Increased visibility brings options

Technology-enabled remote work and changing work norms make it easier for people to change roles or employers without uprooting themselves. But technology may play another role in employee mobility by making their contributions more visible. Our research shows how increased performance visibility can impact turnover. Now that organisations are extensively using digital collaboration tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, HubSpot, and Salesforce, individual-level contributions and talents are gaining visibility. These tools don’t just facilitate the work itself; they also capture who does what and how it’s done, giving managers a clearer view of how teams work. They also make it easier for remote workers to connect with mentors and others in their organisation who can help them grow and advance. Those recent developments intersect with another trend that’s been around a bit longer: through online conferences, courses, publications, and online platforms such as LinkedIn and Substack, people can widely share and promote their expertise in many formats.

(Adapted from “Now You See Me, Now I’m Gone,” by Boris Groysberg, Derek Haas, and Eric Lin, published on November 21, 2022, by MIT Sloan Management Review)

Obesity is not a personal failing

There’s a profound gap between how scientists talk about obesity and the weight conversation happening in our culture, writes Julia Belluz. Recently, Ms Belluz attended a meeting of the world’s top researchers studying obesity, which affects more than 40pc US adults and costs the health system about $173 billion each year. While they couldn’t agree on a singular cause, she was struck by what they did not say: that obesity is a personal failing. “No presenter argued that humans collectively lost willpower around the 1980s, when obesity rates took off, first in high-income countries, then in much of the rest of the world. Not a single scientist said our genes changed in that short time. Laziness, gluttony and sloth were not referred to as obesity’s helpers. In stark contrast to a prevailing societal view of obesity, which assumes people have full control over their body size, they didn’t blame individuals for their condition,” she writes. “The researchers instead referred to obesity as a complex, chronic condition, and they were meeting to get to the bottom of why humans have, collectively, grown larger over the past half-century.

(Adapted from “Scientists Don’t Agree on What Causes Obesity, but They Know What Doesn’t,” By Julia Belluz, published on November 21, 2022, by The New York Times)

A humbug holiday season

Feeling the pinch of inflation, households are bracing for a humbug holiday season. US consumers and businesses have trimmed spending plans for gifts, charitable contributions and holiday events, data shows. The penny-pinching threatens to spoil the year-end for many. Consumer prices have risen faster than wages this year, and high inflation has proved more persistent than many policymakers expected. The high cost of living has unnerved consumers, despite a strong job market, a cushion of household savings built up during the Covid-19 pandemic and a few signs that inflation is slowing. People plan to buy an average of nine gifts this year compared with 16 last year, according to Deloitte consulting’s 37th annual holiday shopping survey of 5,000 respondents in September. Total anticipated spending per household was $1,455, down from $1,463 a year ago, Deloitte said.

(Adapted from “Stressed-Out Americans Plan To Buy Fewer Christmas Gifts, Donate Less to Charity,” by Rachel Wolfe and Jon Hilsenrath, published on November 20, 2022, by The Wall Street Journal)

The importance of frontline workers

Two-plus years of coping with Covid-19 has shown how essential frontline workers are to a functioning economy. In fact, these workers can make the greatest difference in terms of customer satisfaction, innovation, product quality, and service excellence. But many executives have not yet absorbed this lesson. How can managers change their view of frontline employees? Flip the organisation chart. Rather than visualising frontline workers at the bottom, put them at the top — they’re the ones making the largest difference. Put corporate staffers, executives, and CEOs beneath them to reflect their proper roles of coaching and supporting the front line. Paying more attention to frontline workers brings critical motivational benefits and gives leaders a firsthand look at the biggest product challenges their workers are facing.

(Adapted from the article “CEOs Have Lost Touch with Frontline Workers,” by Bill George, published by the Harvard Business Review)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, December 5th, 2022