Pay, promotion, and benefits have been the traditional carrots for hiring and retaining employees. But what happens when they are not enough? During the Great Resignation, companies have watched well-paid, decorated employees walk out the door. They have watched front-line workers who had just received raises walk. Why? The emotional needs of employees are as critical as their functional needs, says Gabi Novacek, a BCG Henderson Institute fellow researching diversity, equity, and inclusion. Feel...
Mar 30, 2022•22 min•Ep. 13
As the travel industry slowly awakens from the pandemic-induced slumber, airlines, hotel chains, and cruise lines face a highly uncertain and volatile future in which the past is unlikely prologue. Jason Guggenheim, BCG’s global leader of travel and tourism, explains that these companies can sharpen their ability to sense subtle shifts in demand. Will business travel, for example, ever fully return? Leaders in the industry, especially airline and cruise line executives, are facing mounting calls...
Mar 16, 2022•19 min•Ep. 12
Neveen Awad, the daughter of an engineer, learned early in life “how fun it was to make machines do something.” As the only computer science major in her graduating class at college and later a PhD, she eventually realized that she did not want to spend her days coding. Awad became a professor and now runs BCG’s Detroit office. She’s spent the past few years researching gender diversity in technology. She talks about why the first and second promotion for women are so critical, how paternity lea...
Mar 02, 2022•20 min•Ep. 11
Why do CEOs struggle with the act of imagination when it comes naturally to 5-year-olds? And what happens when people and organizations seemingly lose their ability to imagine? Martin Reeves, chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, argues that imagination is an untapped and essential resource for organizations. This is particularly true in an error when competitive advantages that once lasted a decade can disappear in as quickly as a year--and as companies see their growth potential decays as t...
Feb 16, 2022•23 min•Ep. 10
Organizations often view inclusion, along with its cousins diversity and equity, as a goal. But what if they start viewing it as a practice, an active commitment, and a way of doing business? Kedra Newsom Reeves, a BCG partner and co-lead of BCG’s North America Center for Inclusion and Equity who works for financial and social sector clients alike, argues that organizations must deeply embed inclusivity into their business practices. Otherwise banks and other financial institutions will not mean...
Feb 02, 2022•24 min•Ep. 9
Cell phones, social media, messaging software, and multitasking are robbing our attention, as our monkey minds jump from one notification to another. Mickey McManus, a BCG senior advisor and leadership coach, explains how these distractions strip our cognitive capacity and even our ability to make ethical decisions. Is this the price of “progress,” or is there something to be done? McManus offers tips for everyone from the board and C-suite to the front line to enable companies and employees to ...
Jan 19, 2022•23 min•Ep. 8
Ashley Grice finds great joy, meaning, and sometimes peril in words. As the CEO of BCG BrightHouse, Grice helps organizations find their purpose. Words are her instruments of trade. They can help bring strategy to life and inspire imagination and wonder. But by choosing words that are impersonal, flat, and cold, CEOs and other leaders frequently miss the chance to connect with their people. Grice explains how leaders can use language more effectively and what to do when their words are misunders...
Jan 05, 2022•20 min•Ep. 7
The So What from BCG is taking a short break over the holidays - if you’re celebrating, I hope you’re having a lovely time. We’ve been hard at work arranging a host of exciting guests and topics for our upcoming episodes from the 5th of January. We’ll be talking about the beauty and power of language; wealth equity; the emotional value of work; how to protect your brain from distractions, and much much more. Happy holidays - and we’ll see you next year. This podcast uses the following third-part...
Dec 29, 2021•50 sec
As the pandemic rumbles on, many countries have been suffering shortages and panic buying as global supply chains wobble. Much of that will likely ease over the coming months, but systemic challenges remain. In this episode, Dustin Burke, one of BCG’s leaders in manufacturing and supply chains, urges companies to use the experience of the last 18 months to build resilience and reliability into their operations without adding cost and redundancy. How do companies achieve better access to real-tim...
Dec 15, 2021•24 min•Ep. 6
The pandemic has exposed fissures in the way we work, which is stuck in the industrial age. Deborah Lovich, who leads BCG’s people strategy topic, and Brian Elliott, executive leader and senior vice president of Future Forum, talk about why leaders want to return to the office and many workers don’t, why water coolers are not the source of inspiration, and how organizations can start to recalibrate their outdated approach to leadership, work, culture, and purpose. This podcast uses the following...
Dec 01, 2021•23 min•Ep. 5
How can organizations become more experimental? Julia Dhar, the cofounder and leader of BeSmart, BCG’s behavioral economics and insights initiative, says identify a big problem, start small, and do not overly worry that academics may criticize your experiment. As a bonus, Dhar provides her three favorite nudges for everyday living. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy This podcast uses the following third-party services for ...
Nov 17, 2021•22 min•Ep. 4
Lil Miquela, a 19-year-old TikTok influencer with more than 3 million followers, has promoted Calvin Klein, Prada, and other top fashion brands. She also happens to be an avatar, an online robot created by a startup with venture funding. Sarah Willersdorf, BCG’s global head of luxury, explores the somewhat wacky but very real intersection of fashion and the metaverse, explaining what the virtual world holds in store for consumers and brands. This podcast uses the following third-party services f...
Nov 03, 2021•23 min•Ep. 3
Most transitions are hard—the transition to net zero is especially so. But with political will, new business models, and major investments, saving the planet does not have to break the bank. In fact, Jens Burchardt, BCG’s global expert on climate impact and cofounder of its Center for Climate and Sustainability, argues that companies and countries that aggressively address climate issues will grow more swiftly than their slower counterparts. Many consumers, he says, would gladly pay 2% extra for...
Nov 03, 2021•22 min•Ep. 2
Uncertainty is not a dirty word. While it may be impossible to predict the future, preparing for it is possible. Alan Iny, BCG’s partner and director of creativity and scenarios, explains that scenario planning and other exercises leave us better able to harness the future, whatever shape it takes. Iny acknowledges that this is hard work. Albert Einstein once doubted that atomic energy could be harnessed. But doubt itself is key to breaking free of stale business models and unlocking creativity....
Nov 03, 2021•19 min•Ep. 1
This podcast gets straight to the point of ideas that will shape and disrupt the future. Award-winning British journalist Georgie Frost interviews the leading thinkers and doers at BCG on topics ranging from global warming, COVID-19, business resilience, and social inequity to the influence of digital technology on everything. Look for it every two weeks, starting November 3. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy This podcast...
Oct 20, 2021•2 min
