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Work.
Spring 2021
Because business is about people
Why did debt become
a dirty word?
Rush Limbaugh, Fox News
and the day Obama tried to
cancel Christmas
Five fundamental questions
for the HR profession
From the seven dwarves to
Beyoncé – a history of the
workplace in song
Work.
Because business is about people
When the prime minister recently predicted commuters
would return to offices in “a few short months”, his dismissal
of a permanent shift to remote working would have chimed
with many. Among them, no doubt, was David Solomon, CEO
of Goldman Sachs, who has controversially described it as
an aberration for a company that has an “innovative,
collaborative apprenticeship culture”. Others, however,
would have taken an entirely different view, notably those
with long commutes and an impressive home office set-up.
Such different attitudes to remote work, and indeed the
wider issue of personal choice over how, when and where we
work, is just one of the issues HR teams will have to navigate
as we start to think about what the working world might look
like after the pandemic. In our special feature starting on
page 44, we take a look at some of the questions that the
profession needs to consider, from whether employers are
ready to embrace more flexible working patterns, to the
impact of the pandemic on the rise of the machines.
Claire Warren, editor
claire.warren@haymarket.com
Features in detail p4
Perspectives: distilled management thinking p6
15 minutes with… Rajarshi Banerjee p12
Debt: how much is too much? p14
A history of work in song p26
Matt Atkinson on the power of purpose p28
Media and the advent of fake news p32
Interview: Unicef UK’s Claire Fox p40
Five essential questions for HR p44
Debrief: business research, reports and insight p62
Further reading p72
The off-piste guide to acronyms p74
03
FEATURES IN DETAIL
Does debt A history of Q&A: Matt Media: facts
really matter? work in song Atkinson and faux news
p14 p26 p28 p32
Such is the profligacy ‘I was looking for a job, Matt Atkinson has a One thing we can all
with which the UK and then I found a job, dream: that one day, agree on is that these days
government has loaded up and heaven knows I’m businesses will be judged it’s harder for us to agree
on debt since the outset of miserable now’ crooned as much on what they do on anything. The partisan
the coronavirus crisis, it Morrissey dolefully on a for society as on their divide in the west is no
borrowed £1bn a day in song that captures the profits. The chief longer an argument about
2020. It’s a huge sum that prevailing presentation customer officer at the opinions, it’s about facts
begs the question: just of work in popular music. Co-op, which is owned – is climate change a
what is debt, and where Occasionally the gloom by its members, believes scientific reality or a
does it come from? In fact, lifts – Disney’s seven that “trust, ethics and global conspiracy, for
the concept of credit is so dwarfs sound chirpy transparency will instance. One of the
ancient, says Andrew enough as they sing ‘heigh become increasingly fiercest debates is whether
Saunders, it may pre-date ho’ – but such buoyancy important currencies in the media merely reflects
the introduction of is, Work. discovers, business success”. The this growing divide, or
physical money itself. exceptional. More typical group is performing well has helped to engineer it.
Monarchies borrowed is Bob Dylan’s Maggie’s – growing its share of the Talking to authors Peter
from bankers to finance Farm, an angry, eloquent British grocery market – Pomerantsev and Simon
Mondadori/Getty Images; Colin Stout; FOX News Network, LLC; WireImage, China News Service/Getty Images; Julian Dodd
wars; by the 1960s, indictment of working while still doing good Kuper, Paul Simpson
consumers were being conditions in the US (by, for example, backing explores the role played
encouraged to use credit service sector. Dolly footballer Marcus by right-wing broadcaster
cards to own new-fangled Parton’s 9 to 5, another Rashford’s free school Rush Limbaugh, Fox
household appliances. The eloquent statement about meals campaign). A News and – back in its
buy-now-pay-later models the modern workplace, is former ad man and Tesco heyday – The Sun
popularised today by infused with just enough CMO, Atkinson says the newspaper in promoting a
Klarna and co are just optimism to suggest the Co-operative name is particular worldview, the
throwbacks to medieval singer will keep pouring reflected in the way it consequence of the
models of lending. But at herself a cup of ambition does business: “There increasingly blurred
least, unlike in ancient in the hope that her is much more desire to distinction between
Mesopotamia, your family dream will come true. cooperate and much less entertainment and news,
won’t be sold into slavery Well, we’ve all been there, tension about owning and the implications for
if you cannot meet your haven’t we? and controlling society if we retreat into
financial obligations. everything here,” he our individual echo
tells Andrew Saunders. chambers.
Andrew Saunders is a “The driving principle
business journalist whose is one of mutual gain.” Paul Simpson is a journalist
work also appears in The and author. His latest book,
Times and The Telegraph The Colour Code, will
be published this autumn
by Profile Books
04
Unicef UK’s What’s next? Debrief p62-71
Claire Fox Five questions for HR Corporate ethics
Business leaders may have
p40 p44 taken a pay cut during the
pandemic, but few have agreed
to lose their bonus.
As the world’s largest On 23 March last year when Boris Johnson announced Management
vaccine buyer, Unicef will the country was going into the first national lockdown, Supervisors who display
play a central role in the few of us could have anticipated quite how long the emotional intelligence help
distribution of Covid pandemic would be with us for, or the lasting impact it create an environment where
employees learn new skills.
vaccines and is currently would have on workplaces across the country. After a
preparing to deliver two year in which a significant chunk of the population has Inclusion
Women in the boardroom may
billion of them to low and been able to work from home, while others have worked lead to inaccurate perceptions
middle-income countries. on the frontlines, faced furlough or lost their jobs, Work. about workplace equality.
Unicef UK staff won’t looks at the essential questions HR professionals must
Healthcare
directly deliver them but address as we consider what working life will be like The National Health Service
their fundraising efforts after we emerge from the coronavirus crisis. needs a governance overhaul.
are vital. Helping staff Mental health
understand their piece in Will we be able to say goodbye to the 9-5? Burnout has a much greater
this jigsaw is all in a day’s A year is a long time out of the office for habit-loving humans. impact on work stress than the
The question is whether it will be long enough to encourage
work for the UK’s chief employers to embrace more flexible working practices.
other way around.
operating officer, Claire Cybersecurity
Fox, as is ensuring that Are the robots coming faster now? When staff assume company
measures to combat phishing
work doesn’t negatively Automation and digitisation appear to have accelerated as
employers rush to respond to the pandemic. What we don’t know attacks are effective they may
impact their wellbeing. become less vigilant.
yet is what impact that will ultimately have on jobs.
That means identifying
Appreciation
which tasks are not a Has the pandemic set equality back? In the age of the email, hand
priority has been as There’s evidence revealing the negative effects of the crisis on written thank you notes are
important a part of specific groups of staff, but the good news is many businesses surprisingly well received.
her pandemic capacity have recognised the issue and seem willing to tackle it.
Performance
planning as deciding what CEOs at companies that
Is now the time to split HR?
really must be done. “In a It’s not a new question, but with HR’s growing remit is now the
consistently perform may
way, the pandemic has pay a high price for failure.
time to revisit it? We asked two experts for their thoughts.
provided quite a good Planning
lesson,” she tells Jo Have we relied on staff goodwill for too long? Before another crisis hits we
Many employees have been called upon to go above and beyond should discuss how workers
Faragher. “Organisations would be supported.
over the last year, but they won’t be prepared to do it forever.
haven’t been good enough
at prioritising and Skills
Remote workers who display
stopping things.” five special skills have a greater
chance of being successful.
Jo Faragher is a freelance Evidence-based HR
writer and editor We need to be clear about what
specialising in HR employee engagement means.
and employment Executive representation
The impact of female leaders
may depend on cultural norms.
Workplace technology
Smartphone usage is not a
good predictor of anxiety,
stress or depression.
Financial transparency
Companies that are open and
honest about their finances
have better relationships
between managers and staff.
05
PERSPECTIVES
MANAGEMENT THINKING DISTILLED
Q&A SAR AH JAFFE
Even the best job is
about making money
would say that almost any worker Why we need to
can be affected by this myth, but
that it is inculcated most strongly think like a scientist
in feminised caring professions
and creative professions. THERE ARE A NUMBER of
neurological conditions that leave
How did we get to this point? a person convinced something is
The short answer is that the shift true when it is not. Anton syndrome,
from an industrial economy to where sufferers believe they can see
an economy driven by services despite clear evidence they are blind,
means there is more work that is one such example.
requires you to smile on the job, Fortunately, few people ever
to like it or at least to perform experience it but, as Adam Grant,
MORE AND MORE of us are happiness for the customer. The author of Think Again, told the US’s
making sacrifices in the name of destruction of labour unions and Sunday Today programme, it
a job we enjoy but, says Sarah Jaffe, other institutions of working- captures something all of us have
author of Work Won’t Love You class solidarity has produced an experienced – moments when we
Back, it’s all one big con. We’ve been economy full of individualised are unaware of where our abilities
tricked into believing that certain workers seeking fulfilment, who fall short: “I like to think of it as the
Words: Claire Warren. Pictures: Amanda Jaffe; SWNS Group; Peter Hurley; Internet Archives Book Images
work isn’t really work at all. are told the way to achieve that is ‘I’m not biased bias’, which is the
to work hard and compete with tendency to recognise flaws in other
Why won’t work love you back? others to get to the top. At the top, people’s thinking, but assume that
Ultimately, we work because we presumably, our reward is better, we ourselves are immune to them.”
need to pay the bills, and we have more lovable work, which still The most successful people, from
these jobs not because bosses are translates into ‘more work’. entrepreneurs to politicians, think
benevolent ‘job creators’, but like a scientist, questioning their
because they are profiting from Is there a way out of this? own beliefs and embracing being
our work. Even the nicest boss, This is a political problem, not wrong, says Grant. Trouble is,
the most fulfilling job, exists so a personal one. More people research shows that the smarter
people can make money, not to having discussions about how you are the more you might struggle
make us happy. we’d like the workplace to look to update your thinking. “I see far
and what we might do to get too many people in the world who
Who is most affected by the myth there is going to be necessary. listen to opinions that make them
of the labour of love? The workers I profiled have all feel good, instead of ideas that
In the book I follow two threads, taken action on the job, changed make them think hard,” he says,
caring work and creative work, to their working conditions and, in adding that we all need to get into
see how the narrative of loving some cases, the laws, to improve the habit of reconsidering. That
your work spread from a narrow their situation. The pandemic doesn’t mean we always have to
expectation to one that affects has reminded us that we can change our minds, but if
many, many workers. The other change a lot about the workplace “knowledge is power, knowing
day I drove by a billboard for incredibly quickly – maybe we what you don’t know is wisdom”.
Amazon warehouse jobs that said can figure out how to do that
something along the lines of ‘find intentionally, rather than only Adam Grant is a professor at the Wharton
a job delivering smiles’. So I in response to a crisis. School of the University of Pennsylvania
06
PERSPECTIVES
I N G P OI
LK N
A
T
T
Should employers use
Old norms hold software to monitor staff?
business back Surveillance has come under the spotlight since the start of the
pandemic-induced shift to remote working. Research shows
BUSINESS, says Judy Samuelson, one in five organisations are using or planning to introduce
is the most influential institution of software tools to monitor the work of home-based employees.
our day. If we are to make progress But is it a good idea, and does it improve productivity?
on intractable problems, from
climate change to inequality,
we need the talent, investment,
problem-solving skills and global
reach of the business community. EXPERTS’ VIEW
“Our vision of business is crowded
with stories of greed laced with TIM RINGO JONATHAN RENNIE
short-term thinking,” she says. “Yet Author, Partner,
as we step into the ecosystem of Solving the Productivity Puzzle TLT
business today, we experience
profound change in attitudes and Before the pandemic, the global economy was It would be wrong to dismiss monitoring as
a new kind of business vision.” already in the midst of the longest period of a tactic that is only used by unscrupulous
declining people productivity in recorded organisations to chain people to their desks, or
Despite this, old norms, from how economic history. A key factor in this has been to try and catch them out and build a case
finance is taught in the classroom the rise of ‘presenteeism’ which, research against them. It can be a legitimate business
to the incentives and rewards that shows, leads to suboptimal mental health, practice and, in some industries, like financial
focus the minds of executives on the lack of sleep and poor financial wellbeing. services, it is required by the regulator.
share price, are holding us back and Data shows that presenteeism has
transferred to the home office. Now that more people are working remotely,
need to be broken down. it’s natural for businesses to want to use some
In The Six New Rules of Business, Employers may be permitted by law to use form of monitoring to measure performance
Samuelson outlines the shifts in employee monitoring and tracking software and productivity. It could also be used as an
attitudes and mindsets that she to check up on workers, but just because they indicator of wellbeing – to ensure people are
can does not mean they should. This forced not suffering, for example, from a lack of
believes are already in play against home working should be an opportunity to engagement with their job, perhaps as a result
a backdrop of internet-powered break the cycle of increasing presenteeism by of mental health issues. Likewise, if an
transparency, a more powerful giving people more flexibility and autonomy employer can see that someone is consistently
worker voice, the decline in the on when and how work gets done. Recent working late, this could be a red flag. Employee
importance of capital and the studies reveal giving people more autonomy monitoring could indicate where more clarity
greatly reduces stress levels and improves or support from the employer is needed.
complexity of global supply chains. wellbeing. People should be measured on
These include: intangibles drive output, not on time tied to the PC screen. Employment and data protection laws must
value, not the balance sheet (but be considered. There’s an implied legal duty
can’t be measured in traditional One emerging area of employee tracking that on businesses to maintain staff trust and
could be a trend for the better is measuring confidence. Firms must act in a proportionate
ways); purpose over profits; and stress levels at work. Several organisations are and justified manner; inform employees of
culture is king (competition for experimenting with wearables that measure their intention to monitor; be mindful of
talent and a focus on innovation take and detect rising cortisone on the skin. The discrimination; and use safeguards to prevent
precedence over capital markets). devices can predict harmful stress levels up to abuse or over-monitoring. A thorough data
an hour before they occur and allow an protection impact assessment is also
employee to step back from the brink by recommended to help identify any potential
Judy Samuelson is founder of The Aspen participating in stress decelerating activities issues, and is mandatory under the GDPR if
Institute’s Business and Society Program such as mindfulness and meditation. the processing of data is high risk.
07
PERSPECTIVES
OM I N
NC G
I
Techpats
Who are they?
Before the pandemic they were the digital
nomads – people who operated on the
premise that ‘wherever I lay my laptop, that’s
my home office’. Thanks to Covid, many of
them have become techpats, settling down,
possibly permanently, in sunnier climes with
Social purpose is key
laid-back lifestyles, lower taxes and relaxed
residency rules. Cyprus is a leading haven for
to fulfilling work
the British: an English-speaking country, with
2,700-3,500 hours of sun a year (compared
to around 1,460 in London) and a top income AI canaries: a new WHETHER WE LIKE IT or not,
work has a direct impact on our
tax rate of 35 per cent where, after just 60
days, you can become a resident. tool for business happiness, says Bea Boccalandro,
citing a Gallup study that shows if
Is this a trend, or a fad? WHEN MARK ZUCKERBERG we’re dissatisfied with work, it’s
It’s not just Cyprus, countries such as Antigua founded Facebook he didn’t plan likely (68 per cent) that we’re not
and Barbuda, Barbados, Croatia, Estonia and
Georgia have all made it easier for foreigners
for “third-party abuse and political highly satisfied with life. Not
to work remotely. There has always been interference to run rampant on the all of us can have meaningful jobs,
a section of the workforce inspired more by platform”. Yet, write Nitin Nohria concedes the author of Do Good
Beat Generation writer Jack Kerouac than and co-author Hemant Taneja, MD At Work, but everyone, even those
Jack Welch – in one 2018 survey, 22.7 million
of General Catalyst, in the Harvard who have little authority, can
Americans were either digital nomads or
aspired to be. But the pandemic has proved Business Review, a platform meant find work more fulfilling if they
that billions of people can work efficiently to make the world more connected adjust how they work to engage
from home and, if you have enough money, “ended up having devastating in social purpose.
a certain mindset and the right job, your home unintended consequences, such as Boccalandro, who dubs this ‘job
office can be anywhere (or it can be once
travel restrictions and the partial or complete
the recent storming of the Capitol”. purposing’, cites an administrative
closure of borders are lifted). Unintended consequences are, by assistant who noticed that cleaning
their very nature, hard to envision, staff at her company were throwing
We’re talking about a particular but entrepreneurs and investors half-used toilet paper away. Rather
demographic though, right?
must step up, say the authors. In than see it go to landfill, she now
Yes and no – this will not be an option for
widget makers, but it is a realistic aspiration the past this was challenging given takes it to a homeless shelter,
for the self-employed, entrepreneurs and businesses had to rely on human reducing their overheads and
knowledge workers, particularly millennials foresight or closely monitor the helping the planet in the process.
and Gen Zs. In the US, the flight from big impact of their technologies, but we Such acts, no matter how modest,
cities has accelerated during the pandemic:
location analytics firm Unacast estimates
now have a new tool that could help: make individuals feel more fulfilled
that there was a net loss of 70,000 people in artificial intelligence. AI models, for but, she says, there’s also lots of
the New York metropolitan area in 2020, instance, are already able to search evidence to suggest social purpose
which amounts to a $34bn drop in the for fake news before it reaches a makes people physically and
region’s economy. In the UK, PwC is
mass audience. “Deep learning AI mentally healthier, as well as more
predicting a further shift away from city
living in 2021. can help identify patterns that productive. One study, for example,
humans may not readily discern compared workers who were told
What does this mean for employers? and gives us new-found predictive their work helped charitable causes
If nothing else, techpats provide further ability,” the authors say. “Unleashing with workers in identical jobs who
proof that finding the right mix in the new
blended workplace will be far from
algorithmic canaries into our weren’t. Those who believed they
straightforward. The rigid, restrictive model technologies is the first step we were pursuing social purpose were
where almost everyone was on the premises must take to anticipate and mitigate 24 per cent faster and had 43 per
almost all of the time had one cardinal virtue: unintended consequences.” cent less downtime.
it was simple. Techpats are one of many
Susan Young
pieces that organisations – and HR in
particular – will have to fit together in a jigsaw Nitin Nohria is former dean of Harvard Bea Boccalandro is founder of VeraWorks
of post-pandemic employment practices. Business School and teaches corporate social purpose
08
PERSPECTIVES
The great dispersion TOMAS CHAMORRO-PREMUZIC
won’t be good for all ENGAGEMENT DOESN’T GUARANTEE SUCCESS
THE MOST ENDURING OUR INDUSTRY HAS spent the compare different groups on overall
feature of the pandemic will be to last decade obsessing over employee scores we are measuring not just
accelerate existing trends, and that, engagement scores, resulting in the how they feel today, but how they
says Scott Galloway, will include stigmatisation of the unmotivated feel in general, and the easiest way to
the trend that “encapsulates the worker. Before the Covid crisis, inflate your scores would be to hire
greatest reshuffling of stakeholder a primary concern for knowledge happy and easy-to-please employees,
value in recent history”. workers was whether they could which would sadly not result in any
Similar to previous macro trends, find meaning and purpose at work, performance gains.
like globalisation and digitisation, a demoralising experience leading This would likely not result in the
the ‘great dispersion’ offers to feelings of guilt and existential innovation, change and progress
enormous financial opportunities. anxiety in those who could find that are so badly needed by
“Amazon dispersed retail to desktop, neither spiritual fulfilment nor organisations either, given these
to mobile, to voice. Netflix dispersed psychological attachment. are usually fuelled by high doses of
DVDs to our mailbox, then to every While it’s certainly preferable for dissatisfaction. Indeed, it is often
screen,” Galloway writes on his blog. managers to have engaged contrarian, difficult
“The pandemic is causing dispersion teams, the science “Despite the focus on and non-conformist
in even larger industries.” suggests this is a far from engagement over the personalities that
But while some businesses, such straightforward issue. last decade, levels become change agents,
as home exercise company Peloton, The correlation between have remained low” precisely because they
Zoom and, of course, Amazon, have engagement and are not satisfied
had a good pandemic, we live in performance, for instance, rarely with the status quo. Every
a “winner-takes-all economy” and exceeds 0.40, meaning there is just important accomplishment in our
the restaurant, travel, hospitality a 16 per cent overlap between history is the result of profoundly
and live entertainment industries, employees’ levels of enthusiasm and dissatisfied humans, who would
for instance, have “scrambled to their productivity. In other words, probably have scored quite low on
escape obliteration”, he says. performance is driven by many employee engagement.
Previous paradigm shifts have other factors, including talent, Contrary to popular belief, and
“catalysed massive prosperity, but expertise and, of course, extrinsic the populist positive psychology
little progress”. This time we must incentives (both carrots and sticks). revolution, organisations are not
be more conscious of the potential At least half of the variance in in the business of making people
downsides, including weakening engagement scores is explained by happy. Nor should they be. Despite
ties of community and cooperation. employees’ personalities. If I’m the focus on engagement over the
“The pandemic has given us a naturally grumpy and negative, my last decade, levels have remained
preview of our dispersed future,” baseline engagement score may be dismally low. Perhaps if we stop
says Galloway. “Today we have five (out of 10), but if I tend to be increasing people’s expectations
social distancing – tomorrow the optimistic and easy going it will about what they can get from work,
distancing will be structural.” likely be more like eight. The we may start to see an increase in
implications are clear: when we their satisfaction – and performance.
Scott Galloway is professor of marketing at
NYU Stern and author of Post Corona Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic is a psychologist, author and entrepreneur
09
PERSPECTIVES
BEST OF
Fresh thinking from the world-
famous incubator of ideas
MIKE O’SULLIVAN
Economist
The end of globalisation (and the
beginning of something new)
Inequality and record levels of indebtedness
show us that the advantages of globalisation
have been misdirected. The big question is
‘what’s next?’ The future, suggests Mike
O’Sullivan, will be about shared values rather
than geography: “The era we’re leaving was
The trouble with
characterised by a connected world trying to
shrink and come together on the basis of
economic goals and geography. The new
world order will be defined by rival, distinct
being viewed as ‘nice’
and different ways of doing things, and
ultimately collaboration based on values.”
JULIA GILLARD
Former prime minister of Australia
NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA REFER TO A COLLEAGUE as other hand, you don’t want to be
Former finance minister of Nigeria
nice and the likelihood is you may a jerk. You don’t want to be someone
Essential lessons for women leaders
There’s no right way to be a woman leader, say not necessarily be being that nice who doesn’t tune in to other people,
Julia Gillard and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Instead, yourself. In a workplace setting, who doesn’t listen and who says or
you must be true to yourself. Among their especially a competitive one, says does things that people resent.
other lessons are the importance of sitting psychologist Daniel Goleman, the Emotional intelligence lies between
down with your mentors, sponsors,
supporters and friends to discuss how you are
term may be associated with being those two extremes,” says Goleman.
going to deal with stereotyping and sexism, pleasant to work with but also with There are four components of EI:
and not shying away from taking up space in a tendency to be easily manipulated self-awareness, self-management,
the world. “Don’t assume you’re too junior or and to avoid confrontations. social awareness and relationship
people are too busy,” they say, advocating
In the 25 years since Goleman’s management. Together, explains
reaching out and networking.
book, Emotional Intelligence, was Goleman, they create an effective
published, one of the most common framework for leadership, with
misperceptions has been that research emphatically showing that
emotional intelligence (EI) equates people give their best performance
to niceness – in the worst sense of for leaders who have high EI.
the word – and that can play into “There is a lot of free-floating
stereotypes surrounding male and toxicity in organisations,” says
female leaders, resulting in Goleman. “Orders come from the top
a reluctance from both genders to that don’t necessarily make sense to
DAME VIVIAN HUNT develop their own EI and that of the frontline. That’s the nature of
Senior partner at McKinsey
How businesses can serve everyone,
their teams. “Some men may be the organisation. How well those
not just shareholders resistant because they think it things are done is determined by
Just as appointing a chief diversity officer means being too passive,” he says. emotional intelligence.”
won’t make a company’s culture more “Women may resist it because they For HR teams that want to bring
inclusive, hiring a chief stakeholder officer
feel it will feed into the negative more EI into performance reviews
won’t ensure business models shift to one
that values more than just shareholders. stereotype that they’re too nice; and training and development, the
Instead, companies need to get everyone they’re too easy going with people.” challenge, he concludes, will be to
involved – and that starts in the boardroom. Being nice is part of EI, but it’s clear up the misperceptions to get
“We’ve been ticking boxes on ethnicity, age about being nice appropriately: people on board.
Zoksang; TED
and gender, says Dame Vivian Hunt. “We don’t
need tokens. We need people who truly
“Leaders need to understand that
understand the experience and represent the EI means being assertive, not being Daniel Goleman is a psychologist, author
diversity of our stakeholders.” passive, not being a patsy but, on the and former science journalist
10PERSPECTIVES
MICHAEL COSTELLO
POOR MENTAL HEALTH MAY BE THE PRICE HIGH PERFORMERS PAY FOR SUCCESS
HE WAS THE all-in employee: So what do we need in place to ability to engage with ‘self care’.
married to the desk, laptop and protect the wellbeing of our high Blinded by a huge financial carrot
mobile phone 24/7. Never switching performers, especially against the and working 80-hour weeks, many
off, he enjoyed a fast-paced lifestyle backdrop of an ongoing global crisis? suffered from FOMO, unable to
leading to declining mental health Birkbeck University suggests we recharge and invest time with loved
and ultimately breakdown. Yet tune in for shifts in behaviour and ones because of the all-in culture.
before this he exceeded his emotions, as well as physical signs One coachee even told me: “The
superior’s wildest dreams. In this of burnout, such as anxiety, negative sleep goals we set have worked. I can
case, that high performer is former attitudes, tiredness, feeling hungry now sleep for five hours instead of
number 10 Downing Street press and headaches. Not easy, of course, six and complete more work!” That’s
secretary Alastair Campbell, but it’s given many high performers conceal certainly not what I advocated!
a familiar story across Britain’s their true thoughts and feelings. Such behaviour can often be
businesses – brilliant staff Alongside observing these shifts in driven by unwritten expectation of
repeatedly promoted but at the cost behaviour, perhaps we also need to perfection from senior leaders. Some
of family relationships and their of the directors I’ve spoken to have
mental health. “One coachee told me: experienced ‘imposter syndrome’
In my slightly sweary conversation ‘The sleep goals have following a promotion, but would
with Campbell (him, not me) for a worked. I can sleep for never dream of openly sharing their
recent podcast, he described how he five hours instead of six anxieties with their team for fear
exhibited mood swings, crashes and and complete more work’” of looking weak. For real culture
signs of burnout at work for years. change to take place, leaders like
Yet decades later, colleagues pay more attention to what we do this need to speak openly about
expressed surprise at just how bad not hear. If employees rarely discuss their fears and ensure wellbeing is
his mental health had become – interests outside of work, mention an integral part of performance
“I would never have known” (this little about their social or support management and mentoring
from Ed Miliband) or “Was it really network, and rarely bring up discussions (learning how to switch
that bad?” (Tony Blair). anything about home life, it might off themselves would also help).
Perhaps these leaders saw what well be a good time to check in. There’s nothing wrong with
was convenient to them at the time, Bupa recently reported that six promoting people for hard work,
playing along with the performance. in 10 business leaders are turning to loyalty and dedication, but greater
Or perhaps it was just too hard for unhealthy coping mechanisms. Yet, emphasis needs to be placed on
them to go there, to address the even when high performers do working smart, recharging the
elephant in the room. Today, leaders recognise they are experiencing batteries and managing working
who pledge allegiance to their wellbeing challenges, they can boundaries – skills that do not come
organisational values have to ‘go struggle to help themselves. My automatically to employees. It’s time
there’ but the reality is, while they coaching experience in Silicon to embrace collective organisational
may be more willing to address the Valley confirmed to me that they wellbeing and shatter the image of
issue, often they do not know how. are certainly not promoted on their the solitary workplace superhero.
Michael Costello is a business psychologist. He is director of Workplace Evolution and records its podcast
1115
minutes
with...
Rajarshi Banerjee
The medical entrepreneur on following
the science, investor diversity and the
world’s largest long Covid study
On... the value of outsiders I founded Perspectum largely overwhelmed. ‘Scio’ [the Latin root
I’m the only child of immigrant because I wanted to get our of the English word science] means
parents who came here to study. technology into the healthcare ‘I know’. But we don’t know much
My dad studied engineering, and system. If I had stayed in academia, about this virus, so you want to
my mum was groundbreaking as that wouldn’t have happened – predict before you know – shut
an Asian woman studying there wouldn’t have been the your borders, for example, before
computer science in the early 1970s. funding or the right culture. Now there is evidence of inbound
When I went to medical school I Perspectum is applying that tech transmission. Following the science
was a bit of an outsider. I loved it to run the world’s largest study just means you can never be ahead
and made some lifelong friends, but into long Covid, and the test we of the pandemic.
it was a culture shock. It was super use (COVERSCAN) has just
competitive and everyone wanted been granted exceptional use On... investors
to follow the same track, but do it authorisation by the MHRA I believe in diversity in the investor
faster. There weren’t many of the in the UK. pool. Yes you want a couple of
things I liked to do for fun, like ruthless capitalists to keep you
taking a bottle of Fanta to the park On… life as a CEO focused and make sure there is
and just kicking a ball about. But It can be quite scary because you a return. But you also need some
the kind of kid who desperately are responsible for the people who nurturing types to help you
wants to get into the first team at work for you. Some of them are in manage growth, especially in
cricket probably isn’t going to be their first jobs outside academia a company that has a young
the person who invents basketball. and they’ve come here from abroad. management team and a first-time
It’s a different mindset. Right now they may not even be CEO. And you want some people
able to go back to their mother who believe firmly in societal good
On... being an entrepreneur country [because of the pandemic]. – there’s this idea that only public
I didn’t actually want to be an But, on the other hand, when they companies need to think about it,
entrepreneur. After 10 years’ hard do cool stuff there is reflected pride but the boards of private firms
work as an NHS hospital doctor I – when COVERSCAN got should focus on it too.
wanted to get a consultant’s job, authorisation tears of joy were
which usually means you have to shed. Look at the firms that have On … ambitions for the future
Interview: Andrew Saunders. Portrait: Colin Stout
do a PhD. I chose to study cardiac got exceptional use authorisation I want this company to be
imaging because it seemed fairly recently – Pfizer, AstraZeneca, self-sustaining and I want our
easy, but it turned out I was good at Moderna – and then little old technology to be delivered in a
it. We built a really strong research Perspectum with only 180 people. regular pipeline. The field we are in
team and got some patents. The is ever growing. That means in 20
novelty was that we applied the On… following the science years’ time we will have gone from
same technology we were using on From the start of the pandemic the saying ‘isn’t it sad that we don’t
the heart to other organs like the government has said it would have scans for pancreatic cancer’
liver and pancreas: instead of ‘follow the science’. And yet here to being able to detect a tumour of
needing an invasive needle biopsy, we are, fourth or fifth largest any kind before it is symptomatic.
we could use MRI scans and AI economy in the world, and our There will be much less fiddling
software to assess their condition. health service has faced being about with needles and guesswork.
12Rajarshi Banerjee Rajarshi Banerjee founded his medical imaging technology business Perspectum Diagnostics in 2012. The company’s first product, LiverMultiScan, uses innovative patented technology to diagnose liver disease via non-invasive MRI scans. Based in Oxford, it employs around 180 people and in April last year closed a $36m funding round led by the Blue Venture Fund and HealthQuest Capital.
20
21
“Someday, and that day may never come, I will
call upon you to do a service for me”
Don Corleone
p14-15: Mondadori/Getty Images; p16-17: David Kittos/Getty Images
xxxxc
22Nigerian military leader Sani Abacha ruled
with an iron grip and presided over a regime
accused of gross human rights abuses.
During his presidency, from 1993 until his
death in 1998, Abacha is believed to have
stolen and laundered up to $5 billion. In Frank
Bayh and Steff Rosenberger-Ochs’s What If
The Were Unicorns series, the artists offer a
visual representation of the world’s tyrants as
crying innocents and question what might
have been.
•
23The coronavirus pandemic has prompted many governments to rewrite the fiscal rules to
support their beleaguered populations. But, as Andrew Saunders discovers, debt has been
helping make the world go round for centuries – and a little bit can have a positive impact
H
ow much debt is too much? This peren- leads the pack at 266 per cent of GDP, followed by
nial question has been pondered by Greece at 205 per cent and Italy a few places behind at
monarchs, ministers and monetarists 162 per cent. The genie is out of the bottle and, for now
down the ages, and has been thrown once at least, the last thing anyone is thinking about is how
again into razor-sharp relief in the last year by the to get it back in.
extraordinary – and extraordinarily rapid – economic “There is a magic money tree, whether you like it
response to coronavirus around the world. or not,” says Vicky Pryce, board member at economic
Where once prudence, even a degree of austerity, think tank the Centre for Economics and Business
were the watchwords of treasuries across the globe, Research. “And for me the most fascinating thing is
since March last year (when the pandemic was that it exists for as long as people continue to believe
declared) unprecedented largesse has suddenly in it. The moment you start to think ‘we need to cut
become the order of the day. Restraint seems to have back’ that mood can change very quickly.”
gone out of the window, replaced by the urgent But how worried should we be – are those numbers
attempt if not to spend our way out of the crisis, then really as scary as they seem? “The right way to frame
at least to use huge piles of cash to cushion the that question is to ask ‘what’s the alternative?’ Where
associated social and economic blows. would we be if we had not borrowed?” says Erik
In the UK this has turned politics upside down, Britton, founder of Fathom Consulting and former
with a Conservative government borrowing sums Bank of England macroeconomist. He believes
that even Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party would have that without calling on that additional debt, things
trembled to imagine – around £1bn a day last would have become very bad, very quickly. “What is
year, accruing a total deficit for 2020 of £355bn, or already the biggest recession of all time would have
17 per cent of GDP, the highest since the end of turned into the biggest depression of all time. UK
World War II. unemployment would be at the seven or eight million
Around the world there is a similar picture – debt mark and rising, and GDP would be down by 20 per
has been the number one weapon of choice to meet cent and falling. That cycle would continue until it
the crisis. According to the International Monetary ended in revolution.
Fund (IMF), an astounding $12trn was added to the “So what we’re really asking is, is it worth
global burden of public debt in the first nine months of increasing the government debt ratio by say 30 per
the pandemic alone. That’s $12trn. Think about that cent of GDP to avoid that situation? Absolutely it is – if
number for a moment. A 12 with 12 noughts after it. the alternative is revolution or even world war, then
Equivalent to the entire GDP of all 19 Eurozone everyone is better off as a result.”
countries, or 14.3 per cent of the economic output of It’s all rather ironic – or, more optimistically,
the entire globe, if you prefer. Enough to buy Apple – a measure of human progress – given that the national
the world’s most valuable company – six times over. debt arose in the first place not to stave off the
Or every house in the UK, plus every business in the possibility of war, but rather to pay for several that
FTSE 100, and still leave a couple of trillion in the did happen. The idea dates back to the reign of
bank for emergencies. William III, who offered the first ever formal sale
It all amounts to a hasty and comprehensive of sovereign (national) debt, borrowing about
rewrite of the economic ‘rules’ on debt. Twenty odd £1m from a syndicate of city merchants to pay for
years ago, remember, then Labour chancellor Gordon a new navy following defeat by the French in the
Brown set a 40 per cent ‘debt to GDP limit’ that was Nine Years’ War. Monarchs had borrowed from
considered pretty racy by many. When the Eurozone bankers and wealthy aristocrats before of course,
was established around the same time, one of the but such arrangements could be tricky to negotiate
joining requirements was a debt to GDP ratio of no and/or politically inconvenient. There was no need
more than 60 per cent. for the king to worry about treading on the toes of
But the latest ONS figures show the public sector’s mere merchants and traders, or – God forbid –
net debt amounts to £2.1trn, equivalent to 100.8 per bumping into any of them. The new idea turned out
cent of GDP – a level not seen since the early 1960s. to be one of the great financial innovations of all
The international average ratio is about the same, time, culminating in the foundation of the Bank
although the most indebted nations have much higher of England in 1694, which helped finance the
figures. According to IMF projections for 2020, Japan Napoleonic Wars.
18debt
Easy access to debt proved so fantastically Zilch, he says, makes its money from a per
convenient that other rulers quickly followed William’s transaction fee to the retailer – there’s no interest
example. Four hundred years later we have the $100trn charged to the customer and people use it because it
global bond market, trading everything from national offers a better deal than a credit card. It’s the first UK
debt and corporate loans to credit card and mortgage buy-now-pay-later provider to be fully regulated by
books. Central banks operating a vast programme of the FCA, and closed a $30m series B funding round
quantitative easing (the introduction of new money late last year. “Our model is completely the opposite
into the money supply) have also helped to keep interest [of credit cards],” says Belamant. “We want you to
rates at record lows in recent years, making debt look repay on time, every time. We never want to over lend.
even more attractive by keeping the repayments Sixty-five per cent of our customers don’t have a credit
correspondingly affordable. card, because they are tired of being ripped off.”
“The curiosity is that we have record levels of So for nation states and consumers alike, the
government borrowing in almost every economy but, at prevailing consensus on debt seems to be that it’s
the same time, ridiculously low yields [interest a vital lubricant that keeps the commercial machinery
rates] on government bonds,” says David moving and smooths the otherwise lumpy course
Smith, veteran economics editor of The Times. of progress. So long as you can afford the
“That’s a reflection of the fact that the markets payments, it’s all good. “An economy is
don’t expect short-term interest rates to go up movement and flow, it’s transactions,
any time soon. But the central banks have also things happening. What we worry about
been doing an enormous amount of is keeping that flow going, because
quantitative easing. That’s a huge anything that stops it kills the economy,”
market distortion and essentially free says Britton.
money for the government.” But this simple transactional view
It’s also instructive that for 100 years papers over the deep-rooted anxiety
or so from the 1760s to the 1860s – a period about debt that lurks beneath. For
that includes the economic explosion of much of human history, a debt has
the industrial revolution – the UK’s been an unwelcome or even dangerous
national debt remained well above the obligation, with the potential to grant
100 per cent of GDP that is sparking so creditors absolute power over those
much concern today, peaking at more who owe them something. Failure to
than 235 per cent in the 1820s. In fact, there pay a debt in Sumer in 3,000BC, for
have only been two half-century periods example, could result in a life of slavery not
where it has remained consistently below 100 only for the debtor, but his family and
per cent of GDP: the years before World War I servants too. Unpaid debts could even be
and those from the early 1960s to the modern, inherited, condemning multiple generations to
pre-pandemic era. the same fate.
Where kings and princes first tread, commoners The Romans went one better – meting out violent
eventually follow. Since the dawn of the credit card and sometimes mortal punishments for unpaid debts.
(the US BankAmericard was first introduced in 1958, Those who wished to avoid such a grisly end and did
followed in the UK by the Barclaycard in 1966 and not have friends in high places could ‘volunteer’ for
Access in 1972) debt has become increasingly debt bondage instead. This was just debt slavery by
democratised. Now in the smartphone era, with a another name but, according to the bloodthirsty
plethora of apps offering multiple forms of credit with mores of the times, was seen as a relatively progressive
just a few swipes, it’s easier than ever for the average and lenient alternative.
person to get into debt. Morality has also always been closely, if somewhat
The fastest growing sector is currently ‘buy now uneasily, linked to debt. Paying what one owes is
pay later’. Providers such as Klarna and Clearpay have widely regarded as a benchmark of character and
drawn criticism from MPs and regulators alike for trustworthiness, even if many of us struggle to live up
offering ‘lifestyle’ debt to the social media generation. to it. Honouring debt is also baked into many of the
But, says Philip Belamant, founder and CEO of fast- world’s major religions but, at the same time, those
Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
growing buy-now-pay-later start-up Zilch, just who profit unduly from the debts of others have been
because the model is novel, doesn’t mean it’s all bad: reviled. Just think of Jesus turning over the tables of
“The traditional credit card model is based on the moneylenders, and the malevolent Shylock who
overlending – lending you money that you can’t afford demands a pound of flesh as security on a loan in
to repay all at once, but that you can afford to repay Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Or the dim view
over a period of time. Because otherwise there is no taken of usury – the charging of interest – still
interest or fees for the provider.” forbidden in Islamic law. •
19CREDIT WHERE IT’S DUE
Government debt around the world has reached levels not seen since the last world war
150% HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
General government debt (% of GDP) 1901-2021 $12.04trn
The national debt of Japan,
the country with the
1939-45 highest pre-pandemic debt
World War II to GDP ratio at 234%
Source: SpendMeNot
120%
1952
US tests first
hydrogen bomb
over the Marshall 1961
Islands
1933 1936 Berlin wall
goes up
Hitler becomes Anti-fascist Cable
chancellor of Street riots in
Germany London 1973
90% 1957
OPEC
Keystone, Heinrich Hoffmann, ullstein bild, Fox Photos, Smith Collection-Gado, Photo12-Universal Images Group,
Harold embargo
Macmillan triggers
Forrest Anderson,,Sunset Boulevard-Corbis,Saul Loeb-AFP/Getty Images; Multicherry/Creative Commons
tells Brits: world oil
‘You’ve never crisis
had it so good’
1976
60% 1914-18 UK bailed
World War I out by
$3.9bn
IMF loan
ADVANCED ECONOMIES
30%
EMERGING ECONOMIES
0%
1904
1940
1964
1943
1946
1949
1934
1958
1928
1955
1925
1952
1907
1922
1970
1967
1979
1937
1973
1976
1901
1910
1961
1913
1919
1916
1931
20debt
THE INTERNATIONAL STORY
Change in gross government debt (% of GDP)
266.2%
KEY
Source: IMF Fiscal Monitor, October 2020
2020-21 2012 228.7%
Coronavirus 2020
pandemic
161.8%
83.2% 131.2% 126.5%
108% 103.3%
81.1% 73.3% 89.3%
61.7% 67.7%
2000 34.4%
Nokia 3310 is
the world’s
UK
USA
Germany
Italy
Japan
China
India
bestselling
mobile phone
2017
1982 Donald Trump
E.T. released, becomes US
the highest- president THE 10 MOST INDEBTED EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
grossing film of 1992 National debt to GDP ratios (pre-pandemic figures)
the 80s
World’s
2007-08 Debt: GDP ratio $
largest
1 Greece 182% 231.2bn
McDonald’s Global
2 Italy 128% 2.3trn
opens in financial
3 Portugal 118% 293.3bn
Beijing crisis
4 Belgium 99% 484bn
5 France 96% 2.5trn
Source: SpendMeNot
6 Spain 95% 1.1trn
7 Cyprus 90% 20.2bn
8 UK 86% 2.9trn
9 Ukraine 77% 73.8bn
10 Croatia 73% 44.7bn
1989
Berlin Wall
comes COUNTING THE COST OF COVID
down
Government debt accrued as a result of pandemic response packages
(% of total GDP)
Source: IMF Fiscal Monitor, October 2020
UK USA GERMANY ITALY
9.2% 1 1.8% 8.35% 4.9%
16.6% 2.5% 30.8% 33%
jAPAN CHINA INDIA
11.3% 4.6% 1.8% KEY
Outer circle Additional spending
23.7% 1.3% 5.2% Inner circle Equities, loans
and guarantees
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database
THE FALLING COST OF BORROWING
Source: IMF; Madison Database Project
General government interest expenditure to GDP ratio
(% of GDP) 2000-20
3.5
KEY
Advanced economies
3.0 Emerging markets
2.5
2.0
1.5
2000
2006
2009
2003
1994
1988
2018
1985
2015
2012
1982
2021
1997
1991
00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
2122
debt
Debt, undertaker Amerigo Bonasera discovers in The Godfather,
comes in all shapes and sizes. Pledging his loyalty to Vito, head of the
CBS/Getty Images
Corleone family, in exchange for revenge for a violent assault on his
daughter, Bonsera has nightmares about what he will be asked to do
in return. When Corleone’s son Sonny is killed (pictured), Bonasera
learns the truth. Far from committing a heinous crime, his debt will be
fully repaid when he prepares the young man’s body for burial
23The overriding Christian principle when it comes
to debt, says Martin Palmer, a theologian and
IN THE RED
sustainable investment adviser to faith groups, is that
Success is no guarantee against money
of reciprocal obligation. “The Lord’s Prayer comes
troubles – as these famous faces
with its own debt quota. You will only be forgiven for discovered the hard way
the trespasses [sins, or debts] committed against you
if you have forgiven those who trespassed against Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
you. God is offering you a deal, but you have to clear Throughout his life, Mozart produced
hundreds of enduring compositions,
your debt to God first.” but his tastes for gambling, drinking
But high-flown religious tenets, alas, are often not and living well took their toll, and by
reflected down at ground level. English society in the the time of his death, in 1791, he was
1800s was much more formally religious than today’s, heavily in debt.
but that didn’t stop the courts routinely chucking Thomas Jefferson
10,000 people a year into debtors’ prisons for not The third US President died in 1826
paying what they owed. In theory, it was possible to with debts of more than $100,000
cough up and leave without a stain on one’s character, (roughly $2m today). He may have
been rich in terms of land – and slaves
but in practice the stigma was life long, as one John
– but his tobacco crops failed to meet
Dickens discovered when he was sent to Marshalsea annual expenses and he had a
debtors’ prison in 1824 for a debt of £40. The trauma penchant for the finer things.
never left him – or his 12-year-old son Charles, who
would later expose the injustice of his father’s harsh Joe Louis
Back in 1951, when his career in the
treatment in classic novels including David Copperfield ring ended, Louis owed a whopping
and The Pickwick Papers. Only with the 1869 Debtors $1.25m. He made millions as a
Act did individual bankruptcy become more heavyweight boxer but most of it went
commonplace, and the infamous debtors’ prisons to his handlers, as well as friends,
relatives and bad investments. The
gradually faded into the past.
debt remained when he died in 1981.
Such stern moral judgements are thankfully
unfashionable these days, but people still make Judy Garland
a distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ debt, which Star of The Wizard of Oz and mother of
Liza Minnelli, Garland was plagued by
isn’t really borne out by the facts, says Britton. “What
financial difficulties throughout her
is the debt going to be used for? Will it be financing career and racked up debts of $4m
consumption, which is ‘bad’, or financing investment, during her lifetime.
which is ‘good’? That doesn’t seem right to me – you
need some people to be borrowing for consumption, Marvin Gaye
Shot by his own father on April Fool’s
because if nobody is consuming then nobody is day 1984, the Heard it Through the
making any money.” Grapevine soul legend was $9.2m in
That’s not to say that there aren’t consequences of debt when he died, thanks mainly to
excessive government borrowing, as John Kay, drug addiction and costly divorces.
former dean of Oxford’s Said Business School who Gary Coleman
has also held chairs at the LSE and LBS, points out. Known for his role as a child actor in
“As long as people continue to believe in the Diff’rent Strokes, Coleman could once
government’s credit, it could borrow much more than claim to be the highest-paid TV actor,
but medical troubles and legal battles
it has at very low rates,” he says. “But it’s really about
with his adoptive parents left him with
intergenerational equality – young people’s pensions debts of more than $70,000. He died
are being invested willy-nilly in these bonds, and that aged 42 in 2010.
means that in 50 years’ time their pensions will be
pretty terrible.”
So where did the concept of debt come from in the
first place, and how did we get hooked on the habit?
This turns out to be a surprisingly controversial
KieselUndStein/Getty Images
subject. The conventional narrative starts with barter
as the earliest form of human economic development,
before proceeding to the invention of metal currency,
with debt following on as a somewhat louche and
sophisticated latecomer to the party. Loans, say the
ever-rational economists, were simply too difficult to
quantify without currency because of the equivalence
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