“Become my apprentice”

There is good reason to suggest that your people might distrust technology’s increasingly central position in the workplace. Firstly, most employees are more adverse to change than organisational leaders are. Whilst your new HR system might come with bells and whistles, if it requires changing a process already in place there will always be friction and reticence.

One should not forget that some staff also perceive technology to be a threat to their jobs. James in admin would only have to transpose the impact of self-service checkouts on retail staff to his day-to-day function to start thinking that always-chipper chatbot might not be the best thing for his future employment potential.

Then, of course, there’s the constant slew of blockbuster films which portray the implementation of technology in, largely, dystopian ways. Bladerunner; I, Robot; Star Wars; the technology-abbetted future is always a bit difficult. Just ask anyone who’s ever had a Death Star pointed at them.

Yet, firms and people, willingly or otherwise, are having to face up to this digital state of play. One such firm are Amazon – who, leaning into the digital future, are hiring 1,000 new apprentices, training them up to “succeed in the digital age”. This edition’s cover story features a long-form interview with the internet retailer’s Head of UK HR who reveals their talent strategy for the digital age.

We also look at which platform you should be hunting for talent on, why there’s a benefit to giving your staff purpose outside of making profit, and why being a hands-off leader might

As ever, stay safe and enjoy.

Daniel Cave - Head of Content