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Trump’s Trade and Deportation Plans Could Be Disastrous for the U.S. Food Supply
In his first day of office, President Donald Trump made it clear that he intends to follow through on his campaign promise to dramatically increase the deportation of undocumented immigrants and use tariffs as a lever in executing his trade policies. But undocumented immigrants make up a critical portion of the agricultural workforce, so mass deportations could lead to serious shortages of farm labor — especially given the limitations of the H-2A visa program and the challenges in attracting American workers to agricultural jobs. Imported fruits and vegetables are often cheaper due to significantly lower wage rates abroad. These new policies stand to have a substantial impact on what produce costs at the grocery store.
9 Trends That Will Shape Work in 2025 and Beyond
Gartner research has identified three key challenges for company leaders in the coming year: 1) New demands for a future-ready workforce; 2) The evolving role of managers, and 3) Emerging talent risks for the organization. Within these challenges they offer nine predictions that address ongoing organizational concerns around technology, collaboration, employee retention, AI, knowledge management, and more. Employers should identify the trends that are most likely to impact their organization — and those that offer the opportunity to secure a comparative advantage.
The LA Fires Could Change the Insurance Industry
For the insurance industry, the threat of massive and profoundly destructive wildfires poses a significant and immediate problem. Big wildfires didn’t become big by insurance standards until 2016, and insurers don’t yet have the tools in place to manage the risk. Size is only part of the problem — size by surprise is the real issue. One solution could be parametric insurance. This niche form of protection has gained relative popularity in regions where major perils have made it difficult for insurers to provide full protection. It’s simple and highly effective — insurers know how much they’re going to pay out, customers know how much they’re going to get, and the conditions for when payments are made are clear.
Research: Incivility at Work Silences Everyone, But Especially Women
Incivility at work isn’t good for anyone. But while both men and women are less likely to speak up in uncivil environments, women are more likely to withhold their ideas due to concerns about gender backlash. In two studies involving over 3,000 participants, researchers found that while women voiced ideas as much as men in civil groups, they were more likely to withhold contributions in uncivil groups. Addressing incivility at an organizational level is crucial for fostering a more inclusive and innovative workplace, as creating respectful environments encourages diverse perspectives that lead to greater inclusion and innovation.
Employees See Middle Managers as an Organization’s Moral Compass
Asked for their examples of moral business leadership, as might be expected hundreds of MBA students described well-known CEOs, whose extraordinary actions we certainly can learn from (individuals such as Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia and Ratan Tata of the Tata Group). More frequently, however, respondents provided recollections about their own bosses (current and former) and the tangibility of how these middle managers made a meaningful difference in the lives of their teams and upheld the moral compass of their organizations. Becoming the manager whom others genuinely respect, admire, and recall as a moral role model requires deep work. Two areas, in particular, can help: taking a regular self-inventory to gauge your existing standing, and willingly correcting habits and behaviors — then monitoring them on an ongoing basis.
How to Make Your Team’s Work More Visible
Helping your team members gain visibility isn’t just important for their growth and success — it’s vital for yours as a leader. Not only does it show your ability to nurture and develop potential, it also demonstrates your managerial chops. Here are practical strategies for how to boost your team’s visibility: 1) Take the time to genuinely understand your team members: their individual strengths, interests, and ambitions; 2) Consider the various avenues for showcasing your team’s work; 3) Focus on impact; 4) Share facts and specific examples; 5) Be guarded with criticism; 6) Promote collaboration and create opportunities for exposure; 7) Distribute credit strategically.
Using Blockchain to Build Customer Trust in AI
If organizations want to reap real business benefits from their investments in AI, customers need to trust it. Systemic social mistrust in AI can be dissolved only when questions about how this technology works — from customers, regulators, and other appropriate parties — can be answered. Using blockchain-based accountability provides an attainable, operational path to accountability and enforceability. FICO developed a private blockchain that automated documentation and standards in model development. This approach sped its time to market with AI and analytic innovation, but has also helped keep new models in production; blockchain has reduced support issues and model recalls by over 90%. Making this system work was less a tech challenge than a people one. They learned it was important to start with standards, then develop the tech; that making the system user-friendly was non-negotiable; that it was essential to iterate on quick wins; that they had to build repositories to hold large AI assets in alternate storage; and that they needed capable IT teams to handle the maintenance demands of this system.
To Increase Your Shareholders’ Loyalty, Understand What Matters to Them
Executives today face a challenging dilemma: balancing an increased focus on shareholder engagement with the reality of declining shareholder loyalty. Too often, companies fail to understand their shareholders in the same as their customers and cultivate shareholder loyalty, which can undermine corporate strategies and harm the delivery of long-term shareholder returns. Companies can actively conduct shareholder profiling, similar to customer profiling, to better understand investor preferences and develop tailored engagement strategies that build and strengthen shareholder loyalty.
To Jumpstart Creativity, Try These 8 Prompts
In the age of generative artificial intelligence, human creativity matters more than ever. Indeed, most people in business agree that unlocking creativity is critical to economic growth and valuable to society. So how do you jumpstart your own and your team’s creativity? Specific exercises can help. For example, if you are trying to spark change, consider the most outlandish or exaggerated thing you could do. Or look at the norms and rules you always follow and consider how you might violate them. If you are looking to nourish an already thriving business, think about bringing back old ideas or reexpressing what you do in different language. For a refresh, ask what is missing from your or competitive offerings or what your enemy would do. And to test transformation, see how quickly you can execute on a new initiative or keep pushing until you reach an idea that scares you.
Research: Why Some Companies Weather Trade Wars Better Than Others
In 2018, the U.S. government levied tariffs affecting more than $250 billion of Chinese products. As a result, many American buyers began turning to alternative suppliers to avoid the significant new costs associated with purchasing from China. Recent research found that transactions between U.S. buyers and Chinese suppliers fell by more than 18% immediately following the start of the trade war. However, the study also found that not all companies were affected equally: Chinese firms that were more innovative or more socially responsible were more likely to retain their U.S. buyers, while buyers were more likely to distance themselves from Chinese suppliers with stronger local political ties. To boost their resilience in the face of trade wars, suppliers should prioritize innovation and CSR and exercise caution when entangling themselves in local politics, regulators should support these efforts, and buyers should consider their dependence on suppliers when conducting risk assessments and evaluating their resilience.
The Surprising Power of Team Rituals
Rituals — collective activities that team members regularly engage in and attribute meaning to — can make a big difference during times of change or transition. Research, which included a survey of 929 individuals from 60 countries and a field study in an advertising company, found that teams with more rituals experienced higher engagement, psychological safety, interpersonal knowledge, and job satisfaction. Five measures can help a team design and implement rituals successfully: leaders having faith in and commitment to the rituals, imbuing the rituals with meaning, being religious about participation, keeping the faith but adapting the practice, and spreading the word about the value of the rituals to other teams.
How to Write a Job Description That Actually Gets People to Apply
On the spectrum of managerial chores, writing a job description probably falls somewhere between conducting employee performance reviews and filing expense reports — high on tedium, low on immediate gratification. But experts advise shifting your perspective. Instead, see it as a chance to showcase how your organization’s vision, brand, and values connect with what jobseekers care about most. To get the attention of potential candidates, follow these steps: 1) Reflect on the qualities, knowledge, experience, and skills that would make a candidate a good fit. 2) Highlight how the job connects to the organization’s strategy. 3) Showcase opportunities for growth. 4) Emphasize skills, not diplomas 5) Highlight autonomy. 6) Choose your words carefully. 7) Be transparent about rewards. 8) Don’t be boring.
When Your Coworker Loses a Home
What are the right things to do or say when your colleague loses a home in a disaster? You may worry about having the right words, but staying silent leaves a void. While there’s no perfect answer every time, the authors, both of whom have experienced catastrophic damage and home loss, offer four recommendations: 1) Do reach out — but don’t expect a response; 2) Do offer direct help and expertise; 3) Do you research on ways to donate; and 4) Don’t forget them in a month — or even a year.
Don’t Let Growth Muddle Your Company’s Strategy
Companies often undertake investments or make decisions that slowly erode their original unique strategy or dilute the sharp boundaries that gave the firm its original clear identity. This happens because it’s not always clear to decision makers that the decision will dilute the core differentiation, there are many decisions that combine to dilute the differentiation, and managers are often motivated by short-term incentives to look for growth and profit opportunities. Avoiding these traps requires understanding and internalizing what the company’s core differentiators are. Clarity about the core features of the firm’s strategic position provides two key benefits. First, it helps the Board of the company rigorously evaluate growth opportunities presented by senior management. Second, it helps operational managers throughout the organization make decisions with autonomy. This is because the core elements of the strategy can act as the guardrails within which operational managers can decide what they can do by themselves and what they need to get approval for before acting. This reduces the risk that managers will make decisions that move the company away from its core strategic position.
How Much Supervision Should Companies Give AI Agents?
AI agent autonomy is a conundrum. In many cases, supervision is needed in the form of a human in the loop to avoid disaster. Yet, you lose productivity gains if you impose excessive supervision on your agent. Too little latitude, and the agent’s capabilities are constrained to answering simple questions. Too much autonomy, and brand, reputation, customer relationships, and even financial stability are at risk. The catch is that in order to get better, AI agents need the freedom to learn and grow in real-world situations. So what’s the right balance when it comes to giving your AI agents autonomy? Surprisingly, the answer is about more than how big the risks are; it’s about how well we understand those risks. In this article, the author outlines three kinds of problems to consider when determining how much autonomy to give your AI agent.
Stop Relying on Others for Validation at Work
Who doesn’t appreciate the acknowledgment of their efforts and wins, or like to impress others occasionally? It’s equally important to cultivate internal validation: a deeper sense of self-worth that is free from the wavering opinions of others and the momentary dopamine hit of a gold star. Developing internal validation isn’t about cultivating baseless confidence or inflating your ego. Rather, it’s about counterbalancing common workplace features that, left unchecked, can inadvertently undermine your confidence, self-esteem, and well-being. In this article, the author shares four strategies to balance your perspective and stay self-assured despite external pressures and challenging work environments.
Don’t Wait for Promotion Cycles to Advocate for Your Best Employees
Many managers only begin advocating for their employees when they’re afraid of losing them or when promotion cycles roll around. It’s a reactive approach, and it often comes too late, with managers scrambling to highlight their team members’ strengths only to compete with dozens of others doing the same. The role of a manager as an advocate goes far beyond checking boxes at promotion time. Advocacy is about continuously championing your team’s growth by recognizing their contributions, ensuring their efforts are relevant to the organization’s goals, and making their value visible to key stakeholders. Make advocacy an ongoing priority, and you’ll see the ripple effects: stronger engagement, higher performance, and a team ready to take on new challenges. In the process, you’ll elevate your own leadership brand, setting yourself apart as a manager who builds careers and drives results.
Make Better Strategic Decisions Around Slow-Developing Technology
Many breakthrough products include multiple technologies that evolved very slowly — sometimes over decades. To avoid being surprised or overtaken by competitors, companies must systematically track the evolution of these “slow-cooking” technologies as they improve in performance and decrease in price. The window of opportunity that arrives when all the right technologies reach the point of maturity may be smaller than you think.
How to Keep Up with the News Without Getting Overwhelmed
Studies suggest that increased exposure to news, whether through traditional media or social media platforms, can negatively impact mental health. In other words, more news correlates with higher anxiety. But the answer is not to check out altogether. In this article, the author shares advice from three experts on how to be more intentional about where, when, and how you catch up on the news so that you don’t become a victim of round-the-clock triggering headlines.
Research: Gen AI Changes the Value Proposition of Foreign Remote Workers
Gen AI may herald a significant shift in remote work hiring patterns. As it continues to bridge gaps in the output quality of knowledge work, the cost advantage of hiring foreign workers becomes increasingly attractive. The leveling-up effect of gen AI enhances productivity of all workers, and as a result strengthens foreign remote workers’ competitive advantage, driving companies to expand their talent search globally.
How Labor-Management Partnerships Can Deliver Outsized Results
Business leaders often see collective bargaining agreements as the be-all and end-all of management’s relationship with unions. But frontline workers are closer to day-to-day operations than management, and know where to solve common problems. Leaders should instead focus on fostering ongoing partnerships with workers and union members through a formal labor-management partnership, which can lead to significant improvements in organizational performance and worker engagement. Drawing from the documented improved outcomes and proven best practices from a labor-management partnership created at Brooklyn’s Maimonides Medical Center, organizations can create effective labor-management partnerships with the following steps: Introduce the idea collaboratively. Build understanding and trust. Set up infrastructure and choose initial projects. Identify and invest in skills and leadership. When bad things happen, look at the systemic issues. Pace for a marathon, not a sprint.
How to Work for a Hands-Off Manager When You’re Fully Remote
Having clear and consistent communication with your manager is essential to delivering strong results. You need to know their expectations, and they need to have insight into your work to give useful feedback and help you grow. That’s why working with a manager who is too hands-off can be challenging, especially for people in remote environments. If you find yourself in this situation, the first way to improve the relationship is to get clear on your and your manager’s work styles. Once you each understand how the other prefers to communicate and solve problems, you can set up a system that works for you both. You should also advocate for a weekly one-on-one meeting with your boss to make sure you’re aligned on goals. Lastly, it’s in your benefit to network with your manager’s peers. Being connected to other leaders in the company will give you access to cross-departmental opportunities, and make your work more visible throughout the organization.
The Insidious Effects of Hurrying
As the demands of work and personal life blur in an era of hyperconnectivity and hustle culture, hurry sickness — characterized by behaviors and emotions like impatience, chronic rushing, and a constant sense of time scarcity — is more insidious than ever, quietly sabotaging productivity, relationships, and health. If you find yourself with an urgent need to slow down, your health, your teams, the people you serve through your work, and your loved ones will thank you for taking steps to free yourself from hurry sickness. It’s not about how fast you go; it’s about how well you use the time you have.
Connect Your Learning Programs to Your Company’s Strategy
Technology, geopolitics, and consumer habits are driving an unprecedented rate of change at a time when the organizations are already in flux with the rise of generative AI, remote work, and an aging workforce. Against this backdrop, employee learning and development is more critical than ever — yet a recent report from LinkedIn and a series of interviews with 25 CLOs suggest that learning professionals don’t always feel aligned with their organization’s strategic priorities.
Are You Checked Out at Work?
Research shows that disengaging from our jobs can impact our mental health, motivation, stress levels, responsiveness, and even cognitive function. Worse, withdrawal is self-perpetuating, triggering a troubling cycle that can be difficult to break. If you’re looking to re-engage at work in the new year, incorporating more purposeful interactions into your workday can help. These can interrupt the withdrawal spiral, decreasing loneliness and bringing back your energy, creativity, and sense of purpose. Five small actions can help you build meaningful connections throughout your day: 1) Initiate or join a collaborative project; 2) Host a small brainstorming session; 3) Seek out peer input; 4) Step away from your desk; and 5) Seek out community.
What the 2024 CrowdStrike Glitch Can Teach Us About Cyber Risk
Despite advances in cybersecurity solutions, the number and impact of cyber incidents continue to grow, with the average cost of a data breach in 2024 reaching $4.88 million and the number of confirmed data breaches hitting a record high. The July 2024 CrowdStrike incident demonstrates the need to develop capabilities to assess the downstream business impact of cyber events, establish appropriate cyber resiliency objectives, and ensure effective communication for better cyber risk management decisions.
What Companies Succeeding with AI Do Differently
In 2021, researchers at MIT and McKinsey teamed up to ask more than 100 companies how they were using AI in their operations and to learn what separated the highest-performing companies from the rest. They conducted a similar survey in 2023 to see what had changed. They found that the gap between leading companies and the rest had widened; that the payback-period for AI investments was much shorter; and that leading companies were better at identifying and implementing use cases that delivered positive outcomes with lower risk. They also identified four factors that set leading companies apart: 1) Their efforts had executive sponsorship; 2) That the network of partnerships had shifted away from academia and startups to a maturing ecosystem of consultants, vendors, and industry partners, suggesting AI had matured enough that practical approaches are most valued; 3) That successful companies had smoother cross-departmental collaboration; and 4) That leading companies were more likely to record and manage relevant equipment data.
What Effective CEOs Do After Their First 90 Days
We often focus our attention on the first 90 days of a CEO’s tenure — and for good reason, as a successful first 90 days establishes a strong foundation for the months and years to come. But it’s often the period afterwards that can make or break a CEO’s impact on the transformation of an organization. Together, six actions become a system of thinking and doing that sustains progress, creates profitable growth opportunities, and builds a more capable organization: 1) Communicate what you value and want to change; 2) show how much the work matters; 3) anchor the growth strategy on customer lives; 4) create the organization of the future; 5) remove legacy and bureaucracy; and 6) encourage people to speak up and take responsibility.
Research: How Top Reviewers Skew Online Ratings
Online platforms from Amazon to Goodreads to IMDb tap into the so-called “wisdom of the crowd” to rate products and experiences. But recent research suggests that more experienced buyers tend to select better products and therefore expect higher quality, which leads them to rate more stringently. This means that higher-quality products could paradoxically receive lower average ratings than their less-sophisticated competitors. Researchers used data from IMDb, a leading movie platform, to document this bias, and propose an easy-to-implement algorithm to adjust ratings to better align with external proxies of quality.
Why Retailers Are Turning to Third-Party Marketplaces
Some traditional retailers — including Walmart, Target, and Best Buy — are adopting third-party marketplaces , which c onnect customers with external sellers and thereby offer customers a much broader selection. Many other traditional retailers are considering whether to follow suit. Making the choice isn’t clear-cut. It involves weighing a host of benefits and challenges. The benefits include: expanding the product range, boosting customer engagement, monetizing existing assets, and collecting valuable data. The challenges include: operational issues, offering customers a good experience, and shifting from an internal focus towards managing an external network of sellers.