2016 Global Talent Summit Report

GLOBAL TALENT SUMMIT The Future of Jobs and Education 2016 SUMMIT REPORT

Global Talent Summit 2016

THE 2016 GLOBAL TALENT SUMMIT BY THE NUMBERS Since its inception in 2013, the Global Talent Summit is one of Diplomatic Courier’s most popular twitter discussions on future trends. The 2016 Summit utilized two hashtags: #2050Jobs and #Worldin2050, which generated a rich discussion on the future of jobs and education globally.

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200 ATTENDEES

Since 2013, the Global Talent Summit has brought in over 600 attendees from c-suite, public policy, the diplomatic corps, global media, civil society, and academia. This year was no different. Over 200 attendees comprised the audience at the Gallup Building in Washington, DC and their makeup was as follows: 27% public sector and policy; 33% private sector; and, 40% civil society, non-profit, and NGOs. COPYRIGHT © 2016, DIPLOMATIC COURIER, A GLOBAL AFFAIRS MEDIA NETWORK™.

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The Future of Jobs & Education

WELCOME

THE FUTURE OF WORK & EDUCATION Diplomatic Courier convened the 3rd annual pre-Davos Global Talent Summit to discuss the nexus of jobs and education. We are thrilled to share with our audience globally the outcomes of the summit in the form of this report, which will be also distributed to major global leadership gatherings this year, including the G20/B20 Summits in China, the G7 Summit in Japan, and the APEC Summit in Peru.

Ana C. Rold CEO & Publisher

In the world’s top economies employers are struggling to fill positions while unemployment rages. Consider the infographic below, which illustrates the magnitude of the skills gap problem in the world’s top 10 economies.

On our third year of this very popular now convening we brought a constellation of data gurus, innovators, educators and private industry leaders to discuss the demands placed on today’s diverse and global workforce with a lens towards the World in 2050. The experts agree: to thrive in a rapidly evolving, technologyfocused world, future job seekers must not only possess strong skills in areas such as language arts, mathematics, and science, but also skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, persistence, collaboration, and curiosity. However, data shows students are not attaining these critical employability skills. This year’s summit’s brain trust, which included our newest thought partner, Gallup, shared best practices and innovative ideas, which we are proud to present in this report.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and look forward to engaging with you as we build a platform for a better world together in 2016 and beyond.

Ana C. Rold CEO & Publisher Diplomatic Courier

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The Future of Jobs & Education CONTENTS

GLOBAL TALENT SUMMIT 2016 | REPORT CONTENTS WELCOME

PRESENTATIONS

The Future of Work and Education

Science Education Global Council and STEM

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Ana C. Rold, CEO and Publisher, Diplomatic Courier PERSPECTIVES

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Global Prosperity Hinges on Closing Jobs-Education Gap Steve Crabtree, Senior Editor and Research Analyst, Gallup

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The Increasing Importance of Jobs With a Purpose

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Carol O’Donnell, Director, Smithsonian Science Education Center

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Small Businesses and Job Creation Suzanne Clark, Executive Vice President, US Chamber of Commerce

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Finding the Right Talent Jason Green, Co-Founder, SVP, and General Counsel, SkillSmart

Jean McCormick, Vice President of Content, BraveNew

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#2050 Jobs: Future Challenges Asmaa AbuMezied, Imran Newaz Khurshid, and Niza Castaneda, Atlas Corps Fellows KEYNOTE

FORUMS

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Workforce Education Readiness and the Global Skills Gap Brandon Busteed, Executive Director, Education & Workforce Development, Gallup Fumbi Chima, Chief Information Officer, Burberry Larry Quinlan, Chief Information Officer, Deloitte

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Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO, Gallup

Crystal Arredondo, Chair of National Board, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) Jon Clifton, Managing Director of Global Analytics, Gallup Joshua Marcuse, Senior Advisor for Policy Innovation, US Department of Defense Farah Mohamed, Founder and CEO, G(irls)20

The Coming Jobs War PRESENTATIONS

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The Future of Microfranchising Andrew Mack, Principal and Founder, AMGlobal Consulting

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The Nexus of Education and Jobs Robert Nicholson, Chief Administrative Officer, NPower PUBLISHING. Diplomatic Courier magazine is produced by Medauras Global, an independent private publishing firm. The magazine is printed six times a year and publishes a blog and online commentary weekly at www.diplomaticourier.com.

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Joblessness: The Real Number | Human Capital

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The Future of Learning Edith Cecil, Vice President, Institute of International Education Jean McCormick, Vice President of Content, BraveNew

MASTHEAD PUBLISHER Ana C. Rold ADVISORY BOARD Andrew M. Beato Fumbi Chima Sir Ian Forbes Lisa Gable Kirk L. Jowers Mary D. Kane Greg Lebedev Anita McBride EDITORS Kathryn H. Floyd Whitney Grespin Michael Kofman Paul Nash

READ IT ON WRITERS Winona Roylance Amar Kakirde CREATIVE DIRECTOR Christian Gilliham PRESS/MEDIA Press@diplomaticourier.org EDITORIAL Editors@diplomaticourier.org MAILING ADDRESS 1660 L Street, NW Suite 501 Washington, DC 20036

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Global Talent Summit 2016 PERSPECTIVE

Global Prosperity Hinges on Closing Jobs-Education Gap STORY BY STEVE CRABTREE

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he future of the global workforce—and by extension, future prosperity and well-being worldwide—relies in no small part on establishing better links between jobs and education. That theme resounded strongly throughout the day at Diplomatic Courier magazine’s annual Global Talent Summit, hosted by Gallup in Washington, DC, on January 13.

On some level, the need for education to better equip students to find good jobs is so obvious that it seems strange the topic is even worthy of discussion.

But that dialogue is as important today as it’s ever been. The lackluster, uneven recovery from the global recession in the developed world; the commodities bust that has slammed recent rapid growth in many emerging markets to a halt; and increasingly toxic levels of youth unemployment in many countries—all of these speak to a desperate need for new ways to release currently untapped human capital around the world.

Gallup CEO Jim Clifton framed the discussion in the event’s keynote address by arguing that the stakes are higher than they were for previous generations because for many young people, the notion of a good job now represents far more than financial security and the ability to support a family. Millennials, in particular, are searching for jobs that also serve as a source of fulfillment and self-expression: “If your job doesn’t have meaning, your life doesn’t have meaning,”

Clifton said. “So if employers are not dealing with purpose, they’re not dealing with the whole individual.”

Other participants described how their organizations are working to match education and training with labor market needs through a range of innovative strategies. In some cases, this means providing opportunities for more highly targeted training that does not place as heavy of a burden on those for whom traditional higher education may be out of reach. Robert Nicholson of the national nonprofit NPower spoke about how his organization bridges the technology skills gap between 1) underserved veterans and young people and 2) tech companies seeking new sources of talent and energy.

Aligning jobs and education also means adapting traditional educational curricula to better address the need for business growth as a fundamental engine of job creation. Clifton called for an increased focus in schools on identifying and nurturing entrepreneurial talent so that young people are better prepared to build enterprises that accelerate economic growth: “We have to make the development of entrepreneurs more intentional because innovation has no value without a customer standing next to it.”

From a global perspective, overcoming the education-employment gap may even mean exporting knowledge and experience from businesses in the developed world to lower educational barriers to economic participation in

Millennials, in particular, are searching for jobs that also serve as a source of fulfillment and self-expression: “If your job doesn’t have meaning, your life doesn’t have meaning,” Clifton said. “So if employers are not dealing with purpose, they’re not dealing with the whole individual.”

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the developing world. Andrew Mack of AMGlobal Consulting shifted the focus to employment in the developing world in describing the role of microfranchises—i.e. small-scale franchises that give low-income people the opportunity to run businesses without having to overcome the far more daunting barriers associated with starting a business from scratch.

Whatever the approach, any strategy for bridging the gap between schools and employers requires active participation on both sides. Universities are among the most important venues for such partnerships. As Larry Quinlan, Chief Information Officer at Deloitte, noted, “A lot of experiential learning can’t be provided by schools. There’s a huge argument for corporate investment in education far beyond money.”

However, as Quinlan also said, maintaining crucial links between education and the workplace is often a far more arduous task than one might expect. Lowering the barriers between the two worlds requires creativity, resolve, and a dose of humility. But as many of the summit’s participants demonstrated, there may be no more important effort toward helping young people around the world attain good jobs and good lives. ■

Steve Crabtree is a senior editor and research analyst for Gallup. He contributed to writing Building Engaged Schools, Gallup’s book on education reform.

The Future of Jobs & Education PERSPECTIVE

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Global Talent Summit 2016 PERSPECTIVE

The Increasing Importance of Jobs With a Purpose STORY BY JEAN MCCORMICK

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n January 13th, I participated in The Global Talent Summit 2016: The Future of Jobs & Education, part of the World in 2050 series, sponsored

by Diplomatic Courier at the Gallup Headquarters in Washington, DC. BraveNew was a Thought Partner of the event. Representatives from the Fortune 500, global NGOs, the government, and enterprises of all sizes spoke at and interacted with each other during the day long conference, which included panels on such topics as “The Global Skills Gap” and “Small Businesses and Job Creation.”

The primary takeaway for me was that the education portion of an individual’s life no longer exists exclusively from the age of 5 to 18 (or whenever the last degree is attained) and the full-time work portion from age 18 or 22 to retirement.

Instead learning will be life long and the acquisition of skills for individuals will start well before the granting of degrees.

In addition, three themes ran through these panels, which should be of interest to those involved in the interface of the workforce and education.

THE INCREASING IMPORTANCE OF JOBS WITH A PURPOSE Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, started the day with his keynote on “The Coming Jobs War” and noted the changing nature of the American Dream, based on Gallup’s studies. In the mid part of the last century, the Baby Boomers

and their predecessors sought three things for a life of content: “Peace, Freedom, Family.” A job represented a paycheck.

Now with the entrance of Millennials in the workforce, employees want more.

They not only want a job, they want a job with purpose. Once it was “pay before purpose,” now it is “purpose before pay.”

But society is not there yet. Clifton stated that about 30 million US workers are engaged, 50 million are not and the remaining 20 million actively disengaged.

That’s a major problem that will need to be solved on the journey toward 2050.

Later in the day, Jon Clifton, Managing Director of Global Analytics at Gallup, in his talk on “Joblessness: The Real Number,” mentioned that globally when people are in jobs that they hate, they do worse in life than those who don’t have a job.

One possible solution that could be considered for scaling came from Joshua Marcuse, Senior Advisor for Policy Innovation at the US Department of Defense in a panel on “human capital.” Marcuse noted that Defense Secretary Ashoton Carter, during a break from government service, spent time observing start-ups and more established technology companies in Silicon Valley. The innovative policies impressed him deeply. After his swearingin last February, he launched the Force of Future program, which aims to attract and retain the most desired talent to the Department of Defense. They have sought to increase engagement from

“The education portion of an individual’s life no longer exists exclusively from the age of 5 to 18 (or whenever the last degree is attained) and the full-time work portion from age 18 or 22 to retirement. Instead learning will be life long and the acquisition of skills for individuals will start well before the granting of degrees.”

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thought managers to forklift operators.

A number of key principles underpin the program: helping employees find a sense of purpose, achieve a sense of personal growth, craft an engagement experience, work for strong leadership and management, be assigned to appropriate positions and be understood through the use of data.

IS THERE A SKILLS GAP OR AN EDUCATION & WORKPLACE GAP? Could bridging the chasm between educational institutions and the workplace solve the skills gap? Or does the role of arming the workforce with the correct skills lie exclusively with enterprise?

Brandon Busteed, the Executive Director of Gallup Education and Workforce Development, shared some fascinating insights and statistics to kickoff his panel. Globally there are more individuals with degrees than at any other time. And yet there is still a skills gap. The more educated an individual, the more likely he is to have a good job.

Busteed also brought up a perception gap of preparation between universities and the professional world. In the US, 98% of provosts were “confident’ that their students were prepared for the workforce. Yet only 13% of those in the workforce and 11% of the c-suite strongly agreed that workers had been properly prepared. Busted then posited that there must be a collaboration between education and

The Future of Jobs & Education PERSPECTIVE

corporations to facilitate engagement and to better prepare workers with skills. He believes that two ingredients are critical to future employee engagement: jobs and internships and project based learning.

The deeper the experience offered, the more meaningful the engagement.

Deloitte CIO Larry Quinlan challenged the perception of preparation as he argued that corporations could be “unreasonable” in their expectations.

While he was actually very pleased with the product of many US universities, he did note the inconsistency in quality among them.

He agreed though with the need for building a strong bridge between the two worlds. Corporations must invest in educational institutions as a means to secure their future. He added that the investment must be more than monetary and include human interaction. He also spoke about the learning that goes on once individuals arrive at Deloitte with Deloitte University Edith Cecil, VP of the Institute of International Education, in the panel on “The Future of Learning” (which I also participated in) represented the non-profit world as she discussed her organization’s critical role in facilitating semesters abroad for students. From her vantage point, corporations must have a global education strategy for their workers, particularly their young ones.

Overseas experiences provide an “edge” when looking for a job in this global economy. While 4.5 million students travel abroad annually, only 300, 000 are US students. IIE has been working to increase

that number and also facilitate travel to non-traditional places. She feels that we are moving from a “brain drain economy” (where residents would get educated in their home country and then leave for another) to a “brain circulation” one.

The Importance of Collaboration and Community in Fostering Job Creation and Engagement.

Creating, joining and engaging in communities has been and will continue to be critical to the creation of jobs and to meaningful engagement in them.

Both Jim Clifton of Gallup and Suzanne Clark of the US Chamber of Commerce stressed the critical role of innovation in job creation in the US. And both stressed the tremendous challenges that face entrepreneurs with Clark detailing her personal thrilling but scary journey.

Yet startups and small businesses are critical to the US job landscape. Only 1, 000 companies in the US employ 10,000 workers are more. We are a nation of startups and small businesses.

Community and collaboration have fostered these enterprises in multiple ways.

Crystal Arredondo, Chair of National Board, National Association of Women Business Owners, detailed how collaboration had shepherded positive change in her community over the years. Thirty-six percent of small businesses in the US are women-owned.

Her organization was founded in the mid-1970’s as a place for women in DC to network and share experiences with each other. The organization now has

60 chapters with over 5, 000 members.

As one of the founders said, “if you can’t get a seat at the table, then build your own table.” Over time, they participated in changing laws and policies making it easier for a woman to secure financial backing for their companies though it took until 1988 for all 50 states to allow a woman to receive a loan without a man’s signature.

Likewise, Suzanne Clark defined her organization as a “federation” that defends enterprise stressed the strengths as they tackle and lobby on such issues as trade, tax and policy. With 95% of customers for US business outside this country, no one small business can battle policy challenges alone.

In terms of community increasing professional engagement, I was able to discuss the power of online collaboration in knowledge sharing communities through my work at BraveNew. We are entering the age of Learning 3.0, where organizations are harnessing the intelligence of the workforce to create new and dynamic learning opportunities.

In online communities, employees can surface knowledge and content to help them engage and solve their most pressing issues with like-minded peers.

Throughout the day, it was stressed that no one knows what the most critical issues in the workforce will be in 2050.

The key is structuring a powerful and flexible framework that will be able to meet the challenges of the creation and fulfillment of meaningful jobs on a global scale at the mid-century point.

In an ironic twist, on the same day of the summit, GE announced that it was moving its headquarters to Boston from Connecticut. The press release and the subsequent news reports all stressed the same factors for this significant move: proximity to the area’s 55 colleges and universities, favorable government policies and the ability to join the community of technology companies in the Innovation District and Boston area. The move represents one step in closing the gap between education and corporate America as well as the potential power of community collaboration. ■ Jean McCormick is Vice President of Content at BraveNew.

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#2050 Jobs: Future Challenges STORY BY ASMAA ABUMEZIED, IMRAN NEWAZ KHURSHID, AND NIZA CASTANEDA

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s part of the so-called “millennial generation” we have experienced an unprecedented use of technology. Technology is omnipresent. Revolutionary technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, robotics, biotechnology, etc., are changing our lives in a rapidly accelerating pace. It is no longer possible to consider personal and professional lives without the Internet, smartphones, computers, and geolocation devices, among others.

Due to technology and globalization, today´s world configuration is by far more complex than it was in the past.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution and the disruptive technological changes accompanied with socio-economic, geopolitical, and demographic developments are changing the employment and talent landscape.

Fortunately, these topics have been placed at the forefront of dialogues across the globe. In particular, the Diplomatic Courier examined “The Future of Jobs and Education” by 2050, during the 3rd annual Global Talent Summit in January of 2016. Speakers and panelists discussed the nexus between those topics, with highlights including: • Why enhancing skills, knowledge, and competences cannot be neglected.

• The importance of getting a job that covers more than just basic needs.

• The education challenge.

WHY ENHANCING SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & COMPETENCE CANNOT BE NEGLECTED If there is a ‘constant’ thing, it is only ‘change.’ Thinking about future jobs and requirements of creating them compels ways of equipping youths with compatibility and skills needed to overcome challenges that are not there yet! However, one has to be cautious when talking about skills; for example, critical thinking skills is among the highly demanded skills in the labor market, but can we really define what critical thinking is? This is a question asked by Brandon Busteed, the Executive Director of Education and Workforce Development at Gallup. The question triggered a discussion about how the definitions of certain soft skills and their requirement can vary over time and place.

It is fundamental to focus on building skills early on from kindergarten as expressed by Carol O’Donnell, Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center affirms. O’Donnell pointed out the importance of developing student’s ability to identity problems rather than handling them only. For example, Smithsonian is one of those schools which focuses on project-based learning and hands-on experience. Through participating in student-centered classroom the students not only learn about critical thinking skills but also other important soft skills such as problem-solving skills, teamwork, and communication skills, etc.

Millennials, in particular, are searching for jobs that also serve as a source of fulfillment and self-expression: “If your job doesn’t have meaning, your life doesn’t have meaning,” Clifton said. “So if employers are not dealing with purpose, they’re not dealing with the whole individual.”

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The pressure of acknowledging skills, knowledge, and competence is unprecedented as the world become more globalized. Corporations value a diverse set of skills, awareness, and exposure to different cultures, global experiences and education. Edith Cecil, the Vice President of Institute of International Education expressed concerns regarding the US students’ inability to prepare themselves to the global market due to their lack of global experience. There is a prominence of global education and overseas experiences as global students’ mobility increase competitiveness.

JOBS THAT COVER MORE THAN JUST BASIC NEEDS Global joblessness is 5.9% (ILO data).

40% of world’s unemployment is unemployed youth. By 2025, in just under 10 years, we will experience 25 million new job seekers in just one country, Nigeria (Andrew Mack, AMGlobal). The technological changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will change the job nature, ways of job searching, and employment trends.

“The Future of Jobs” report by the World Economic Forum 2016, highlighted job losses in industries and job families such as office and administrative, manufacturing and production, and construction and extraction. At the same time, new jobs and skills will be created in business

The Future of Jobs & Education PERSPECTIVE

and financial operations, management, computer and mathematical, architecture and engineering and sales.

Job seekers’ needs are not limited to basic requirement anymore; as they look for jobs that provide purpose, prospects of development and meaning (Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup). Clifton, embrace the idea of entrepreneurship as a solution of the change in job nature.

However, such solution doesn’t capture the complexity of creating such jobs that would still provide equal opportunities to everyone. The challenge here is to encourage recruiters to see beyond the pre-designed molds of what constitute a “good typical employee.”

Andrew Mack, founder of AMGlobal, emphasizes the need for structural changes where youth drive, energy, and creativity is truly appreciated otherwise the result would be employee disengagement. In the US 68% of the employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged (Gallup, 2015).

Furthermore, companies need to reconsider their inclusiveness and

diversity approaches; according to the “Future of Jobs” report, technology and data analytics could be useful tools to advance workforce parity.

THE EDUCATION CHALLENGE The current state of education system has been highlighted as a great challenge in many conferences and platforms locally and globally. A Gallup survey for WISE experts from over 140 countries shows that 75% of them expressed dissatisfaction with their countries’ education system, its inability to be innovative, and inability to prepare students for the future job market.

This reflects the prevalent education system’s inability to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to fit in the work market.

In this sense, education is not a domestic matter, as Carol O’Donnell, notes, “Education is a global effort.”

Consequently, serious and continuous calls for reforming education to cope with the coming technological revolution were released in the Global Talent Summit 2016 and the World Economic Forum

Annual Meeting 2016. “Companies cannot afford to not have a big global education strategy” (Edith Cecil, IIE), for that reason, public and private entities should be engaged to provide solutions in order to allow “people to understand how the world is changing” (Larry Quinlan, CIO, Deloitte).

A call for more partnerships between companies and education institutions through either corporate investment or human capital investment was stressed

by Larry Quinlan. With such a call, the main question is “How can governments, educators, employers, and businesses collaborate to harness the future technical revolution opportunities and prepare for its challenges and how can we actively involve education institutions in this conversation?” ■

About the authors: Asmaa AbuMezied, Imran Newaz Khurshid, and Niza Castaneda are Atlas Corps Fellows, a Thought Partner of Diplomatic Courier’s World in 2050 initiative.

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Global Talent Summit 2016 KEYNOTE

Keynote Address The Coming Jobs War PRESENTER JIM CLIFTON, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GALLUP

THE STORY OF employment has changed; workers want something different.

This discussion focused on the way forward for American companies and the workforce that they employ. Jim Clifton is the CEO of Gallup, the preeminent polling organization in the US and around the world. Leveraging Gallup poll data, Clifton provided insights on what millennials hope to gain from their careers and ways for the American economy to maintain its preeminent position.

Clifton noted that in his young adulthood, the American people wanted three things: peace, freedom, and to have a family. In the past 10-20 years, these desires have been superseded by the goal of having a good job. The effects of this shift are evident: people wait longer to get married and couples have fewer children. The job is central to the millennial conception of life in America. The American economy and American businesses must change to respond to the demands of millennial workers. The new workforce wants development over simple satisfaction.

Companies that respond to this desire are rewarded by engaged and committed workforce. Innovation means something in such an environment and can spur new growth for America and the world.

There are three differences between the job environments that baby boomers expected and millennials prefer.

For the millennial: -Purpose is prioritized over pay and benefits.

-Development is preferred to satisfaction.

-They want to be led by a coach, not a boss.

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Building a volleyball court and providing free lunch does very little if the worker is not engaged in their day-to-day work. When purpose is lacking, any perks offered by the business are met with complaints and not increased productivity. Ensuring that employees have a genuine sense of purpose allows employers to leverage the full potential of their workforce. When purpose is present, employees can forgo some of the perks. Bosses are key to this effort, as they have to guide their employees, maintaining that sense of purpose. If millennial’s life centers on his job, making it more meaningful makes his life more meaningful.

WHO IS IN THE OFFICE? In “America Inc.”, an amalgamation of all business in America, there are 100 million full-time employees. Thirty million of those are actively involved and driving innovation.

These employees require less healthcare and interact better customers. A growth in that segment would benefit America in myriad ways, least of all diplomatically, through increased international business ties. Twenty million actively disengaged. These workers drive away business. When someone from the 30 million engaged workers creates a new opportunity, these workers choke off that innovation. Fifty million workers are somewhere in between, ready to go either way, depending on how well employers engage their employees.

WHERE DO GOOD JOBS COME FROM? Not just innovation. Clifton provides the example of Nebraska. Leaders in that

state demolished the State Fair in order to build up “innovation centers”. Few if any jobs resulted from that particular push for innovation. The effort to step up innovation has been generally unsuccessful; leaders are targeting the wrong problem. Innovation does not work unless a customer is standing there for it.

Better pipelines for entrepreneurship are key. Overall, there are 26 million businesses in America, 6 million which are active and functional. 4 million of those are small mom and pop companies. That leaves only 2 million businesses aiming to continue growing, in the entrepreneurial spirit.

Only 1000 American companies employ more than 10,000 workers. How can America build up its entrepreneurship pipeline? Clifton points to the strength of early identification and accelerated development in the arts and education.

If we turn the same mindset to entrepreneurship, we can find the 75,000 potential entrepreneurs that will create the businesses for America’s future. ■

The Future of Jobs & Education KEYNOTE

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Global Talent Summit 2016 PRESENTATION

Presentation The Future of Microfranchising PRESENTER ANDREW MACK, PRINCIPAL AND FOUNDER, AMGLOBAL CONSULTING

THE JOB MARKET IS moving into unfamiliar territory as more young adults enter the workforce. In its current state, it may not be able to handle such an increase. Andrew Mack is the founder and Principal of AMGlobal Consulting, based in Washington DC. AMGlobal Consulting focuses on improving the business of clients in emerging markets. Mack has experience at the World Bank and in private financial industry. This experience has allowed him to become a leader in economic development issues, Corporate Social responsibility, and emerging markets.

The job market cannot stand still if it is to accommodate and leverage the skills of young people entering the workforce. For years, job progress has mean high barriers to entry, with age serving as the key to advancement. With hundreds of millions of young people looking for jobs right now, this model is unsustainable.

Microfranchising appears to be the solution, with its promise of rapid scalability, high productivity, and strong engagement. It would allow entrepreneurially minded individuals to pursue useful enterprises.

Mack noted that too many young people are stuck in minimally productive jobs, wasting everyone’s time.

There is unprecedented competition in the job market, driven by young populations in emerging countries.

In countries like South Africa, youth unemployment is above 50%. This is not just a problem in the global south, as youth unemployment remains intractable in Spain and Greece. By 2025, 25 million more

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workers will join the economy- from just Nigeria. Economic growth has not kept pace with the growing labor supply.

Small, local solutions will serve the needs of the emerging markets better than MNC’s or government solutions.

Governments provide solutions in two ways: bullets (army service) and bureaucracy.

Neither method is sustainable or efficient enough to accommodate the demographics of the job market. MNC’s simply cannot employ the scale of workers necessary. For instance, Unilever, in Kenya, only employs 700 workers. In Brazil, a middle-income country, only employs 13,000. MNC’s depend on “Big ideas and smart tools,” not people. In fact, company leaders are rewarded for reducing headcount and finding efficiencies.

Entrepreneurship is difficult throughout the developing world.

Simply encouraging entrepreneurship in the developing world is problematic for four reasons. Entrepreneurship cannot scale, as in the example of Pinterest. As a major tech company, Pinterest only employs 750 people. NGO’s and international interests do a poor job of selecting companies that will succeed. On a fundamental level, the environment is very challenging for entrepreneurs in emerging markets. There are myriad regulatory challenges, coupled with instability and violence, which get in the way of successful business. There may be many entrepreneurial people, but few actual entrepreneurs- and finding them and supporting them is hard.

Microfranchising is the way forward.

Franchising as a concept has been proven to work. Franchising is a particularly attractive model because it provides a clear plan and significant support to the entrepreneur. However, most established franchises require a high initial capital investment, often lacking in emerging markets. Shifting this idea to a smaller scale would be revolutionary. Already, the potential for such a concept in business is visible; organizations like ISIS, Boko Haram, and others have established strong microfranchises, with support, community, and a clear plan. This idea needs to be used for good. A legitimate microfranchise would have many supporters, from the NGO community, to governments, to Corporate Social Responsibility groups. They would leverage mobile devices and expand in fields like agriculture and healthcare services.

This is the moment for microfranchising.

There are four reasons: improvements in technology, greater mobility, eager money, and potential data. High levels of cell-phone use make it easy for that device to be used as a platform for business. As infrastructure improves, it is easier to deliver goods and conduct business with formerly unreachable areas. Private investors are eager to engage with the developing world and tap new markets. As microfranchisers grow their businesses, they will collect copious amounts of data on consumer tastes that has never been compiled before. This data is very valuable to both the entrepreneurs themselves, but also other companies looking to expand into the area. ■

The Future of Jobs & Education PRESENTATION

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Global Talent Summit 2016 PRESENTATION

Presentation The Nexus of Education and Jobs PRESENTER ROBERT NICHOLSON, CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER, NPOWER

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY JOBS are lucrative and exciting.Yet, many positions go unfilled, limiting the sector’s productivity. Robert Nicholson is Chief Administrative Officer at NPower, a nonprofit devoted to training young adults and veterans in IT skills. Nicholson presented NPower as a way to bring new workers into the workforce and answer the skills gap that affects the IT industry.

The NPower program aims to bring technology companies and motivated workers together. For many people, the four-year college experience is the path to a job in that field. NPower aims to circumvent that by providing vital and relevant training, coupled with an internship. Training includes both technical learning and professional development. This system allows participants to join a growing field with skills equal to those who went through the standard university system. By the end of their flagship course, students will gain A+ certification, essential to the IT industry.

The BLS reports that there are 600,000 jobs unfilled at American technology companies.

These will remain unfilled as long as a skills gap exists in the labor force; workers can put together computers from scratch or program a defense against a cyberattack. At the same time, there are 3.4 million unemployed young adults and half a million unemployed veterans.

Robert Nicholson, Chief Administrative Officer, NPower

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While there are many openings in the IT industry, youth and veterans remain unemployed due to a skills gap.

The BLS reports that there are 600,000 jobs unfilled at American technology companies. These will remain unfilled as long as a skills gap exists in the labor force; workers can put together computers from scratch or program a defense against a cyberattack. At the same time, there are 3.4 million unemployed young adults and half a million unemployed veterans.

NPower matches these two groups up, leading to successful careers and productivity for companies.

NPower has succeeded through corporate partnerships and relevant curriculums.

NPower relies heavily on its corporate partners. Through Symantec, NPower is offering courses in cybersecurity. Corporate partners teach large portions of the courses that NPower offers, providing a vital link to the professional world. This relationship affords program participants the chance to network, learn about potential jobs, and gain expertise from daily practitioners. These partnerships have allowed their cohorts to be placed in internships and find jobs immediately out of the program. â–

The Future of Jobs & Education PRESENTATION

Presentation Science Education Global Council and STEM PRESENTER CAROL O’DONNELL, DIRECTOR, SMITHSONIAN SCIENCE EDUCATION CENTER, SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

FOR THE PAST THIRTY YEARS, the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC) has worked with states, schools, teachers, and community leaders in making a difference in how science is taught throughout the world. Following the 1985 special report, “the Nation At Risk,” the United States policy makers recognized the need to promote science education within K-12 education. As a scientific outreach center, The SSEC has facilitated the development of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education in order to develop a globally competitive and successful future workforce.

American children have consistently performed lower in math and reading subjects than most of the developed world, and remain in the low-middle of the pack overall. In order to maintain a competitive edge, the educational system needs to continue to reform.

In order for the workforce to be successful, students must learn from an early age how to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems. These skills cannot wait to be taught until the high school or university level, but instead must be taught from kindergarten and preschool onwards. ➤ Developing a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) workforce requires public policies supporting STEM. The “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001, which primarily focused on math and reading skills was replaced by the “Every Student Succeeds Act” (ESSA)

and renewed in December 2015. The ESSA focuses on critical thinking skills and STEM fields featuring several new funding streams to support STEM skills within the education system. ➤ There is a need for well-educated, well-rounded students. Ninety three percent of business owners and non-profit leaders want critically thinking workers who can communicate clearly and solve complex problems. This requires a multi-faceted educational system that prepares students with skills for the future workforce. ➤ The process of creating a well-rounded workforce has to begin with early education.

Students cannot wait to learn vital STEM and critical thinking skills until high school and university. The process of teaching valuable workforce skills must begin at the pre-school or kindergarten level.

The Smithsonian Science Education Center works to improve STEM skills that students develop within the classroom.The SSEC has worked with over 25 countries and all 50 US states, over 1454 school districts, and over 6.4 million students to foster global talent.

The SSEC promotes clear communication and logical thinking in the classroom. The SSEC enables students and teachers to “learn by doing” through creating authentic experiences within STEM fields. In order to maintain progress, Carol O’Donnell highlights what needs to continue:

➤ Helping teachers better understand the pedagogical approaches to teaching STEM. The SSEC brings together teachers from all over the world every summer for Academies where they work directly with scientists to learn how to better integrate STEM subjects into their own classrooms. ➤ Using the interdisciplinary resources of the Smithsonian Institutions to strengthen teaching. Good education is interdisciplinary. The Smithsonian combines history, art, culture, and science to provide an interdisciplinary curriculum that facilitates the creation of well-rounded students. ➤ Producing world-class inquiry based curriculum material. Too often, students are given problems to solve. With SSEC curricula, students learn to develop their own questions, explore phenomena, collect data, reason and draw conclusions from the evidence, and communicate their results clearly. This promotes valuable workplace skills from an early age, so that by the time students are entering the workforce, they are ready to think critically. ■

“Twenty percent of the current workforce relies on science, technology, engineering, and math skills.”

Carol O’Donnell, Smithsonian Science Education Center, Smithsonian Institution

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Forum Workforce Education Readiness and The Global Skills Gap PRESENTERS FUMBI CHIMA, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, BURBERRY LARRY QUINLAN, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, DELOITTE MODERATOR BRANDON BUSTEED, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EDUCATION AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, GALLUP

WE LIVE IN A TIME PERIOD where there are more people educated with college degrees than any other time in history.Yet, we also are experiencing one of the largest global skills gaps humankind has ever encountered. Brandon Busteed, Executive Director of Education and Workforce Development at Gallup, led a panel on the discussion of workforce education readiness and the global skills gap. Fumbi Chima, Chief Information Officer at Burberry, and Larry Quinlan, Chief Information Officer at Deloitte, added to this panel by discussing the problems businesses currently face with educational institutions, college graduates, and the gaps that exist between these different parties.

The panel found several different key issues: first, collaboration between education and business is necessary to fill the skills gap. Second, they found that the biggest skills gaps of today exist in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. Third, they discussed the need for corporations to invest both monetary capital and human capital into higher education.

And lastly, they emphasized that several different forms of thinking are necessary to create a talented workforce.

The collaboration between education and business is necessary to filling the skills gap.

In order to create a more skilled workforce, there needs to be more collaboration and communication between businesses

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and educational institutions. Through mentorship, internships, and workplace experience, businesses can help educators prepare students for the workforce. ➤ The more education you have, the more likely you are to have a thriving well being – yet the skills gap is still widening. Higher education is a ticket to a good job and a good life. However, global surveys show that 75% of education experts are dissatisfied with the education system in their country.

Similarly, 13% of the general population and only 11% of C-level business executives strongly agree that higher education prepares students for the workplace. ➤ The path to improving education is through better employer education collaboration. According to experts, the best way to improve education is through collaboration. This can be done through jobs and internships where students can apply what they’re learning in schools.

A different approach would be to take classroom-based exercises and apply them to real world scenarios. ➤ There are three key traits that tell how well a student will be engaged in the workplace. A study of over 60,000 college students in the US found that students who had a job or internship where they applied what they were learning in the classroom, worked on long-term projects that lasted more than a semester, or were extremely

involved in extracurricular activities were more likely to be successfully engaged in the workplace later in life. However, only one third of college students identified with any one of these traits, with nearly 25% not identifying with a single trait. ➤ Businesses expect way too much from fresh college graduates. With such a rapidly changing work environment, it’s difficult for current employees to keep up with the change. Many businesses expect recent college graduates to be experts who can keep up with the pace and master everything thrown at them.

But with technology changing every hour and the future of the workplace relatively unknown, these are high expectations even for current employees.

One of the biggest skills gaps is in the STEM fields.

With a rapidly evolving workplace, the need for STEM-related skills is increasing daily.Yet many educational institutions and businesses are having a difficult time attracting talent to these jobs. ➤ Computer science is essential at the K-12 level. Over 70% of parents, students, and teachers agreed that computer science is as important or more important than the core subjects currently taught. However, only 25% of high schools in the US offer computer science as a class.

The Future of Jobs & Education FORUM

➤ The motivation and encouragement of skills is tackled at a younger age in other countries. Throughout Asia, computer science is taught as a core class starting at the elementary level. In Europe, computer science is often an elective option at the elementary level.Yet in the United States, computer science is only taught in 25% of high schools. These skills and more are often nurtured at a younger age in foreign countries in order to create a skilled workforce earlier.

➤ Companies are making an effort to get women into technology-related fields, but it is a challenge. In addition to the negative view on technology many women possess, companies are having a difficult time attracting women, retaining women, and promoting women in technical careers.

Many are beginning to make an effort to spread the good word about STEM in women’s organizations, but there hasn’t yet emerged any one solid strategy for curing the gender gap.

➤ The gender gap in STEM fields is feeding into the skills gap.With nearly 50% of girls dropping out of college, especially in technical courses, there is a large disparity between men and women in the STEM fields. Part of this problem is due to the image kids have of the employees who work in computer science or related fields–most computer scientists are portrayed as white males with glasses. This often deters young girls from wanting to work in STEM related fields, viewing it as geeky or too male-dominated.

➤ Creativity has a huge impact on technology. People don’t often realize that creativity and technology go hand-in-hand.

With graphic designers being used to create aesthetic webpages and search engines, and technology being used to assist in creating digital art, the two are nearly inseparable.

And yet too often technology and art are viewed as two separate categories. ➤ The categorizing of STEM has led to the exclusion of many STEM-related

jobs. By emphasizing science, technology, engineering, and math, those who work to promote STEM often end up excluding many people who work in STEM fields in a nontraditional sense, such as a digital artist. By focusing on logic and neglecting to discuss how creativity is an integral part of the process, STEM may be driving away students who could be interested in careers that combine STEM and creativity.

Chima suggests discussing the need for specific competencies rather than pushing for STEM to include as many people as possible. ➤ Without demonstrating the end goal of STEM to students, it will be difficult to get more people into STEM-related fields.

With a large skills gap standing between students and jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math, many colleges implement a weed-out system to drop “undedicated” students from these majors by frontloading difficult classes in the beginning stages of coursework. However,

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increase the level of mentorship among their student population.

Critical thinking, convergent thinking, and divergent thinking are all necessary skills to create a robust workforce.

Many forms of thinking are necessary to be successful in the workplace. These are the three most sought after:

Infographic: World Economic Forum’s New Vision For Learning Report 2015.

a new model is emerging where students begin their major through immersion in the workplace to see if the pursuit of a STEMrelated major is right for them–those who like the workplace will be more motivated to take on the difficult coursework, while those who realize STEM isn’t right for them will leave of their own free will instead of being weeded out.

Corporations need to invest both financial capital and human capital into education.

Although financial capital is critical to helping educators prepare students with the necessary skills they need, human capital is also becoming a critical factor in assisting students in a more direct manner. ➤ Corporations need to invest in education well beyond money. Rather than just investing capital into education, human capital is necessary as well to creating a robustly skilled workforce. By creating relationships between employers, professors, and students, a conversation can be had where educators know what skills businesses need from students. Likewise, mentoring helps students find which professions they’d like to develop skills for. ➤ Higher education must be willing to work with businesses. Because funding can be so difficult for higher education institutions, they are often focused primarily on financial investment rather than human capital. Therefore, businesses and higher education need to meet in the middle in

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order to figure out how to create a skilled workforce through both capital and human investment. ➤ There is an unnatural relationship between employers and education. Higher educational institutions are often confident in what they’re teaching students and therefore become suspicious of corporate America’s interference in higher education.

This tense relationship makes it difficult for institutions to listen to business needs, and for businesses to heed the advice of institutions. ➤ Rather than viewing alumni as a financial campaign, educational institutions should view them as a human capital campaign. In the European system of higher education, many 4-year degrees include a 1-year program where a student’s college or university will find a corporation that aligns with their major and puts them to work there. This creates a talented, more matured workforce that is dedicated to helping their alma mater both financially and experientially due to the help they received early on from their institution. ➤ Mentorship is necessary to creating a skilled workforce. Western Governor’s University, a fully adult online institution, had 68% of their students in a recent survey strongly agree that they had a mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams. Using a model that assigned students and advisors to have one-on-one session online once a week for one hour, WGU was able to

➤ The definition of critical thinking is defined by its environment. Critical thinking is one of the most sought after skills in today’s workforce. But what exactly is critical thinking? One definition explains critical thinking in more of a nuanced fashion– it’s a skill that is constrained by the needs of its culture and environment, one that is different in every country. It’s important to have a workforce with critical thinking skills, but those skills may differ based on their location. ➤ Critical thinking is the ability to react to the unknown. From a different perspective, critical thinking is the ability to create a framework where one can analyze new facts and come to a conclusion, even if they’d never experienced that situation before. Though there are some educational institutions that stress critical thinking, most rely on rote memorization and grades as outcomes. ➤ The current education system is good at teaching convergent thinking. Through convergent thinking, students apply a set of rules to come up with a single right answer to a problem. Both the K-12 system and higher education promote this form of thinking through standardized tests and a grading system. ➤ The current education system is poor at teach divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the free-flowing process that generates a number of potential solutions to a problem.

Many children exhibit a tendency to use this form of thinking early in life; unfortunately, current education standards often push out divergent thinking and emphasize convergent thinking. However, if we begin to lead knowledge out of children instead of stuffing it in, we may be able to fill the skills gap and create a larger, happier, smarter workforce. ■

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Presentation Small Businesses and Job Creation PRESENTER SUZANNE CLARK, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, US CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

FOR MOST PEOPLE throughout the world, the most beautiful sentence they ever hear is: you got the job. Suzanne Clark, Executive Vice President at the US Chamber of Commerce, recently discussed the role of small businesses in job creation.

With joblessness on the rise, it is crucial that government lift the regulations and rules that stifle the growth of business as well as put more effort into fixing the K-12 education system. Only then will businesses be able to create more jobs and reinvigorate the economy.

Government and education are stifling the growth of business.

With a plethora of government regulations on business and an unsuccessful K-12 system, businesses are having a difficult time in several aspects. First, government regulation are hindering the growth of businesses; second, the K-12 education system is producing students who are unequipped for the workforce; and third, people are beginning to look at business as part of the problem. ➤ We’ve stopped looking at businesses as part of the solution. With joblessness on the rise, many people now view businesses as part of the problem rather than the solution.

People have stopped appreciating jobs and employment, leading them to neglect the policies that would stimulate job growth.

Nobody wants to be unemployed or live in an area where employers are leaving; therefore it is crucial that policies be put in place to decrease government regulation and increase business creation. ➤ Government intervention is stifling small businesses. With the endless rules,

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costs, and burdens the government imposes on businesses, it can be difficult even for long-running businesses to keep afloat.

Clark likened the relationship between government and small business to that of a monster and a helpless human: as the large monster (government) stampedes through town, it doesn’t mean to stomp and kill the helpless humans (businesses) below; it’s just too large to recognize the humans as a life force and consequently doesn’t realize it has just killed a bunch of people. Therefore, it is necessary that small businesses be recognized as legitimate life forces by restraining the massive regulatory state. ➤ One of the biggest barriers to longterm competitiveness is K-12 education.

With the quality of education differing widely throughout the United States, there are many areas where kids in the K-12 system slip through the cracks and don’t have access to the opportunities that their counterparts do. This makes it so their reach is limited, their potential is stifled, and their odds of having a life of struggle increases.

This patchwork approach creates a system that drives inequality and sets a low standard for the future workforce. ➤ We’re on track to have nearly six million unfilled positions by 2020. With more than half of companies saying they are unable to fill their skilled jobs, it is evident that something needs to be done to fill the widening skill gap. We need to look at what we are doing in both universities and community colleges; how we are training educational providers; and how we are educating students and re-educating the workforce.

There are solutions to the problems businesses face.

Despite all of the governmental rules and regulations, there is still hope for a thriving economy. Clark described the ways in which businesses can have a positive impact and what steps are necessary to creating a thriving economy. ➤ Communities are healthy when employment is robust. When business is thriving and employment is robust in a community, the quality of life as a whole increases dramatically. Similarly, the quality of education and healthcare increases with the employment rate as well. ➤ Innovation is key. The only way businesses can regain ground is through innovation. Innovation is central to creating jobs, building long-term value, and retaining talent in companies. ➤ Trade creates opportunities for communities. One way to help business is to create opportunities for trade. Through trade, businesses have access to a wider range of product, more places to sell their products, and a chance to form new partnerships. However, America is weak in global demand so it is crucial that we lift barriers on trade and promote global partnerships. ➤ The free enterprise system is the best way to save the economy and create jobs.

The type of economic system we have decides what jobs we’re creating, who is creating them, and how fast we can have a robust economic recovery. Through the free enterprise system, all of this can be achieved and more. ■

The Future of Jobs & Education PRESENTATION

Global Talent Summit 2016 PRESENTATION

Presentation Finding the Right Talent PRESENTER JASON GREEN, CO-FOUNDER, SVP, AND GENERAL COUNSEL, SKILLSMART

FOR THE FIRST TIME in the postwar era, the middle class is no longer the majority. Jason Green, Co-Founder, SVP, and General Counsel to SkillSmart discussed the need for better communication between employers and potential employees in order to create a more robust middle class. With the hiring process proving frustratingly vague for all parties involved, it is evident that a talent development pipeline needs to be implemented in order to fill the global skill gap and assist both employers and employees in a rapidly evolving work environment.

Finding the right talent can be done through helping employers define what specific skills are vital to their company.

Likewise, companies like SkillSmart can help employees find and define their skillset, fill any skill gaps, and communicate these talents to employers.

A better flow of communication about skills is essential.

The biggest issue with current hiring practices is the lack of communication about skills. With employers finding it difficult to find qualified candidates, a change in the way employers, potential employees, and educators communicate needs to be implemented. Green described the main issues facing employers today and why it is so difficult to find the right employees: ➤ Employers are looking for finished products, not raw ingredients. Imagine a shopper who has just entered a grocery store hungry and without a grocery list.

Rather than focusing on the specific ingredients needed to make a meal, they are more likely to gravitate toward the alreadymade meals in order to save time and energy.

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Employers are much like the shopper–they want a finished product and often don’t put time into thinking about the ingredients that went into the product. Employees are the meal, and their skills are the ingredients.

Without knowing what exact “meal” the employer is looking for, employees will find it difficult to assemble the necessary ingredients (i.e. skills) to make themselves into desirable employees. Therefore, it is essential that employers take the time to outline the specific skills needed for the job. ➤ There is a lack of communication between businesses and educators.

Businesses and educational institutions have a difficult time communicating, leading to a widening skill gap. Only through initiatives to bring practical skills into education can jobseekers use their limited skills and resources to obtain the skills they need. ➤ Feedback is the missing link in communication. Feedback between employers and candidates is crucial to building skills. When an employer tells a candidate what skills they need to work on in order to be hired by that specific company, the candidate then knows what gaps need to be filled in order to get the job.

Technological innovation is changing the way we engage with work.

Technology is changing everything about jobs, especially hiring practices: ➤ Technology is changing the way people get hired. The way we get work, hire people, and identify sources of talent is rapidly evolving due to advancements in technology.

With a large amount of applicants for every job posted, the hiring practice has shifted

from trying to attract as much talent as possible to weeding out candidates. ➤ With so many candidates, employers often weed out the right skillset. Due to the sheer mass of candidates, oftentimes employers will put more emphasis on credentials instead of skills. This makes it so potential employees with the right skillset but the wrong credentials–such as no college degree or lack of experience–don’t get hired. ➤ Technology should be used as a bridge between employers and candidates. With so many tests, assessments, and methods readily available to help jobseekers discover what skills they have and what they can develop, it is essential for companies to communicate more specifically about what talent they are looking for.

Invest in a system that can be responsive to what the world needs.

Rather than changing the system every few years to keep up with the constant change of the job market, invest in a system that is as flexible as the job market itself. In order to create such a system, several criteria must be met: ➤ Better-defined skillsets to achieve outcomes. Businesses need to find and define the talent they are looking for. ➤ Better-developed talent to meet employer needs. Educators need to understand what skills businesses are looking for and teach these to students. ➤ Give educational assets to ensure edification is driving us into the next century.

Education needs to be funded in order for skillsets to be developed by students. ■

The Future of Jobs & Education PRESENTATION

Global Talent Summit 2016 FORUM

Forum Joblessness: The Real Number Human Capital PRESENTERS CRYSTAL ARREDONDO, CHAIR OF NATIONAL BOARD, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS JOSHUA MARCUSE, SENIOR ADVISOR FOR POLICY INNOVATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FARAH MOHAMED, FOUNDER AND CEO, G(IRLS)20 MODERATOR JON CLIFTON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ANALYTICS, GALLUP

THE SINGLE BIGGEST ISSUE facing the world today is jobs. With nearly 32 percent of people unemployed, underemployed, or self-employed making less than two dollars a day, there is a pressing need to expand the job market in terms of both quantity and quality. This panel explored the problems with today’s job market as well as potential solutions to these problems. Jon Clifton, Managing Director of Global Analytics at Gallup, facilitated the discussion about what needs to be done in order to create more fulfilling jobs. Joshua Marcuse, Senior Advisor for Policy Innovation at the US Department of Defense focused his discussion on the changes the public sector is making in order to create a better experience for current employees. Crystal Arredondo, Chair of the National Board for the National Association of Women Business Owners, provided insight into the barriers women face in business. Lastly Farah Mohamed, Founder and CEO of G(irls)20, discussed the ways in which national governments are discussing strategies to integrate women into their workforce.

The biggest issues discussed during the panel were the global impact of joblessness; the ways in which companies can create a better work experience for their employees; problems that women face in the job market; and how to alleviate joblessness in the coming years.

Joblessness is a much bigger problem than people realize.

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The single biggest issue facing the world is not hunger, literacy, access to clean drinking water, or poverty– its jobs. Jon Clifton explains why jobs are the single biggest problem today:

compute who to hire and how to best use their talents in the workforce. In conjunction with this data, the US Department of Defense was able to come up with six key factors that lead to a great work experience:

➤ The statistics about unemployment are wrong. Current metrics put unemployment at 5.9%, but this number does not account for several factors. Firstly, the statistics did not include part-time employees looking for full time work. They also did not include self-employed individuals who, on average, make less than $2 a day. By adding these two factors, unemployment rates increase to 34%.

➤ Sense of purpose The US Department of Defense found that job trends were shifting away from being a vehicle for profit toward becoming a vehicle for change. When organizations instill a sense of purpose in their employees through mission statements, objectives, and common goals, employees are more likely to commit to the company and invest more time and energy into their jobs.

➤ The majority of employed individuals do not have a “great job.” According to a recent Gallup survey, the single most important thing to people today is a good job. However, studies show that only 13% of employees have what they would consider a “great job,” leaving 87% of employees with less-than-great careers. Add this to the 34% of individuals who are not employed and statistics reveal an estimated 3.2 billion people in the world who are without great jobs.

There are six key factors to turning an average job into a great job.

Marcuse observed that in the US Department of Defense, policies such as Force of the Future are being put in place in order to create a more fulfilling and engaging environment for employees.

Through Force of the Future, the department focuses on using data to

➤ Sense of personal growth In today’s market, it is essential that employees experience a sense of growth and movement. Without learning and gaining new expertise, employees may feel stagnated. ➤ Employment engagement experience Employers need to engage their workforce.

By providing innovation initiatives to their employees, for example, employers can help employees feel more connected to their jobs and committed to the organization. ➤ Leadership and management With managers at the center of employee and employer engagement, it is crucial to fill these leadership positions with the right people. Good managers should be able to act as a mediator between companies and

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employees as well as create opportunities for their employees to advance in their jobs. ➤ Assignment process Although the way jobs are assigned differs from company to company, the Department of Defense uses a strengths-based approach to assign roles to employees (when possible) where their talents may be used best.

into the workforce. Recently, Australia put forward a plan to create one hundred million new jobs for women by 2025. The plan has yet to show results, and many questions have been raised as to who exactly would be creating these jobs. Most likely the growth for jobs will come from entrepreneurs and small business owners, not the government.

➤ Data on workforce There is a lot of data when it comes to employees and the workforce. A large portion of this data goes unused, but with the right analytics employers could use this information to figure out how to optimize the employee work experience as well as create talent-based matching systems to help employers find ideal candidates.

➤ Worldwide, 75% of men have a job – in comparison, only 50% of women do. While countries such as China have managed to employ nearly 80% of women, countries like India only employ 20%. With such a wide range of woman employment numbers, there is a need for more in-depth studies as to how China is able to integrate so many women into their workforce.

Women’s participation in the global job market is essential.

All three panelists agreed that one of the biggest issues facing today’s job market is the lack of women in the workforce. From small businesses to large corporations, women are often jobless due to a number of factors:

➤ In order for more women to enter the workforce, several barriers must be lifted.

A recent study put safety and a great job as the two key factors to a “life well lived.”

On average, men score better than women in both of these categories. Issues with safety, especially in third world countries, often prevent women from obtaining a job. Likewise, having a career often makes it difficult for women to raise children. By providing safety and childcare for women, female participation in the workplace would increase tremendously.

➤ Women’s rights are still not on par with men’s. With women’s rights still catching up to that of men’s, getting jobs, owning businesses, and competing in the job market is that much more difficult. It wasn’t until 1974 that women could get their own credit card, and women could potentially be fired for being pregnant until they earned protection under the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act. More astonishingly, it was illegal for a woman to take out a small business loan without a male cosigner until as late as 1988. In fact, the issue of female employment was not even discussed on the G20 level until 2013. ➤ Every country says they’re serious about women’s rights, but few have implemented plans of action to integrate more women

➤ Despite all of these barriers, women are still advancing. There are an estimated 1,200 businesses a day being created by women. Though 90% of women are solo entrepreneurs, the other 10% employees an estimated 8.9 million employees, bringing in over 10.9 trillion dollars in receipts.

Technology has helped women advance from being simple farmers to business owners who know how to plant, harvest, and sell seeds in a competitive market.

Even with a small amount of women in the workforce, they are creating a major impact on the world.

Joblessness can be alleviated through changes in business and government practice.

With millennials set to take over the workforce in the coming years, it is crucial that employers are prepared for this dramatic shift. By accommodating the needs of the millennial generation, both businesses and government can ensure more great jobs for the future. ➤ Millenials put entrepreneurs on a pedestal – make work entrepreneurial.

The millennial generation tends to worship entrepreneurs more than any other profession. Therefore, making all jobs feel like an entrepreneurial job would be beneficial both to employers and future employees. ➤ Employers need to be serious about having a culture of care in the workplace.

According to a recent Gallup poll, millennials place more emphasis on family values than previous generations. This is creating a tension in employees between their desire to have both a professional career and family. One way to alleviate this tension is by creating a workplace where employees can work and take care of their family simultaneously, either through the implementation of daycares, better maternity leave plans, or more flexibility on the job. ➤ The government needs to change its stance on small business. When asked what the biggest barrier facing small businesses is, small business owners cite the government as the biggest barrier.

With limited access to capital in addition to a plethora of regulations, small businesses are having a hard time surviving. Arredondo suggests tax reforms to help small businesses gain incentives. ■

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Forum The Future of Learning PRESENTERS EDITH CECIL, VICE PRESIDENT, INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION JEAN MCCORMICK, CHIEF OF CONTENT, BRAVENEW

THE FUTURE OF JOBS IS GLOBAL, and so is education. This panel explored the future of learning from the different perspectives of business and education.

From the business point of view, Jean McCormick, chief of content at BraveNew, discussed the importance of knowledge sharing through virtual communities and how these new communication channels affect enterprises. On the education side, Edith Cecil, vice president at the Institute of International Education emphasized the need for students to experience global education in order to prepare them for future jobs.

Through this discussion, it has become evident that education and business are beginning to work together in a way that is creating a fusion between the two traditional institutions. On a global scale, education is affecting business through an increase in globally experienced workers.

Whether it’s in the virtual world or worldwide, it is undeniable that education is shaping the future of jobs.

Education and businesses are blurring together through the use of virtual communities to facilitate learning.

People no longer go to work simply to make money. Now, trends are shifting toward a workforce that desires a continual learning experience as well as a salary, which is being made possible through technology and the virtual communities that accompany it. McCormick explained the role virtual

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communities occupy in business and how education and enterprises are working together: ➤ Businesses need access to educational institutions, and vice versa. GE recently announced their plans to move their headquarters to Boston in order to gain more access to the plethora of educational institutions in the area. With 55 educational institutions and counting, GE decided that moving to an area with a lot of access to educators would allow them to more directly cultivate the talent they need for their company. ➤ Technology enables the use of online learning. Many educational institutions are returning to the concept of “scholastic guilds,” or the idea that schools should prepare students for the workforce by training them in practical skills. By applying this concept to the 21st century, technology can play a key role in uniting business and education through the facilitation of virtual learning communities where both schools and businesses can engage individuals in the exchange of knowledge. ➤ Online communities help surface the value of their workforce. There’s an old adage that goes “80% of a company’s value comes from 20% of its employees.” In virtual communities, businesses can find the knowledge, content, and connections they

need through the engagement of their employees in a virtual space. ➤ Online communities facilitate learning. Virtual communities enable businesses to deliver formal courseware, create interactive webinars, produce question and answer sessions, and provide a library of resources to employees in a rapid and cost-effective manner. They can also engage employees around key pieces of content in order to cultivate discussions and potential solutions. By facilitating a space where employees can communicate about ideas and engage in collaborative projects, social transactions are transformed into knowledge sharing. ➤ Through technology, companies can harness all the intelligence of their workforce to create new forms of dynamic learning. The rule of 70/20/10 – the learning and development model that states 70% of learning is experiential, 20% is social, and 10% is formal – should no longer be considered relevant in today’s technological world.

Thanks to technology, the new generation can access large databases of information and acquire knowledge through other means than experience, socializing, and formal study. Businesses can also use technology to harness this intelligence and engage employees online.

The Future of Jobs & Education FORUM

➤ Global educational experiences are essential. Cecil examined the need for students to acquire overseas experiences in order to help them obtain a job in the global economy. She believes that through international learning, students can both become globally minded as well as develop appreciation for other peoples and cultures. ➤ Corporations cannot afford to not have a global education strategy.

With a rapidly globalizing economy, it is essential for corporations to have a globally educated workforce in order to expand worldwide and meet the needs of local customers. ➤ Global experience is essential to future employees. If companies are going global, future employees need to do so as well. Studies have shown that overseas experiences give individuals an edge up on getting their first job in addition to keeping it for 5 years. This is why study abroad opportunities,

internships in foreign countries, and exchange programs are crucial to creating a global-savvy workforce. ➤ The US is behind when it comes to global education. Out of the 4.5 million globally mobile students per year, only 300 thousand are US citizens. With countries like Saudi Arabia and Brazil increasing national scholarship programs in order to cultivate a globally competent workforce, it is essential that the US do the same in an effort to keep up with other countries. Luckily programs like Generation Study Abroad are being put into place to increase the amount of US students studying abroad. ➤ Corporations and the government are partnering with educational institutions to expand opportunities for overseas experiences. The Gilman Study Abroad Scholarship offers 5,000 scholarships every year to students with financial need. Through this program,

students are sent to untraditional areas, such as Africa and Latin America, where they then telecommunicate with K-12 schoolchildren about their experiences. This gives struggling students the opportunity to gain a global experience whilst simultaneously educating younger children about the world. ➤ Foreign language skills are essential to becoming a globally competent employee. In order to truly appreciate a culture, Cecil emphasized that learning a foreign language is essential to understanding the nuances of a country and its culture as well as obtaining knowledge about their market. Without foreign language skills, individuals will have a difficult time communicating with foreign people and being accepted into their culture. ■

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GLOBAL TALENT SUMMIT 2016 The Future of Jobs & Education Gallup Building | Washington, DC January 13, 2016