Speaker 1: This is Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. I'm Jason
Speaker 1: Kelly and I'm Carol Masser. Welcome to the Bloomberg Business
Speaker 1: Week Extra. It's a weekly podcast bringing you an in
Speaker 1: depth interview you will not hear anywhere else. And this
Speaker 1: one man took us to places I think that we
Speaker 1: weren't expecting. Jason, absolutely, I have to say, and I
Speaker 1: would say this if we were talking to him right now.
Speaker 1: Get on the phone with the chair and senior partner
Speaker 1: at a big consulting firm. You think, all right, he's
Speaker 1: gonna talk to us about consulting, right Yeah, Tim Ryant,
Speaker 1: he's a different sort of leader. And I've heard that
Speaker 1: from a number of people who work with him, and
Speaker 1: we spoke with him at a time where he was
Speaker 1: coming out of a weekend of having a lot of
Speaker 1: very serious and very intense conversations with his employees. He
Speaker 1: is thoughtful, and he's thinking a lot about what his
Speaker 1: company looks like going forward. And keep in mind, he
Speaker 1: and his team are consulting with the leaders across the world,
Speaker 1: so what they think and how they act has a
Speaker 1: lot of influence. The most important right now is to communicate,
Speaker 1: to be open minded and committed to change that. The
Speaker 1: reality is we have huge segments of our population, including
Speaker 1: my workforce, that are hurting um in many cases they've
Speaker 1: been hurting for a long long time. And it's important
Speaker 1: that we are vulnerable, we are open, going to communicate, speak,
Speaker 1: and being committed to change. I have. I have in
Speaker 1: the last weekend responded personally over three thousand emails. I've
Speaker 1: spoken to dozens and dozens of people individually to hear
Speaker 1: what's in their mind in addition to my team, and
Speaker 1: it is heartbreaking and to acknowledge and being committed to
Speaker 1: driving it is a good start. So how does the
Speaker 1: how does this affect policy going forward? And how does
Speaker 1: it bring about change? Yeah, Carol, thank you. Important question.
Speaker 1: I look at it from two perspectives and let me
Speaker 1: let me start up by saying GTBC nor me do
Speaker 1: we have all the answers, But we look at it
Speaker 1: from two perspectives. For the last four years, we've been
Speaker 1: taking very aggressive steps to improve our inclusion withinside the
Speaker 1: full walls of p WC, and and it starts at home.
Speaker 1: We all can be better and we need to be better.
Speaker 1: And myself and over a thousand executives who are part
Speaker 1: of CEO actions for diversity inclusion. We have committed to
Speaker 1: make our organizations better, safer, more aware, and more understanding.
Speaker 1: But as you point out or asking your question, policy
Speaker 1: making also plays an important part. The reality is that
Speaker 1: we need more thoughtful policy at the city, state, and
Speaker 1: federal level to make sure that we get some we
Speaker 1: get at some of the more important parts or equally
Speaker 1: important parts around inclusion if we're to get to a
Speaker 1: better performance at a sustaining level. So, for example, we
Speaker 1: think about the economic inequalities that exists in our country,
Speaker 1: policy the policy making plays an important role there as well.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting tempted to hear your response to
Speaker 1: the to the first question because it does feel like
Speaker 1: we're in a different moment where I dare say, and
Speaker 1: this is no judgment on any of your predecessors or
Speaker 1: any predecessors of current CEOs, but I have a hard
Speaker 1: time believing that in a previous generation of leaders it
Speaker 1: would be almost acceptable in some ways for a leader
Speaker 1: of your stature to personally respond to all of those things.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you bear more of a responsibility
Speaker 1: to show a level of transparency and I dare say
Speaker 1: authenticity to a broader spectrum of people. Yeah, it's a
Speaker 1: it's a fair question. I am. I certainly sincerely believe
Speaker 1: I have a responsibility to the fifty five thousand people
Speaker 1: who trust me with their leadership than that. That is
Speaker 1: very personal to me. I was speaking with somebody over
Speaker 1: the weekend or many many people. On one conversation, I asked, su,
Speaker 1: do you think everybody's getting three thousand emails? And I
Speaker 1: honestly don't know the answer. What I am proud of
Speaker 1: is the culture is that people expect to have immediate
Speaker 1: access at PBC to the talk. And I and I
Speaker 1: take that response us to believe very seriously. I think
Speaker 1: some of it to sign of times, I think some
Speaker 1: of it is the culture of the organization. And we
Speaker 1: look at those three thousand emails and over and and
Speaker 1: I'm behind today to be clear, because it's the message
Speaker 1: out today. But I think part part of it is
Speaker 1: many thousands just saying thank you, thank you. I shot
Speaker 1: a video on Friday morning and saying how sick I was.
Speaker 1: Part of it is thank you for the commitment and leadership.
Speaker 1: But hundreds were here are suggestions and and and we're
Speaker 1: going through them like we to think that in in
Speaker 1: a world where leadership is looked up to, we don't
Speaker 1: have all the answers, and I think part of it
Speaker 1: is part of it is we need to get it
Speaker 1: at all levels in our organization. One of our black
Speaker 1: associates I spoke to today, he has three years experience
Speaker 1: with us. He was both um. He was both excited
Speaker 1: but also angry that society is not making more progress,
Speaker 1: is it, Tim, You need to listen to not only
Speaker 1: the years of partners and people in the middle and
Speaker 1: leadership polls, you need to listen to our views as well.
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's incredibly important that we
Speaker 1: do that. I think today more than ever, well, you know,
Speaker 1: going back to oh Man, you just kind of chills
Speaker 1: my spine. We spoke with John Hopebryant Um Sherman and
Speaker 1: CEO of of UM Hope and what's interesting is he
Speaker 1: said he was talking to a lot of young people, Tim,
Speaker 1: who said, you know, because everybody's like please, you know,
Speaker 1: looting doesn't solve anything. But these young people said to him, listen,
Speaker 1: you get to be you have a seat at the table.
Speaker 1: You know, you're in the room where it all happens.
Speaker 1: You go to the white house. You talked to CEO
Speaker 1: for us, our voices aren't heard unless we take these
Speaker 1: drastic actions, and we need to figure out a way
Speaker 1: to make sure everyone is heard. And Tim, I feel
Speaker 1: like we have a lot of conversations about this and
Speaker 1: yet nothing happens. And forgive me, We've got about forty
Speaker 1: five seconds and then we'll come back and continue the
Speaker 1: com versation. But your thoughts on that, Yeah, I think.
Speaker 1: I think, um, it is really important for us to
Speaker 1: understand to our black and brown citizens of the United States,
Speaker 1: what happened last Monday is not new. What happened in
Speaker 1: Central Park is not new. Too many. It feels new
Speaker 1: because we start on a video, but it is not new.
Speaker 1: And as I speak with my and I'm not black,
Speaker 1: I cannot say I've walked in people's shoes. But as
Speaker 1: I've listened to hundreds, what they will tell you is
Speaker 1: that this is not new. And four years ago we
Speaker 1: had shootings in Dallas, we had violence in Louisville, two
Speaker 1: years ago we had violence in Charlottesville. We have it again.
Speaker 1: And it's incumbent on people in my role and other
Speaker 1: roles to say enough is enough and we're going to
Speaker 1: fix it. And we have to work together to do that.
Speaker 1: So Tim, I want to talk about the return to
Speaker 1: work at that. One more question for you about sort
Speaker 1: of where we are at this particular moment having to
Speaker 1: do with protests. You've got curfews happening at major cities
Speaker 1: around the country, including here in the Tri State area,
Speaker 1: and I do want how do you balance sort of
Speaker 1: the safety of your employees with the notion that you
Speaker 1: want them to be able to express themselves at times
Speaker 1: like this. Yeah, we we encourage our people to make
Speaker 1: sure their point of view is heard, and protesting is
Speaker 1: an important part of expressing ourselves. We obviously want to
Speaker 1: make sure they're safe as well, so we've encouraged people
Speaker 1: to do that and use the dust judgment and cities
Speaker 1: where we have had protests, we've used our Nation Wanted
Speaker 1: security team to make sure we're checking out on people
Speaker 1: that they're safe. If we've had a few instances, we
Speaker 1: simply had to move people because they were in very
Speaker 1: closely affected areas. But freedom of speech and the ability
Speaker 1: to get your views heard both internally within the firm
Speaker 1: and outside is something that we think is really important. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we wanted to be peaceful, we want our people to
Speaker 1: be safe, but getting our emotions out and getting our
Speaker 1: feelings out is important, and the numbers really speak to
Speaker 1: the importance of getting those views out and having voices heard.
Speaker 1: So it is a very important part of our nation
Speaker 1: and the freedom to get your view out there and
Speaker 1: something we're supportive of, you know, Tims. Something that Jason
Speaker 1: and I've been asking with a lot of the leaders
Speaker 1: that have been coming on our air CEO s, you know,
Speaker 1: folks similar to you in you know, top positions, is
Speaker 1: how does our world change? And we've been asking it
Speaker 1: in the context of the virus specifically, you know, what's
Speaker 1: what's the most important in your view underappreciated way that
Speaker 1: the world, at least your world that you work within,
Speaker 1: will be different. And I feel like I want to
Speaker 1: ask it both of what's happening, you know, as a
Speaker 1: result of what happened in Minneapolis, and also as of
Speaker 1: the virus, because it just feels like, you know, our
Speaker 1: world has definitely been turned upside down in many different ways. Um,
Speaker 1: certainly in the past week and certainly in the past
Speaker 1: three months or so. Yeah, Carol, thank you. I would
Speaker 1: start out by saying, I'm obviously very upset and sick
Speaker 1: by the events over the last week. But I but
Speaker 1: I also start by saying I'm an optimist, and I
Speaker 1: think when I look at the COVID nineteen situation, and
Speaker 1: I look at the events of us couple weeks, I
Speaker 1: think we're we are giving a great opportunity to be
Speaker 1: driving as a change. And I think that's the way
Speaker 1: we have to look at things, because it is important
Speaker 1: as we as we go forward. And there's a couple
Speaker 1: of key things that I would say will change. First one,
Speaker 1: I think just about basic work, and this is something
Speaker 1: as I've heard from dozens of CEOs, I think one
Speaker 1: thing is safe to say work will not look the
Speaker 1: way that twelve or thirteen weeks ago and will not
Speaker 1: look the way it does today. Like there there's an
Speaker 1: opportunity to reimagine how work is done. And when I
Speaker 1: think about the office space, so I think about industries
Speaker 1: like financial services, technology, professional services, that we have a
Speaker 1: fundamental way to reimagine work. The way we reimagine work
Speaker 1: hopefully will align with opportunities. Some people desperately want to
Speaker 1: get back to the office, and other people like the
Speaker 1: way of working now. You need the ecosystem around called
Speaker 1: schools and daycare and the like to work as well,
Speaker 1: and we will get there over time. But we're seeing
Speaker 1: tremendous opportunity to reimagine how work is done where some
Speaker 1: some roles have done permanently remotely, some work is done
Speaker 1: on a hybrid basis, and some work is done fully
Speaker 1: back in the office space, which then should hopefully allow
Speaker 1: people who who like either end of that spectrum in
Speaker 1: the middle to match up with those roles. That's a
Speaker 1: tremendous opportunity we never had before. And they shared experience
Speaker 1: that everybody has gone through creates a great platform for
Speaker 1: change and and I'm seeing meeting companies go after that
Speaker 1: platform from a change with the sense of it's a
Speaker 1: great opportunity. By the way, it should also draw that
Speaker 1: a diversity inclusion when we think of certain people who
Speaker 1: maybe couldn't afford to live near an office, if we
Speaker 1: couldn't get a job, when we think about women and
Speaker 1: children or men and children to that matter, the ability
Speaker 1: to do things differently as well. So I view it
Speaker 1: as a great opportunity and shame on us well miss it.
Speaker 1: And so tim from from your businesses perspective, like even
Speaker 1: just the logistics of sort of getting people back to work.
Speaker 1: What have you guys found as sort of the biggest
Speaker 1: say go challenger or maybe opportunity to depending on how
Speaker 1: you want to take it in terms of just the
Speaker 1: physical act of you know, kind of moving people back
Speaker 1: into some semblance of normalcy there. We're we're very fortunate
Speaker 1: because of the last four years we've been investing massively technology.
Speaker 1: We've been investing not only in getting our business in
Speaker 1: the cloud, but we've also been investing in fifty five
Speaker 1: people with digital obscaling and awareness that digital obscaling has
Speaker 1: become an employee benefit at PTBC, no different than fown
Speaker 1: Ka health Care, So our people are constantly being invested
Speaker 1: in now. We didn't plan for a pandemic, but when
Speaker 1: we had to shift to a remote we were able
Speaker 1: to make it very quickly, in large part because not
Speaker 1: only the broad transformation into the cloud, but also the
Speaker 1: skills that are people have had that has allowed us
Speaker 1: to meet our clients needs virtually And what we're hearing
Speaker 1: from most of our clients is they don't need us
Speaker 1: back right now. So the biggest opportunity we have right
Speaker 1: now is to meet our clients where they want to
Speaker 1: be met. And for the most part right now, it's
Speaker 1: virtual that will change over time. Our opportunity is to
Speaker 1: help help meet our clients needs over time with less
Speaker 1: face to face, not not zero face to face, but
Speaker 1: less face to face, which then results in a better
Speaker 1: work expence for our people because we have less travel,
Speaker 1: and that also will benefit our environment as well. So again,
Speaker 1: every every challenge is an opportunity. We're looking at this
Speaker 1: as a major opportunity to meet our clients needs in
Speaker 1: a very different way, just quickly to not less travel.
Speaker 1: Does that stick? I think some will like you. Of those,
Speaker 1: I don't see a world where we're not doing zero
Speaker 1: travelge you're talking to someone for twenty five years. It's
Speaker 1: been a road warrior. I literally the last thirteen weeks.
Speaker 1: I've never been home in my adult life that long.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't see us needing to travel as much.
Speaker 1: But I also don't see if they are wearing this today.
Speaker 1: There's still a big need to be at our clients,
Speaker 1: but we're also learning some role, some functions, some task
Speaker 1: can be done virtually and without having people go there,
Speaker 1: and that's a good thing for good body. So I
Speaker 1: think is everything. I don't see it everything going back
Speaker 1: to the way it was. I don't see the ways today.
Speaker 1: It'll be somewhere between. That's Tim Ryan, the chair and
Speaker 1: senior partner at p w c US. Jason and I
Speaker 1: thought it was so lucky that we were able to
Speaker 1: catch up with the head of a global consulting firm.
Speaker 1: Talking to CEO is talking to leaders around the globe.
Speaker 1: One of the things that struck me, you know, he
Speaker 1: talked about what it's going to be like to get
Speaker 1: back to the office. That was one issue we talked
Speaker 1: to him about, you know, the viruses impact and you know,
Speaker 1: how we're reorganizing, how we're going to work. But he
Speaker 1: also talked about the shared experience of all that we're
Speaker 1: all going through right now together and how it can
Speaker 1: be a great agent for a change, of course, addressing
Speaker 1: the civic unrest that we're seeing around the country. You've
Speaker 1: been listening to Bloomberg Business Week Extra be short of
Speaker 1: tune into Bloomberg Business Week Radio Live Monday through Friday
Speaker 1: at tpm Wall Street Time on Bloomberg Radio. I'm Carol
Speaker 1: Masser and I'm Jason Kelly. This is Bloomberg