Eye on HR: Don't promise too much...

Any life coach or business psychologist worth their retainer will tell you that vocalizing your intentions dramatically increases the chances of you following through on them. When you tell someone else you're willing to change, you're really telling yourself, but implicitly making them a witness to your grand plans.

And, there's no more popular time for thinking big than early January, and with that comes that added pressure of following through on all those grandiose ideas.

But are we setting ourselves up for failure? Is striving for perfection really the way forward? As I hear so often from co-workers, influencers and various other thought leaders, 'perfect' is the enemy of the good.

Of course, we can always try to be better, but if some aspects of our grand plans don't work out, let's be kind to ourselves, and keep trying, instead of collapsing under the weight of our own expectation.Of course, we can always try to be better, but if some aspects of our grand plans don't work out, let's be kind to ourselves, and keep trying, instead of collapsing under the weight of our own expectation.

We make promises every day; to our employees that the psychological contract and our employer brand values will stay strong; to our friends and family that will be that we will be our best selves and be there for them when they need us; and to ourselves often with unrealistic goals and targets - perhaps the hardest of all promises to keep.

Is this a call for a ban on New Year's Eve resolutions? Absolutely not. But it is a warning that they can often go unfulfilled. And if that happens (or doesn't), try not to burn it all down. You are still valuable, full of worth and able to start again. As my virtual HIIT class trainer at the gym likes to say: It's you against you'.

Embracing uncertainty

Ok, important self-care message done. Now, let's talk about the year ahead. How does it all look for you at this point in January?

I don't think there's been a year gone by in the whole time I've been in HR publishing when the term VUCA hasn't been mentioned. A term borrowed from the military, VUCA has surely never made more sense than right now to adopt its usage in HR and business.

Volatile? Check. Uncertain? Absolutely. Complex? When was it ever simple. Ambiguous? Rarely is anything clear.

All this said, we have been here before, we have come through recessions before, and we have adapted to change. Our taechis better than it's ever been. We are smarter than we have ever been. Our ability to network is better than it has ever been.

With the right guidance and support I hope we can navigate these next few months and thrive.

ChatGPT is having a moment

In my last Eye on HR column, I mentioned briefly the game-changing chatbot from from OpenAI called ChatGPT. I think we will be hearing a lot more about this tech as the year progresses, with the usual debates about the opportunities to augment human work versus supplanting various workforce cohorts, and which will be more likely.

I wonder - have OpenAI developed this bot as a cautionary tale? It certainly feels like there are applications of the tech and its as-yet-undefined secondary effects, which will indeed change so much for so many of us. Every age has its technological bete-noires, as this piece on technophobia ably demonstrates: is ChatGPT and the discourse around it really that different?

Well, I built on Tim Sackett's recent blog post about the software and asked our friendly chatbot to predict what will be the developments in workplace wellbeing - here's what it had to say:

1. There will be a greater emphasis on mental health and self-care in the workplace. Companies will prioritize the wellbeing of their employees and offer resources such as counseling services and stress-reducing activities.
2. Remote work will become the norm, with more companies adopting flexible work arrangements to allow their employees to balance their personal and professional lives.
3. The use of technology, such as virtual reality, will become more widespread to facilitate team-building and collaboration among remote workers.
4. Workplaces will prioritize sustainability and eco-friendliness, offering green initiatives and incentives for employees to reduce their environmental impact.
5. Workplace culture will shift towards a more holistic approach to employee well-being, including a focus on physical health and wellness through on-site fitness facilities and healthy eating options.

Pretty accurate, huh? But also pretty generic. Nevertheless, this is an incredible advance in the world of chatbots (thoughts and prayers to the engineers who have been pioneering this stuff quietly for decades and whose work didn't catch fire for some unknown reason). Importantly, this is also a call to action for everyone in publishing to work harder and dig deeper in their industry analysis. Is it a call for even crazier hot takes? That's how some might choose to react to it, but I hope not. Chatbots 2023 - a brave new world but one with the potential for us to UNLEASH.The agenda for UNLEASH America has launched - you can find sessions covering AI and analytics here.