Hello.
Another week in work leadership is here. How are things going?
In this week’s newsletter, we cover ChatGPT’s potential as CHRO, what CEOs are asking McKinsey about AI at work, and SCOTUS hands down a ruling limiting striking workers. But first, can Apple’s expensive new headset make a dent in the emerging AR/VR use cases at work?
Let’s jump into it.
Does Apple Vision Pro change anything for AR/VR at work?
While the metaverse dominated the VR headlines for work-related uses of the new technology, the excitement for sitting in goggles all day while working seemed less and less likely. While companies have pushed some valuable use cases — onboarding, safety training, and hosted well-being content — a number of folks have meanwhile buried the metaverse.
As someone who occasionally uses Meta Quest, I told people to wait until Apple unveiled whatever they were working on to see if AR/VR could become a reality.
Apple delivered this week, for a price. $3,500 to be exact.
That’s a lot of money for a consumer device. Even for an enterprise buy, it’s probably a luxury without a clear use case. At least to start.
But the headset, by all accounts, is much better than anything we’ve seen. It’s a generational leap that will challenge Meta’s loss leader approach to VR headsets.
Apple’s presentation focused on work, not gaming. This was a device that could give you multiple monitors and a desktop-class processor to actually do work on. Reading emails on a monitor that appears 80 inches across? Sure, I guess. A more immersive video conference experience? Cool, that’ll be fun. Multitasking between watching TV and checking on work? Not that I want that, but it’s nice.
Problems exist, of course. It’s still a pound of electronics on your head, not including a battery pack that attaches separately. It’s still strangely isolating, even as they try to make it less so. Maybe more importantly, we’re not going to see it for at least half a year. Meanwhile, we can make it as bad or as good as we like in our heads, and competitors have time to act, with a timeframe to aim for.
Mainstream adoption is coming, but the timeline isn’t anywhere close to immediate. We’ll probably have a better idea a year after the device has been released and people have been using it. We’ll also get stories about people doing dumb things with these devices. Walking down a busy street with an easily snatchable battery cord hanging off it? Driving with a headset on while watching a movie?
I can’t wait.
But Apple didn’t do what I thought it might do: Surprise us with something that’s so obviously useful that it might make it worth the price. Now we just have to wait and see.
Weekly LinkedIn poll result
How is leadership development going? Well, some of you are nailing it. Others?
Let’s just commit to doing better.
Quick hits from around the web
What else is happening?
- AI Is Coming for Talent Acquisition and Recruiters Are Ready. How can AI actually help recruiting leaders right now? The use cases are still evolving but are limited. (Reworked)
- Generative AI and the Future of HR. A great podcast episode that focuses on what generative AI may change for HR leaders. (McKinsey & Company)
- If You Want to Re-Engage Staff, You Need IA, Not AI. Intelligent Automation (IA) might be the key to re-engaging staff and improving employee satisfaction. (TLNT)
- Driving the Era of Empowered Work. Don’t want to lose talent in this hiring environment? Autonomy, purpose, and flexibility are key to driving retention and innovation. (Fast Company)
- How the NHS is Improving Employee Listening and Engagement in the Wake of COVID-19. One upside from the pandemic is seeing how far some industries leaned into better employee listening. (Diginomica)
- ChatGPT Isn’t Interested in Being the CHRO. Don’t worry, this is one job even a computer doesn’t want. (HR Dive)
- Increased Employee Stress Indicates Layoff-surviving Workers Could Be the Real Losers. It’s more than survivor’s guilt. Being left behind can impact productivity, wellbeing, and retention. (HR Grapevine)
- What CEOs Are Asking McKinsey About AI, Talent, and the Future of Work. Their greatest interests? Leveraging AI technologies to drive organizational success and adapting technology for their use. (Forbes)
- Automation and the American Workforce. Worth a read. Even if it is a little wonky, it highlights real potential advantages and consequences for automation. (Economic Innovation Group)
- The Tipping Point for Hybrid Work, Opponents Finally Seeing the Light. Attitudes continue to change about hybrid work, even if many CEOs can’t admit it. (Medium)
- Why Gen Z Struggles in the Workforce. Skills gaps, workplace expectations, and communication preferences are coming up for Gen Z workers. (Manhattan Institute)
- Long-term Care Workforce Problems Worsening for Many, AHCA Poll Reveals. The long-term care industry needs some serious help. (McKnight’s Long-Term Care News)
- U.S. Supreme Court: Federal Labor Law Does Not Bar State Torts for Intentional Destruction of Co-property. In a surprise to many on the labor side, the 8-1 ruling wasn’t even particularly close. (Jackson Lewis)
- The Four-day Hybrid Way: A Better Way of Work. Did we find the peanut butter and jelly sandwich of work? (Forbes)
What a tough day in the office looks like in the future
Even if you don’t like Ben Affleck as a person or an actor, he has certainly gifted us with quality internet content for our enjoyment.
The latest is a photoshopped version of him with AR/VR goggles looking exhausted with the caption, “POV: you just had a long day at work in 2035.”
Maybe this is the dark timeline we deserve.
That’s it for this week!
Lance
