WEBVTT - Edelman's Research on ‘The Empowered Employee’

0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:04.240
<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg

0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.760
<v Speaker 1>Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Definitely a big

0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:11.080
<v Speaker 1>week for the workforce. We mentioned a DP today, we

0:00:11.080 --> 0:00:13.360
<v Speaker 1>get another read tomorrow and then of course the Friday

0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:17.759
<v Speaker 1>Jobs report. In the meantime, the giant Global Communications from Edelman,

0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.280
<v Speaker 1>they continue to do their own research on employers and employees.

0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.479
<v Speaker 1>Their latest trust barometer is out and with it we

0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.480
<v Speaker 1>get a reading on the empowered employee. So let's get

0:00:27.520 --> 0:00:29.920
<v Speaker 1>to it with the founder and CEO of Edelman, Richard Edelman,

0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.240
<v Speaker 1>back with us on the phone in New York City.

0:00:32.280 --> 0:00:35.560
<v Speaker 1>How are you, hello, Carol? How are you doing? I'm

0:00:35.600 --> 0:00:40.080
<v Speaker 1>doing okay, although trying to get the real picture, looking

0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:43.879
<v Speaker 1>for transparency, uh, in terms of what's going on with

0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.559
<v Speaker 1>our workforce, because it feels like COVID once again slowing

0:00:47.560 --> 0:00:52.240
<v Speaker 1>down the return to work. Uh. You know, companies requiring vaccines.

0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:54.160
<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of stuff going on. You talked to

0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.880
<v Speaker 1>CEOs and heads of companies all the time. Before we

0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.400
<v Speaker 1>get into your barometer. What are you hearing from them

0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:04.560
<v Speaker 1>about the out luck? I think it's very cloudy and

0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.119
<v Speaker 1>we can't get a firm handle on when the delta

0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.920
<v Speaker 1>variant is going to peak, and therefore all of us,

0:01:11.920 --> 0:01:15.720
<v Speaker 1>including Edelman, have postponed return to office from the day

0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:20.080
<v Speaker 1>after labor Day to October or you know, we don't

0:01:20.080 --> 0:01:23.399
<v Speaker 1>know yet. And um that there will be a hybrid

0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:27.080
<v Speaker 1>approach to the workplace is clear that we want to

0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.600
<v Speaker 1>keep our employees safe as the most important factor. And

0:01:30.880 --> 0:01:35.520
<v Speaker 1>again it goes into our study which shows that you know,

0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:39.880
<v Speaker 1>employees definitely have been changed by COVID because they're not

0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:43.679
<v Speaker 1>going to just work for money or raises or or

0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.000
<v Speaker 1>advancement at the company. They just aren't going to do it.

0:01:47.040 --> 0:01:49.840
<v Speaker 1>They have a different set of values. Now, well, and

0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:51.680
<v Speaker 1>let's get into it. I've got the study in front

0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:53.160
<v Speaker 1>of me and I've been looking over it, and you

0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:55.000
<v Speaker 1>guys do look at a lot of different things. And

0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.960
<v Speaker 1>it's safe to say, I know in talking with Piers

0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:03.600
<v Speaker 1>uh and different companies and people are leaving companies. They're

0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:07.240
<v Speaker 1>what matters to them. Sometimes it's now being able to

0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.760
<v Speaker 1>work closer to home, or to work part time, to

0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.160
<v Speaker 1>be more at home maybe with their families, or some

0:02:13.240 --> 0:02:16.200
<v Speaker 1>of them are making, you know, significant career changes or

0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:19.080
<v Speaker 1>just dropping out of the workforce altogether. Tell us what

0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:22.040
<v Speaker 1>you set out to do this specifically with this trust parameter,

0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:25.320
<v Speaker 1>because sometimes you're looking at brands and the relationship between

0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.160
<v Speaker 1>brands and consumers. This one really looks into what's on

0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:34.120
<v Speaker 1>employees minds. Well, employees UM somewhere between twenty of them

0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:36.280
<v Speaker 1>say that they're going to quit their job in the

0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:41.520
<v Speaker 1>next six months. And again we were amazed that by

0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:44.880
<v Speaker 1>a two to one margin, by six people said I

0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.320
<v Speaker 1>want to work for a company that has great values.

0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.720
<v Speaker 1>Half of them said I want a different work life balance,

0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:53.880
<v Speaker 1>and only of them said, you know, it's all about

0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.720
<v Speaker 1>the pay. That that's why I'm going to change jobs.

0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.799
<v Speaker 1>And so it's like a three cornered um try Pod Carol.

0:03:01.160 --> 0:03:04.080
<v Speaker 1>And so it's got to be paid well. I gotta

0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.760
<v Speaker 1>have a chance to advance. That's obvious. That's only table

0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.000
<v Speaker 1>stakes now on. In addition, I need work life balance,

0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.600
<v Speaker 1>I need a flexible workplace um. And the last is

0:03:13.680 --> 0:03:15.600
<v Speaker 1>I want to work for a company I admire. I

0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:18.040
<v Speaker 1>want to work for a CEO who stands up and

0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:24.320
<v Speaker 1>speaks up on diversity and inclusion, sustainability, local policing, etcetera.

0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:26.960
<v Speaker 1>So what do you make then, of all the financial firms,

0:03:26.960 --> 0:03:29.840
<v Speaker 1>Because there's definitely a bidding war going on for you know,

0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.639
<v Speaker 1>junior level investment banking. We had a story about Chinese

0:03:33.639 --> 0:03:36.880
<v Speaker 1>companies going after quants and really competing with the Wall

0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:39.040
<v Speaker 1>Street firms in terms of what they're paying their folks.

0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.840
<v Speaker 1>I mean, when you look at this data, Richard, is

0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:46.600
<v Speaker 1>there any breakdown or differences variations when it comes to

0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:48.640
<v Speaker 1>the type of industry that we're talking about. Because I

0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.760
<v Speaker 1>do wonder if Wall Street, with raising the money, are

0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:55.600
<v Speaker 1>they going after the right thing. I think they're chasing

0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:57.960
<v Speaker 1>the wrong rabbit. I mean, it's not enough to say

0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:01.200
<v Speaker 1>to the Goldman employee who's working undered plus hours a week,

0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.960
<v Speaker 1>we'll give you more money. I think that they want

0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:06.760
<v Speaker 1>work life balance, and they also want um Goldman to

0:04:06.840 --> 0:04:11.040
<v Speaker 1>do UM more investing in in UM you know, green

0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.520
<v Speaker 1>energy or the you know, the future of of uh,

0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:19.920
<v Speaker 1>you know, diverse owned businesses and so again UM. The

0:04:20.080 --> 0:04:23.599
<v Speaker 1>smart company will also realize that the belief driven employee

0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:26.680
<v Speaker 1>will be more loyal, will advocate for your firm, will

0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.240
<v Speaker 1>recommend it, you know, as a place to work. And

0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.960
<v Speaker 1>and that's gold in today's marketplace, because we've got to

0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:36.839
<v Speaker 1>keep our people as opposed to getting recruited away. Alright,

0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.840
<v Speaker 1>one third of the people have left their job because

0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:43.160
<v Speaker 1>the company remains silent on a societal issue that they

0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:45.960
<v Speaker 1>should have addressed, like the murder of George Floyd. So

0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:49.400
<v Speaker 1>we've got to keep these people. All right, Let's get

0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.840
<v Speaker 1>back to our guest. Richard Edelman, chief executive officer over

0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.080
<v Speaker 1>at Edelman, still with us on the phone from New

0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:57.680
<v Speaker 1>York City. I want to go through some of um

0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.880
<v Speaker 1>the highlights too. I know we've been going over your

0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:04.160
<v Speaker 1>latest Trust Barometer report. It is about the powered employee.

0:05:04.720 --> 0:05:08.360
<v Speaker 1>It's interesting because you take a look at maybe age differences,

0:05:08.640 --> 0:05:13.880
<v Speaker 1>young employees most likely to choose jobs based on belief. Uh.

0:05:14.320 --> 0:05:17.720
<v Speaker 1>Is this really just a younger employees thing, Richard? Or

0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:23.039
<v Speaker 1>is it all age groups. It's not only all age groups, Carol.

0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.000
<v Speaker 1>It's it's a bunch of countries. China is actually the

0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:31.320
<v Speaker 1>most profound finding of Chinese said that they feel that

0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:36.880
<v Speaker 1>they can get their companies to change policies on what

0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:41.040
<v Speaker 1>they're doing on sustainability, for example. So I think it's

0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:46.120
<v Speaker 1>it's quite transversal. And and this belief driven person actually

0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.479
<v Speaker 1>UM goes to the marketplace and says, I want to

0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:53.039
<v Speaker 1>work for this company because I believe in it. And

0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:57.240
<v Speaker 1>that's a really important thing for c e O s

0:05:57.279 --> 0:06:01.680
<v Speaker 1>to appreciate that my nine and nine to one, if

0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:05.320
<v Speaker 1>they speak up on issues such as UM human rights

0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:09.039
<v Speaker 1>or economic inequality or genuine equality, they're going to get

0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:13.400
<v Speaker 1>better people because those people where millennials want to be

0:06:13.720 --> 0:06:17.440
<v Speaker 1>change agents. Well. And what's interesting too in terms of

0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:21.520
<v Speaker 1>your research, because I was curious about UM in talking

0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:25.920
<v Speaker 1>to employers and talking to employees, who's and increasing their

0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:29.280
<v Speaker 1>power and leverage? Is it people who are making a

0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:31.839
<v Speaker 1>lot more money? Is at the middle income spectrum? What

0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:37.920
<v Speaker 1>about those variations? Again, it's across the income spectrum. And

0:06:38.440 --> 0:06:43.719
<v Speaker 1>what's phenomenal is also the likelihood that these believed driven

0:06:43.800 --> 0:06:46.680
<v Speaker 1>employees are going to speak up. Uh, They're not just

0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:48.680
<v Speaker 1>going to do it through the company channels. They're gonna

0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.760
<v Speaker 1>tweet it out or be on social other social channels.

0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.359
<v Speaker 1>They're going to even organize some boycotts of the companies

0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.640
<v Speaker 1>if they're not satisfied with the progress. So in a sense,

0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:01.839
<v Speaker 1>you're doing a trade off, Carol, between you want the

0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:03.880
<v Speaker 1>belief driven person who's going to be more loyal and

0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:07.120
<v Speaker 1>more advocating, but you have to accept the fact that

0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.279
<v Speaker 1>they're gonna want to have a say, and they're gonna

0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.880
<v Speaker 1>want to say it publicly, and I think we should

0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:14.240
<v Speaker 1>like that. We should be more transparent with them. We

0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.640
<v Speaker 1>should show them what we're trying to do with their companies,

0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:20.360
<v Speaker 1>explain our vaccination policy, for example, and then have them

0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:23.480
<v Speaker 1>go advocate for us, because they're damn believable. Yeah, exactly.

0:07:23.480 --> 0:07:25.160
<v Speaker 1>And I think if anything, you and I've talked about this,

0:07:25.280 --> 0:07:29.200
<v Speaker 1>like during the pandemic, employees really were well. First of all,

0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.880
<v Speaker 1>employers relied on employees who are now working at home

0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.240
<v Speaker 1>and juggling a lot to keep their businesses going. But

0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.840
<v Speaker 1>employees really we're looking to their employers to help them

0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:41.400
<v Speaker 1>with whether it's childcare issues, health issues. Um we talked

0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.520
<v Speaker 1>a lot about mental care. Even it's even bigger than that.

0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:48.080
<v Speaker 1>The employer is the number one source of credible information

0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.360
<v Speaker 1>because the world is so politicized now. Um Peugh came

0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:54.520
<v Speaker 1>out with a report today that said only of Republicans

0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:58.840
<v Speaker 1>believe in mainstream media versus seventy of Democrats. So I

0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:02.360
<v Speaker 1>get my information from my company. I also expect my company,

0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:07.840
<v Speaker 1>uh somehow to retrain me because people are afraid of

0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:12.800
<v Speaker 1>losing their job. To automation or AI and and so um.

0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:16.040
<v Speaker 1>You know, my company trust is local, Carol. As we

0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:20.200
<v Speaker 1>talked about before, bus starts with between my CEO and

0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:22.760
<v Speaker 1>the company. And my CEO part is so important, it's

0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.520
<v Speaker 1>the number one thing in building trust between employer employees.

0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.640
<v Speaker 1>Does the CEO model the behavior? Richard? How much of

0:08:29.680 --> 0:08:32.120
<v Speaker 1>this though, is the cycle wherein you know, you've seen

0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:35.559
<v Speaker 1>a lot of economic and market and labor market cycles.

0:08:35.679 --> 0:08:39.720
<v Speaker 1>I mean, right now, employees need workers. We talk about

0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.920
<v Speaker 1>this every day on Bloomberg, that there's a disco disconnect,

0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.480
<v Speaker 1>that there's more demand than supply right now. And I

0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:50.000
<v Speaker 1>do wonder do the findings of this latest trust parometer

0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:52.760
<v Speaker 1>do you think this stays with us, this empowered employee

0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:58.240
<v Speaker 1>going forward. It's not just the empowered employee, it's also

0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.640
<v Speaker 1>a belief driven consumer who has the same sort of

0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.800
<v Speaker 1>view about business as a force for good and business

0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:08.000
<v Speaker 1>actually stepping into the void left by government on so

0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:11.400
<v Speaker 1>many parts of our society. And so this is a

0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.840
<v Speaker 1>long term trend. And it's also consistent with investors who

0:09:15.920 --> 0:09:20.080
<v Speaker 1>are investing in companies where there is a clear sense

0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:24.240
<v Speaker 1>of good relation between employer and employee. Hey, one thing

0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:25.760
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to ask you about. And this is something

0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.800
<v Speaker 1>we've talked about I have certainly with my colleagues and

0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.960
<v Speaker 1>and just some peers off air often is the burnout issue,

0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.319
<v Speaker 1>and there is one of the findings in this latest

0:09:36.559 --> 0:09:39.280
<v Speaker 1>Barometer Trust Parometer that you talk about burnout now a

0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:44.120
<v Speaker 1>bottom line issue because the conversations often are that a

0:09:44.120 --> 0:09:46.439
<v Speaker 1>lot of workers are saying, I don't think my employer

0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.120
<v Speaker 1>really understands how fried I am. I may take a vacation,

0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:52.000
<v Speaker 1>but i still come back and I'm fried because I'm

0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:54.720
<v Speaker 1>still worried about COVID, I'm still worried about will my

0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:58.040
<v Speaker 1>job still be there, I'm worried about family members. Talk

0:09:58.120 --> 0:09:59.800
<v Speaker 1>to me a little bit about the findings and burnout

0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:03.080
<v Speaker 1>and what you're hearing. Well, half the people um in

0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.280
<v Speaker 1>our survey said that they are feeling burned out and

0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.080
<v Speaker 1>and and sixty six percent said, you know, we think,

0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.600
<v Speaker 1>you know, we've done a lot more for our employers

0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.480
<v Speaker 1>since the pandemic started, and we're not, you know, getting recognized.

0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:19.079
<v Speaker 1>So for me, the smart employer is going to say,

0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:22.000
<v Speaker 1>I've got to pay them well, but I also have

0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:23.960
<v Speaker 1>to care for them. I have to put my arms

0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:27.079
<v Speaker 1>around them. I have to make sure that they appreciate UM,

0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:30.880
<v Speaker 1>that that they feel appreciated, and that they have UH

0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.280
<v Speaker 1>in a way flexibility. For example, we don't have to

0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:36.200
<v Speaker 1>have an eight hour shift that you show up at

0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:39.320
<v Speaker 1>seven am and you know, get off at at three

0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:41.920
<v Speaker 1>that that we're going to make it clear that we

0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.120
<v Speaker 1>want you to deliver your kid to school. So you

0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:46.040
<v Speaker 1>feel okay about it, then you can jump into the

0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:49.080
<v Speaker 1>shift at the second hour and and make it up.

0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:54.760
<v Speaker 1>So I do think it's an urgent need for UM

0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:58.880
<v Speaker 1>employers to stop having an industrial era mentality about their

0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.920
<v Speaker 1>workforce and have a human approach to it. This is

0:11:01.960 --> 0:11:05.160
<v Speaker 1>the change moment. Yeah, it does feel pretty dramatic. Hey, Richard,

0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:06.880
<v Speaker 1>thank you so much. I'll always look forward to it.

0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.000
<v Speaker 1>Richard Edelman, chief executive Officer of Course, founder of Edelman,

0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.200
<v Speaker 1>on the phone in New York City,