56

HURACÁN STO. BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

VOLUME 14 / ISSUE 56 / OCTOBER_NOVEMBER_2022

THE BLENDED WORKDAY

The struggle to define true workdays
in today’s remote-work era
lamborghini.com
$14.95
 AGILE. MEET THE
LEADERS
Impactful. YOU
RARE. NEED
A new world demands new
leaders—people who can perform
and transform. Impact across the
ecosystem. Anticipate. Inspire.
Disrupt. We call these people
Enterprise Leaders. And we’ll
help you develop them.

Get started at:

kornferry.com/enterprise-leadership
MEET THE
LEADERS
YOU
NEED
A new world demands new
leaders—people who can perform
and transform. Impact across the
ecosystem. Anticipate. Inspire.
Disrupt. We call these people
Enterprise Leaders. And we’ll
help you develop them.

Get started at:

kornferry.com/enterprise-leadership
 CHIEF
EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
GARY
BURNISON

Our
Timeless
Truth

T
he circle of life—like the cycle of
business—will always change. But
leadership endures.
I can remember like it was yesterday,
though more than 20 years have passed.
My son, Jack, was five years old and had to
undergo surgery. In that sterile, white pre-
op room, the gravity of it hit when the nurse
put the needle in Jack’s arm. His eyes wide,
Jack turned to me and asked, “Daddy, will better selves and give into the survival-
everything be OK?” Startled by the sheer ist side of our human nature just because
fear I felt inside, I forced confidence into the economic arrows are pointing in a
my voice. “Yes,” I told him. “It’s going to different direction.
be OK.” Intellectually, we know business does
Flash forward several years—our roles move in cycles and leaders need to respond
reversed. This time, I was in the hospital with decisive action—sometimes grabbing
bed, having herniated a disc in my back for the yoke. In fact, in meetings with global
the third time. Just before I went into sur- colleagues and clients over the past few
gery, Jack squeezed my arm and said those months, I’ve been saying that the seat-belt
same words to me: “Dad, everything is going sign may come on.
to be OK.” But leadership is most definitely not cycli-
For me, these stories have become a par- cal. Its unwavering principles persist
able of the parallel between life and leader- through both the fertile times of summer
ship. It’s a timeless truth and a message of and the fallowness of winter. And in all
CSA Images, Klaus Vedfelt, JulNichols, JK7/Getty Images

hope—consistent from one cycle to the next, times and every season, it’s about reassur-
one generation to another. For today’s lead- ing others that, in any environment, the path
ers, it’s even more relevant. is always up and to the right.
On the heels of a once-in-a-lifetime It’s a simple leadership framework, where
cataclysm, it just feels like something else mindset meets the moment—and all cali-
is always coming up—economic, health, brated around what to do and how to do it.
geopolitical, social…. But as leaders, we
must be all-in, all the time—and all about PURPOSE IS THE ANCHOR. It is the over-
the care of customers and the feeding arching “why” that casts a long shadow,
of employees. We shouldn’t ditch our changing “me” to “we.”

/2/ Illustration by ROB DOBI

 “In all times and every season,
it’s about reassuring others that,
in any environment, the path
is always up and to the right.”

STRATEGY IS THE ROADMAP. It sets the from the technical left brain to the people-
course and the velocity—never moving centered right brain.
faster than people can absorb.
COMMUNICATE TO CONNECT AND
PEOPLE MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. INSPIRE. This is where leadership lives
Despite the technological innovations of and breathes. We are not speaking for our-
the past century, people are what make selves; we represent others.
organizations great.
LISTEN, LEARN, AND THEN LEAD. And in
IT’S NOT POWER—IT’S EMPOWER. Enable that order.
and equip others, then get out of their way.
We know what great leadership looks like.
REWARD AND CELEBRATE Based on nearly 70 million assessments of
ACHIEVEMENTS—​ALWAYS. We can never executives, our firm has identified what dis-
say “thank you” and “good job” often enough. tinguishes the best-in-class who are among
the top 20 percent: setting vision and strat-
ANTICIPATE A FUTURE GROUNDED IN egy, driving growth, displaying financial acu-
TODAY’S REALITY. The more clearly we see men, and handling crises.
the here and now, the better we’ll project But there’s an intangible, radically human
what is around the next bend. side that cannot be overlooked. From one
cycle to the next, expansion to contraction,
NAVIGATE IN THE MOMENT. Course-correct leadership is always about others. It’s help-
in real time. Sometimes a decision is a ing them believe and enabling that belief to
good decision—until it’s no longer a good become reality. Indeed, that’s our uncom-
decision. It takes a mindset shift, elevating promising, timeless truth. 1

Illustration by DWAYNE SHAW /3/ October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS

 COVER STORY

The Blended Workday

Firms and workers alike are struggling
to define what makes up a true workday
in today’s remote-work era.

22

The 80-Year-
Old Employee
As people start
working more into
their golden years,
corporations are
facing the age of no
age limit.

42

If Only I’d
Passed
Biochemistry powerofforever, mrPliskin, Stephen Gabris, Daniel Hertzberg

Universities
traditionally create
foundational courses
that fail out many
students, potentially
crushing promising
career hopes.

50

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 /4/

 Chatter Bots:
‘The Spiral
of Misery’
Chatbots may
frustrate people, but
data scientists believe
there are new uses on
the horizon. Our look
at 7 that promise not
to drive people crazy.

32

8 THE NEW CEO DISTRACTIONS

Many leaders say they’re more
consumed than ever before
by everything but operations.

BRIEFLY ON… HISTORY LESSON

10 A STOCK MARKET THAT FREAKS 15 THE NBA’S LONG-FORGOTTEN

OUT WORKERS Do firms need better TEAM A one-of-a-kind deal ended
financial wellness programs to help the Buffalo Braves.
workers with today’s market swings?

11 TOO LITTLE, NOW TOO MUCH Firms DOWNTIME

that went from massive consumer
demand to no demand now have a new 57 VIRTUAL VISIT
supply-chain problem. Porto, Portugal’s second-largest
city, is a place of contradiction
13 ARE TWO HEADS BETTER THAN and complement.
ONE? A new study revives the debate
about whether co-CEOs work better PLUS: PURSUITS – READ, LISTEN,
than one leader. WATCH - SUGGESTED (STARTS ON PAGE 60)

VOICES

16 SIMON CONSTABLE 18 VICTORIA BAXTER 20 DANIEL GOLEMAN

The Global Economy ESG Purpose
Central banks across the The health sector has a Why return-to-office
globe have lost much of unique responsibility to efforts by companies
their luster. address climate change. are missing the point.

CLICK Leadership News, Every Week KornFerry.com/Insights

/5/ October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS

BRIEFLY
LEADERSHIP

“Issues are

ON...
distracting if
you let them
be distracting.”

Briefly On... History Lesson Voices

Insights on different Learning from the missteps Insiders on today's top
business sectors. of our predecessors. management issues.
8 15 16

Illustration by DANIEL HERTZBERG /7/ October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS

INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS BRIEFLY ON...

LEADERSHIP

The Struggle
to Move On
Forget competitors and talent wars. Leaders say they’re more consumed
than ever by everything but operations. By Russell Pearlman

T he CEO wanted to devote

the week to making deci-
sions on how to adjust
her company’s operations
as the world’s economies
soften. Instead, she had
multiple meetings about
the firm’s yet-to-be-final-
ized flexible-schedule policy. Another day was
spent answering questions about which political
candidates the organization would donate to, and
why. Adjusting healthcare policies in light of recent
Supreme Court rulings took up another two days.
Finally, there was the earnings call to prepare for.
So much for time to make critical business decisions.
It’s not as if leaders haven’t always been deluged
with demands for their attention. “Three years ago
wasn’t the beginning of distractions,” says J.R. Klein,
coauthor of the new book Global Business in the Age
of Destruction and Distraction. But before COVID-
19, senior leaders’ biggest distractions were pretty
much the same as other professionals’: emails,
micromanaging, information overload, and social-
media scrolling. And meetings, especially—too

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 /8/ Illustration by DANIEL HERTZBERG

 Pandemic-
Created
many meetings. The average leader spends around
25 hours each week in meetings, twice as much as

NOW
Distractions
in the 1960s.
But it’s not only those outside disruptions that
take up a leader’s time. It’s also the topics of many of
those disruptions. It’s endless debates about where
and when employees should work, how to respond
The issues on
to new state-level laws, and whether to get involved leaders’ desks have Corporate activism
in social causes. And all this is only going to get grown sharply
worse, Klein says. “These disruptions are highly
since before COVID. Return-to-office
corrosive, personally and organizationally. They’re policies
drivers of physical and emotional distress.” Since
2020, as these new, noncore issues have come to the Information
fore, the level of self-reported burnout among peo- THEN overload
ple managers has risen considerably, from 28 per-
cent to 35 percent, according to one survey. Political debate
However critical these new time sinks may be,
an increasing number of experts say they are draw-
Emails Emails
ing attention away from other, even more critical
priorities. That’s especially true with today’s tough
Social-media
economics conditions. “The goal is to make a deci-
scrolling Social-media
sion and move on,” says Dan Kaplan, senior client scrolling
partner in Korn Ferry’s Chief Human Resources
Officers practice. Back-to-back Back-to-back
Among the biggest C-suite and management- meetings meetings
level distractions, the debate over remote versus
Boredom/ Boredom/
hybrid work reigns supreme. Hammering out this
loneliness loneliness
policy can be complex. A multinational organiza-
tion might have thousands of roles across dozens
of countries. Plus, employers initially feared that
the wrong decision on remote work could lead to a
mass exodus of employees. But the issues that first It’s OK for big decisions to take time, experts THE TAKEAWAY
arose during COVID three years ago need resolu- say—but not to the point where they take up huge
tions. If executives are still debating hybrid sched- swaths of a leader’s day. Address them quickly and Agility may be a
ules, experts worry, they may not be managing their thoroughly. Be transparent with stakeholders about critical skill set
teams or strategizing about how to navigate the new what is being decided and why. Assign subordinates needed here.
era of higher inflation and lower growth. to monitor the situation, and make necessary, data-
Topics like these are so sticky, in part, because of driven adjustments. “Issues are distracting if you let
the fatigue of the past three years. Most executives them be distracting,” Klein says.
and employees expected to see a remodeled work- That might require leaders to adopt a different
place around the third quarter of 2020. As for issues mindset. These noncore issues aren’t existential,
around corporate activism, experts say, many orga- business-shattering threats; they’re simply prob-
nizations made these a top priority in the summer lems to be solved. Leaders might have to change
of 2020, around the time of George Floyd’s murder. their opinions. They might have to change long-
Timsa/Getty Images

But two years later, leaders are endlessly rehashing standing policies. They might even have to reimag-
every single issue, every single time, rather than ine their companies to some degree. But that’s what
adopting a consistent policy. agile, best-in-class organizations do. 1

The US has fully replaced the 22 million jobs lost at the start of the pandemic. /9/ October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS BRIEFLY ON...

WELLNESS BY TANZA LOUDENBACK

A Stock Market That

Freaks Out Workers
PARACHUTE INTO ANY CORNER of corporate Amer- stock market this year has taken one of its worst
ica and you’ll find an intriguing menu of wellness tumbles in decades, in the process wiping out siz-
programs. Mental health, exercise, and nutrition are able portions of 401(k) plans. The market has picked
common themes, with companies offering up semi- up some, but throw in inflation and it’s little won-
nars, apps, and even stipends to encourage healthy der that a recent survey found that 72 percent of US
habits. But one area that hasn’t gotten a lot of atten- knowledge employees are stressed out about money.
tion happens to be a pretty critical one these days: The stress doesn’t just occur at home. By one esti-
financial advice. mate, employee financial anxiety costs US employers
As global headlines continue to remind us, the more than $4 billion in lost productivity—per week.

THE TAKEAWAY

Offering financial
advice to workers
can be helpful, but
it’s also tricky.

Rawpixel/Getty Images

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 Earnings for S&P 500 firms grew 6.7% this spring, the slowest rate since late 2020.
 That’s because the average employee spends seven STRATEGIES BY RUSSELL PEARLMAN
hours a week—three of them at work—dealing with

Inventory
their personal finances, according to Annamaria
Lusardi, a professor of economics and accountancy
and academic director of the Global Financial Literacy

Woes: Too
Excellence Center at George Washington University.
Those with low financial literacy, she says, spend
twice as much time at work on money problems. “The

Little, Now
workplace is an ideal place to do financial education,”
she says. “There is a role for the employer.”
But there’s a big difference between offering

Too Much
advice on healthy meals and on the stock market. As
a rule, most companies rely on 401(k)-administering
firms to also provide financial advice. That advice,
experts say, tends to be far more generic, whereas
workers want, and are told they need, more personal- A YEAR AGO, THE BIGGEST inventory glut in the world
ized care. “It’s really important to have a 360-degree was anchored just off the coast of Los Angeles. More
view of your finances,” Lusardi says. That includes than seventy massive cargo ships floated there futilely,
planning around issues like debt and cash flow, along unable—because of COVID restrictions—to offload cargo
with calculating how market shifts or inflation might such as furniture, clothing, and microchips, as well as
affect savings rates or broader financial goals. thousands of other types of raw materials and finished
What’s more, the retirement-plan providers will
rely on time-honored advice that can frustrate work-
ers, telling them to wait out the losses they are see-
ing today and to not time the market. Though many
financial experts agree with that strategy, it’s hardly
an easy approach for most executives, who are used
to taking action. Watching from the sidelines, human
resources officials say that too much personalized
advice can backfire, with workers blaming their own
company for 401(k) losses.
There is another way corporations can help work-
ers with money woes: raising salaries. In the era of
great labor shortages and the Great Resignation,
many have been forced to give hefty increases to tal-
ented workers. But with inflation so high, “it doesn’t
mean the quality of life of your average employee has
gone up,” says Chad Astmann, senior client partner
and co-head of global investment management at goods. The organizations that ordered all that stuff sat
Korn Ferry. He sees the advantages of companies by helplessly, their warehouses and factories empty,
providing more financial planning, but also knows their leaders lamenting that a shortage of nearly every-
that no financial advice is foolproof, especially with thing made it impossible for them to sell what their cus-
the kind of volatility investors are seeing today. tomers were demanding.
Alphaspirit/Getty Images

“We’re in a purgatory more than anything else,” The glut, it seems, has finally made landfall. All that
Astmann says. “It’s not comfortable to see those stuff has ended up in warehouses—ten of thousands of
losses, but it’s part of the rhythm of being in the them, at ten of thousands of companies. Forced to offer
stock market.”1 discounts or unload their products onto the wholesale

The Russian war in Ukraine is expected to cut global income 0.7% annually. / 11 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS BREIFLY ON...
BRIEFLY

market, one company after another is watch- in Korn Ferry’s Supply Chain practice. To move their
ing profits sink. This is just the latest example inventory, stores have been slashing prices. They’ve
of how tricky, in today’s post-pandemic world, even been telling consumers to keep unwanted items
supply-chain leadership can be. After all, just a instead of returning them to warehouses. But experts
year ago, many firms were focused—and spending warn that other industries will likely be seeing gluts,
billions of dollars—on overhauling their processes too. Microchips, which were in a deep shortage just
and practices. Companies didn’t want to be caught six months ago, are now available in abundance
short again, the way they’d been at the beginning of for most uses. Overall, new manufacturing orders
the pandemic. slowed dramatically over the summer, and that could
For their part, retailers have been caught off guard mean copper, steel, and other raw materials will be
by a tumbling economy. “They went from having piling up at factories in the fall.
massive consumer demand to no consumer demand,” For supply-chain officers, the glut is just the lat-
says Cheryl D’Cruz-Young, a senior client partner est addition to their own inventory of challenges.

Italy
DATA
Spain

Finding Sweden

Purpose in Australia

Your Life
New Zealand

Canada

Is it family, money, or career

France
that gives people meaning in
life? Apparently the answer Greece
varies considerably depending
on where they live. Singapore

Career Netherlands

Money Belgium

Family Germany

UK

US

Japan

Taiwan

South Korea

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Source: Pew Research

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 12 /
 THE TAKEAWAY

Supply-chain issues are

not going away—ever.

“Chief supply-chain officers are currently facing a of supply-chain strategy at Cranfield School of Man-
triple challenge consisting of energy costs, energy agement. Experts say that building in more resiliency
security, and decarbonization,” says Sarah Watt, VP in systems isn’t a bad thing, even if it occasionally
analyst with the supply-chain practice of the con- leads to holding more inventory than you are used
sultancy Gartner. Current and future gluts will only to. More organizations will likely look at automating
compound the issue. systems that were previously reliant on humans.
Gluts and shortages didn’t just happen because The shortage—and now the glut—has also dem-
of COVID-19, and they’ll keep popping up from onstrated that transparency and real-time infor-
time to time. But the worst potential outcome of mation across networks are essential in order for
the current glut, experts say, would be for leaders firms to address problems quickly. Robots won’t
to second-guess the changes they made during the solve those problems. “Supply-chain teams need to
pandemic—or to put off needed upgrades now. “There be agile,” Wilding says, able to find solutions when
is no return to 2019,” says Richard Wilding, professor they are under pressure. 1

CEOS BY MEGHAN WALSH

Are Two
Heads
Better
Than One?
IT’S A TEMPTING IDEA, especially in these tough eco-
nomic times, when so many CEOs are watching their
firm’s stock price plunge and earnings forecast miss
the mark. Why not hire two people for the corner
office instead of one, and get double the talent?
A new study, chronicled in the Harvard Business
Review, makes a case in favor of the two-heads-
are-better-than-one solution, which several high-
Lane Oatey / Blue Jean Images/Getty Images

profile firms have tried in recent years. But support

for the idea still lags, and many experts are quick to
remind the world how many of these arrangements
have imploded. Their view: it’s not about who runs
the show, but the C-suite behind it.
From 1996 to 2020, fewer than 100 companies
listed on the S&P 1200 and the Russell 1000 dared
to attempt a comanagement approach. The new

Despite inflation, copper’s price is down 27% from its March high. / 13 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS BREIFLY ON...
BRIEFLY

study charts the performance of 87 of those public and environment—those are conditions for suc-
companies. Contrary to overwhelming public sen- cess for either model,” says Stuart Crandell, se-
timent, nearly 60 percent of the organizations led nior partner in Korn Ferry’s Board and CEO Ser-
by co-chief executives produced notably greater vices practice. That’s why he and others say the
shareholder value than their traditionally led peers. debate over whether to appoint one or two CEOs
Meanwhile, the tenure of co-CEOs is roughly the misses the point. They argue that the focus should
same as of those who reign solo. be on developing an entire executive team that is
Still, even those who advocate for shared leader- equipped and empowered to collectively lead. If
ship structures do so with immense caution. The two heads are better than one, then eight heads are
arrangement can easily veer off track. For a co-CEO better than two. “There is no superhuman CEO,”
model to work, says Manfred Kets de Vries, a lead- Crandell says.
THE TAKEAWAY
ership professor at the global graduate business The renewed focus on co-CEOs is in many ways,
High-functioning school INSEAD, there are vital structural elements experts say, a response to today’s operating climate,
boards remain that have to be in place: the board must clearly de- which demands agility and technical competencies
a critical part fine the executive roles, metrics need to be estab- beyond business and personnel acumen. Compa-
of top CEO lished that separately hold each individual account- nies are hard-pressed to find a single person with
leadership. able, and both leaders should be empowered to the full spectrum of experience necessary to lead in
make decisions and take action. Furthermore, it’s such times of disruption and transformation. But,
essential to develop a culture built on shared val- as Crandell and Kets de Vries emphasize, if firms
ues, along with effective systems of collaboration distribute those skills among an entire team, then
and communication. But wouldn’t most executive the CEO becomes a conductor of equals. Like build-
teams perform better if the due diligence were done ing a band, the key is to find contributors with di-
to create such a strong foundation? verse yet complementary expertise. “Leadership is
“If you have that kind of high-functioning board really a team sport,” says Kets de Vries. 1

WHAT’S ON THE NEXT BOARD AGENDA

1
ONBOARDING
2
EFFECTIVENESS
3 ESG

The highest number of With times tough, smart boards Boards should increase their
first-time directors in years are focusing on creating better role in--and understanding
are joining boards. partnerships with management. of—their firm’s key ESG goals.

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 14 /
 HISTORY LESSON BY GLENN RIFKIN

The NBA’s
Long-
Trailblazers to an NBA title.
Team owner Paul Snyder, who made his
fortune in frozen foods and theme parks,

Forgotten
believed he was put in untenable position by
the league, the city, and rival sports organiza-

Team
tions such as the Buffalo Sabres hockey team
and Canisius College. The team shared its
facility, the Aud, with the Sabres and local
colleges, and scheduling became a night-
A one-of-a-kind mare. The Braves, who became a playoff
deal ended team, were forced to play several “home”
games in Toronto, Rochester, and Syra-
the Buffalo Braves. cuse. After threatening to move the team,
Snyder eventually gave up and sold it to
IN 1978, THE BUFFALO BRAVES John Y. Brown, the future governor of
of the National Basketball Asso- Kentucky.
ciation departed from western New In 1978, while the team was jet-
York and landed in San Diego, where tisoning its best players, the Boston
they became the Clippers. A sports fran- Celtics were also struggling. Celtics
chise relocating is not unusual. But this owner Irv Levin, a movie producer,
move, which jilted the fans in Buffalo, wanted to live on the West Coast
was the culmination of a bizarre fran- but the league refused to allow him to
chise swap, the only one of its kind in move a storied franchise like the Celtics.
the history of US professional sports. An NBA lawyer named David Stern, who
Most NBA fans under a certain age would later become the league’s commis-
don’t even know that Buffalo had a sioner, brokered a deal in which Brown and
team, and even fewer know why that Levin swapped franchises. Levin then moved
team fled from the city. But Buffalo the Braves to San Diego while Brown took over
did indeed have a team for eight sea- the Celtics in Boston, leaving proud Buffalo fans
sons, which entered the league as an with no pro basketball team. “What
expansion team during the 1970–71 happened to the Buffalo franchise
season. Its short-lived tenure in the is a black mark on the NBA,” says
city was marked by great expecta- former Boston Globe sports-
tions; but a raft of highly talented writer Bob Ryan, who covered
players, including future Hall of the Celtics. 1
Famers Bob McAdoo and Adrian
Dantley, were among the many
team stars who were summar- Randy Smith of
Focus on Sport/Getty Images

ily shipped out of town in an the Buffalo Braves

endless series of trades. Even shoots against the
their one-time coach Jack Washington Bullets
Ramsey was a Hall of Famer during an NBA
who quit and later led the Portland game circa 1977.
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS VOICES GLOBAL ECONOMY BY SIMON CONSTABLE

“ If you believe you have

someone brilliant
in charge, then you
have confidence.”
The Central
Bank Dip

W
hat a difference a few decades
make. In 1982, the reputation of Infrastructure Capital Advisors. “Volcker and
the Federal Reserve was riding Greenspan used judgment instead of rules,” he says.
high after its leader Paul Volcker “If you believe you have someone brilliant in charge,
had deftly tamed the double-digit then you have confidence.” And investors did have
inflation that blighted the US confidence. The stock market registered an epic bull
economy during the late 1970s. A run from 1982 through 1999, interrupted only by a
year later, when Hong Kong suf- brief pullback in 1987.
fered a currency crisis, the Fed’s During the bull market, there was little transpar-
tangential involvement played an ency in how the Fed worked and how decisions got
essential part in lifting the then- made. “Greenspan was famous for talking a lot but
British territory out of economic and political tur- saying nothing during his congressional testimony,”
moil. While the Fed’s glow lasted into the early Hatfield says. Many economists made their careers
21st century, the institution now seems to have lost by translating the seemingly incomprehensible
some of its luster, as have other major central banks, “Greenspan speak” into plain English.
according to some experts. However, after Greenspan stepped down in 2006,
In the finance world, Fed chair Volcker and his the Fed switched its practices. It moved from being
successor Alan Greenspan were revered like A-list run by brilliant autocrats to a system of committee-
movie stars. “These Fed chairmen were larger than based decision making. At first, that was under the
life,” says Jay Hatfield, CEO of investment company stewardship of Ben Bernanke, followed by Janet

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 16 / Illustration by ROB DOBI

 Yellen, then Jerome Powell. That move to group mandates have typically been to control inflation,
decision-making also coincided with increased promote high employment, and maintain finan-
demands for transparency. Put simply, voters and cial stability. But now, the Fed has added achieving
politicians alike wanted to know how the Fed made equity and social justice to its task list. Both are
its decisions. Hatfield says more transparency politically charged. “The Fed is the very picture of
reduced policymakers’ flexibility to make ad hoc mission creep,” says Pete Earle, research faculty
policy changes. at the American Institute for Economic Research.
Recently, the Fed, the Bank of England, and the “The view of the Fed as a monolithic institution
European Central Bank have all drawn harsh criti- with no whiff of political influence is long gone,”
cism for their sloth-like responses to ballooning he says.
inflation following the pandemic. Some critics go Others see a more benign explanation for the tar-
further, saying the jump in inflation was caused by nishing of the Fed’s luster. Historically, what the Fed
central bank policies of excessive money printing. did was far more important to investors than anything
“The Fed thought it could ignore the money sup- else. But that’s changed. “The Fed hasn’t lost its shine
ply,” Hatfield says. The US monetary base (cash in what it does, but now there are other catalysts
Constable is a
Bryan Allen/Image Bank/Getty Images

plus deposits at the Fed) jumped by $3 trillion that weren’t there before,” says Greg Bassuk, CEO of
between February 2020 and December 2021. Some AXS Investments. Instead of being the top driver of fellow at Johns

economists correctly forecast that such a ballooning financial markets, it’s now one of a few engines. The Hopkins and

money supply would create an inflationary surge. other factors include geopolitical tension, such as the a former Wall

Another problem is that central bankers have recent invasion of Ukraine, global supply-chain dis- Street Journal

begun weighing in on political matters, which ruptions, and the pandemic. “Those catalysts will be TV anchor.

tends to draw criticism. For decades, central bank around going forward,” Bassuk says. 1

/ 17 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS VOICES ESG BY VICTORIA BAXTER

“Anesthesiologists are
switching to products
that emit fewer
greenhouse gases.”
Decarbonizing the
Health Sector

T
he health sector has a unique
relationship with—and responsi-
bility to address—climate change.
According to government data,
the US health sector (encompass-
ing both life sciences and health- includes production, transport, and use and dis-
care delivery) is responsible for posal of goods, as well as services.
8.5 percent of national carbon Climate change also affects human health, of
emissions. While not as high as course. Extreme weather events, including heat
those in other sectors, such as elec- waves, droughts, and floods, have acute long-term
tricity (25 percent) and agriculture (11.5 percent), negative effects on health. High temperatures,
the country’s health-sector emissions increased by for example, increase the risk of heart attacks and
6 percent between 2010 and 2018. Today, the US strokes. Poor air quality has been linked to increased
makes up one-quarter of the global health sector’s emergency-room visits and higher rates of mortality
total emissions. for people with asthma and other diseases. Disad-
Carbon emissions come from the operation of vantaged and underserved communities experience
healthcare facilities, like hospitals, clinics, and doc- the brunt of these adverse health effects.
tor’s offices, as well as the energy needed to heat and The sector is starting to take its responsibil-
cool them. A full 80 percent of the sector’s footprint ity seriously. In mid-2022, the US government,
is in its complex and global supply chain, which through the Health and Human Services Office of

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 18 / Illustration by ROB DOBI

 Climate Change and Health Equity, called on the
sector to share its action plans for responding to
climate change. During the 2021 Climate Confer-
ence (COP26) in Glasgow, 50 countries pledged to
decarbonize their health systems. They will provide
detailed plans during COP27 in November 2022.
US hospitals, healthcare providers, and pharma-
ceutical companies have already taken meaningful
steps toward fulfilling this pledge, among them the
following initiatives:

Citing alignment between their mission and

values, a nonprofit health system has linked
executive compensation to progress on sus-
tainability targets—a move many companies
have taken to demonstrate their commitment
to managing environmental, social, and gover-
nance (ESG) criteria.

Anesthesia is going green: anesthesiologists

are switching to products that emit fewer
“As the sector ramps
greenhouse gases. up efforts to decarbonize,
A major health system worked with suppliers
to change the packaging of their disinfectant
we’re likely to see
wipes, reducing both overall waste and emis-
sions associated with transport.
more sustainability
Several health facilities across the country
roles emerge.”
are taking advantage of rebates and grants to As the sector ramps up its efforts to decarbon-
install LED lighting, thereby reducing emissions ize, we’re likely to see more sustainability roles
and saving money. emerge that will deploy their expertise, mandate,
budget, and staff. Technical knowledge is needed
Companies are being more explicit about but also change-management skills, because achiev-
their ESG strategy by undertaking mate- ing ambitious net-zero decarbonization strategies
riality assessments and reporting on ESG requires the efforts of employees who don’t have
performance. “sustainability” in their title. This includes finance
teams who can better account for the cost of carbon
Climate leaders are realizing there can be finan- and the long-term value of sustainability invest-
cial upsides to changes in goods and services, ments, R&D teams who can drive needed innova- Baxter is a

important for those that operate on small margins. tions in care-delivery models and technologies, and senior client
partner in Korn
Hill Street Studios/Getty Images

Meeting ambitious targets will require capital workers across the sector who will need to make
investment and innovation, however. While the sustainable choices in their day-to-day jobs. Ferry’s ESG

government’s efforts to spark change at the indus- Leading health organizations have gotten on and Sustain-

try level are the first of their kind for the sector, the board, declaring climate change to be our most seri- ability Solutions

pledge is voluntary, leaving it up to individual insti- ous public health threat. It’s time for the sector to practice.

tutions to set their own strategies and timelines. make good on the ideal of doing no harm. 1

/ 19 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
INSIGHTS INTO KEY SECTORS VOICES PURPOSE BY DANIEL GOLEMAN

“The focus could be

on how effectively
a person gets
work done.”
Return to Office:
The Missing Link

A s a longtime science journalist

at the New York Times, I worked
mainly from home for years,
coming into the office for just a
couple days every week or so. It
was an early experiment in hybrid
work. And having worked this way
for more than a decade, I believe
the debate about how much time someone should
trending slightly upward), meaning many compa-
nies are footing the bill for empty space.
What’s more, a significant portion of those who
have worked well from home are quite resistant to
returning to the office. These feelings are particu-
larly strong, for instance, among women and ethnic
and racial minorities, who have felt they were being
evaluated for the quality of their work while working
remotely—not through the lens of some stereotype.
spend in the office misses the point. We can be Companies typically deal with bringing people
more intelligent about the emotions aroused by our back by focusing on how many days per week a body
time in the office. needs to occupy a chair in the office. But the panel
Not long ago I was on a panel about “The Great pointed to two dimensions that this way of thinking
Return” in which I discussed pros and cons with about the return misses.
the head of human resources at UPS and two pro- First, there’s the emotional reality. When Google
fessors from Wharton. This topic is of real concern: assessed its top-performing teams, the company
the best stats suggest that office occupancy is at just found that psychological safety was key. Van-
30 to 40 percent of its pre-COVID levels (though essa Druskat, a professor at the University of New

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 20 / Illustration by ROB DOBI

 Hampshire who has studied high-performing teams performance, not their attendance.
for decades, calls this a “sense of belonging.” This There are three simple principles for managing
feeling, which characterizes the members of top someone in a way that brings out their best efforts,
teams, allows for the emergence of productive whether they are in the office or working from home:
norms like candor about strengths and limitations,
ease in settling differences, and greater agility. BE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR EXPECTATIONS. Clarity
When I was at the Times I had several different gives the person a goal and metrics for the task at
bosses. One made me feel I did not belong, even hand.
when I was in the office. Another gave me a sense
of belonging even when I was working remotely. LET THE PERSON ACHIEVE THAT GOAL IN THEIR
The first boss made my work a struggle; the second OWN WAY. Giving a person this sense of control
made it easy. In other words, there’s an emotional over their work, many studies show, creates strong
dimension that matters greatly in how well people and positive motivation. Goleman is the

can work, regardless of how many days they do or author of the

Fanatic Studio / Gary Waters/Getty Images

don’t spend in the office. OFFER IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK ON HOW WELL THE international best

Second, there’s another crucial element miss- PERSON PERFORMS. This allows for midcourse seller Emotional

ing from the days-in-the-office debate: how well corrections as well as a learning curve that lets the Intelligence. See

someone actually performs. Instead of fixating on a person experiment to find the best way to get the keystepmedia​

particular number of days folks should come to the job done. .com for his

office to work, the focus could be on how effectively And in the end, whether from home or at the series of primers.

a person gets work done—in other words, their office, getting the job done well is what matters. 1

/ 21 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
In the remote-work era, both
firms and workers struggle to define
the parameters of a workday.
Are two-hour breaks for errands
okay? Can managers text at 10 pm?
Experts’ thoughts
on resolving today’s
“blended” schedules.

Facing
Today’s Blended
Workday
By Arianne Cohen
BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 22 / Photo illustration by IMAGINAR
THE PROBLEM
The traditional 9-to-5 workday has been torn to
shreds since the pandemic, with both managers
and staffs unclear on what defines the length
and scope of their roles.

WHY IT MATTERS
Managers say they are frustrated
with not knowing their staff’s
schedules, while workers complain
of burnout from stretched-out
days. Leaders worry that opera-
tions and cultures are suffering.

THE SOLUTION
Firms need to set detailed expectations for
modern workdays, and significantly increase
manager-employee communications.

/ 23 /
 even then, the people who came in to clean up
the mess re-established the same morning-to-
dusk hours. Office days followed suit. Sure,
eager executives might come in at dawn or
work late into the evening, while others took
long lunch breaks. But for as long as any liv-
ing worker remembers, a “normal” workday
lasted from 9 am to 5 pm.
But the world has changed. It started with
a once-in-a-century pandemic, with mil-
lions of workers sent home when lockdowns
began, only a portion of whom returned to the
office. The typical employee schedule is now
a macrame of overlapping work, caretaking,
and errands—which has scrambled the busi-
ness world. C-suites and top managers find
themselves in a struggle over how to define
something as basic as a workday.
Certainly, many company leaders and
managers have become frustrated by employ-

I
ees’ new penchant for not working during
working hours. They look at occupancy num-
t’s a normal work day for Amanda bers, well into the 80 and 90 percent level
Moore, marketing director of for some movie theaters and restaurants, and
artificial-grass company Turf Envy. wonder why their offices are only half full.
Operating from home in Florida, Are their staffs “quiet quitting”? But work-
she first scans Turf Envy’s social ers point to the other end of the spectrum,
media accounts and looks for In general, Moore says, her workdays can saying their hours have been stretched by
questions from the 42 interns she oversees. be long but include a lot of what she refers to endless emails and demands to, say, reinvent
They ping her queries at all hours. “That’s as “in-between times”—not quite work, but the company supply chain. They complain of
the deal—it’s unpaid, but they can work day not not-work either. She can’t, say, disappear burnout, and point out that the last two years
or night,” she says. She replies to as many for a hike or round of golf. She’s on the clock. have proved that their efficiency is not tied to
as she can. Then begins a phase that wasn’t Sorta kinda. After the meeting, she moves her a schedule or office. Return to the office or
part of her working days of the past: laundry. son’s clothes into the dryer. “I don’t know, is normal hours? Never.
With open time, she piles her teenage son’s this work time?” she asks. Ultimately, experts say, a day of reckoning
clothes into the washing machine, then eyes For our parents, grandparents, and their may come, as the workday shift continues
the stack of dishes in the sink and empties the grandparents, showing up at work and labor- and hours and expectations remain opaque.
dishwasher. Next she takes a break from her ing from morning until late in the day was the “Executives’ perception of on and off are still
break to read a chapter of a book, finishing norm. That tradition was disrupted only by adjusting very quickly,” says former CHRO
right as her first meeting starts at 11 am. the occasional war or earthquake or fire—and Erika Duncan, a cofounder of HR consulting

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 24 /
 company, in fish or wheat or metal. the second half of the century. This threw
Industrialization made the math more a wrench in any coherent evaluation of
complicated. Cotton gins, steamboats, sew- workers’ productivity. Today, only one
ing machines and light bulbs meant that pro- worker in ten does manual work, down by
ductivity calculations required tracking the 90 percent since Taylor’s time. While some
cost of that cotton gin, and depreciating it professions like lawyers adopted hourly bill-
over a number of years, while also calculat- ing, which allowed them to continue to use
ing rotating shifts of employees, each with the same productivity metric (dollars) as the
varying speed and skill. Magnates standard- 1800s industrial magnates, most white-collar
firm People on Point. “‘Work-life balance’ is ized the measurement metric into dollars, professions moved into murkier territory, for
no longer relevant. It’s ‘blended.’” It’s not for easier apples-to-apples comparisons of, good reason: hourly billing incentivized
hyperbole to say that this is the biggest work- say, the profitability of their salt mine ver- slow work, excess work, and overwork.
place change in generations, with the pendu- sus their paper mill. This shift to measuring Instead, most office towers now overflowed
lum still swinging back and forth between output in dollars—and not mechanization with reports and memos and initiatives that
frustrated employers and tired employees. itself—started companies on the path to
When do workers really work, and does it, deeply caring about the morning activities
well, work? of employees like Amanda Moore. Turn-of-
the-20th-century industrial engineer Freder-

F
ick Taylor, the father of management science,
rom the dawn of agriculturalism ignited a global obsession with productivity,
until the Industrial Revolution, which he measured by pacing factories with
workers’ days followed the sun a stopwatch, urging workers to increase their
and seasons: during harvest sea- second-by-second output. His landmark 1911
son, days ran long; during cold winters and book The Principles of Scientific Manage-
sweltering summers, workdays ran short. ment outlined a strategy: measure scientifi-
Bodily needs for meals and rest structured cally, design work processes based on those
the time. When the sun went down, work measurements, actively train employees, and
was over. As fledgling companies appeared, then—this part was key—supervise them.
owners looked for ways to evaluate laborers’ The days of watch-and-learn training
work: Minery bosses measured quantities and chatty afternoons were over.
of metal or limestone or salt removed in a Taylor’s concepts stuck, but were
day. Fishery bosses measured fish per day. increasingly applied to infor-
The equation was always the same: output mation workers, who gradu-
minus input. Each metric was unique to the ally became the majority in

“‘Work-life balance’
is no longer relevant.
It’s ‘blended.’”
/ 25 /
strategy consultant Roger Martin, professor With no clear answer on that, organiza- to wild inefficiency, as well as widespread
emeritus at the University of Toronto Rot- tions decided, en masse, that presentism was discrimination against caretakers whose
man School of Management, says are hard the best way to indirectly measure output: commitments curtailed sitting in that chair
to measure. What if one choice takes three the worker who showed up at 8 am and for eight hours. In one study after another,
months? What if it takes two minutes, but is turned out the lights every day was obvi- office workers only “worked” a few hours
an a-ha moment worth millions? “How much ously the hardest worker. Sitting in a desk a day. Still, so long as people stayed at their
is one choice worth?” he asks. chair became proxy for productivity. This led desks from 9 to 5, the system ground onward.

From the dawn of agriculturalism through

the Industrial Revolution and then the Information
Age, definitions of workdays changed. Will the
remote-work era force another change?

ilbusca, Archive Holdings Inc./Getty Images

/ 26 /
 W
ith today’s firms turn- have discovered, following projects and
ing to remote and hybrid attendance is difficult when so many col-
models, presentism is leagues are no longer arriving daily. For
seriously blurred. Only many economists, a new era is emerging
managers with technology resources can where measuring inputs (hours worked,
track workers at home—which brings its memos sent) is being replaced with out-
own privacy concerns—and as many bosses puts. Measuring an input is the equivalent
Luis Alvarez, MoMo Productions/Getty Images

/ 27 / October_November_2022
October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
of measuring a blueberry pie by how long home with few distractions. Sacrificed in all
it takes to bake. As Martin tells it, the pan- this shuffling and tracking down workers,
demic has refocused attention on outputs. say managers, is the kind of spontaneity they
“That’s a good thing,” he says. “For the once enjoyed with staffers.
most part, corporations didn’t have access “Leaders I’ve spoken with are frus-
to inputs, so they were forced to change.” trated when they can’t reach people readily.
But change as monumental as this can be ‘Who’s where? And when?’” says Cathleen
challenging, and corporate leaders find that Swody, an organizational psychologist and
even when staff outputs are fine, it’s frustrat- partner at Thrive Leadership. “It can feel
ing to have little control over simple details hard to move quickly and stay aligned with
like whether an employee picks up the phone their team.”
at 10 am, or how to get all of their staff in the The lack of structure has also created a
same room. They worry that employees are steep learning curve for some employees.
using remote schedules to take unapproved Sure, they have more flexibility, but some and emails, procrastination opportunities,
side gigs and vacations, calling in from hotel say that today’s blended workday can lead and micromanaging from anxious leaders.
rooms or airports instead sitting at a desk at to a soul-crushing mix of constant messages Surveys over the past two years have found

How We wanted to know what day-to-day work looks

like for most employees. So we checked in with
Employees five workers during a typical week, as they tack-
led their daily activities, operating on either fully
Really Work remote or hybrid schedules. They comprised a

5
Today? 23-year-old public relations assistant, a market-
ing manager, an executive project manager at a
nonprofit, the president of a health information
company, and the CEO at a staffing company.
In this admittedly tiny sample, we found
that workers and executives alike now attend
to many nonwork activities during the tra-
ditional workday—including some activities,
such as side gigs or work during unapproved
vacations, that might rattle managers at some
Things To firms. At the same time, each puts in late and

Know
long hours, which can lead to burnout. All said,
they get their work done.

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 28 /
 that anywhere from half to three quarters of need to create definitions and understand- HR experts say that cementing these new
workers complain they are burned out from it ings of common scenarios like in-between expectations is best done team by team,
all. “There’s so much going on in our world time (is it okay to go for a bike ride between through communication. “It’s all about con-
that it’s hard to not be more stressed and anx- meetings?). And family time (is it all right nection,” says Duncan, the HR consultant.
ious,” says Elise Freedman, leader in Korn to skip two hours of work to take the kids “It can’t be intermittent, only when a boss
Ferry’s Workforce Transformation practice. for ice cream after soccer?). Or are we still needs something, because then people feel
“From what I can see and tell, people are following the hour-long-appointments-are- tethered to the desk even when they’re not
working more, online at 7:30 and working fine rule? And vacation time (is replying to there.” She encourages managers to create
straight till dinner, with a lot more back-to- Slack chats while at Disneyland work? Or consistent connection and weekly check-
back meetings on Zoom. People just don’t missing Zoom meetings in a cabin because ins with staff, as well as structure in which
have that pause time to self-reflect or catch cell service is weak?). At the root of much staffers talk amongst each other. Until then,
up with friends while driving, so I think of today’s mutual confusion, experts say, is a morning that Moore describes as reading
we’re all ‘on’ a lot more than before.” accessibility: What is the reasonable amount and doing laundry “on my own time” will
Experts say what has not yet emerged— of availability for a knowledge worker? And continue to be described by other bosses as
and is desperately needed—are ground rules what are unreasonable intrusions by manag- “wondering where Amanda is” or “hoping
for blended work time. Specifically, firms ers on people’s lives? she replies soon” or “missing in action.”

1 | CHOSEN HOURS
I might not respond until 9 am unless it’s truly
urgent.” She consistently works hard from 9 to
3 pm, proactively finishing her work early, leaving
Does anyone work 9 to 5 anymore? Yes. We found a light late afternoon. On Fridays, this strategy
that the most junior and senior employees still becomes more explicit, with most people clocking
adhere to a standard 9-to-5 schedule even from out midafternoon when the week’s work is done.
home. Senior employees “There’s an unspoken understanding that that’s
do so out of longtime what everyone does,” she says.
habit, and because The employees who deviated the most from 9
they want to model to 5 were two midlevel employees—a marketing
their company’s manager and executive project manager—both
expectations. Junior parents. Over the course of two weeks, they both
employees do so worked in pockets of time from 5:30 am until
out of pressure to 11 pm, one starting at dawn if she happened to be
be present at their awake and the other sometimes aborting work
desks. “I definitely stay when feeling groggy. The latter described one
within my 9-to-5,” says the afternoon: “My brain was not working as best it
23-year-old public relations assistant, could, and it was rainy and gross out, so I stepped
Heath Korvola/Getty Images

who, except for occasional office trips, works away and did some homework with my kids, and
from her home in Orlando, Florida. For her, after- then went back to it, and ended up working on
hours work is not really on the table. “If I see an and off until 6 pm.” That’s an 11.5-hour day, a far
off-hours email pop up, I’ll definitely read it, but longer stretch than typical office dwellers.

/ 29 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
2 | MOONLIGHTING 3 | BREAKS
Inflation is raging, putting financial pressure on Managers everywhere complain that they can’t
even well-compensated employees, especially reach their employees. Where are they? Aren’t
those supporting families. We were surprised they supposed to be working? Pre-pandemic,
to discover that three of our employees were more or less paid to be physically
five workers maintained present, and were dependably at their desks,
lucrative side hustles that rarely gone for more than an hour. But the
help pay for apartments demands of the pandemic forced staffers to work
and kids and vacations. far beyond usual hours—with many trying to fit
(Many companies don’t in extracurriculars during “regular” hours. The
allow such work, but habit continues to this day, with
our group said they had Cook, for example, golfing
been approved so long as for several hours with his
their work was not affected.) dad on a recent Thursday
Their routine, they said, was to slide afternoon. “It was a super
meetings for these side gigs between their main nice chunk of the day,
duties, and then to make up the time by logging and definitely worth it,”
longer evenings and weekends. Calloway Cook, he says. He golfs twice
president of Illuminate Labs, says he is frequently a month, and has learned
sought out for SEO consulting because of his own to blend golf with a full day
success in building heavy traffic to his company’s at work. “I just push everything forward or back,
website. “I don’t want to turn down work, because depending on when I wake up.” That Thursday, he
it’s so lucrative on a per-hour basis,” he says. finished work around midnight.
One Thursday he logged consulting hours from A hazard, of course, is that
4:30 to 6 pm, which lengthened his work day by his just-work-late-at-night
90 minutes. Over a three-day weekend, he put in strategy requires him to
three five-hour consulting jags, including on his be disciplined about not
birthday, leading to a 15-day period in which he texting employees at
worked every day. 11 pm.
Cameron Howe, the executive project manager
of HumanKind, likes to complete 10 to 20 hours of
contract work per month. The meetings tend to be
m-gucci, jhorrocks, Johner Images/Getty Images

brief, and she logs them during her lunch break,

evenings, weekends, or paid time off. “The extra
income is important, because I’ve got two kids and
they’re expensive. But in this extra job, I get to pick
the tasks that I really enjoy, like web design, which
I’m not formally trained in. I get to play around.”

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 30 /
 4 | MULTITASKING 5 | ‘WORKING’ VACATIONS
With the proliferation of online meetings, workers Is she really working from the Bahamas or the
say that multitasking during meetings is essential. Azores? Many managers are not yet comfortable
We found rampant multitasking by lower-ranking with employees logging hours from vacation
employees. “Otherwise I’d never destinations, particularly when the worker isn’t
finish!” says Amanda Moore, using a vacation day. We followed Howe to Rhode
the marketing director. “I Island, where she visited in-laws with her children
always work on projects and husband, far from her Lynchburg, Virginia,
from the team that’s homebase. “It’s nice. I end up working longer
meeting.” For example, hours because it’s more difficult to hyperfocus,
if a meeting discusses but each night feels like a mini-vacation,” she
how captions and imagery says. She typically spreads her work day out over
should look, she’ll tweak 10.5 hours, and mixes in family time.
those captions and images This can be unnerving for managers, but Howe
during the meeting. She is thrilled that worked quite consistently throughout her trip,
the expectation of constant eye contact during and said she was actually more efficient than
meetings has dissipated over time. normal, laser-focusing on work tasks. Leaders
Employees for whom the meetings themselves might be appeased by the detail that she, like
are their output behave differently: they try to most traveling employees, took days off mid-
accomplish tangible tasks as part of the meeting. trip, Friday to Tuesday, and those were the true
Howe spends a lot of time preparing for meetings, vacation days. She says that on her off-site days,
and believes that they are only a good use of her it’s most effective to schedule her workload a
time if she’s paying full attention. “If the meeting little differently, in blocks of similar work, such
is a data dump that’s not specific to my projects, as back-to-back meetings followed by two to four
I might minimally respond to an email,” she says. research tasks. This is more efficient, because
But otherwise, she likes to think that the ideas she can bang out work while
she generates during meetings are valuable, and the kids spend time with
that she builds positive working relationships by their grandparents. “When
demonstrating that she values coworkers and their I have sporadic meetings,
time. “I try to make meetings as useful as I can, it’s harder to juggle,” she
because I don’t want to put my kids to bed at night says. In return, she is
and need to go pull out my laptop.” hugely appreciative of her
Paul Bradbury,Thomas Barwick/Getty Images

employer, and expresses

loyalty. “They’ve done a really
great job of allowing me to meet my
family’s needs.” 1

October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
/ 31 /
Despite enormous frustrations for consumers and
corporations alike, data scientists believe new uses
of chatbots are on the horizon. Our look at 7 that
promise not to drive people crazy.

Chatter
‘The Spiral
of Misery’
BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 32 /
 WHY IT MATTERS
Chatbots can save as much as
50 percent in customer-support
operations alone.
THE PROBLEM
Chatbots play a critical role at many
consumer-facing firms and have great
potential for other uses. But the
technology frustrates most people.

Bots: By Peter
Lauria

THE SOLUTION
Companies need to partner better
with suppliers of chatbots to explore
new opportunities.

or the last few weeks, Victor has been reviewing hundreds

of pages of transcripts of conversations with bank custom-
ers who made inquiries about credit cards. He’s trying to
figure out why these requests, out of the thousands of others
the bank received, weren’t converted into applications
and new business. At the same point in every interaction, he
notices, the customer gets frustrated and ends the conversa-
tion. But Victor, it turns out, isn’t a call-center manager, and

/ 33 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
he isn’t reviewing conversations with a customer-
service representative. He’s a data scientist look-
ing at interactions between customers and the
bank’s chatbot.
Each day, millions of people will come into con-
tact with a chatbot—a technology that tries to
mimic human conversation, frequently through
texts. We all know the drill: the chatbot asks how
it can help, but often offers too few choices and
provides no option for human assistance. Despite
their growing ubiquity, chatbots are still regarded
as one of the most frustrating corners of the
artificial-intelligence and
machine-learning world.
The industry even has a
name for the headaches “Chatbots are struggling to
chatbots create: “the spi-
ral of misery.” Or as Brian
meet the expectations of
Manusama, a former Gart- consumers and corporations.”
ner AI analyst and current
chief strategy officer at
digital-communications
company CM.com, more diplomatically puts
it, “Chatbots are struggling to meet the expec-
tations of consumers and corporations.”
But that hasn’t slowed their momentum at all.
During the global COVID pandemic, the volume
of customer-service calls increased by as much as
300 percent in some industries. Today, compa-
nies are investing more resources than ever into
developing and deploying chatbots. According to
Gartner, nearly half of all organizations will use
chatbots for customer care in the next couple of

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 34 /
 years, up from about 23 percent now. Estimates
suggest that the market for chatbots will exceed
$3 billion worldwide by 2025. Indeed, experts
are hoping that the technology may—empha-
sis on “may”—soon reach a tipping point where
it transitions from the ultimate digital annoy-
ance to a fast and convenient problem-solver for
consumers and a revenue generator for corpora-
tions. “Companies are pushing the boundaries
of what’s possible,” says Rashid Khan, cofounder
and chief product officer of Yellow.ai, an artifi-
cial-intelligence company that has deployed more
than 1,000 chatbots for organizations in bank-
ing, insurance, government, energy, and other
industries.
Right now, as anyone using them knows, the
functionality of chatbots is limited to common
questions with predictable answers. The tech-
nology is great at handling simple tasks like tell-
ing a bank customer their account balance or
serving up a link to a company’s travel policy.
But chatbots aren’t so great at answering open-
ended questions. Ask a chatbot what options are
available to change an airline flight or how to
alter the investments in a 401(k), and the spiral
of misery begins.
Making interactions with chatbots more
dynamic—and less scripted—is a major focus of
investment. But what’s on the horizon? Will any-
thing change soon? We spoke with leaders in the
field and came away with a few surprises (ever
Grant Faint/Getty Images

hear of a chatbot with feelings?) as we glimpsed

into what a different chatbot world may look like.

/ 35 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
FINDING THEIR VOICE fact, Juniper Research predicts that there interactions are going south, the bot can
As anyone with Siri or an Alexa can will be 8 billion voice-assisted devices in hand off the customer to a supervisor or
attest, misunderstood requests and dif- use by 2023. manager,” he says.
ficulty with conversational nuance are USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ Sentiment analysis will become a real
among the biggest headaches consumers ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ game changer for companies once bots
have with chatbots. The issue is navigat- can determine not just how a customer is
ing dialogue—easy for humans, less so feeling, but what exactly they are asking
for machines, despite years of efforts. GETTING IN TOUCH WITH for, says Daniel Faggella, CEO at Emerj
But hope may be on the way: experts say THEIR FEELINGS Artificial Intelligence Research. “Are they
advances in processing natural language A Google engineer recently set off a major asking for a refund or trying to cancel ser-
and conversation are on the horizon. debate in the tech world by claiming his vice?” he asks. Once a chatbot can figure
These would enable chatbots to break company’s LaMDA AI system had feelings. out a customer’s intent, it can determine
away from stilted language and conduct The claim was widely debunked, however, the best way to satisfy it.
productive humanlike interactions. “Con- and the engineer was subsequently fired. USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸
sumers increasingly don’t care if they are While nobody believes chatbots are ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

THANKS
FOR
STOPPING
BY.

talking to a bot or a human, so long as it sentient, the ability to decipher the emo- PERFECTING THE
provides the answers they need in a timely tions and intent of users—known in PRESENTATION
manner,” says Chris Cantarella, global industry parlance as sentiment analysis— Finding the information a customer is
sector leader for software at Korn Ferry. is a major area of research and develop- looking for is only part of the equation.
The technology is still rudimentary at ment. Chatbots today are increasingly How it’s served up is the larger part of cre-
credit

this point, but experts predict that within capable of telling whether a user is sat- ating a satisfying user experience. Should
three to five years, voice-enabled bot tech- isfied with how the interaction is going. chatbots be used to answer detailed ques-
nology will replace the current system— Using a green/yellow/red signaling sys- tions about mortgage terms, for instance?
typing into a text box and waiting for a tem, chatbots can monitor conversations And if so, what is the most efficient
reply—and become the dominant form of and tailor responses to meet the custom- method—sending a link to a lengthy docu-
customer service at most organizations. In er’s emotions, says CM’s Manusama. “If ment, or having a subject-matter expert

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 36 /
 program the algorithm to address specific or insurance provider with massive call- FINISHING THE
terms and conditions? center operations, this can amount to tens CUSTOMER JOURNEY
Until recently, companies hadn’t of millions of dollars per year. In addition to answering questions, chat-
paid that much attention to how chat- Only recently, however, have leaders bots can direct consumers to products,
bots deliver the information customers awakened to the fact that chatbots can fill their carts, and even tally their bills.
request. “Companies are struggling to be effective revenue generators as well. But these interactions stop at the check-
figure out what knowledge to transfer to During the pandemic, for instance, com- out line. The ability to collect payment
customers via chatbot and the best way to panies started using chatbots to push out via chatbot is limited. Data and privacy
communicate that knowledge,” Emerj’s information to loyal customers on sales concerns are part of the reason direct pay-
Faggella says. Companies are analyzing and special promotions via text messages ment has yet to take off. But companies are
customers’ most common questions and and social media. Retailers routinely use increasingly working with providers like
most frequent actions on digital channels chatbots on their e-commerce channels PayPal and Stripe to solve this problem.
to decipher how to present that knowl- to direct shoppers to similar or comple- The ability to pay using a chatbot is
edge in the most concise, conversational, mentary purchases. “Chatbots are one something both customers and companies
efficient manner, as well as when it makes of the best tools for upselling and cross- want. For companies, chatbots can act as

NICE
CHATTING CAN I
WITH CONNECT
YOU. YOU TO
SOMEONE?

more sense to deploy a chatbot instead of selling new products and services,” says knowledgeable sales agents while also
a human representative. Yellow.ai’s Khan. As an example, he cites a cutting down on costs. For customers, the
USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ cable-company chatbot that first resolves ability to find and pay for what they want
ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ a customer’s internet-access issue, then in one seamless interaction saves time
provides offers for faster speeds or bun- and improves the overall experience. Korn
UPSELLING AND dled services. Khan warns that companies Ferry’s Cantarella says customers view
CROSS-SELLING CUSTOMERS need to tread carefully, though. Failing to such functionality in chatbots as table
By far the most common reason compa- solve a customer’s issue while simultane- stakes nowadays: “The customer experi-
Liyao Xie/Getty Images

nies use chatbots is economic. Estimates ously trying to sell them on something ence is everything, and the value chatbots
suggest chatbots can save companies as else won’t win any new fans, he says. create for customers is very transient.”
much as 50 percent on customer-support USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸
costs. For a telecommunications company ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸

/ 37 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
CHATBOT RESOURCE is becoming more and more sophisticated,
OFFICERS says Korn Ferry’s Cantarella. The tech-
One of the fastest-growing areas in the nology is increasingly being deployed to
use of chatbots is in human resources. For answer employee questions about bene-
many companies, chatbots are already the fits, to book travel, to handle training and
first point of interaction for job candidates development, and to gauge engagement
and new hires, whether it’s asking pre- and productivity. “The data collected by
screening questions and scheduling inter- chatbots can alert CHROs to what is hap-
views or providing onboarding documents pening around such things as retention or
and even conducting performance reviews. productivity before they become issues,”
The use of chatbots in human resources says Cantarella.

The Humans behind the Chatbots

The value chatbots provide to customers and companies is directly related to the
people who build and program them. But who are those people, and what are their
skill sets?

SOFTWARE SOFTWARE SUBJECT- DATA CONTENT

PROGRAMMERS ENGINEERS MATTER SCIENTISTS WRITERS
EXPERTS
These code- These technical Chatbots Companies are
writing experts experts have As chatbots generate increasingly
move to more enormous employing
are needed a broader
conversational, amounts of data content writers
to build, test, purview than
knowledge- that must be and editors
and deploy the programmers.
based analyzed to model to turn raw
algorithms that They’re charged
interactions, conversation information into
power chatbots. with designing experts who can patterns, monitor conversation
and mapping the program them customer that mimics
customer journey with specialized interactions, human talk.
with a chatbot. information are analyze
needed. response-
success rates,
Ozalp/Getty Images

and more.

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 38 /
 Critics question whether chatbots actu- spook factor around the use of chatbots in workplace. For instance, instead of
ally provide employees with a better user human resources,” says Emerj’s Faggella. using IT to grant access to certain appli-
experience, however. Using a chatbot USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ cations, companies are now experiment-
to dispatch reams of onboarding docu- ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ing with deploying chatbots to automate
ments and a first-day schedule to a new and respond to access requests, says
employee could come off as impersonal Yellow.ai’s Khan. Chatbots are also
and send the wrong message about the BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY being used to analyze emails, Gchats,
company culture, for instance. Moreover, In the post-pandemic remote-work and Teams messages to determine their
there is a fine line between using chatbots environment, maintaining employee criticality. They can alert employees if
to generate insights about employees and productivity is top of mind for leaders, they need to respond immediately and
violating privacy or rights. To be sure, and many are turning to chatbots for even schedule time with the appropriate
Opico/Getty Images

AI-powered recruiting algorithms have help. According to research firm Gart- contact, if necessary.
come under fire in the past for racial and ner, 70 percent of white-collar workers USEFULNESS ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸
gender bias. “There is still a significant already interact with chatbots in the ADOPTION ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ ✸ 1

/ 39 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
 The
80
Year
Old
Employee
By Arianne Cohen
credits

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 42 /
 As people start working
more into their golden years,
corporations are facing the
age of no age limit.
Dikushin/iStock/Getty Images

/ 43 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
➤ THE PROBLEM As director of business development at
A shortage of talent with
key skills continues to QOR360, Jim Olsen spends his days promot-
hold firms back, but
they still shy away from ing and selling the company’s core product,
hiring older workers.
a wobbly ergonomic stool. His responsi-
➤ WHY IT MATTERS
Workers 65 years old bilities include pitching to office workers,
and up are the fastest-
growing labor market. attending corporate-wellness and furniture
➤ THE SOLUTION conferences, and advising the company’s
Develop more inclusive
hiring policies and foster
founders on finance, personnel, and bud-
a culture that breaks
stereotypes around older
get. It’s a long day, but he still takes a daily
employees
break. Actually, he takes a nap, right after
lunch. Every day, in his bedroom. And
says he emerges refreshed. “If I don’t, I’m
in trouble,” he says, due to atrial fibrilla-
tion “that’s slowing me down a bit.” His
boss, it turns out, takes naps too.

Olsen is 85, and his boss is 72. To hear Olsen tell it, he feels like demographic will be turned on its head.
a spring chicken. “My intellect, my deductive reasoning abilities, Of course, the trend does make some leaders nervous. Eighty-
my observational skills—they all work better as time goes by.” year-old managers and executives with high salaries can cause
The worker of the future isn’t typically envisioned as someone budget headaches, not to mention career logjams for frustrated
in their 80s, or even very far into their 70s. But as demographics Gen Xers. Of late, gray-haired workers exiting and then returning
begin to cast their spell on the labor market, some older men and are not always appreciated. (Didn’t he just leave?) But experts say
women are skipping the standard retirement route the world has many of these older workers are staying put just at the right time,
prescribed for a half century and asking firms to hire them. With because a shortage of skilled workers in many fields that contin-
one in every seven Americans now over age 70, workers age 75 and ues even in a tough post-pandemic economy creates a need for
up have quietly become the fastest-growing labor demographic. eager workers of any age. The only question for corporate leaders
And their participation in the workforce is expected to increase by is: are we reaching the age of no age limit?
96 percent this decade. (By contrast, the participation of workers
age 16 to 24 will shrink by 7.5 percent.) It’s simple math, easily 
apparent to any HR executive: there are now so many boomers
that if just a slice of them continue working, 80-year-old employ- Age barriers in the workplace are as old as, well, workplaces.
ees will become commonplace, and the corporate world’s age The bodies of physical laborers of all stripes typically gave out in

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 44 /
Jim Olsen
Director, business
development
85 years old

The question for corporate leaders is: Golf courses and

retirement commu-

are we reaching an age of no age limit? nities multiplied.

By the 1980s, early
retirement was
middle age; well into the 20th century, people didn’t expect to live widely seen as something to aspire to—a decade (or longer) of
many years past that time. The Social Security Act of 1935 set the unstructured time for travel and leisure. But most Americans
minimum age for full retirement benefits at 65—and passing this couldn’t afford to while away their silver years playing golf, so
milestone was a feat, because 65 was then the average age of death. the retirement age in the US officially crept up to age 67. Even
After World War II, many organizations followed the govern- so, most Americans weren’t actually working that long: in 1998,
ment’s lead and institutionalized 65 as the exit age, often forcibly two-thirds of workers retired and started taking Social Security
so. At the same time, early retirement became increasingly chic. benefits before age 65. A year later, in light of the growing number
In the 1960s and 1970s, “early exits” began appearing, and people of its members still in the workforce, the American Association of
who could afford to take early retirement did, typically for reasons Retired Persons removed “Retired” from its name and was reborn
of leisure or health, says Joanne Crawford, an expert on aging under the acronym AARP. The verdict was in, and it was messy:
workforces at the UK-based Institute of Occupational Medicine. people wanted to retire—but many were not doing so.

Photograph by OLIVER PARINI / 45 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS

 Much of it had to do with economics. As the century closed, Index, which analyzes employees’ attributes (competence,
many companies exchanged dependable pensions for retirement- health, family concerns, values, motivations) alongside
savings plans that turned out to be far less secure. Financial crises workplace realities (demands, leadership, and com-
such as the one in 2008 wiped out many retirement dreams. By munity). This rubric allowed organizations to assess
the aughts, life expectancy was peaking at 75, and people knew and more clearly identify age-friendly environments.
their savings weren’t going to last. Working later in life became For example, a typical 68-year-old worker might be
the only option. Meanwhile, the governments of several wealthy losing strength and balance, but they might also har-

A new rubric allows companies to

identify age-friendly environments.

countries—Finland and Japan, most notably—faced a different bor substantial industry experience and
kind of crisis due to dwindling birth rates (which were causing knowledge—qualities that could make
MoMo Productions, DNY59/Getty Images

labor shortages) and aging populations (which were driving up them a strong manager. Not surprisingly,
healthcare costs). These governments began openly encouraging the most dysfunctional arrangements for
people to work longer, and backed up that encouragement with older employees tended to involve physi-
legislation. In the UK, for instance, the State Pension age jumped cally demanding tasks or, conversely, little
to 68 years old. physical movement at all. Other, broader
During this period, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of assessments were developed, such as the
Occupational Health, Juhani Ilmarinen, created the Work Ability Age Management Index, which takes

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 46 /
 When Does Everyone Else Retire?
Retirement-age policies are a perennial hot-button issue,
with citizens complaining when countries change the rules mid-game.
Here’s how nations handle the issue of retirement.

people who started working

in the aughts, retirement
age is 58 for women and 60
FRANCE for men, and the standard SOUTH KOREA
The current retirement age retirement age will reach 65 The average South Korean
is 62, with full pensions in twenty-five years. This is stops working at 49, yet
first available at age 67. an excellent deal, given that pensions do not begin until
President Emmanuel life expectancy in Turkey is age 60, spurring staggeringly
Macron, 44, will likely 78, only one year less than in high rates of elder poverty
bump up the retirement the US. after retirees blow through
age to 65, and also make their savings in their fifties.
pension reforms. Perhaps You see the problem. Life
kitchen-table discussions expectancy is 83.
with his wife, age 69, have
something to do with it. UGANDA
Regardless, life expectancy Public servants are required
in France is 82. to retire at age 60, which has
led to a spate of Ugandans ITALY
lying about their ages so The retirement age jumped
they can continue bringing up to 67 in January 2022—a
home the bacon. Current life wildly unpopular move, but
TURKEY expectancy is 63. one that is necessary for the
Women can retire at 48, continued economic health
and men at 50, but those of the oldest country in
ages are swiftly rising: for Europe, where nearly one in
four citizens is over age 65.
Life expectancy is 83.

/ 47 /
into account employees’ global experi-
ence, including recruitment, lifelong
learning, career development, flex-
ibility, healthcare, access to new jobs,
and healthy transitions to retirement.
Organizations now had a metric for
assessing roles for older employees,
and a language in which to express
it—and just in time.


Carmen Davoli may be 83, but
the commercial realtor in Syra-
cuse, New York, says he recently
scored the best sales figures of his
life, closing a $3.5 million deal.
In March, he closed a $9 mil-
lion sale. He’s currently fielding
calls from the likes of Amazon
and home-furnishings com-
pany MacKenzie-Childs about
a 200,000-square-foot ware-
house. This is his fortieth year
on the job at Pyramid Broker- Carmen Davoli
age. All of his college buddies Commercial realtor
are retired, but Davoli says 83 years old
he’s never considered it. He

Center. Many seniors can be “very

The focus has often been on what productive and active” members of
the workforce well into their eight-
workers can no longer do. This is ies. His patients and peers include
an attorney in his mid-eighties and
irrelevant 90 percent of the time. faculty physicians in their seventies
and eighties. Yet hirers commonly
finds large-scale commercial transactions fascinating. Why would assume that all aging people will
he give up the client base he spent four decades building, along soon be afflicted by diminished physical functioning or debilitat-
with his network of environmental engineers and surveyors and ing disease. In fact, Coll points out, nearly everyone is afflicted by
power supply pros, all on speed dial? “I deal with high-level people impaired physical functioning or disease: “In heavy physical labor,
at major companies making major moves,” he says. “That’s where such as roofing, physical limitations of strength and balance actu-
the fun part is.” ally apply to almost everybody.” Similarly inaccurate assumptions
Davoli knows that misconceptions about workers like him are proliferate about cognitive and psychological functioning. “The
prevalent. Yet—significant health issues aside—very little affects minor memory-related issues that most aging people experience do
the ability of a septuagenarian or octogenarian to do their work, not substantially affect their ability to work productively,” says Coll.
says geriatrician Patrick Coll, who is associate director for geriat- Experts say that smart firms and managers will ignore age and
rics at the Center on Aging at University of Connecticut Health focus on individual workers. “Look at the person, not the number

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 48 / Photograph by STEPHEN GABRIS

 Many factors affect engage-
ment, energy, and skill set,
she says, all of which can
decline or flourish over time—
and should be matched with
the proper job and support.
The focus, Crawford writes,
has often been on “what work-
ers can no longer do,” which
is irrelevant in 90 percent of
workplaces, with the exception
of fields such as fighter-jet pilot-
ing or emergency services, where
traits like strength, endurance,
and reaction time are essential.
It is more appropriate to concen-
trate on what these workers can
do, she says.
Experts also point out the nega-
tive environmental messaging that
older workers can face. Imagine,
for example, an employee lounge
with a ping-pong table and pizza-
and-ice-cream bar, both of which
may inadvertently exclude, say, an
octogenarian secretary with dietary
limitations (which tend to increase
among older people). This can be
ameliorated with inclusion training,
so that the employees making design
choices and partnering with older
teammates understand that age inclu-
sion is just as important as gender and
racial inclusion, and that jokes about
MoMo Productions/Getty Images

the “old guy” being unfamiliar with

Venmo are insensitive. Social friction
between demographics is common.
Older workers often For his part, Olsen at QOR360 finds it
face misconceptions invigorating to work with much younger
about their abilities. coworkers, but notes one hitch: he’ll peri-
odically make a suggestion based on his
own experience, only to receive a knee-jerk
of years they’ve been on the planet,” says Michal Strahilevitz, reaction such as, “You don’t know what millennials are like.”
director of the Elfenworks Center for Responsible Business at Months later, another coworker will make the same suggestion,
Saint Mary’s College of California. Strahilevitz knows twenty- and the idea will be adopted. “I just sit back,” he says. “I don’t
somethings with work ethics centered on retirement, and seventy- say, ‘I told you so’ or anything. It’s terrific that the idea is picked
somethings with overwhelming energy and professional drive. up at all.” 1

/ 49 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
 If Only I’d Passed
Biochemistry

DBenitostock/Getty Images

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 50 /
 By Arianne Cohen

Universities have traditionally created foundational or

introductory courses that fail out many students.
But are such “weed-out” classes dashing the career hopes
of many promising students who might be future
successes in the corporate world?

B
rad Biren was thrilled to snag a ticket to an
unstoppable career: admission into a dual law
and business degree program. With those cre-
dentials, who couldn’t make it rain money?
But from the first week of his JD/MBA cur-
riculum in 2009, half of his plan went south. His law classes, he
recalls, were filled with boisterous Socratic dialogue, in which
professors questioned the students, then students probed the
professors, and avid conversations ensued. The MBA classes
were, well, different. “The business school was cemented in the
idea that what they were teaching should not be questioned,” he

/ 51 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
 WEED-OUTS,
By the
says. He participated similarly in both programs, but while his Numbers
questions were interpreted as curiosity in law classes, he says, “in
business classes, they were interpreted as ad hominem attacks
Academia isn’t shy about
against my professors.” studying itself, so
Biren describes his mode of thinking as considering differ- scholars have gathered
ent concepts at the same time, and questioning them both. This together ample data sets
approach continued to play poorly in his second round of busi-
ness classes, where the atmosphere grew flat-out uncomfortable.
to quantify the effects
When Biren introduced himself to a new class, the professor of weed-out classes
replied, “Oh, I’ve heard about you.” He graduated from the law on students.
school with honors. The business school? “There was no point
in continuing.”
A decade later, as a successful attorney practicing in tax and
elder law in Des Moines, Iowa, Biren has moved past all this. But
many students never do. As long as universities have existed, an
innumerable number of career hopes have been derailed by so-
called “weed-out” classes, which year after year crush the dreams
of promising engineers, marketers, and CEOs. In doing so, these

25%
classes also reduce the pool of talent for a corporate world that is
facing a serious shortage.
Classes that serve as gatekeepers are so endemic throughout
higher education that they’re hard for any student to miss. They Students in weed-out
are typically foundational or introductory classes, often with courses who report negative
high enrollments, such as psychology, economics, accounting,
physics, chemistry, biology, or world history. Some appear mid-
consequences from some
way through prerequisite course loads, such as organic chemis- aspect of the classes.
try for premed students or anatomy and physiology for nursing
students. The frequency with which students are tossed off
the track differs depending on the institution. At schools that
accept most applicants, 50 to 60 percent of students may earn
Ds or Fs or even withdraw—known in the field by the acro-
nym “DFWing.” At selective schools, DFW rates can be under
10 percent yet a significant proportion of students who pass
but struggle in the class decide to shift careers.

I
Proponents say that this is how the educational world
operates, relying on various benchmarks to move the right
students forward. But critics say the system weeds out so-called n earlier eras, weed-out classes were undoubtedly more
late bloomers and too many other promising students, espe- relevant, when university student bodies consisted of the
cially low-income students and students of color who come male offspring of affluent landowners. Long before stan-
from underresourced school systems. Weed-outs also tend to dardized testing, weed-out classes served the important
amplify problematic gender ratios. “We have admitted these purpose of removing low performers while maintaining
students willingly to our institutions,” says Drew Koch, CEO intellectual standards. Critically, a wealthy male student tossed
of the John N. Gardner Institute, an organization that improves from a law or medical track could still enjoy a bright future.
Westend61/Getty Images

collegiate teaching and learning and also tracks weed-outs. Fast-forward two hundred years. From the Ivies on down, col-
“The idea that we now need to weed out students to somehow leges now are expected to vastly widen the net of opportunities
maintain standards and rigor is really no longer relevant, equi- for all, to greatly open up financial aid, and to compete for the
table, nor fair.” most diverse classes possible. Many of the students they admit

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 52 /
 29%
Students in 3
those classes who Years it typically takes
receive Ds or Fs a school to redesign one
or withdraw. of these classes.

1 in 5
Proportion of
all weed-out
classes that are intro
chemistry
classes.

7% 86%
Probability that a Probability
woman who fails calculus that a man who fails
will go on to receive a calculus will go on to
bachelor’s degree in a receive a bachelor’s
degree in a
STEM field.
STEM field.

arrive with dreams of future lives they’ve had since childhood, cumulative. This means students often find themselves bombing
or with eyes dazzled by a host of exciting career paths. multiple courses at once. For example, a student struggling in
Some enroll in a weed-out course because they’re interested freshman calculus can end up dropping the course to take reme-
in the topic, or because it’s a prerequisite for a career track. dial algebra—a decision that will lengthen their undergraduate
Almost immediately, though, the stakes balloon: A low grade can career and put a “W” on their transcript—while simultaneously
induce rippling negative effects, such as threatening federal aid trying to not fail introductory chemistry. Just thinking about it
money or forcing families to take more of it. Weed-out courses induces anxiety.
such as college calculus or writing, which are often among the Sociology professor Deborah Cohan teaches Introductory Soci-
first that students encounter, can deter them from college alto- ology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort. The class is
gether. Students from less competitive high schools face a par- a prerequisite for the school’s popular and competitive nursing
ticularly uphill battle in STEM fields, because those fields are program, which many students perceive as a lifetime ticket to

/ 53 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
“The idea that we now need to weed out students
to somehow maintain standards and rigor is
really no longer relevant, equitable, nor fair.”

a $30-to-$50-per-hour salary and family-friendly schedule in a many excellent reasons why a professional nurse should have
highly sought-after field. “The students are often under so much a foundation in the understandings of inequality, gender, race,
familial pressure,” she says. The nursing program has far more class, and sexuality that arise through sociology. Her class
applicants than slots, and the students transfer some of that pres- touches, among other things, on domestic violence, childhood
sure onto professors like Cohan. Grade-grubbing pleas include hunger, and body image. “All of these are definitely topics that
the typical “This is going to ruin my GPA,” “I’m going to lose my future nurses should be exploring and mastering,” she says,
scholarship,” and “I’m going to get kicked off the team.” “Then “so that we have medical personnel who are more savvy about
they add, ‘I’ve wanted to do the nursing program since I was human interaction.”
four years old,’” she says. After Cohan posted final grades last Her argument mirrors the broader argument for liberal arts:
semester, one student called her cell phone a half dozen times, if a student on a preprofessional track is exposed only to topics
emailed and texted, and left three voicemails, hysterically wail- directly related to their profession, their mindset will remain
ing that she was not going to get into the nursing program. “She narrow and oblivious to the wide array of ways of thinking about
was coming unhinged.” the world. Cohan herself regrets that as an undergrad at the Uni-
The question is whether Introductory Sociology really does versity of Wisconsin-Madison, she myopically “gobbled up every
weed out students who are unsuited for a career in nursing. sociology class that I could. I was so driven by my interests. But
Enrollment hovers around 70 students, nearly all studying pre- there’s something lost in that. I think it’s worth it for students to
nursing or checking off a general education requirement. Grades dabble in many disciplines.” And yet it’s often these classes that
vary widely from semester to semester (a positive sign that the end up serving as weed-out classes.
professor is not grading on a curve). This year Cohan had 10 As Professors like Cohan are placed in an untenable position. But
Richard Drury/Getty Images

and “quite a few” Ds and Fs. Those who struggle tend to see the she says that students who get poor grades in sociology often do
class as a less-than-fair obstacle on an incoherent path toward so because of traits or behaviors that will get in the way of a suc-
patient care. cessful nursing career. “I hate being the person that’s perceived
Cohan says she never wanted to be the gatekeeper to a health as standing in the way of their dreams, but at the same time, the
care profession. She loves sociology. That said, she points out way they behave in class or interact with me can be very telling.”

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 54 /
 N
ot surprisingly, there on different timelines. Some classes allow fast-moving students
is a strong movement to finish months early; professors can follow students’ progress
to weed out weed-out day-to-day, and intervene quickly.
classes, and it is com- In Biology 101, the withdrawal rate dropped to 2 percent and
ing from within many the failure rate to 10 percent. A similar intervention for the
universities’ own halls. Koch, at the school’s introductory algebra class more than doubled the pass
Gardner Institute, blanches at the idea rate of students with the lowest placement scores. Thirty other
that weed-out classes offer everyone a public universities have adopted the same strategy. On any given
fair and equal shot. “The reality is that day, a dozen students in algebra could be working on a dozen
most students weren’t treated equitably different skills. Though this may sound expensive (and it is),
and fairly since birth,” he says. “If we proponents say it is cheaper than losing tuition-paying students
turn a blind eye to that, we’re just using semester after semester, and it spurs a priceless dividend: inter-
our courses to reinforce privilege.” He says ested, talented students do not fall off career tracks en masse.
that the courses tend to perpetuate them- Companies may be able to learn from this, experts say. Col-
selves under the cover of institutions’ focus lege introductory courses have become a well-researched testing
on student responsibility: if a student fails, ground for whether motivated people succeed when given access
it’s on her. “It actually allows institutions to to the upskilling and knowledge they need. The evidence sug-
not have to look at themselves and see why gests that most do succeed, as long as the atmosphere encourages
this keeps happening,” he says. mastery of content. Scant data exists on intern and entry-level
Marissa Thompson, a postdoctoral fellow employee-training programs, but the same concepts undoubt-
in education policy at the University of Michi- edly apply. In a time when many firms struggle to find qualified
gan’s Ford School of Public Policy, has done people, experts say it may be worth the effort for companies to
research tracking weed-outs and found that hire and train applicants who are many steps behind their peers
a low first-year grade in a STEM class commonly discourages but still very promising.
students from pursuing the major altogether. She says that there’s The tech industry has long since taken matters into its own
a contradiction between colleges’ messaging about diversity and hands, out of necessity: for over a half decade, technology has
inclusion and the ways that their weed-out classes discourage evolved faster than colleges can adapt curricula, leading to a
people from those fields—often along gender, racial, and socio- technical skills gap that is expected to cost $775 billion this year
economic lines. “If universities are serious about opening up the in delays and cancellations. Tech giants are now largely uncon-
pipeline, or encouraging more students to consider STEM, they’re cerned about how their employees fared in Comp Sci 101; lots of
not going about it in a way that is necessarily going to accomplish engineers and developers never took the course at all. Microsoft’s
this goal,” she says. ever-growing Learn program allows workers to snag certifica-
Schools that have addressed the issue tend to offer reduced tions via free online coursework; the company is now in its sec-
class sizes as well as special support, such as supplemental ond year of a “global skills initiative” partnership with LinkedIn
classes and tutoring. At Arizona State University, Biology 101 Learning aimed at training 25 million people online, at their own
was once a 300-student lecture class, with a withdrawal rate pace, college-credit counts be damned.
of 20 percent and a failure rate of 25 percent. Then the school Koch says that adaptive-learning curricula alone will not solve
hired hundreds of computer scientists and curriculum designers the problem. An organizational mind shift is necessary: institu-
to collaborate with professors to reshape Biology 101 and other tions that help people master content also need to reward that
lecture courses. Students now work together in small groups mastery at all levels. Mastery is collaborative among learners and
and do interactive homework online—including interactive teachers, not competitive. Yet in both academia and the work-
remedial and review learning, as needed—that routes them on place, senior employees are often rewarded based on entirely
their own paths through the material. This is known as adap- unrelated metrics, such as P&L or research publications. In
tive learning. The interactive software aims to provide students Koch’s view, a greater focus on the knowledge and upskilling
with the lessons they need at any given moment, with the baked- of underlings is a rare win-win for employers, employees, and
in understanding that students with differing backgrounds or students of the future alike. “We get better-prepared doctors,
diverse cognitive profiles can all succeed, but will likely do so engineers, and bridge-builders,” he says. “We all benefit.” 1

/ 55 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
 Introducing Yettalil.
A humble homage to
our founding matriarch,
Henrietta Goelet.
This Bordeaux-inspired
blend and its namesake
are equal expressions
of grace, elegance, and
a subtle strength.
CLOSDUVAL .COM
 DOWNTIMEVisit 58 | Pursuits 60 | Gadgets 63 | Endgame 64

VISIT

Porto,
Portugal
An experiment living in liminal spaces.
Inigo Bujedo Aguirre-VIEW / Alamy

/ 57 / October_November_2022 / BRIEFINGS
DOWNTIME VISIT

Home to several universities, Porto

has invested in developing a highly
skilled young workforce. This city hosts
several top IT and communication
companies and internationally
renowned R&D centers.
Sean Pavone, Neorodan, Atlantide Phototravel/Getty Images

P
orto, Portugal’s second-largest city and the source of the country’s name,
is a place of contradiction and complement, both Old and New World, Livraria Lello is one of
the world’s oldest—and
working and creative class, refined and raw. Hemmed in by the Atlantic
by many standards most
Ocean and the Douro Valley—a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the world’s
beautiful—bookstores.
oldest wine-growing region—this city of 200,000 people has stepped into the
Since JK Rowling lived
21st century as a nucleus for experimental design, industrial manufacturing, in Porto in the early ’90s,
and surf culture. Its unique composition is proving resonant, as artists and it’s also thought to be an
corporations flock to this unhurried yet dynamic coastal city for inspiration, inspiration for the Harry
credit

business-friendly policies, and of course a touch of cobblestone charm. 1 Potter series.

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 58 /
 Portugal’s second-largest
city, Porto accounts for
23 percent of the country’s
manufacturing. The Paços de
Ferreira district is considered
to be the furniture capital
of Europe. While furniture
represents almost 80 percent
of manufacturing, the region
also produces wine, textiles,
and automobiles.

The longtime home of port wine

is undergoing a renaissance. With
direct flights recently added from
New York and New Jersey, Porto
has become a destination for wine
aficionados, foodies, and creatives.
credit

/ 59 /
DOWNTIME

Nicholas Maddix.
Below: David “D-Sol” Solomon.

PURSUITS

Mix
Master
Manager
The executives who
moonlight after hours
as DJs

M
onday through Friday, Nicholas
Maddix spends his days run-
ning Anagram Technologies,
the software company he founded almost
20 years ago. He wears collars and khakis
and chunky glasses. He is soft-spoken and
meticulous. But come night, the 46-year-
old is unbuttoned and stationed behind a
set of turntables, playing jungle raves and
warehouse fêtes across the globe, with
only his thick-rimmed glasses linking his
two disparate selves.
As a kid growing up in Framingham,
credit
Massachusetts, Maddix played the saxo-
phone and guitar. During his twenties,
when he spent upward of 60 hours a
week composing code, he found himself
mixing music to unwind. The deep bass
beats would defuse the stress and rigid-
ity of deadlines, customer demands, and went from playing at friends’ parties and a a recognition that there’s something really
algorithms, while the search for the next local Boston bar to being invited to inter- special going on,” he says.
segue superseded all the thoughts that national festivals and opening for his idol, DJing and running a business surpris-
Craig Barritt/Getty Images

otherwise bounced around in his head. Mark Farina, in New York City. And when ingly balanced one another out, says
“It wasn’t goal oriented at first,” he says. his early sets were met with indifference, Maddix. The two have created a flow, a
“It was just producing some beauty in he only worked harder to produce some- sense of equanimity within his life. He
the moment.” Still, within a few years of thing listeners could lose themselves in. is not the only executive to find this sort
learning to make his own tunes, Maddix “When I connect with the crowd, there’s of liberation in the hours after the sun

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 60 /
sets on their white-collar jobs. David EDM stands for electronic dance music). A new trend is emerging among con-
Solomon, the chief executive of Goldman But unlike Maddix, many busi- sultants and professors to harness the
Sachs, made headlines several years ago ness leaders overlook the intersection power of harmony in corporate settings.
when he was spotted spinning tracks at a between music and management, says A new course at the University of Chicago
party in the Bahamas. Since then, he has Mike Morrison, founder of RapidBI, an Booth School of Business uses music to
gone on to release a number of bangers organizational-effectiveness consult- teach leadership skills. The class requires
under the alias D-Sol and this summer ing firm. Successful DJs must constantly students to hone their listening abilities
joined the lineup at Lollapalooza, an observe the audience and adapt their and expand beyond their comfort zones
annual music festival in Chicago that performances according to the unique by physically learning to play musical
draws top talent. Elon Musk dabbles in vibe of each venue, crowd, and occasion. instruments. “It’s all through the lens of
DJing, with his track “Don’t Doubt ur Similarly, Morrison explains, the most leadership as a performance art,” execu-
Vibe” garnering 3.75 million plays on effective managers are regularly engag- tive coach Stephen Kohler told reporters
SoundCloud, while Evan Spiegel, CEO ing with and listening to their employees after leading a jam session with MBA
of Snap, and Artūras Karnišovas, execu- and customers to gain real-time feedback. students. “This whole idea is that we as
tive vice president of the Chicago Bulls, “Any leader who’s only doing a tempera- leaders can look at leadership not in the
are well-known connoisseurs of EDM ture check every quarter is missing out on old, dry, textbook way but as a creative,
(for those not familiar with rave culture, three months of life,” he says. experiential activity.”1

THE ART OF

Transitioning Seasons
Just as leaves lose their color and animals prepare for 1 2
hibernation, we humans too are affected by the changing
of seasons. Though it may be a lost art these days, living
in harmony with the natural world is simple, requiring little
more than observation and intention.

Adhere to circadian Energy decreases in

1 3
rhythms. Limit artificial the winter—so do less.
light. Eat, exercise, and work Heat the body with extra
with the sun. Rest in the baths and get blood flowing
darkness. Sleep more. with leisurely walks when
4
the sun is high. 3
Shift to warm, nurturing
2
foods. Shop seasonal Winter is a time of
4
produce, swap smoothies reflection and renewal.
for stews, and incorporate Just as the trees drop their
more spice. leaves, let go of what is no
longer serving you. Embrace
the stillness.

Illustrations by PETER AND MARIA HOEY / 61 /

DOWNTIME

READ, LISTEN, WATCH

You’ve Got Mail

N
ewsletters may have been around as long cuisine, and vampire literature.
as the leaflet, but the latest digital incarna- In addition to its wide-ranging coverage, the
tion of this timeworn media form is hav- medium has attracted many of journalism and aca-
ing a moment. Once the preferred medium of civic demia’s top thinkers. Sent daily, weekly, or at the THE
groups and grade schools, newsletters these days author’s whim, the highest-quality email blasts are MARGINALIAN
are the domain of every industry, interest, and idea. accessible, intimate, and entertaining as well as edu- One woman’s
And readers can’t seem to get enough. Since the cational, provocative, and independent. Indeed, the
reckoning with
the meaning
pandemic began, subscriptions have boomed. The evolution of newsletters may be helping journal-
of life through
distribution platform Substack went from having ism retain its relevance during a time when its very
explorations of
50,000 paid subscribers in 2019 to now more than legitimacy is at stake. For the uninitiated, Briefings nature, poetry,
1 million, with topics ranging from politics, busi- presents a curated list of newsletters covering his- and philosophy.
ness, and sports to construction physics, insect tory, the interwebs, and the meaning of life. 1 Published weekly

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022 / 62 / Photo Illustration by SEAN MCCABE

 3-2-1 THURSDAY
The author of
Atomic Habits SUGGESTED
offers three ideas,

Bartesian,
two quotes, and
one question for
contemplation.

Another
Published weekly

Please?
RACEAHEAD
A Fortune senior
editor examines
race and politics,
especially as they Like any home mixologist has dis-
relate to corpo- covered, making a good drink is a
rate America. culinary art. But in this technologi-
Published twice cal era even craftsmanship can be
a week programmed into a machine. At martinis. Simply pour in your pre-
the touch of a screen, the Barte- ferred alcohol, insert a flavor pod,
sian Cocktail Maker will whip up a choose your potency, and press Mix.
THE GIST
This sports variety of cocktails (or mocktails), The libation future has arrived.
newsletter is dedi- from mango margaritas to matcha The Bartesian Cocktail Maker, $369.99
cated to providing
equal coverage
of men’s and
women’s athletics.
Published four
times a week
PRO TRAINING
LETTERS FROM
AN AMERICAN
National gold medalist and coach
Musketeer, Westend61, Jed Share/Kaoru Share, Artem Varnitsin / EyeEm, Oliver Helbig/Getty Images

A Boston College Carolyn Ebbinghaus on the fastest-

history professor growing sport in the States.
draws parallels
between current
and historical PICKLEBALL THE GAME GETTING
events. FEVER “Get the ball STARTED
Published daily “You don’t need
“Everyone over the net and
used to think laugh; that’s tennis experi-
pickleball is pretty much ence, but take a
EMBEDDED
A humorous and for old people. the game. It beginner class.
insightful deep Now they’re all will seriously You’ll be up
dive into life addicted. It has change your and running in
on the internet, exploded.” life.” 20 minutes.”
including trends
and profiles of the
very online.
Published three For more information, visit pickleballoutfitters.com.
times a week

/ 63 /
DOWNTIME ENDGAME

Briefings / 1900 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 2600

CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER

Additional copies: [email protected]

JONATHAN DAHL

Los Angeles, CA 90067

Friendship
Creation were the generations most likely to have no friends

Circulation Customer Service: +1 ( 310 ) 556-8502

Reprints: Tiffany Sledzianowski +1 ( 310 ) 226-6336
Advertising: Kristen Walsh +1 ( 602 ) 563-5097
(39 and 21 percent, respectively). Clearly, this is the
not the future of work we want to see.
Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold I won’t pontificate about the value of work friend-
the world together.” —Woodrow Wilson ship, because I know nearly all of us understand how
truly important it is. Friends can relate to—and ease—
During my early days as a reporter for The Wall many of the fears so common in early careers. They
Street Journal, I remember reading somewhere that can remind you that no employer, no manager, no
people are most creative in the early-morning hours. situation is perfect. And it is your friend who grabs
So, hoping to cure a persistent case of writer’s block, the phone out of your hand when you’re about to quit.
I started coming to work at 8 a.m. Then 7 a.m. Then In the survey, 95 percent of workers said that hav-
6 a.m. Eventually, I found myself toiling away at my ing a friend at work made them happier. Of particu-
computer at 5 a.m. lar note: 76 percent said the friendship made them
As it turns out, another newbie reporter with a more creative, and 74 percent that it made them more
cubicle a few feet away had decided she too could productive. I sympathize with our HR colleagues
write better early. Before we knew it, each of us was who work so hard to create environments that foster

and environmentally responsible manner.

Produced utilizing solar power in a sustainable
PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.
standing behind the other’s computer, inspiring new friendship among workers, whether it’s office parties
ideas for stories. As these predawn meetings or retreats or ping-pong tables in conference rooms.
became more and more frequent, so did our But let’s be honest:
bonding over other struggles, in work and so many of these
in life. It was the beginning of a friendship efforts feel forced
that would last for many years. and artificial.
Memories like that ran through my mind S t i l l , j u st
when I read, with a heavy heart, about the state because we
of friendship in the workplace. A recent survey haven’t found
of 1,200 workers by JobSage found that 33 per- the perfect rec-

ISSN 1949-8365 © Copyright 2022, Korn Ferry

cent who worked remotely said they had fewer ipe for creating friendship in the
work friends than before. One in five admitted to office—or among colleagues working remotely—that
having no work friends at all. Women doesn’t mean we should give up. I’m here to tell you
reported having fewer that the great decline of work friendships must stop.
friends than men (52 per- My hope is that someone is out there right now,
cent versus 44 percent), at the crack of dawn, looking for answers. Maybe
and millennials and Gen Z with a friend by her side. 1
Catherine Falls/Getty Images

BRIEFINGS / October_November_2022
 AGILE. MEET THE
LEADERS
Impactful. YOU
RARE. NEED
A new world demands new
leaders—people who can perform
and transform. Impact across the
ecosystem. Anticipate. Inspire.
Disrupt. We call these people
Enterprise Leaders. And we’ll
help you develop them.

Get started at:

kornferry.com/enterprise-leadership
 56

HURACÁN STO. BASED ON A TRUE STORY.

VOLUME 14 / ISSUE 56 / OCTOBER_NOVEMBER_2022

THE BLENDED WORKDAY

The struggle to define true workdays
in today’s remote-work era
lamborghini.com
$14.95