Latest news with #corporateleaders
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Starbucks increases office attendance to four days a week, rolling back WFH even further
Starbucks is ordering corporate staff back into the office four days a week, as part of the company's plan to 'turn around the business'. CEO Brian Niccol announced the new in-office policy this week, which will affect staff in the US and Canada. From October, the company's three-day in-office requirement will increase to a minimum of four days, with common days being Monday to Thursday. This applies to Starbucks' Seattle and Toronto Support Centres, along with the North America regional offices. 'We'll share more details before October, including our plans to ensure everyone has an assigned dedicated desk,' Mr Niccol said. He also noted the company wants leaders and people managers to be 'physically present with their teams'. So, on top of the increased office days, all Support Centre 'people leaders' currently working from other areas will be required to relocate to Seattle or Toronto within 12 months. This does not apply to 'individual contributors', but the CEO noted that hiring for future roles and lateral moves will require partners to be either Seattle or Toronto based. Mr Niccol noted that not every employee would agree with this approach and that an updated in-office culture 'may not work for everyone'. For those that feel this way, the company will be offering cash payments for people who wish to leave. 'If you decide you want to leave Starbucks for any reason, we respect that,' the CEO said. 'To support those who decide to 'opt out', we're offering a one-time voluntary exit program with a cash payment for partners who make this choice.' Mr Niccol said the company is re-establishing its 'in-office culture' because they believe everyone does their 'best work' when they are together, such as sharing ideas, solving problems and, in general, moving 'much faster'. 'Being in person also helps us build and strengthen our culture. As we work to turn the business around, all these things matter more than ever,' he said. Employees were informed that the company understood there were circumstances in which they may need to leave the office early for personal reasons, but the 'default' should be working in person in a Starbucks office. Starbucks has become the latest major company to turn their backs on previous flexible working policies and push ahead with increasingly strict return to office mandates. Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, Tabcorp, AT&T and Dell are just a few of the companies that have ordered staff back into the office. However, the cracks have started to show, with employees less than impressed with how some of these RTO mandates are going. A report from Business Insider published last month suggested that Dell was dealing with multiple issues, three months into ordering people back into the office full time. Dell staff told the publication that enforcement varies between managers, with some employees saying they were in eight hours a day, while others seemingly coming into the office to show their face and leaving soon after. This has reportedly been causing a lot of 'in-office politics'. Last month, a leaked internal memo from JPMorgan showed morale had taken a hit in the wake of the RTO mandate. A yearly employee survey showed the company's health and wellbeing scores had dropped, with leaders attributing this to the return to office. 'We know return full-time to the office has been an adjustment and one that not everyone agrees with, but we continue to believe in-person is how we do our best work and how we foster connections and mobility opportunities,' the memo stated. Elsewhere, there have also been complaints of companies introducing RTO mandates but actually not having the capacity for everyone to come back. Several workers at AT&T told Business Insider that there was a shortage of available desks and the parking lots had become overcrowded. There were also claims of increasingly long wait times for elevators, leading to the company posting signs with 'motivational quotes' encouraging staff to use the stairs. So, why do some companies, both overseas and here in Australia, keep pushing to increase office attendance despite many employees preferring a remote or flexible hybrid approach? Well, according to Employment Hero CEO, Ben Thompson, it is a mix of old habits and good intentions. 'There of course are many genuine cases where working from home is not possible and many industries where face-to-face is a must,' he said. 'But ultimately, trying to retrofit an outdated structure on modern work is holding many businesses back.' He pointed out that many leaders genuinely believe that being physically present is the only way to create a highly effective and collaborate team. In many cases, changing long held mindsets and values of leadership is a significant challenge. 'Where the private office, towering view or city parking space may have formerly been markers of success, leaders need to redefine what this success looks like and the example they are setting for their teams,' he said. 'When the leaders show up, others will follow. But imagine how this could be better done online, with the right tools, to create a sense of unity and commitment remotely.' Mr Thompson also noted that the cost of leases could be a key driver for some of these businesses to focus on office attendance, but claimed if these funds were reinvested into setting up teams for remote work, it could be 'game changing'. Moving forward, he said the modern workplace is at a 'pivotal juncture', and is being influenced by both global and local trends. 'From a first-principles standpoint, the future of work hinges on meeting human needs, leveraging technology, and optimising economics, with AI emerging as a game-changer,' he said. 'There is an increasing case building for sustained hybrid and remote models that will be difficult for companies to ignore.' So, while Mr Thompson believes we may continue to see a short term pull towards the office, he expects the remote working to rise in the long term. 'Humans value autonomy and balance. Combine that with maturing remote collaboration tech and AI capability, many millions of people globally are about to 'come online' with internet access and a growing playbook for building real social connections outside the office – and I think it's clear we will see remote work prosper,' he said.
Fast Company
11-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
The real workplace threat isn't AI. It's leadership disconnect
The steam engine in the 19th century, the microprocessor chip in the 20th—companies that figured out how to use them thrived; those that didn't declined. And now the race to embrace AI is on. McKinsey estimates the potential for corporates to grow their productivity through this transformative technology at $4.4 trillion. Today's corporate leaders are acutely aware of this—only 1% call their companies 'mature' on the deployment spectrum—and they certainly want to do something about this: 92% plan to increase their AI investments over the next three years. However, in the rush to embed AI, these leaders are missing, and even contributing to, a far greater issue than slow AI uptake: a disconnect between leadership and their workforce, leading to the erosion of alignment and trust inside organizations. This cultural disconnect is a far more urgent risk to business performance than technical lag. Here's how to tackle this mounting challenge. The problems with a disconnected workforce Gallup's 2025 State of the Global Workforce revealed that global employee engagement declined to 21% in 2024, only the second decline in engagement in the past 12 years. This ought to alarm business leaders. Disengaged employees are a huge threat in multiple ways. They do the bare minimum work: studies show disengaged employees are 18% less productive on average. Next consider the impact on the customer experience. Disengagement isn't contained, it leaks, and disengaged employees are likely to lower service quality, slow response times, and diminish brand loyalty. Disengaged employees also kill innovation, problem-solving, and transformation. They don't speak up, challenge ideas, or contribute proactively. They don't resist loudly. They comply quietly via passive resistance. You lose not just output, but the critical energy that drives adaptation and progress. Then they leave. Disengaged employees are 2.6 times more likely to actively seek a new job, creating costly churn. Gallup estimates the cost of replacing an employee is 150% of their salary. But before they go, many poison the culture from within, turning previously engaged employees into disengaged ones. 'Disengaged workforce' is a term that gets thrown around a lot by people functions, and too often its dismissed by leadership as HR fluff. But when you connect it to hard facts, it really is like death by a thousand invisible cuts. AI: the disconnection accelerator While this disconnect silently eats away at the corporate world, execs blindly plow on with AI implementation, and in doing so are making the issue far worse. A study of 2,500 workers from the U.S., U.K., and Australia revealed that for 77% of employees AI has increased their workload, with one in three full-time employees saying they will likely quit their jobs in the next six months. They're not imagining the increased workload: 81% of global C-suite leaders acknowledge they have increased demands on their workers in the past year. With AI there is just more pressure to deliver more, faster, in less amount of time, and the relationship between employees and employers is eroding. As one commentator recently put it: 'Companies are announcing layoffs alongside record-breaking financial results. You work hard, focus on impactful projects, and receive praise from your lead—only to find yourself let go by someone who likely doesn't even know you exist. It feels as though the trust between companies and employees is now broken. Companies, it seems, are either unaware of this shift or unwilling to address it. And frankly, I'm not sure how they could fix it.' Slow down and listen They can fix this. But first, leadership needs to take its foot off the gas. Because if you want AI transformation to succeed, your people need to come with you. And that starts by returning to the roots of effective employee engagement: human insight, gained the human way. It's about spending real time understanding the lived, felt, experienced reality of your workforce—ironically, the kind of research AI can't replicate. Because while technology can summarize patterns, it can't observe culture in motion. It can't pick up on tension in a room. It can't notice who's talking, who isn't, and why. It can't notice your tiny invisible cuts forming. Consider the approach of Dell which in 2024, imposed rigid return-to-office mandates, introduced employee monitoring, and fast-tracked GenAI, all with minimal listening to its employees. The result? Internal backlash, tanking morale, and public employer brand damage. Contrast it with Toyota which has built its leadership philosophy around Genchi Genbutsu —'go and see.' Leaders embed, observe, and critically, understand before deciding. It's a major reason why it remains the world's leading car brand. Connection and understanding From there it's about rebuilding connection. Be authentic: own the challenges, and remember that people respect honesty over perfection. Surface and elevate the true human insights that come from the front lines. Then close the loop: when people see changes made from their input, trust grows. Crucially, leaders need to recognise that while AI can help scale tasks, only they, the leaders, can scale trust. And they'll build it by realising that people still come first, AI second. The organizations that win in the AI era won't be the ones that move the fastest. They'll be the ones that stay closest to the ground. This isn't a nostalgic plea for 'pre-AI' leadership. It's a call on leaders to simply do better, by showing through actions, not words, that they are something AI can never be: human.
Bloomberg
08-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Europe's AI Law Needs a Smart Pause, Not a Full Stop
There's a common tool in the arsenal for anyone trying to change the course of artificial intelligence: the pause. Two years ago, Elon Musk and other tech leaders published an open letter calling on tech companies to delay their AI development for six months to better protect humanity. Now the target has shifted. Amid a growing fear of getting left behind in a race to build computers smarter than humans, a group of European corporate leaders are pointing the 'pause' gun at the European Union, the world's self-styled AI cop. Like the tech bros who wanted to rein in AI two years ago, this is a blunt suggestion that misses the nuance of what it's trying to address. A blanket pause on AI rules won't help Europe catch up with the US and China, as more than 45 companies now argue. That ignores a more fundamental problem around funding that the region's tech startups desperately need to scale up and compete with their larger Silicon Valley rivals. The idea that Europe has to choose between being an innovator and a regulator is a narrative successfully spun by Big Tech lobbyists who would benefit most from a lighter regulatory touch.
Fast Company
11-06-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
How American companies can keep global customers
In 2025, American brands are facing a new kind of export problem: their reputations. International customers are voting against a volatile mix of tariffs and border crackdowns with their passports—and their wallets. Canadian travel to the U.S. has plummeted, with road trips down 32% and air travel off by 13.5% in March alone. European summer bookings are down 25% at hotel groups like Accor. In some border towns, duty-free shops are reporting business drops of over 80%. And we've all seen the pictures of Canadian retailers proudly removing bottles of Kentucky bourbon from their shelves. This isn't just a tourism issue. It's a brand loyalty issue. And it's a fast-moving crisis for U.S. companies operating abroad. The hard truth is this: Many global customers are no longer separating American brands from American politics. They're seeing them as one and the same. Which raises a question that is keeping more and more corporate leaders awake at night: What do I do when my business and brand's provenance—yes, I mean country of origin—becomes a liability? Do you double down on re-asserting your values, even if doing so heightens your visibility and risks making your company a political lightning rod? Do you soften your messaging abroad and hope to quietly ride it out? Do you try to sound 'less American,' whatever that means? In moments like these, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. But there is one universal starting point: You have to know your customers. START WITH WHAT'S EXPECTED OF YOU Some brands have built their global relationships on a deep emotional foundation of trust, care, empowerment, and sustainability. For them, this moment calls for leaning harder into those values, not backing away. Reassure customers that your promise to them transcends politics, and that the principles you operate on are still intact. If you're in financial services, for example, that could mean focusing on financial peace of mind. If you're in travel or hospitality, it could be about reaffirming safety, consistency, and a sense of welcome—values that carry extra weight right now. The calculus changes if your brand has always had an activist streak. Ben & Jerry's, for example, hasn't blinked at confronting controversy abroad or at home, going so far as to sue its parent company for regulating what the brand can post on social media. It's the kind of action that customers expect from the brand. If anything, this climate gives them more permission to speak out, even if their parent company doesn't agree. But even they have to be thoughtful. Condemn everything and you risk sounding like an outrage machine—or worse, an opportunist. Then there are companies whose global customer base isn't interested in political commentary at all. In those cases, showing up quietly but consistently—continuing to support local partners, speak in the language and context of your audience, and uphold your brand promise—is the smartest move. That's the path Costco has been walking, and to great effect. No grand gestures. No declarations. Just a steady commitment to delivering value to diverse communities, here and abroad, without apologizing for who they are or where they come from. The results? Thirteen consecutive weeks of increased foot traffic. STAYING RELEVANT AMID THE CHAOS What unites all of these approaches is not ideology. It's clarity. Clarity of purpose. Clarity of audience. Clarity of voice. That's what the best global brands are showing us right now, and it's the key to what we at Prophet call Uncommon Growth —our philosophy for helping companies grow by staying relentlessly relevant to the people they serve, especially in times of disruption. One of those principles is empathy. Not the soft, squishy kind, but the kind that requires real listening. How are your customers feeling? What's changed in how they see you? What signals are they sending that you may have missed? Another is agility. Too many companies are still treating this moment like a PR crisis that will pass. It might. But if it doesn't, the ones who win will be those that evolve—who rethink their operating model, their messaging, their partnerships and even their channel strategy. Do you need to go more direct in markets where your traditional distribution has dried up? Should you invest in localizing content, not just translating it? Is now the time to double down on brand building in regions where your presence is slipping? Listen, it's easy to feel like a victim when forces beyond your control start reshaping your business. And for many leaders right now, this does feel unfair. You didn't pick the fight. You didn't write the trade policy. You're just trying to serve customers and keep your promises. But growth doesn't come from wallowing. It comes from action. From orientation. From remembering that the playing field may have changed, but the needs of the people you serve haven't gone away. If anything, they've gotten more complex. Opportunity lives in solving the real problems caused by chaos. So, whether you lead a bourbon brand, a global tech firm, or a family-run retail chain with customers in Montreal, the question right now isn't how to avoid the blowback. It's how to respond with clarity, creativity, and empathy, and still stay true to who you are. American companies have so much more to offer their international customers than their provenance. Many values that have shaped the American experience over its history—around innovation, optimism, freedom, reinvention, courage, reliability, excellence—are still there for the taking. There are no borders for brands that truly understand people and serve them with consistency and care.
Bloomberg
09-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
CEOs, Trump to Tout Child Investment Accounts in GOP Tax Bill
President Donald Trump plans to gather corporate leaders at the White House Monday to highlight a provision in his tax bill that would deposit $1,000 into an investment account for babies born in the next few years, officials said Monday. Several corporate executives are expected to attend the White House meeting, including: David Solomon of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Michael Dell of Dell Technologies Inc., Brad Gerstner of Altimeter Capital /Invest America, Rene Haas, of ARM Corp., Parker Harris, of Salesforce Inc., William McDermott of ServiceNow Inc., Dara Khosrowshahi of Uber Technologies Inc., and Vladimir Tenev of Robinhood Markets Inc.
