There once was a time when the annual WorldatWork Total Rewards Conference & Exhibition was mainly about compensation practices, and although that is still a big part of the event (which is going on this week in Philadelphia), the focus has increasingly changed and now deals with everything having to do with attracting, motivating and retaining talent.

And just as the conference focus has grown and changed, so has WorldatWork evolved to better reflect the changing needs of the modern workforce. Tracy Kofski, chair of the WorldatWork board of directors (she’s also HR director at General Mills), made this point during the opening general session today here in Philadelphia, and she also discussed the work the organization did at the end of 2007 when WorldatWork released “eight key predictions that showcase the trends and events that will change the nature of human capital management in 2008 and beyond.”

I missed the list when it was released in December (memo to WorldatWork: The holiday season isn’t a good time for big announcements), and it reflects an attempt by the organization to put together “an exhaustive literature review of futurist books and articles coupled with critical analysis by WorldatWork knowledge leaders. … Several themes surfaced consistently.”

So, here are WorldatWork’s key predictions on the future of work:

1. The successful organization of the future will excel at acquiring, organizing and strategically deploying global resources.
2. There will be increased global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural and political spheres.
3. Technology will advance at an even more rapid pace than in previous decades.
4. There will be continuous, dramatic changes in the labor force.
5. Human capital will become an even greater source of value.
6. The way work is organized and performed will evolve and change continuously.
7. Outsourcing will increase.
8. Self-paced, self-directed individualized virtual learning will dominate business training.

As much as I like and respect WorldatWork, I was less than impressed by this list. Are there any real surprises or breakthrough insights here? I didn’t find a single one that really jumped out at me.

That’s not to say there aren’t some interesting things going on here at WorldatWork in Philadelphia. Yesterday’s focus on flex work and work/life balance was fascinating, but these “predictions” on the future of work add little useful information to the debate over what we are going to need in tomorrow’s workforce.