Speaker 1: From executive search to talent strategy, leadership development, rewards and
Speaker 1: succession planning. Corn Fairy can help you realize the full
Speaker 1: potential of your people so you can take your business
Speaker 1: where it wants to go up. Learn more at corn
Speaker 1: Ferry dot com slash up. Welcome to game Plan. I'm
Speaker 1: Rebecca Greenfield and I'm Sam Grobart, and this is our
Speaker 1: last episode of sen Yes, go away, don't let the
Speaker 1: door hit you on the way out. So we're going
Speaker 1: to spend this episode taking a look at some things
Speaker 1: look out for in the workplace and work related things
Speaker 1: in the next year. I got a question before you, Becca, shoot,
Speaker 1: what would you say was the biggest issue in the
Speaker 1: workplace personally? I think that talking about sexual harassment in
Speaker 1: the workplace. It was talked about this year in a
Speaker 1: way that it hadn't been talked about in a while
Speaker 1: because of the high profile allegations and fire presidential campaign
Speaker 1: Donald Trump. That was huge. The other thing that's huge
Speaker 1: and is something that we're going to talk about um
Speaker 1: I think has been the push for parental leave that
Speaker 1: you've seen and a lot of companies still a lot
Speaker 1: of people don't have it, but also the push for
Speaker 1: parental leave. In that, um, we don't talk about maternity
Speaker 1: and paternity leave as much. It's now this all encompassing
Speaker 1: parental leave. So those were the two biggest things for me.
Speaker 1: I mean, I know I cover these things, but what
Speaker 1: about you. The death of Prince affected me deeply in
Speaker 1: the workplace. Yeah, you probably lost some productivity but also
Speaker 1: got some good tunes to listen to while working. I'm
Speaker 1: still working it out. Yeah, I'm sorry. I think that
Speaker 1: more seriously, and thank you by the way for your sympathy.
Speaker 1: I think that automation also something that we'll be talking
Speaker 1: more about later. Given the discussion during the presidential campaign
Speaker 1: regarding jobs, immigration kind of took the four but there
Speaker 1: was also some acknowledgement that technology is advancing making things
Speaker 1: more productive with fewer people. And I don't see that
Speaker 1: abating anytime soon. Yeah, it's it's not and we'll definitely
Speaker 1: talk about that coming up. But yeah, those are some
Speaker 1: big issues. Other things that I wrote about was the
Speaker 1: rise of companies paying off your student debt as a
Speaker 1: new benefit that we're seeing, which is interesting. Um, again,
Speaker 1: you have to work for all these benefits because the
Speaker 1: labor markets tightening, they tend to happen in very competitive fields,
Speaker 1: so not the very unevenly distributed was something I saw. Also.
Speaker 1: Another other thing that's rising is bonus compensation. You mean
Speaker 1: just in the absolute or as a proportion of total,
Speaker 1: proportion of total camp I see something that is familiar
Speaker 1: to people who may work, you know, on Wall Street
Speaker 1: or at startups where they're granted options. You're saying that
Speaker 1: it's actually spreading to even more sort of ordinary. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because companies it's a lot safer for them to offer
Speaker 1: bonuses instead of raises, raises or something you can't really
Speaker 1: take away that cost a lot of money every year.
Speaker 1: A bonus is something you can offer at once if
Speaker 1: you're doing well that year. And after the recession, companies
Speaker 1: are doing better, but they're still nervous um and so
Speaker 1: we're seeing a move towards bonuses. Well, that's been the
Speaker 1: year sort of in review, but as far as the
Speaker 1: year ahead, what is on your radar? So it's what
Speaker 1: I brought up as the biggest, one of the biggest
Speaker 1: things last year, and I think parental leave is going
Speaker 1: to be really big next year. Um I us wrote
Speaker 1: a story about how American Express up to its parental
Speaker 1: leave It didn't have parental leave. Before, it had primary
Speaker 1: and secondary leave, which is basically maternity and paternity leave.
Speaker 1: Now it offers this all encompassing leave. It's twenty weeks
Speaker 1: of paid leave to any new parent of any kind.
Speaker 1: It's it's a big deal. It's they're doing it to
Speaker 1: attract employees and keep employees around in a competitive market.
Speaker 1: I've been pitched at least three more companies doing that
Speaker 1: since I wrote that story. But the bigger story, I
Speaker 1: think is going to be what if any legislation happens
Speaker 1: on this. That was going to be my question. Obviously,
Speaker 1: companies can choose to use this as a perk in
Speaker 1: a in a competitive situation, but are there any laws
Speaker 1: being proposed or any activity that you've heard about going
Speaker 1: on right now that might take effect or at least
Speaker 1: gain steam during So it was pretty unprecedented that a
Speaker 1: Republican candidate would run on paid family leave of any sorts,
Speaker 1: and Donald Trump, pushed by his daughter Ivanka, did that.
Speaker 1: When he campaigned, he said that he would push for
Speaker 1: six weeks of paid maternity leave for employees whose companies
Speaker 1: don't already offer it um and it was going to
Speaker 1: be paid for by some rewriting of the tax code.
Speaker 1: I think it'll be interesting to see if this does
Speaker 1: go anywhere because Republicans have been so against any type
Speaker 1: of federal paid family leave. Remind me, are there any
Speaker 1: laws on the books at either the municipal or state
Speaker 1: level right now? Yeah, so that was a big story
Speaker 1: last year San Francisco and New York State passed a
Speaker 1: bigger parental leave laws New York State and that will
Speaker 1: be going into effect. So for you and me, Sam,
Speaker 1: who live in New York State, um and there, right,
Speaker 1: But if you work in New York, you know, we
Speaker 1: already have We have two kids, kids, we're full. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So there are a lot of moves happening in states
Speaker 1: and cities. There are some states that have their own laws.
Speaker 1: That's cool. Yeah, it's great for families, but it's just
Speaker 1: so unevenly distributed, basically. And this is particularly true in
Speaker 1: terms of the kinds of jobs and the kinds of
Speaker 1: companies that are offering these perks. So if you work
Speaker 1: at um McDonald's, right, you're probably not getting you're not
Speaker 1: going to get that family leave of any sort. Software engineers,
Speaker 1: on the other hand, yeah, are probably fine. It won't
Speaker 1: really affect think all the good stuff tired of that.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think that's a really big story to
Speaker 1: look out for. I think it'll be interesting to see
Speaker 1: if anything happens. I hope people hold Donald Trump to
Speaker 1: this campaign promise. And I think that some people on
Speaker 1: the other side of the ai'll, are you hoping to
Speaker 1: use this presidency to get something post through that they've
Speaker 1: been trying to make hapbin for a while? Sounds cool?
Speaker 1: So yeah, what's what's your number one thing? Well? I
Speaker 1: also just referred to this moments ago. But automation is
Speaker 1: clearly taking greater and greater hold in the American workplace.
Speaker 1: And when we think about automation, we often think of
Speaker 1: it in an industrial setting, UM, large robots, if you will,
Speaker 1: working in auto plants. We've seen that now for a
Speaker 1: couple of decades, but we're beginning to see it appear
Speaker 1: in many other ways. UM. At the time that we
Speaker 1: recorded this, Amazon just successfully completed its first drone delivery
Speaker 1: to an actual customer, and according to the company, it
Speaker 1: only took thirteen minutes from the time the customer ordered
Speaker 1: their product, which was popcorn. I was going to ask
Speaker 1: what the product was, and yes, I think it was
Speaker 1: popcorn and you can understand what what you need delivered
Speaker 1: by a jone. I need it now. Yeah, a weird
Speaker 1: thing to get delivered because in thirteen minutes, doesn't popcorn
Speaker 1: get kind of I don't know, but it's certainly lightweight.
Speaker 1: It was it was it was popped popcorn. I don't
Speaker 1: think it was popped. It might have already got it.
Speaker 1: That would be awesome though, Um, that's gonna be like
Speaker 1: a new movie theater. But yeah, so obviously it's a
Speaker 1: lightweight product, easy to transport, doesn't require a big, heavy
Speaker 1: duty drone, which would not only be expensive but also
Speaker 1: fright ing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Speaker 1: I think that, you know, we're going to see a
Speaker 1: lot more automation, particularly when it comes to software, and
Speaker 1: we're beginning to already see some of that. There's been
Speaker 1: a rise of companies, particularly when they're trying to communicate
Speaker 1: and interact with their customers with chat bots, so that
Speaker 1: you're just entering sort of natural language questions or requests
Speaker 1: through a messaging service and then they're responding as if
Speaker 1: it's a human in this sort of like testing the
Speaker 1: Turing test kind of way, and that is going to
Speaker 1: have an effect on jobs. Yeah, I wrote about these
Speaker 1: chat bots and they it's not even necessarily in customer
Speaker 1: service facing roles, but some companies were using them internally
Speaker 1: and replacing job functions internally. So for example, there would
Speaker 1: be like, um, you worked in a call center and
Speaker 1: you needed to viewer. Normally you would call in sick
Speaker 1: to your manager, but actually now you just do it
Speaker 1: with a chat butt right, right, So you know there
Speaker 1: are efficiencies to be had. Unfortunately that result in some
Speaker 1: jobs being lost, right, And I know you said that
Speaker 1: most of the time we talk about this in manufacturing.
Speaker 1: I think it's obviously going to continue happening in manufacturing.
Speaker 1: I saw that, um that the carrier plant that Donald
Speaker 1: Trump made the deal with to keep some human jobs
Speaker 1: here in the US and Indiana, they're going to be
Speaker 1: investing money that they're saving and research and development that
Speaker 1: they will use to automate jobs that will lead to
Speaker 1: further layoffs. So those jobs are continuing to go away.
Speaker 1: That's right. I mean, immigration isn't really the issue. It
Speaker 1: never really was the issue. The issue is going to
Speaker 1: be what do we do when robots, be they big
Speaker 1: machines or lines of code, are able to do many
Speaker 1: many things that we count on humans for today. Up
Speaker 1: happens when the power and potential of every employee and
Speaker 1: leader in your workforce is released and corn Ferry can
Speaker 1: get you there by aligning your people to your strategy, attracting, developing, engaging,
Speaker 1: and rewarding them to reach new heights. With corn Fill,
Speaker 1: you get a partner who truly understands people, leadership, and
Speaker 1: the new landscape of work, a partner who knows how
Speaker 1: to take your business up. Learn more at corn ferry
Speaker 1: dot com slash up. So, Becca, what's next on our list? So?
Speaker 1: This is something we haven't talked about on game plan yet,
Speaker 1: but I think a big thing to look out for
Speaker 1: will be minimum wage increases. Obviously a hot button issue
Speaker 1: over the past year. Are we going to start to
Speaker 1: see some of those changes take effect? Yeah? So? Uh,
Speaker 1: for states voted for minimum wage increases, Washington State, Arizona, Colorado,
Speaker 1: and Maine, they all voted for various different increases, so
Speaker 1: they're not all necessarily going to fifteen. So yeah. So
Speaker 1: the minimum wage fight for minium wage increases is often
Speaker 1: talked about as the fight for fifteen, which is fifteen dollars.
Speaker 1: It's very catchy slogan. Sure, and there's a big movement
Speaker 1: of people that was a protest at the beginning of December.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so the minimum wage increases that happened, I
Speaker 1: don't don't believe any of them made it to exactly
Speaker 1: none of the state ones. This is something that people
Speaker 1: have been talking about and it's been gaining steam. Earlier
Speaker 1: this month, there was actually a win for people doing this. Um,
Speaker 1: a group of New Jersey airport workers they unionized and
Speaker 1: got a fifteen minimum That's great. How many how many
Speaker 1: workers are we talking about here? That's a not insignificant
Speaker 1: number of people to suddenly get minimum wage, right or
Speaker 1: even more than minimum and symbolically, I think it's a
Speaker 1: thing that's happening. Another thing that people say, especially um
Speaker 1: the fast food companies, they claim that a higher minimum
Speaker 1: wage will lead to quicker automation and kill more jobs.
Speaker 1: See I find a flaw in that argument, because if
Speaker 1: higher wages lead to automation, well why aren't they just
Speaker 1: going to automation already? Like the higher wages should have
Speaker 1: nothing to do with it, right, I mean, I guess
Speaker 1: they're they're saying, we are automating a little bit like
Speaker 1: I think there was. I think at McDonald's you can
Speaker 1: order from more kiosks. Now, that's right, But they're like,
Speaker 1: if we have to pay more, we're just going to
Speaker 1: do it faster. Yeah. Although I got to say, if
Speaker 1: we're I a sort of you know, cold blooded, rapacious
Speaker 1: CEO of McDonald's, I suspect I would want to be
Speaker 1: putting the kiosks in as soon as possible, in as
Speaker 1: many places as possible, using minimum wage as some sort
Speaker 1: of like cudgel doesn't seem to line up with just
Speaker 1: sort of business strategy. I mean, I wish you were
Speaker 1: the CEO of McDonald's. Obviously they would be oh man,
Speaker 1: I'd fire everybody. Yeah, it would just be robot Burger City. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I mean that these are the exact arguments and
Speaker 1: fights that are playing out now. But yeah, this this
Speaker 1: movement is definitely gaining some steam and I think it
Speaker 1: will be something to look out for. So the last
Speaker 1: thing on our list is something that is very dear
Speaker 1: to my heart. We've discussed this from time to time.
Speaker 1: I believe the office temperature issue. I you know, stereotypically
Speaker 1: as a woman get cold, right, do you get warm? Yes?
Speaker 1: I like it. I like it cooler in the office,
Speaker 1: and I presume you like it warmer, right, So this
Speaker 1: is a a perennial issue, and I predict in seen
Speaker 1: that maybe we're going to start to see the end
Speaker 1: of that, the end of the wars. You're crazy, what
Speaker 1: are you talking about. So there have been a couple
Speaker 1: of apps that came out or have come out in
Speaker 1: the last year where employees tell the app, you know,
Speaker 1: they're too cold, they're too hot, and the building will adjust.
Speaker 1: But also the app is collecting all this data all
Speaker 1: the time so people, so it knows how warm and
Speaker 1: how cold to make it for the people who sit there.
Speaker 1: So I feel like there are two sort of trendlets
Speaker 1: embedded in what you're describing. First of all, it reminds
Speaker 1: me a little bit going back to our automation discussion. Right,
Speaker 1: if you are fortunate enough to work in an office
Speaker 1: where they actually will adjust the temperature, presumably that is
Speaker 1: done because you have placed a request, maybe over the phone,
Speaker 1: maybe via email, and a human being receives that and says, fine,
Speaker 1: moved tempers Often they say I'm not changing this because
Speaker 1: I got ten competing requests. But yeah, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1: But it's still a person who's making that decision. Of course,
Speaker 1: now that is being sort of outsourced to an algorithm.
Speaker 1: And then the other trend is the what we've already
Speaker 1: seen in our homes, which can be when you install
Speaker 1: a nest, thermostat or a competing product. Right, the idea
Speaker 1: that enhanced and increased sensors can pull more information together
Speaker 1: and then software can sort of try to come up
Speaker 1: with some solution. Right. And that's another trend that I
Speaker 1: think we're going to start seeing in new office buildings
Speaker 1: there will have these sensors built in um, which is
Speaker 1: slightly controversial because you don't want to be working surrounded
Speaker 1: by sensors. No, it's creepy. On the other hand, I
Speaker 1: do want to be warm. You want to be warm,
Speaker 1: and I and I will make a pro sensor argument,
Speaker 1: which is that first of all, that information doesn't necessarily
Speaker 1: have to be identifiable. It can just be there is
Speaker 1: movement in this room, there is a person in this room.
Speaker 1: And the benefit makes buildings more efficient, and that obviously
Speaker 1: has some ramifications ecologically building. That's why companies are doing that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it saves it saves them money. And buildings traditionally have
Speaker 1: been tremendously inefficient use users, if you will, of fossil
Speaker 1: fuels and other things. So some of these steps are
Speaker 1: actually quite good for the environment. I do have a question, though, Yes,
Speaker 1: what will we complain about in the summer if not
Speaker 1: office air conditioning? Sunlight? Sunlight? Yeah, that's the next time.
Speaker 1: Just the shades adjust the shades, got it, can't wait,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be pro shades up. Oh no, blackout
Speaker 1: total all the time. You can't wait for see you
Speaker 1: in the summer. And before we close out, we will
Speaker 1: do a final New Year's resolution. Half bake takes. Half
Speaker 1: bake takes. Okay, Sam, what you got? My lunch is
Speaker 1: the Achilles heel, if you will of my diet. I'm
Speaker 1: here at work. I like to go out for lunch.
Speaker 1: I think lunch can be a useful break from the
Speaker 1: work day. Also it can be obviously a time to
Speaker 1: conduct business as well. And I order too much food. Um,
Speaker 1: this is true. I think whenever you go to a restaurant, right,
Speaker 1: you just get large portions and then I proceed to
Speaker 1: eat all of it. Um. So my half bake New
Speaker 1: Year's resolution is to try to get a better handle
Speaker 1: on my lunch because I think my breakfast is pretty
Speaker 1: good and my dinners actually are also reasonable. But it
Speaker 1: can just all kind of go to hell during lunchtime.
Speaker 1: It's hard because you want that pick me up in
Speaker 1: the middle of the day. Yeah, it's like a little
Speaker 1: reward or something, or an encouragement, but it maybe it
Speaker 1: doesn't have to be a cheeseburger. Definitely not. How about you.
Speaker 1: Mine is too. I get a lot of emails as
Speaker 1: a part of my job. Obviously of them are not
Speaker 1: useful or interesting none, but I skip a dent of them,
Speaker 1: and I think if I were slightly better about reading
Speaker 1: through my emails, I wouldn't miss that one percent. Hey Becca,
Speaker 1: what if there was a bot? Oh my god, is
Speaker 1: there that could sort through your emails for you? I
Speaker 1: bet there is. I'm sure that's right. Final prediction bought
Speaker 1: reading your emails. And this has been half big takes,
Speaker 1: half baked takes. Thank you for a listen link to
Speaker 1: game Plan. You can find me on Twitter. I'm at
Speaker 1: rs Greenfield and i am at Sam Grobart. If you
Speaker 1: like the show, please head on over to iTunes or
Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your podcast to rate and review
Speaker 1: and subscribe. It means a lot to us it surely does.
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Speaker 1: at Apple's app Store. Game Plan is produced by Liz
Speaker 1: Smith and Magnus Hendrickson. The head of Bloomberg Podcast is Alcmcape.
Speaker 1: We'll be taking a break next week so we can
Speaker 1: celebrate the holidays, but we'll see you in Mary, Mary, Happy, Happy.
Speaker 1: Get the most from your people and send your business
Speaker 1: soaring with corn Ferry. From executive search to talent strategy,
Speaker 1: leadership development, rewards and succession planning. Corn Ferry knows up
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Speaker 1: at corn ferry dot com. Slash up, bien venito, game
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