A growing number of freelance workers are creating alternative business models to help companies reach new ideas and skills. In the meantime, organizations still struggle to create the necessary space for women to reach C-Level. This comes as we are interestingly able to learn more through data and adapted algorithms. Saving costs remains as an only driver for growth, paving way for chatbots to replace human interactions when other leaders remind the richness of humanity and the multiplicity of cultures as a way to learn from each others. In between, entire nations and teams are left in need of clearer visions and messages to guide them, with the inevitable tensions and potential breakout this expectation creates. A question remains: what direction to give them?

#1 The rise of freelance workers

“Les chiffres parlent d’eux mêmes, la croissance d’Hopwork va bon train : avec plus de 12.000 freelances, sa communauté rassemble à elle seule 4 fois plus de collaborateurs que le nombre de salariés des 10 plus grandes agences de communication françaises réunies.  Elle compte également 1.000 inscriptions chaque mois, un budget moyen de 2.000 € de prestation, plus de 17 Millions d’euros de business réalisés en 2 ans.”

Read more: “Hopwork révolutionne le marché des freelance“, MB & Scott

#2 More women needed on board

“Les femmes représentent 48 % de la population active mais seulement 14 % des dirigeants d’entreprise. Cherchez l’erreur…”

Read more: “Infographie: être femme et entrepreneur en 2016“, MB & Scott

#3 More spending on data and visual tools

“Dan Vesset, IDC’s Group Vice President for Analytics and Information Management, projects that spending on self-service visual discovery and data preparation tools will grow 2.5 times faster in 2016 than traditional IT-controlled tools.”

Read more: “The Changing Face of Business Intelligence“, Akshata Pai, IBM

#4 Algorithms for each need

“After all, for different circumstances you require different algorithms and the same algorithm in a different environment can produce different results. In fact, there are many different variables that determine which algorithm to be used and how the algorithm will perform. These variables include the type and volume of the data, the industry the algorithm will be applied to, the application it will be used for etc.”

Read more: “12 Algorithms every data scientists should know“, Data Floq

#5 Chatbots to save costs

“Beyond offering a better customer support experience, businesses will soon find that chatbots allow for dramatic cost savings in their call centers.”

Read more: “The 200 billion dollar chatbot disruption“, Matt Swanson, VentureBeat

#6 Multicultural leaders on the rise

“Farah’s story is powerful to say the least. She draws from her multicultural background to describe how the smallest of actions, whether of kindness or prejudice, can be powerful in shaping the way we deal with people we work and interact with. ”

Watch more: “How can we connect with other cultures to create a sense of belonging?“, IESE Business School

#7 Growing nervousness leading to potential breakouts

“The report is published amid growing nervousness about the UK’s position in the EU. The “remain” campaign has suffered a turbulent few weeks of self-inflicted damage. David Cameron has now twice allowed an air of crisis to settle over the UK government, first with a botched budget and a senior resignation, and then with Mr Cameron’s fumbled response to the Panama leaks. The EIU still expects the UK to stay in the EU, but the risk of a Brexit has risen.”

Read more: “Europe stretched to the limit“, The Economist

#8 Employees in need of guidance

https://plus.google.com/+insperity/posts/Mmpy2hXzZhd

“Employees will always do what they think is best according to what they think leaders want. If you tell them what you want, it focuses their behavior as intended.”

Read more: “How to connect employees with your company’s mission“, Insperity