Future of Work Briefs

Companies are hiring veterans in unprecedented numbers. But once inside organizations, veterans frequently stall and become disengaged, according to research from the Center for Talent Innovation. Among other things, veterans seek meaning and purpose at work. Employers looking to drive philanthropic missions can lean on their veterans to lead the way.

In numerous studies, diversity — both inherent (e.g., race, gender) and acquired (experience, cultural background) — is associated with business success. For example, a 2009 analysis of 506 companies found that firms with more racial or gender diversity had more sales revenue, more customers, and greater profits. A 2016 analysis of more than 20,000 firms in 91 countries found that companies with more female executives were more profitable.

At any given moment, about 5%–7% of companies either are in free fall or are about to be. Free fall is a crisis of obsolescence and decline that can happen at any point in a company’s life cycle, but most often it affects maturing incumbents whose business model has come under competitive attack from insurgents or is no longer viable in a changing market.

A friend of mine was having a hard time balancing her career at a large financial firm with her family demands. She worked at one of those all-too-typical workplaces where employees are expected to log 60 hours or so a week — a perfect illustration of what I call a “culture of overwork.”

If you’re a chief executive officer, your job is to execute. It’s written right into your title. But what does it mean, in terms of daily tasks, to be the company’s top “executer?” After all, CEOs don’t actually build factories or sell products.

Large, traditional business networking events are a time-honored institution. They have been a staple of aspiring and successful professionals for so long that most networking advice focuses not on whether you should attend, but on how to make the most of these events when you do attend. In theory, they’re one of the best ways to grow your business.

In a thoughtful review of the Affordable Care Act in The Journal of the American Medical Association, President Obama ends with a discussion of “lessons for future policy makers.” He talks about the difficulties in instituting change in the face of “hyperpartisanship” and “special interests” and makes a plea for “pragmatism.”