Laszlo Bock
"Laszlo was one of the main reasons I attended the conference and he did not disappoint. I thought it was a great presentation and I wished we had longer!" Human Resources
One of the most creative, revolutionary thinkers in the Human Resources space, Laszlo Bock is committed to leveraging technology and behavioral science to make employees’ jobs and lives better.
In his latest role as founder and CEO of Humu – a venture launched in 2017 – Bock has developed HR software to create an environment where employees feel empowered and are given room to grow.
“If there was a way to take all that people science and people analytics that we’d developed and combine it with machine learning, there’d be a way to figure out how to, for every single person, help them get a little bit better every single day,” theorized Bock. Through his team’s efforts, Humu employs a series of “nudges” or small reminders that help employees take the right action at the right time.
Bock’s mission with Humu is a continuation of his groundbreaking work with Google, where he created a data-driven HR laboratory to help the company grow their workforce tenfold and nurture an employee-centric culture rarely seen at major corporations. As Senior Vice President of People Operations, Bock took Google’s rigorous testing used to refine its search algorithms and develop new products and applied it to its hiring, training, managing, and promoting practices.
During his decade-long tenure, Google was recognized over 150 times as an exceptional employer – including being named the No. 1 Best Company to Work for in the United States seven times; the No. 1 Top Diversity Employer overall; and the best company for women in technology.
The secret to success, Bock reveals, is that he viewed Google’s employees as its most important resource and constantly adjusted working conditions to find the most productive environment. “All it takes is a belief that people are fundamentally good – and enough courage to treat your people like owners instead of machines,” says Bock. “Machines do their jobs; owners do whatever is needed to make their companies and teams successful.”
Bock details his Google experiences in his book “Work Rules! Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead,” a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller that has been translated in more than 20 languages and has won over 30 awards.
A compelling and engaging expert, whose enthusiasm is infectious, Bock entertains audiences with tales of interviews gone wrong and right, and teaches job seekers how best to tell their own story. His belief that work should not bring people down is authentic, as he delivers his clear and cohesive ideas to help revolutionize the workforce.
Warm and witty, with a remarkable ability to connect with people, Bock disarms and relaxes his listeners. Breaking down his interpretation of science, theory, and real-world experience, he reveals key ways to transform your work and your life – no matter where you sit on the employer-employee spectrum.
*In partnership with CAA*
Laszlo Bock at Workforce 2019 – Not Cloning Yourself
Laszlo Bock at Talks at Google – Upward Feedback Survey
Laszlo Bock: Work Rules – Redefined and Reimagined
Laszlo Bock at Workforce 2019 – People Technology
Laszlo Bock at Workforce 2019 – Combining HR, AI, and Behavioral Science
Laszlo Bock at Workforce 2019 – Combining HR, AI, and Behavioral Science
AI is poised to transform everything about how we work together. Laszlo Bock — who led Google’s people function during their most innovative years and has since founded two venture-backed AI companies, authored a bestselling book on the future of work, and is now a venture capitalist — draws on the latest academic research, startup ecosystem, and his unique knack for prediction the future of work to explain what organizations should do to harness the power of AI.
They keynote or moderated conversation lays out how AI works in accessible language, leading the audience to understand the “jagged frontier” beyond which AI breaks down — for example, why AI can program a tic-tac-toe game but can’t play one. From there, it’s a deep dive into how AI impacts workforce productivity, for better and worse. The conversation concludes with the implications for workers of all types, including managers, executives, and even their children.
[Note that this talk is constantly updated to capture the latest in the field. By the time you read this, AI may be able to play tic-tac-toe … or may even be reading this description!]
Some people work for a check, and some work to climb a ladder. But others work because they know deep in their souls that their work matters and that they are building something even greater than themselves.
No one understands this more than Laszlo Bock, who stepped away from the role-of-a-lifetime as SVP of People Operations at Google to start his own HR software firm. Why? In his own words, he wanted to “keep learning and growing,” and find out if he could make work better for everyone, everywhere.
During this keynote or moderated conversation, Bock explains how to find the deeper meaning in your own organization’s work and to cultivate that connection to your people. He explains that if you want to be surrounded by passionate, motivated, high performing people, you need to connect them to a mission that matters.
In order to be at the forefront of tomorrow’s workforce, future CEOs will need to learn some critical skills that will help them build a culture that will draw and retain employees. Laszlo Bock, Founder of Humu, and former SVP of People Operations at Google, provides key advice that CEOs can use to help reshape their organizations.
“Culture shows up in every aspect of how you do business,” Bock says. “How you interact with one another on your team, how you treat your customers, and, of course, the small stuff like whether you’re a Coke or a Pepsi company. I repeat this classic line from management expert Peter Drucker all the time: ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.'”
This keynote or moderated conversation will touch on topics like authenticity and honesty, and how acting “on intuition” is no longer the right decision. It will also explore a fact-based approach to work and hiring that puts objective assessments at the forefront of job decisions.
Bock also shares how Google built their people analytics powerhouse; how to move your organization’s analytic capabilities from description to prediction; and how the latest technologies can unlock tremendous performance, retention, inclusion, innovation, and even happiness.
There’s a reason why most transformations – be it personal or professional, individual or organizational – fail to deliver on their promises. Laszlo Bock, Founder of Humu and former SVP of People Operations at Google, shares the latest science and case studies showcasing how “nudges” – tiny, highly targeted, and customized interventions – are the key to energizing people and organizations and mobilizing them to drive real change.
When it comes to organizational transformation, “change at scale is almost impossible using traditional methods,” Bock says. “You can have all the consultants and top-down change programs you want. But the dominant strategy for most people is to duck their heads, passively resist, and wait until the latest flavor of the month program expires.”
“If you want real, enduring, transformative results,” he continues, “You need to activate everyone. And there’s no better way to do that than nudges.”
With a dash of humor and anecdotes from his time at Google, Bock draws on Nobel prize-winning research and life-changing stories to illustrate how to implement change – in all types of organizations, and in our day-to-day lives. Bock shows that massive growth and transformation are possible – whether your goal is to finish your first marathon, implement an innovative idea, or generate an extra $400 million a year in profits.
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