executives believe their employees are more digitally mature than their organisation, resulting in a workforce “waiting” for the organisation to catch up.
Best fit
If your organisation struggles to attract the best talent because you don’t have the brightest, shiniest or fastest kit for them to work with, please let us help. Here at EVP Recruitment we’re used to placing the best person into each role we fill. This is what we do each day. Every day.
Finding the best talent for our clients is just another day in the office for us. Which means our clients can focus on doing what they do best – keeping their business running.
You can read the original of this article here