Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well, our next
Speaker 1: guest has come to our program a few times over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. Uh, and it is a
Speaker 1: really great uh time to talk with him, because I
Speaker 1: think we continue to see how we work, where we work,
Speaker 1: continue to evolve. Back with us with a special report
Speaker 1: about the company's Microsoft Work Trend Index is Jared's Pitaro.
Speaker 1: He's corporate vice president of Microsoft, and he's back with us.
Speaker 1: He's on the phone in Redmond, Washington. Jared, nice to
Speaker 1: have you back with Katie Garifeld and myself. So, how
Speaker 1: are you doing great? Thanks for having me back. I'm
Speaker 1: excited to be here. Well, we're excited to have you here.
Speaker 1: And I love this report because you guys, you know,
Speaker 1: collect so much data, really have a great view in
Speaker 1: terms of really how people are truly working. Tell us
Speaker 1: about the latest update on the work Trend Index. Who
Speaker 1: you surveyed, Uh, what you found out? What time frame?
Speaker 1: Give us, give us all all the background on it. Well,
Speaker 1: our research here at Microsoft is historically focused on what
Speaker 1: we call information workers. Those are the folks who work
Speaker 1: at a computer and who often have been working remotely
Speaker 1: over the last two years, and we decided it really
Speaker 1: was time to focus on frontline workers. These frontline workers
Speaker 1: have really shoulder a lot of the burden over the
Speaker 1: last two years is they have not been able to
Speaker 1: go home, and so we wanted to find out kind
Speaker 1: of what was happening with them, how they were dealing
Speaker 1: with it, and how work is changing for them, and
Speaker 1: what would be the lasting trends and what's stuck out
Speaker 1: to you in the results that you did fun And
Speaker 1: I'm curious how that compares to you know, surveys that
Speaker 1: you've done with office workers. Yeah, let's take a step
Speaker 1: back for a moment. There is really unprecedented stress in
Speaker 1: the system when we think broadly about business markets right now,
Speaker 1: and nearly every single business is facing kind of the
Speaker 1: same challenge, and it's how do they continue to drive
Speaker 1: business results and serve their customers but at the same
Speaker 1: time balance that with employee well being and growth. And
Speaker 1: I think that's really what stuck out to us is
Speaker 1: that as we look at this group of folks and
Speaker 1: all sorts of different types of roles, it's the people
Speaker 1: who couldn't go home. They have done so much to
Speaker 1: keep business running, but in many ways they are feeling
Speaker 1: a bit great about the edges. So, for instance, if
Speaker 1: we hit some of the data just right out of
Speaker 1: the gate here um to weather the storm, it looks
Speaker 1: like these frontline workers have really turned to each other.
Speaker 1: We learned that seventy six feel very bonded to coworkers
Speaker 1: because of the shared stresses that they've endured during the pandemic.
Speaker 1: But at the same time, they're starting to feel a
Speaker 1: bit of a distance between the work they're doing and
Speaker 1: the rest of their company. Six of frontline workers say
Speaker 1: that leadership doesn't seem to prioritize culture, and communication isn't
Speaker 1: reaching them, and so they're kind of feeling a little
Speaker 1: bit like they're on an island right now. And it's
Speaker 1: not so surprising to know that they were kind of
Speaker 1: bonding together, but that feeling that they're kind of off
Speaker 1: on their own. We think that's something for business leaders
Speaker 1: to take, no doubt. Well, it's so important to and
Speaker 1: you remind us and you you kicked it off. But
Speaker 1: the global workforce, that's our frontline workers. So we're talking
Speaker 1: about those that are working at supermarkets. Obviously, healthcare. But
Speaker 1: so many of those individuals who kept so much going
Speaker 1: for all of us, especially at the height of the pandemic,
Speaker 1: here are you know, other peaks um but kept things
Speaker 1: going because they had to and they couldn't do their
Speaker 1: jobs at home. That's right. There are two billion, more
Speaker 1: than two billion frontline workers worldwide. They really do form
Speaker 1: the backbone of economies and just about every country. And
Speaker 1: for this particular survey, Carol, we went out across frontline
Speaker 1: workers and eat industries and across eight countries. So our
Speaker 1: definition was you had to be doing all your work
Speaker 1: in person. It's a very broad definition, as you indicated,
Speaker 1: included healthcare workers on the way to grocery store clerks,
Speaker 1: included people for instance, who are on the front lines,
Speaker 1: and the manufacturing facility all across that. And we're just
Speaker 1: trying to get a sense for you know, what's going
Speaker 1: on and what are they experiencing. And Jared, you mentioned
Speaker 1: that it feels like they're experiencing this growing gap between
Speaker 1: the workers who are bonding with each other and actual management.
Speaker 1: At six two say their company doesn't prioritize culture. I mean,
Speaker 1: is management aware of that? Well, that's the thing we
Speaker 1: do think that managers are very aware. I mean, we
Speaker 1: have a lot of empathy for what's happening here, because
Speaker 1: that's the balance that companies are needing to kind of strike.
Speaker 1: They have to continue to serve their customers, so they
Speaker 1: recognize that that's a pleasant demand on them, and at
Speaker 1: the same time now they have to kind of balance
Speaker 1: the well being and the learning and growth of these employees.
Speaker 1: So we it's a hard it's a hard task to
Speaker 1: be very clear on. What we found is if you
Speaker 1: look at the center, kind of let's call it, the
Speaker 1: corporate managers, they very much understand that there's an issue,
Speaker 1: but I don't think that they've always had a great
Speaker 1: deal of visibility into exactly what's happening. One really interesting
Speaker 1: difference between this and the i W the information worker
Speaker 1: research that we did previously. We found that these frontline
Speaker 1: employees and their direct managers, who also tend to be
Speaker 1: frontline employee, so someone for instance, in the store managing
Speaker 1: with them, that they are very close. In fact, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of closeness there, and those frontline managers really
Speaker 1: understand the issues. Hey listen, just got about forty seconds
Speaker 1: and we'll come back and chat some more. Jarry, But
Speaker 1: I mean what surprised you most and kind of doing
Speaker 1: this survey and you and I have talked certainly around
Speaker 1: the you know, on air about the I T workers.
Speaker 1: What was the thing that was really just stood out
Speaker 1: for you in the difference? Well, here, I think one
Speaker 1: of the things that surprised me the most, that happens
Speaker 1: to play into what we do, is that that these
Speaker 1: frontline workers say that technology can make a really big difference.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of discussions about what whether technology
Speaker 1: is good or bad for the frontline. We found that
Speaker 1: a lot of them said they think that it could
Speaker 1: make a huge difference in how they do their work. Hey,
Speaker 1: what are the things in the report you do tackle
Speaker 1: our supply chains and there's a lot of those frontline
Speaker 1: workers who were survey they feel that more could be
Speaker 1: done to help those issues. Talk to us a little
Speaker 1: bit more about the findings there, Jared, Yeah, you bet.
Speaker 1: If we take a step back for a moment, just
Speaker 1: to get a sense, you know, put put ourselves in
Speaker 1: the shoes of frontline worker, of folks who are non
Speaker 1: management positions don't even feel valued as employees right now,
Speaker 1: and that's just a game terrible they're having it's tough.
Speaker 1: And then as we move to the point that you
Speaker 1: were just making about supply chain issues of them say
Speaker 1: that they still feel like more could be done. So
Speaker 1: there's just you know, there's a lot of stress in
Speaker 1: the system. Again, there's a lot that can be done.
Speaker 1: We think it's a really important time, but I think
Speaker 1: knowing what's going on is the half the battle. You know,
Speaker 1: it gets a start on the right foot. Hey, Jared,
Speaker 1: how do we make this better? Because before you before
Speaker 1: the break rather you said that technology can really make
Speaker 1: a difference. Here, walk us through that and how how
Speaker 1: does Microsoft play a role in that? That's um well,
Speaker 1: we have coming out of the report. We have three
Speaker 1: different recommendations. The first is to prioritize culture and communication.
Speaker 1: The second is to really focus in on those frontline
Speaker 1: managers we mentioned a few months a few minutes ago,
Speaker 1: and then this last night of technology. We were really
Speaker 1: hardened to see the technology rank very high on the
Speaker 1: list of things that could have six frontline workers were
Speaker 1: excited about job opportunities that tech creates, and technology ranked
Speaker 1: third on a list of things that they say can
Speaker 1: reduce stress. It was behind more pan vacation, not surprising,
Speaker 1: but it was ahead of mental health and well being benefits.
Speaker 1: So there's this really great opportunity we think we have
Speaker 1: if we'll take a moment, recognize what's going on, really
Speaker 1: lean into these frontline workers with a lot of empathy
Speaker 1: and understand how we can help them and use technology
Speaker 1: to implement our plans. So that's kind of one of
Speaker 1: the big findings coming out of the study. Jared. One
Speaker 1: of the conversations you guys are having at Microsoft that
Speaker 1: you just talked about technology, and I do think about
Speaker 1: there might be certain parts of our world. Despite it
Speaker 1: feels like tech is everywhere and has evaded kind of
Speaker 1: everything that we do and in many ways made it
Speaker 1: easier more functional. Um, but I do wonder about these
Speaker 1: frontline workers, whether it's supermarket workers, healthcare. Increasingly we see
Speaker 1: a lot more technology continuing to go into that area.
Speaker 1: You know, have there been things that you guys say, well,
Speaker 1: wait a minute, here we are Microsoft, here's what we
Speaker 1: can do specifically to kind of change how these workers
Speaker 1: work and improve the situation. The whole idea behind technology
Speaker 1: in a case like this is to empower the individual,
Speaker 1: and that's really what we're all about. What we want
Speaker 1: to do is to give them the information, to give
Speaker 1: them the decision making authority to help them do their jobs.
Speaker 1: That are everybody feels good when they can do a
Speaker 1: good job. And again, if we look at what the
Speaker 1: data says, a third of these frontline workers say that
Speaker 1: they just don't have the right technology to do their jobs.
Speaker 1: So simple examples can help. As a simple example of
Speaker 1: some of the things that we've introduced include a lockie
Speaker 1: talkie function that is a part of what we call
Speaker 1: Microsoft Teams Now. That's an app that you can run
Speaker 1: on your mobile device if you're a frontline worker and
Speaker 1: you know, maybe in a retail store, you have seen
Speaker 1: that before, where someone is able to tap a button
Speaker 1: on the headset and talk to all of their colleagues
Speaker 1: around a store to ask questions. That may seem like
Speaker 1: a simple thing, but that communication goes a long way.
Speaker 1: We also have done some really great work and what
Speaker 1: we call shift integration. This allows you to use technology
Speaker 1: to coordinate when you're just gonna work, when is your shift,
Speaker 1: and if you have problems with that shift, can you
Speaker 1: actually switch it with someone else so that you can
Speaker 1: work Wednesday evening and they can work Wednesday morning. For you.
Speaker 1: So those types of things seem small again because the
Speaker 1: information work the population, A lot of what's happened is
Speaker 1: their world that's been digitized. As we digitize what's happening,
Speaker 1: what's front my workers, we just bring an incredible amount
Speaker 1: of empowerment to them. And Jared, what are the hurdles
Speaker 1: when it comes to adoptions? I mean, how much training
Speaker 1: do some of these these programs and these apps require. Well,
Speaker 1: the idea is to make it so the technology requires
Speaker 1: little to no training. And this comes from the fact
Speaker 1: that we can see in everyday life, in our consumer lives,
Speaker 1: the technology we use often is so easy that it's
Speaker 1: it's just something we pick up. However, we do hear
Speaker 1: from front my workers that they've been given technology that
Speaker 1: either isn't simple enough or where they definitely need training
Speaker 1: and they don't get it. Over half say that they've
Speaker 1: had to learn this new technology without formal training. So
Speaker 1: one of the other implications of the study is as
Speaker 1: we do all of these things, make all these changes,
Speaker 1: including introduced technology, we really need to rethink skilling and
Speaker 1: learning on the job. We think that the way to
Speaker 1: go is what we call just in time skilling, where
Speaker 1: right at the moment when you need it. You get
Speaker 1: the training in small sized pieces as opposed to some big,
Speaker 1: long training course you have to take. Jared, just got
Speaker 1: about thirty seconds here, forty seconds left here. I do
Speaker 1: think about our Bloomberg audience. I'm always thinking about an
Speaker 1: investment perspective in terms of anything and everything we do
Speaker 1: or how it impacts our economic growth going forward. Just
Speaker 1: your final thoughts maybe with that in mind. And again,
Speaker 1: just got about thirty forty seconds. You know, a strong
Speaker 1: front mine means a better bottom line for every company,
Speaker 1: and so we actually think, though these numbers look bleak
Speaker 1: on the surface, that it's an opportunity for real leaders
Speaker 1: to stand up within their industries and companies lean into
Speaker 1: this create an awesome environment for front line workers. And
Speaker 1: again we think that's going to translate into the bottom line.
Speaker 1: All right. Always good to get time with you. Jared's Pittaro,
Speaker 1: corporate vice president, over at Microsoft three sixty five on
Speaker 1: the phone from Redmond, Washington. Jared, by the way, we'll
Speaker 1: be participating in our work Shifting event that's coming up
Speaker 1: on March nine. For more information about it, each check
Speaker 1: out Bloomberg Live dot com. Because a lot going on
Speaker 1: here in our third year of the pandemic. Katie, that's
Speaker 1: the one thing I just can't get my head around.
Speaker 1: I know, I know, and I think about, like the
Speaker 1: last time I went to the movie theater I left
Speaker 1: the country. It's been a while, Carol, Yeah, exactly, even
Speaker 1: just you know, feeling comfortable going out for dinner.