Edelman's Research on ‘The Empowered Employee’

get a reading on the empowered employee. So let's get to it with the founder and CEO of Edelman, Richard Edelman, back with us on the phone in New York City. How are you, hello, Carol? How are you doing? I'm doing okay, although trying to get the real picture, looking for transparency, uh, in terms of what's going on with our workforce, because it feels like COVID once again slowing down the return to work. Uh. You know, companies requiring vaccines.

There's a lot of stuff going on. You talked to CEOs and heads of companies all the time. Before we get into your barometer. What are you hearing from them about the out luck? I think it's very cloudy and we can't get a firm handle on when the delta variant is going to peak, and therefore all of us, including Edelman, have postponed return to office from the day after labor Day to October or you know, we don't

know yet. And um that there will be a hybrid approach to the workplace is clear that we want to keep our employees safe as the most important factor. And again it goes into our study which shows that you know, employees definitely have been changed by COVID because they're not going to just work for money or raises or or advancement at the company. They just aren't going to do it. They have a different set of values. Now, well, and

let's get into it. I've got the study in front of me and I've been looking over it, and you guys do look at a lot of different things. And it's safe to say, I know in talking with Piers uh and different companies and people are leaving companies. They're what matters to them. Sometimes it's now being able to work closer to home, or to work part time, to be more at home maybe with their families, or some of them are making, you know, significant career changes or

just dropping out of the workforce altogether. Tell us what you set out to do this specifically with this trust parameter, because sometimes you're looking at brands and the relationship between brands and consumers. This one really looks into what's on employees minds. Well, employees UM somewhere between twenty of them say that they're going to quit their job in the

next six months. And again we were amazed that by a two to one margin, by six people said I want to work for a company that has great values. Half of them said I want a different work life balance, and only of them said, you know, it's all about the pay. That that's why I'm going to change jobs. And so it's like a three cornered um try Pod Carol. And so it's got to be paid well. I gotta have a chance to advance. That's obvious. That's only table

stakes now on. In addition, I need work life balance, I need a flexible workplace um. And the last is I want to work for a company I admire. I want to work for a CEO who stands up and speaks up on diversity and inclusion, sustainability, local policing, etcetera. So what do you make then, of all the financial firms, Because there's definitely a bidding war going on for you know,

junior level investment banking. We had a story about Chinese companies going after quants and really competing with the Wall Street firms in terms of what they're paying their folks. I mean, when you look at this data, Richard, is there any breakdown or differences variations when it comes to the type of industry that we're talking about. Because I do wonder if Wall Street, with raising the money, are they going after the right thing. I think they're chasing

the wrong rabbit. I mean, it's not enough to say to the Goldman employee who's working undered plus hours a week, we'll give you more money. I think that they want work life balance, and they also want um Goldman to do UM more investing in in UM you know, green energy or the you know, the future of of uh, you know, diverse owned businesses and so again UM. The smart company will also realize that the belief driven employee will be more loyal, will advocate for your firm, will

recommend it, you know, as a place to work. And and that's gold in today's marketplace, because we've got to keep our people as opposed to getting recruited away. Alright, one third of the people have left their job because the company remains silent on a societal issue that they should have addressed, like the murder of George Floyd. So we've got to keep these people. All right, Let's get

back to our guest. Richard Edelman, chief executive officer over at Edelman, still with us on the phone from New York City. I want to go through some of um the highlights too. I know we've been going over your latest Trust Barometer report. It is about the powered employee. It's interesting because you take a look at maybe age differences, young employees most likely to choose jobs based on belief. Uh. Is this really just a younger employees thing, Richard? Or

is it all age groups. It's not only all age groups, Carol. It's it's a bunch of countries. China is actually the most profound finding of Chinese said that they feel that they can get their companies to change policies on what they're doing on sustainability, for example. So I think it's it's quite transversal. And and this belief driven person actually UM goes to the marketplace and says, I want to

work for this company because I believe in it. And that's a really important thing for c e O s to appreciate that my nine and nine to one, if they speak up on issues such as UM human rights or economic inequality or genuine equality, they're going to get better people because those people where millennials want to be

change agents. Well. And what's interesting too in terms of your research, because I was curious about UM in talking to employers and talking to employees, who's and increasing their power and leverage? Is it people who are making a lot more money? Is at the middle income spectrum? What about those variations? Again, it's across the income spectrum. And what's phenomenal is also the likelihood that these believed driven employees are going to speak up. Uh, They're not just

going to do it through the company channels. They're gonna tweet it out or be on social other social channels. They're going to even organize some boycotts of the companies if they're not satisfied with the progress. So in a sense, you're doing a trade off, Carol, between you want the belief driven person who's going to be more loyal and more advocating, but you have to accept the fact that they're gonna want to have a say, and they're gonna want to say it publicly, and I think we should

like that. We should be more transparent with them. We should show them what we're trying to do with their companies, explain our vaccination policy, for example, and then have them go advocate for us, because they're damn believable. Yeah, exactly. And I think if anything, you and I've talked about this, like during the pandemic, employees really were well. First of all, employers relied on employees who are now working at home

and juggling a lot to keep their businesses going. But employees really we're looking to their employers to help them with whether it's childcare issues, health issues. Um we talked a lot about mental care. Even it's even bigger than that. The employer is the number one source of credible information because the world is so politicized now. Um Peugh came out with a report today that said only of Republicans believe in mainstream media versus seventy of Democrats. So I

get my information from my company. I also expect my company, uh somehow to retrain me because people are afraid of losing their job. To automation or AI and and so um. You know, my company trust is local, Carol. As we talked about before, bus starts with between my CEO and the company. And my CEO part is so important, it's the number one thing in building trust between employer employees.

Does the CEO model the behavior? Richard? How much of this though, is the cycle wherein you know, you've seen a lot of economic and market and labor market cycles. I mean, right now, employees need workers. We talk about this every day on Bloomberg, that there's a disco disconnect, that there's more demand than supply right now. And I do wonder do the findings of this latest trust parometer do you think this stays with us, this empowered employee

going forward. It's not just the empowered employee, it's also a belief driven consumer who has the same sort of view about business as a force for good and business actually stepping into the void left by government on so many parts of our society. And so this is a long term trend. And it's also consistent with investors who are investing in companies where there is a clear sense of good relation between employer and employee. Hey, one thing

I wanted to ask you about. And this is something we've talked about I have certainly with my colleagues and and just some peers off air often is the burnout issue, and there is one of the findings in this latest Barometer Trust Parometer that you talk about burnout now a bottom line issue because the conversations often are that a lot of workers are saying, I don't think my employer

really understands how fried I am. I may take a vacation, but i still come back and I'm fried because I'm still worried about COVID, I'm still worried about will my job still be there, I'm worried about family members. Talk to me a little bit about the findings and burnout

and what you're hearing. Well, half the people um in our survey said that they are feeling burned out and and and sixty six percent said, you know, we think, you know, we've done a lot more for our employers since the pandemic started, and we're not, you know, getting recognized. So for me, the smart employer is going to say, I've got to pay them well, but I also have to care for them. I have to put my arms

around them. I have to make sure that they appreciate UM, that that they feel appreciated, and that they have UH in a way flexibility. For example, we don't have to have an eight hour shift that you show up at seven am and you know, get off at at three that that we're going to make it clear that we want you to deliver your kid to school. So you feel okay about it, then you can jump into the shift at the second hour and and make it up.

So I do think it's an urgent need for UM employers to stop having an industrial era mentality about their workforce and have a human approach to it. This is the change moment. Yeah, it does feel pretty dramatic. Hey, Richard, thank you so much. I'll always look forward to it. Richard Edelman, chief executive Officer of Course, founder of Edelman, on the phone in New York City,