By 2014, according to Karie Willyerd (DM 2003), 47% of workforce will be comprised of "millenials" (those people born after 1979) and their presence will dramatically revolutionize the workplace. They have grown up with the Internet and are accustomed to using a particular set of tools and come to the workforce with a particular set of expectations.
Those organizations that understand this shift will prosper, and Dr. Willyerd (with her co-author Jeanne Meister) detail many of the ways that globalization, changes in demographics, and the explosion of social media are transforming the workplace in their new book : The 2020 Workplace: How Innovative Companies Attract, Develop, and Keep Tomorrow's Employees Today(http://www.the2020workplace.com/).
The book is based off of their research into 300 organizations, which involved surveying over 2,200 professionals and 50 in-depth case studies. The book follows up their successful Harvard Business Review article (http://hbr.org/product/leadership-the-next-generation-hbr-spotlight-artic/an/12914-PDF-ENG?Ntt=willyard). The book is enjoying tremendous success - already in its second printing only months after its release.
According to Dr. Willyerd, the DM program was essential preparation for this book - not only by its focus on research methods, but also because of the way it transformed her thinking: "The DM program changed the way I think. It opened me up to the macroshifts; to step back and understand the impact of globalization. That's just a different level of thinking... I think fundamentally I wouldn't have conceived of the book without having that personal thinking journey."
Dr. Karie Willyerd has held executive positions with Lockheed Martin, H.J. Heinz, and Sun Microsystems, among other organizations, and is now the CEO of Jambok, an on-line learning environment for small to medium sized businesses. She holds a bachelor's from Texas Christian University and, master's degree in instructional and performance technology from Boise State University.
