The buzz: Crystal ball. Steve Jobs was loudly criticized for “A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” Arrogant or not, he was in many ways correct. We in HR already know the problems in our workforce, but do we know what the future holds for solving HR challenges, which technologies and strategic practices will place HR at the leadership table, and how we should prepare for “Workforce 2020”? The experts speak. Mollie Lombardi, Aptitude Research Partners: “Pain don’t hurt” (Dalton in Roadhouse). Sharon Newton, hyperCision: “We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run” (Roy Amara). Mary Poppen, SAP SuccessFactors: “The best way to predict the future is to create it” (Peter Drucker). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts…Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” (Shel Silverstein). Join us for Entering 2016: Got Resolutions? Want Change?

The buzz: Hiring C-3PO and R2-D2. Having been behind the curve on the growth in size and importance of the contingent workforce, HR and HR technology have been playing catch-up over the last 10+ years. But the speed of change that brought us to today's increasingly gig economy is nothing compared to the speed at which autonomous robots are becoming a part of our workforce. HR must now adapt many of its processes ASAP to accommodate our non-human workers. The experts speak. Naomi Lee Bloom, Bloom & Wallace: “HR cannot afford to miss the boat on the growth in size and importance of the robotic workforce. Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “The robots haven’t just landed in the workplace—they’re expanding skills, moving up the corporate ladder, showing awesome productivity and retention rates, and increasingly shoving aside their human counterparts…Google won a patent to start building worker robots with personalities” (WIRED). Join us for It’s Not All About Employees.

The buzz: Values. Does your corporate culture tell current employees and your future workforce, the ones you’ll NEED to hire in the next 1 to 3 years, that you can help them achieve what they value most: better life balance, not just more money? If yes, you need to get that marketing message out to potential hires. What would make me want to join your company? The experts speak. Kirsi Paalanen, My Orange Villa: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young” (Henry Ford). Katelynn Heckett, Deloitte: “Learning in the age of technology means we must learn tomorrow’s skills today” (Robert Pavur). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “No, I'm trying to make it better! I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life working my ass off and getting nowhere just because I followed rules that I had nothing to do with setting up, OK?” (Tess McGill). Join us for Getting ‘Em and Keeping ‘Em.

The buzz: “Ch ch changes…Just gonna have to be a different man. Time may change me. But I can’t trace time” (David Bowie). Have we become the reluctant generation, frozen in fear of change in a world that gives us access to more information and ideas than ever before? Yes, if we look at HR’s slowness to adopt new technology, and its paralysis in leading leaders and employees through change. Is managing change a key to talent engagement and retention? Or is your organization allergic to change? The experts speak. Malcolm Poulin, ANCILE: “80% of life is showing up (Woody Allen). Avish Parashar, Full Circle Theater: “If you don't like change, you’re going to like irrelevance even less” (General Eric Shinseki). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “I guess it's hard for people who are so used to things the way they are – even if they're bad – to change. 'Cause they kind of give up. And when they do, everybody kind of loses” (Pay It Forward, 2000 film). Join us for A World of Pain (er, Change)!

The buzz: And the question is? Technology has dramatically changed our lives since 1995. But if technology is the answer and you’re an HR professional, how do you get past TODAY – the day-to-day compliance, performance, recruiting, payroll challenges – to understand what to do for the future? We’ll ask three HR tech implementation experts what they’d do if they were the king or queen of the HR castle. The experts speak. Bill Gerlach, HRIS Manager: “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts” (Albert Einstein). Luke Marson, Hula Partners: “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second…automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency” (Bill Gates). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “It's like we're riding in a supersonic train…imagine if we could stop that train...and see time for what it really is?” (Kate and Leopold, film) Join us for Technology Is the Answer!

The buzz: Admit it. Why don’t you have a winning corporate culture at work? You may be part of the problem. But even if it was defined by top-down leadership, every employee must contribute to rebuilding the culture in positive ways. A winning culture can come simply from maximizing a workplace interaction, finding joy in discovering where your work complements or interacts with the work of others, or moving beyond past victories to explore alternatives for future success. As employees, how do we create the future for ourselves and our organizations? As leaders, how do we capture the hearts and minds of our teams to shape the future? The experts speak. Bill “Mr. Simplicity” Jensen, The Jensen Group: “We have met the enemy and he is us” (Pogo). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn’t” (Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll). Join us for Creating a Winning Culture at Work.

The buzz: 3X3. The infamous Human Resources nine-box grid, the end result of a larger talent management process, is intended to plot the progression of people as resources for the future. But it's often seen negatively by employees striving for the top right quadrant and by managers disputing its motivational value. Ultimately, even great performers can’t reach the perceived pinnacle of success. Is it time for the grid to retire or are we doomed to nine boxes forever? The experts speak. Anthony Abbatiello, Deloitte: “…the future is about exceptional teams and the leaders within those teams who can out-maneuver, out-manage and out-innovate their competition” (Barry Salzberg). Elizabeth Duffy, SAP: “Engagement. ‘You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means’ (Iñigo Montoya, Princess Bride). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity” (Wizard of Oz). Join us for Don’t Fence Me In: Performance in a 9-Box Grid.

The buzz: It’s your party. Who’s invited, matters. Who’s left out matters, too. We’re talking about women in STEM and anyone who thinks or acts differently from “the norm.” Lack of women in top leadership is disappointing for them and for talent missed through lack of inclusion. How do you change your organizational, company and/or country culture to take advantage of “invisible” talent not obvious to decision makers? Take a chance. It may become your best strategy yet. The experts speak. Sharon Cook, hyperCision: “A ship in port is safe, but that is not what ships are for. Sail out to sea and do new things” (Rear Admiral Grace Hopper). Jackie Ato, SuccessFactors: “An enterprise that is constantly exploring new horizons is likely to have a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent” (Gary Hamel). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Warner: ‘You got into Harvard Law?’ Elle: ‘What? Like, it’s hard?’” (Legally Blonde, 2001). Join us for When the Best Planning Leaves Someone Out.

The buzz: It’s a plan. “Old School” corporate succession planning focused on filling positions as incumbents moved up and out of the organization. Today, planning has to be forward-looking, identifying and developing talent for the future of your business. Beyond a tool, it requires intelligence about your business, current workforce, and future trends, and a continuous learning and development culture. Magic sauce: Your HR professionals’ insight and nurturing. We’ll simplify it for you. The experts speak. Sharon Newton, hyperCision: “We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it, than we do from learning the answer itself” (Lloyd Alexander). Dan Falvey, SAP: “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” (Benjamin Franklin). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “As HR travels down the Yellow Brick Road: ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore’. Scarecrow: ‘If I only had a brain.’ Tin Man: ‘If I only had a heart.’ Lion: ‘If I only had the nerve.’” Join us for The Art of Planning.

The buzz: Follow the leader. You cannot be a leader and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too,” observed the late Sam Rayburn. But how do HR leaders know whom to follow, especially when choosing HRMS technology to contribute strategic value to their own organization? Cloud, on-premise or hybrid, in-house or partner? ASUG’s HR Research Survey findings may – or may not – surprise you. The experts speak. Erin Spencer, Sierra-Cedar: “It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great (A League of Their Own). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Dorothy Gale: ‘Now which way do we go?’ The Scarecrow: “Pardon me, this way is a very nice way.’ Dorothy Gale: ‘Who said that? Don't be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don't talk’” (Wizard of Oz). Join us for Survey Says: HRMS.

The buzz: Values. Does your corporate culture tell current employees and your future workforce, the ones you’ll NEED to hire in the next 1 to 3 years, that you can help them achieve what they value most: better life balance, not just more money? If yes, you need to get that marketing message out to potential hires. What would make me want to join your company? The experts speak. Kirsi Paalanen, My Orange Villa: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young” (Henry Ford). Katelynn Heckett, Deloitte: “Learning in the age of technology means we must learn tomorrow’s skills today” (Robert Pavur). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “No, I'm trying to make it better! I'm not gonna spend the rest of my life working my ass off and getting nowhere just because I followed rules that I had nothing to do with setting up, OK?” (Tess McGill). Join us for Getting ‘Em and Keeping ‘Em.

The buzz: Beyond basics. The functions that sustain your workforce day-by-day are basic processes that keep your company compliant with legislation, labor unions, and privacy concerns. But to grow human capital for the future, your organization needs strategic, visionary leaders with people-focused sensibilities and skills to manage both tactical and strategic HR. How can you create a culture that encourages and supports these changes going forward? The experts speak. Tom Koulopoulos, Delphi Group: “The past influences everything and dictates nothing” (Adam Phillips). Rachel Disselkamp, AWAM: “To redefine something changes how we perceive it” (Craig Lambert). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “The real challenge in crafting strategy lies in detecting subtle discontinuities that may undermine a business in the future. And for that there is no technique, no program, just a sharp mind in touch with the situation (Henry Mintzberg). Join us for From Compliance to Strategy: The Road Forward.

The buzz: Future-proofing. Wake up, HR! The Industrial Age that demanded workforce consistency and compliance is long gone. It's time to abandon the unspoken notion that your workers are simply expendable resources, and instead shift to the concept of workers as an investment in your company’s future. Whether your organization is in a growth, stabilization, or reduction mode, your business will thrive only through the continual nurturing of your most valuable asset: people. The experts speak. Tom Koulopoulos, Delphi Group: “The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time” (Abraham Lincoln). Karie Willyerd, SAP: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn” (Alvin Toffler). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future” (Walt Disney). Join us for From Workers as Assets to Workers as Investments.

The buzz: Follow the leader. You cannot be a leader and ask other people to follow you, unless you know how to follow, too,” observed the late Sam Rayburn. But how do HR leaders know whom to follow, especially when choosing HRMS technology to contribute strategic value to their own organization? Cloud, on-premise or hybrid, in-house or partner? ASUG’s HR Research Survey findings may – or may not – surprise you. The experts speak. Erin Spencer, Sierra-Cedar: “It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great (A League of Their Own). Sherryanne Meyer, ASUG: “Dorothy Gale: ‘Now which way do we go?’ The Scarecrow: “Pardon me, this way is a very nice way.’ Dorothy Gale: ‘Who said that? Don't be silly, Toto. Scarecrows don't talk’” (Wizard of Oz). Join us for Survey Says: HRMS.