May 17, 2022
Good morning.
How to attract and retain great talent continues to be top of mind for CEOs, even as a possible recession looms on the horizon. That was my takeaway from a virtual conversation yesterday with 24 corporate leaders. Some takeaways:
“We’re all trying to figure out what people want. They want something different. And we think choice equates to happiness, happiness equates to better work, and that that phenomena is not going away… We do not believe we’re one good recession from going back to the way it was.”
—Tim Ryan, U.S. chair, PwC, which sponsored yesterday’s session
“We proved in the pandemic we can operate major companies remotely. But I still think there are question marks. Did we collaborate at the right level? And did we innovate at the right level?”
—Paul Hudson, CEO, Sanofi
“We are really focused on thinking through the impacts on equity of the programs that we have around choice—making sure that an employee who chooses to work remotely, five years from now doesn’t find themselves limited in their career options, or less networked and connected than other employees. We fear that could cause a backward progression on the diversity of our workforce.”
—Kathy Warden, CEO, Northrop Grumman
“You can’t just tell people to come in, just like they did two years ago. I think that toothpaste has left the tube.”
—Tricia Griffith, CEO, Progressive
“We’ve doubled, tripled down on communication. I do a communication to our organization every week.”
—Pat Geraghty, CEO, GuideWell
“The manager in the end is the one that is closest to people… And we see that being even more critical in the future than it is today. So we have made a lot of investment to make sure we have the best managers possible.”
—Alexis Garcin, CEO, Michelin North America
“Even at the micro business level, purpose-driven hiring is winning. Even when you are looking at living wage jobs, folks want to know: Who’s their boss? What’s their flexibility? And how am I making an impact?”
—Elizabeth Gore, president, Hello Alice
“Leaders are now being asked to be more inclusive and empathetic, to be coaches, to lead virtually, to lead in these very uncertain environments. And one thing that’s loud and clear is they’re not sure how to do it.”
—Stephen Bailey, CEO, ExecOnline
“The acquisition and retention of talent to drive strategy is, even in our business with so much in manufacturing, more critical than access to capital.”
—Mark Newman, CEO, Chemours
More news below. And it is now accepted wisdom: the Fed screwed up. Even Ben Bernanke thinks so. Read why here.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
