WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.700 Greetings from sunny Davos. 2 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:06.430 We are wrapping up a productive and busy week here in Davos, 3 00:00:06.430 --> 00:00:09.690 and we wanted to share a few reflections with you. 4 00:00:09.690 --> 00:00:13.750 I'm here with BCG's Global CEO, Christoph Schweizer. 5 00:00:13.750 --> 00:00:15.422 line:15% Good morning, Mai-Britt, how are you? 6 00:00:15.422 --> 00:00:17.570 line:15% Great, it's been a super week. 7 00:00:17.570 --> 00:00:19.480 line:15% Yes, and it's even nice and sunny now. 8 00:00:19.480 --> 00:00:20.313 line:15% How is that? 9 00:00:20.313 --> 00:00:22.090 Very different from winter Davos. 10 00:00:22.090 --> 00:00:23.202 Totally, yes. 11 00:00:23.202 --> 00:00:25.930 Christoph, you had a quite packed agenda 12 00:00:25.930 --> 00:00:30.930 and you met with so many CEOs, what's top of the agenda? 13 00:00:31.145 --> 00:00:35.610 Well, not surprisingly, top of mind is the question, 14 00:00:35.610 --> 00:00:38.518 how is the situation in Ukraine going to develop? 15 00:00:38.518 --> 00:00:40.540 What is the path forward? 16 00:00:40.540 --> 00:00:41.730 What are the scenarios? 17 00:00:41.730 --> 00:00:43.630 How likely are they? 18 00:00:43.630 --> 00:00:45.760 And then, how can we mitigate 19 00:00:45.760 --> 00:00:47.990 the many secondary and tertiary effects? 20 00:00:47.990 --> 00:00:51.810 The global food crisis that is not a risk, 21 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:54.185 it's a reality that is happening as we speak, 22 00:00:54.185 --> 00:00:57.090 the raw material and energy shortages, 23 00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:58.670 the supply chain disruptions, 24 00:00:58.670 --> 00:01:00.780 that is top of mind for any leader 25 00:01:00.780 --> 00:01:03.227 whether government or business, doesn't matter. 26 00:01:03.227 --> 00:01:06.230 Other than that, I found this an interesting week 27 00:01:06.230 --> 00:01:08.560 because compared to some years ago 28 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.390 where everyone started to talk about climate 29 00:01:10.390 --> 00:01:12.600 and sustainability and make nice pledges, 30 00:01:12.600 --> 00:01:13.840 I think we are at the point 31 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.170 where the innovative and bold CEOs 32 00:01:16.170 --> 00:01:18.412 are now moving from pledge to action. 33 00:01:18.412 --> 00:01:22.160 I'm stunned by the magnitude of some of the investments, 34 00:01:22.160 --> 00:01:24.620 in particular, in the renewable energy sector, 35 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:26.000 in the hydrogen space. 36 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.687 I think there's definitely a new phase 37 00:01:27.687 --> 00:01:29.860 in that whole journey and that's exciting. 38 00:01:29.860 --> 00:01:31.430 Of course, we need to be fast 39 00:01:31.430 --> 00:01:34.367 and a lot needs to be done, but I do feel there's progress. 40 00:01:34.367 --> 00:01:37.450 It's great to see how we've moved from pledges 41 00:01:37.450 --> 00:01:41.844 also in 2020 - the last Davos in person - to action. 42 00:01:41.844 --> 00:01:44.233 What else was on the agenda? 43 00:01:44.233 --> 00:01:48.380 Well, I think the topic that we've all been going through 44 00:01:48.380 --> 00:01:52.383 for quite a while now is the shortage of talent, 45 00:01:52.383 --> 00:01:54.920 any talent, anywhere in the world. 46 00:01:54.920 --> 00:01:57.570 And I think that was, yet again, a big theme here in Davos. 47 00:01:57.570 --> 00:02:00.170 How do you attract the people into your organization? 48 00:02:00.170 --> 00:02:03.000 How do you develop and retain and excite them? 49 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.440 A lot of conversation about purpose, 50 00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:08.090 about the employer value propositions, 51 00:02:08.090 --> 00:02:10.570 about flexible work models, etc. 52 00:02:10.570 --> 00:02:12.700 Speaking of those, you were on a panel 53 00:02:12.700 --> 00:02:15.560 about the future of work and in particular also flexibility. 54 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:17.390 What are your takeaways, Mai-Britt? 55 00:02:17.390 --> 00:02:20.420 Yes, my big one line takeaway is that 56 00:02:20.420 --> 00:02:21.938 nobody has the answer yet. 57 00:02:21.938 --> 00:02:22.920 (both chuckling softly) 58 00:02:22.920 --> 00:02:24.380 So by taking a step back, 59 00:02:24.380 --> 00:02:26.300 I had a very great panel discussion, 60 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:28.460 and I think it's very important 61 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:31.070 to distinguish between different job types, 62 00:02:31.070 --> 00:02:34.311 because if you work in the frontline, retail, construction, 63 00:02:34.311 --> 00:02:37.670 in a manufacturing site, flexibility and the discussion 64 00:02:37.670 --> 00:02:39.340 is very different compared to 65 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:41.350 if you are a knowledge worker in an office. 66 00:02:41.350 --> 00:02:43.170 But let's zoom in on the knowledge worker, 67 00:02:43.170 --> 00:02:45.270 which is also the business we are in. 68 00:02:45.270 --> 00:02:47.370 I think we need to experiment. 69 00:02:47.370 --> 00:02:48.720 We learned in the pandemic 70 00:02:48.720 --> 00:02:50.940 that we can work in a different way, 71 00:02:50.940 --> 00:02:52.850 but in order to make that work, 72 00:02:52.850 --> 00:02:55.170 we are still in the laboratory phase, I would say. 73 00:02:55.170 --> 00:02:57.050 So we are adopting a growth mindset. 74 00:02:57.050 --> 00:03:00.700 I didn't meet any leader here who knew the formula 75 00:03:00.700 --> 00:03:02.400 for how this is going to work. 76 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:05.778 But the one thing I would say is from a DE&I perspective, 77 00:03:05.778 --> 00:03:08.750 we need to make sure that men and women 78 00:03:08.750 --> 00:03:12.320 embrace these opportunities in the same way. 79 00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:13.153 You're spot on. 80 00:03:13.153 --> 00:03:15.360 I don't think there is going to be any good answer 81 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:18.320 for any employer without also over indexing 82 00:03:18.320 --> 00:03:20.410 on the whole diversity, equity and inclusion side, 83 00:03:20.410 --> 00:03:21.960 and I think that was, yet again, 84 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.440 one of the overarching themes here. 85 00:03:24.440 --> 00:03:27.099 Absolutely, now to wrap this up, 86 00:03:27.099 --> 00:03:30.820 the most surprising moment for you or the biggest insight, 87 00:03:30.820 --> 00:03:32.070 what was that, Christoph? 88 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:36.657 During the week, a number of studies got published 89 00:03:36.657 --> 00:03:38.983 on the whole question of trust - 90 00:03:40.090 --> 00:03:42.686 which institutions carry trust and which don't? 91 00:03:42.686 --> 00:03:45.020 And what you see is that 92 00:03:45.020 --> 00:03:47.884 there's a steady erosion of trust 93 00:03:47.884 --> 00:03:51.565 in basically all societies, in their government, 94 00:03:51.565 --> 00:03:56.130 in political parties, in even the church, 95 00:03:56.130 --> 00:04:00.952 pick your favorite, which is a tricky thing. 96 00:04:00.952 --> 00:04:04.180 The flip side of that is that more and more, 97 00:04:04.180 --> 00:04:08.760 the leaders of the corporations, the companies, matter. 98 00:04:08.760 --> 00:04:10.970 It's interesting that the corporations 99 00:04:10.970 --> 00:04:13.440 carry a lot of trust and CEOs do that as well. 100 00:04:13.440 --> 00:04:15.470 That's a good thing, but, of course, 101 00:04:15.470 --> 00:04:17.050 it's also a huge responsibility. 102 00:04:17.050 --> 00:04:20.570 And what I took away from this week is - it is top of mind 103 00:04:20.570 --> 00:04:21.900 for so many CEOs, 104 00:04:21.900 --> 00:04:24.560 how do you build the trust with your consumers, 105 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.820 with your staff, with the potential recruiting pool, 106 00:04:27.820 --> 00:04:29.550 with governments that surround you? 107 00:04:29.550 --> 00:04:31.040 I think it's front and center, 108 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:35.200 and I do think it needs to be top of mind for every CEO 109 00:04:35.200 --> 00:04:36.240 who leads an institution. 110 00:04:36.240 --> 00:04:39.870 It's certainly also top of mind for me at BCG. 111 00:04:39.870 --> 00:04:41.810 I think we have come a very long way 112 00:04:41.810 --> 00:04:43.960 and we are definitely going to build on that. 113 00:04:43.960 --> 00:04:45.060 And on your end, 114 00:04:45.060 --> 00:04:46.545 the surprises you took away? On my end, yes. 115 00:04:46.545 --> 00:04:48.674 I want to mention the metaverse 116 00:04:48.674 --> 00:04:52.300 because there were a lot of panels on the metaverse, 117 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:55.040 and I spent quite some time in trying to understand 118 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:57.630 how the metaverse can change education 119 00:04:57.630 --> 00:04:59.660 and can change learning and development. 120 00:04:59.660 --> 00:05:01.480 And if we take the corporate angle, 121 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.510 seeing how you can use the metaverse at scale 122 00:05:04.510 --> 00:05:07.250 in global organizations to drive onboarding 123 00:05:07.250 --> 00:05:08.640 to upscale your workforce 124 00:05:08.640 --> 00:05:11.330 and we know we need to upscale much more frequently. 125 00:05:11.330 --> 00:05:12.726 And I think the metaverse, 126 00:05:12.726 --> 00:05:15.270 used in a responsible and safe way, 127 00:05:15.270 --> 00:05:19.140 will be a key strategic tool for many leaders. 128 00:05:19.140 --> 00:05:22.080 But, of course, nothing beats - like we've seen this week - 129 00:05:22.080 --> 00:05:23.550 being together in person. 130 00:05:23.550 --> 00:05:26.500 Definitely so, and even more so on a sunny morning. 131 00:05:26.500 --> 00:05:27.590 Mai-Britt, it's great to see you. 132 00:05:27.590 --> 00:05:30.557 Great to see you, Christoph. Take care.