| This week, the very real disconnect between companies and employees about the return to in-person work. Plus, grocers have a bigger role to play in sustainable food choices, and the founder of the ChinAI Newsletter on “unsexy AI” and more. |
|
|
|
| Time to think. Workers are reevaluating their relationships with their employers and, contrary to what companies may think, they are not jumping for joy at the prospect of a full return to the office. At best, the rosy messaging of a grand return to the office is falling flat. At worst, that tone deafness may accelerate what’s already shaping up to be the “great attrition” of 2021 (and 2022 and 2023?) as workers around the globe leave their jobs at much higher rates than normal. |
| By the numbers. More than three-quarters of C-suite executives surveyed by McKinsey recently said they expected the typical “core” employee to be back in the office three or more days a week. While they realize that the great work-from-home experiment was surprisingly effective, they also believe that it hurt organizational culture and belonging. They expect a new normal that’s somewhat more flexible but not dramatically different from the one we left behind. |
| Longer-term issues. By contrast, nearly three-quarters of the 5,000 employees McKinsey queried globally would like to work from home two or more days a week, and more than half want at least three days of remote work. But their message is a bit convoluted: many employees also reported that working from home was stressful. Employees may not know exactly what they want, but this process of reevaluating a return to work may also surface a lower level of engagement, greater unwillingness to work longer hours, and, ultimately, attrition. |
| How to respond? Instead of directing a rah-rah return to the office, companies would be wise to focus on deeper listening and meeting their workforces where they are today. It will be important for leaders to acknowledge that they don’t have all the answers—as their companies transition to hybrid working models, they will still be trying to discover what the right longer-term working model (the one that works for most employees) will be. It will also be important for leaders to signal that they hope to make their employees partners in designing the future of how their companies work. |
| Questions for a new culture. What work is better done in person than virtually and vice versa? How will meetings work best? How can influence and experience be balanced between those who work on-site and those who don’t? How can you avoid a two-tier system in which people working in the office are more valued and rewarded than those working more from home? Should teams physically gather in a single place while tackling a project and, if so, how often? Can leadership communication to off-site workers be as effective as it is to workers in the office? |
| Don’t deny the disconnect. Policies, practices, working norms, collaboration technologies, and more will need to change and evolve as we test and learn. Three actions can help leaders navigate this period: be clear to your teams that fixing the next operating model will take years and is a separate effort from the near-term return to the office. Don’t just repeat what the workforce says explicitly; empathize with what they are trying to convey implicitly too. Be sincere about experimenting and learning from the outcomes of your experiments. |
| Leaders can make a choice. They can continue to believe that they will deliver in the future because they have always delivered in the past. Or they can embrace this singular opportunity for change and work with their people—closely and transparently, with curiosity, respect, and a willingness to learn together instead of mandating—to discover a new and better way to work. |
|
|
|
|
|
| INTERVIEW |
| ‘Busting some myths’ about China and AI |
| In this episode of the McKinsey Global Institute’s Forward Thinking podcast, host Michael Chui speaks with Jeffrey Ding, researcher and founder of the ChinAI Newsletter, about information asymmetry in artificial intelligence between China and the West. They cover why data may not be like oil, “unsexy AI,” and more. |
|
|
|
|
| MORE ON MCKINSEY.COM |
| EV fast charging: The need for speed | As millions of electric vehicles hit the roads in the next decade, the need for fast charging will grow rapidly. To win in this already-competitive market, providers must differentiate themselves by excelling in customer experience, raising demand through partnerships, and other measures. |
| How global companies can manage geopolitical risk | Global enterprises can proactively manage the threats that escalating international and internal political tensions pose to their operations, performance, and culture by taking a five-pronged approach. |
| Could raw-material shortages hinder the steel industry’s green transition? | These shortages have the potential to disrupt the market for direct-reduced iron, but industry participants are already planning to implement new strategies. |
|
|
|
|
|
| THREE QUESTIONS FOR |
| Liz Hilton Segel |
| Liz Hilton Segel, McKinsey’s global leader for industry practices, is an expert on organizational transformation. In her previous role as North America managing partner during the COVID-19 pandemic, she saw firsthand why well-being is so crucial—for employers and workforces alike.
|
|
|
|
|
| It’s always been hard for ambitious people used to working long hours to prioritize their well-being. During the pandemic, balancing work and home life got even more difficult. How do companies promote well-being in a way that will resonate with these longer-range challenges? |
| For many, prioritizing our well-being does not come naturally, it’s true. At the same time, we routinely work on skills related to problem solving, communication, and leadership. We write goals for ourselves, and we aim to be honest about our progress in these areas. Why should improving our well-being be different? Companies should prioritize it as a critical business skill. |
| I’ve found it helpful to focus on well-being in terms of three components: body, mind, and purpose. For example, sleep matters immensely when it comes to solving problems, seeking diverse perspectives, supporting others, and focusing on results. Another tool of effective leadership is emotional flexibility—the practice of acknowledging the feelings, insecurities, and sources of stress in our lives and building the capacity to cope with them in an action-oriented way. |
| Leaders can design and encourage their teams to integrate well-being as a daily, weekly, or monthly practice. They can also model mental wellness themselves, by tuning in to their own needs. Taking time to disconnect—including from technology—is more important than ever. Finally, leaders can define and live their purpose to create meaning and a deep sense of connection with others. |
| How can employers help their workforces with mental-health challenges? |
| There are many ways that leading companies are taking action in this area. Key strategies include opening the lines of communication between leadership and employees; understanding and addressing the impact of psychological distress, mental illness, and substance-use disorders; knowing the signs of mental distress; making help available; and embracing and encouraging self-care. |
| When we’re at work—whether that means in-person, virtual, or hybrid—ideally, employees and leaders can participate in honest conversations about how we’re doing mentally as aptly as we discuss business. As it stands, however, many don’t feel comfortable having these conversations. To reduce stigma, leaders need to model it first. |
| By talking about mental health openly and backing it with action, leaders can eliminate a work culture that implies work should come before personal needs and empower employees to invest in themselves so that they can bring their best to work. We need our people to be at their best to create an inclusive economic recovery, which depends on the ability of vulnerable workers to return to work safely, gain new skills where needed, and find stable new jobs. |
| How can employers address well-being and mental-health issues for women, who have been particularly hard hit during the pandemic? |
| COVID-19 has made it much harder for employees to draw clear lines between work and home, and many employees feel like they are “always on.” This is particularly true for working mothers. McKinsey’s 2020 Women in the Workplace report conducted with LeanIn.Org, revealed a startling statistic: one in four working women in North America said they were considering downshifting their careers or dropping out of the workforce entirely. For working mothers, and particularly those with young children, the number was one in three. |
| A sustainable pace of work is essential to helping working mothers—and parents overall—prevent burnout. Messaging from women leaders, especially those who share their own experiences, is also important for women employees who might believe they would be seen as weak or unprofessional for seeking help. |
| Above all, it’s important to act. To have a positive impact on women’s mental wellness at work, employers must be strategic, equitable, and proactive. This commitment will require innovation and a transformation of processes, policies, and systems. |
| We know that women’s advancement in the workforce matters; companies with more women executives are more likely to outperform those with fewer women in senior roles. If organizations respond well by building a more flexible and empathetic workplace, they can retain the employees most affected by the pandemic and nurture a culture in which women have equal opportunity to achieve their potential. |
| — Edited by Barbara Tierney |
|
|
|
| BACKTALK |
| Have feedback or other ideas? We’d love to hear from you. |
|
|
|
|
Did you enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to colleagues and friends so they can subscribe too.
Was this issue forwarded to you? Sign up for it and sample our 40+ other free email subscriptions here.
|
|
|
Copyright © 2021 | McKinsey & Company, 3 World Trade Center, 175 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10007
|
|
|
|
