Financial_Times_Asia_-_April_6_2020

12 ★ FINANCIAL TIMES Monday 6 April 2020

WORK & CAREERS

’

For decades, chief executives seemed

to be paid according to two rules of

thumb. First, they deserved to earn

more than the average business leader.

Second, their pay should never go

down. Warren Buffett nicknamed the

pay consultants who lubricated the

remuneration merry-go-round

“Ratchet, Ratchet & Bingo”.

Covid-19 could reset these rules

permanently. As chief executives take

tough decisions about the salaries, jobs,

and future of their staff, many are

recognising that at the very least they

too should be seen to suffer. They are

still benchmarking against their peers.

But now decisions are based as much

on how much they should give back. as

on how much they should take out.

Ana Botín, chairman of Santander,

agreed to contribute half her pay to a

medical equipment fund created by the

Spanish bank. Michael O’Leary,

abrasive chief executive of Ryanair,

joined the airline’s staff in taking a 50

per cent cut for April and May.

They are outliers. Many chief

executives are sacrificing less. They are

part of a growing “20 Per Cent Club” of

bosses reducing their salaries by a fifth,

while staff contemplate weeks in

government-backed furlough schemes.

There are other differences. Lop 20

per cent off the median FTSE 100

chief’s salary of £876,000 and he or she

still takes home £60,000 a month

before tax. Chief executives’ pay-cut

pledges are typically time-limited and

their bonus and long-term incentive

plans are mostly intact.

By contrast, UK furlough payments

are capped at £2,500 a month.

Workers are crashing down through

the layers of Abraham Maslow’s

hierarchy of needs towards the lowest

level where they have to focus on

health and shelter. The UK charity

Citizens Advice reported last month

that in the first fortnight of the crisis, it

fielded many requests for information

about flight and hotel cancellations.

Then came a wave of concern about

sick pay, followed by requests for

advice about redundancy and state

benefits, and finally about how to cope

with spiralling debt.

Another psychologist, Frederick

Herzberg, observed that staff were

more likely to grumble when they lost

“hygiene factors” such as a decent

wage and job security, rather than

applaud when they were present. This

crisis is a large-scale test of that

hypothesis, at a time when, for many

workers, good hygiene is more than a

mere metaphor.

It is good to see chief executives

acknowledge the plight of staff. It

makes a change from hearing them

bracket themselves with some

professional footballers, who have been

slow to waive part of their galactically

large wages, even as their clubs are

tossing the minions who clean the

stars’ boots or cook their meals into

furlough.

Xavier Baeten, who studies executive

pay at Belgium’s Vlerick Business

School, says the trend differentiates

this crisis from the financial meltdown

of 2008, when only a minority of

companies cut chief executives’ pay.

Regulators have already stepped in to

warn banks to “exercise extreme

moderation” on bonuses. But Prof

Baeten notes that even companies that

stand to do well during the pandemic

have “a bad feeling” about being seen

to reward executives too lavishly.

For now, though, I have a sense

boards are doing the minimum

necessary to shield themselves from

reputational damage. The real proof of

chief executives’ appetite for sacrifice

and solidarity will come as they emerge

from the acute phase of the pandemic

and consider whether to address the

chronic problems with executive pay.

Some will argue they should be

rewarded if they successfully lead their

companies through the biggest threat

to their survival since the second world

war. Others will point out that in the

same way that lavish remuneration in

good times was a mere fraction of the

value they could create for

shareholders, cutting pay in bad times

would not be enough to stave off

calamity. There are limits, though.

Remuneration committees will have

an important role in curbing

unwarranted or unintended windfalls.

Pay structures at most companies need

simplifying. In a crisis, nobody really

cares what the intricate inner workings

of a watch look like as long as it tells

the correct time. Incentives themselves

need readjusting. Alex Edmans, an

advocate for paying executives in

restricted stock, argues in his new book

Grow The Piethat reformers should aim

to encourage leaders “to create long-

run value for society, rather than

reduce the level of pay”.

In the UK at least, chief executives’

pay had already plateaued before this

crisis. But afterwards, remuneration

will again be a lightning rod for public

and political discontent. My hunch,

and hope, is that this time chief

executives will recognise how fragile

trust in business is. By converting early

goodwill gestures into permanent pay

reform, they can work to shore it up.

[email protected]

After the

coronavirus crisis,

remuneration

will again be a

lightning rod

for public and

political discontent

CEOs must

turn their pay

gestures into

real reform

Andrew Hill

Onmanagement

‘

M

arie Kondo is immacu-

late. Tidy hair, pristine

cream jumper, lit by the

Los Angeles sun stream-

ing through a huge glass

window. Behind, a light breeze ripples

throughtheleavesofaverdanttree.

By contrast, I am surrounded by teen-

age posters and Harry Potter parapher-

nalia, talking via videoconference from

mystepdaughter’sbedroom.

The 35-year-old tidying guru is diplo-

matic. “It’s your home and personal

space,” she says through a translator,

though suggests I might use the corona-

virus lockdown period to try her Kon-

Mariorganisationmethod.Thisencour-

ages people not to tidy room by room,

which ends up shuffling things around.

Instead, we should organise by category

— books, toiletries, sentimental keep-

sakes — and only keep those items that

sparkjoy.

“I do have an inkling that it’s a time

peoplewillwanttotidytheirhome,”she

says. “If you feel that burgeoning feel-

ing,youshoulddoit.”

Ms Kondo came to worldwide atten-

tion in 2011 with her bookThe Life-

Changing Magic of Tidying Up,drawingon

anorganisingobsessionwhichstartedat

school and later became her career. Last

yearshebecameaTVstarwiththeNetf-

lix reality show,Tidying Up With Marie

Kondo, helping people organise their

homes, to be followed next year with

Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo.

The method of tidying is rooted in

Shintospiritualism.Tidyingandfinding

objects that spark joy might be better

seen not as decluttering and minimalist

interior styling but as a form of mindful

meditation.

Restoring order to your job

Now the Japanese tidying guru has

turned her attention to the matter of

work, in her new book, called, unsur-

prisingly,Joy at Work, co-authored with

organisational psychologist and profes-

sor of management at Rice University,

ScottSonenshein.

“Are you asking yourself, is this all

life’s about?” they write in the book,

“Just checking things off a to-do list?

Isn’t there some way to restore order to

my job, my career, my life?” The solu-

tion?Tidyup,ofcourse.

“I advise beginning with small steps,”

Ms Kondo tells me via videoconference.

“Eventidyingtheenvironmentyou’rein

helpsagreatdeal.”

Thisisnotjustabouttidyingthephys-

ical workspace. But about digital data,

organising contacts, setting priorities as

well as the inevitable: how to spark joy

inyourcareer.

As coronavirus spreads across the

world, wreaking havoc on the global

economy and people’s jobs, this seems

an unfortunate time to ask people to

find joy in work. Most will count them-

selves lucky to hold on to their jobs, and

manyareriskingtheirhealthtowork.

Prof Sonenshein, who I speak to sepa-

rately, insists that the book is still rele-

vant. “People are trying to get work

done when they don’t know the future,

and also at the same time combining

work with kids at home. People are fac-

ing unprecedented demands. So we

need to strip down to the work we need

todo,getthemeetingsoutofwork.”

But he also points out that a time of

such upheaval is a clarifying moment.

“As difficult as times are now it doesn’t

meanthatwecan’tenjoytheworkwedo

have.” Crises are a time when people

reflect on their lives, he says, and it

encourages them to think about what

they really “want to do on this planet.

People work on autopilot. It’s a time to

askwhetherworkisbringingjoy.People

will drop a lot of initiatives that they fill

their time with and reset what they

want to do in their work and lives more

broadly.”

Finding meaning in your work

Joy at work is essentially about finding

meaning in it. “Two people won’t find

joy in the same thing. It’s a sense of a

pleasure that you get from doing the

work that you’re doing. You have to step

back and ask yourself honestly what

you want to value [and] personal goals.

When you hit them, you get personal

joy.” It is important as people are in cri-

sis mode and unable to see each other

face to face to express appreciation to a

colleague,ProfSonensheinsays.

Before he agreed to work with Ms

Kondo, he wanted to sample her meth-

ods. “I decided to tidy my office. I had

400-500 books. I threw all of my books

on the office floor and picked up each

one and thought, did it spark joy? I

threw away about half of them. I have

the most immaculate office. The trans-

formationisunbelievable.Iamsomuch

more focused. I feel more in control of

myworknow.”Itgoesbeyondthephysi-

calspace,hesays.

“Tidying time is very important.

These are powerful ways of taking con-

trol of our life. Part of this is about expe-

riencing joy but another gift is taking

control of an environment that we don’t

feelwehavecontrolover.”

Focus is hard for those who are in cri-

sis mode, I say, while also trying to jug-

gle caring responsibilities. “You need to

focus on the time you are actually going

to work,” says Prof Sonenshein. “It’s

reallyeasytogetdisoriented.Inthetime

that you aren’t working you need to

focusonthat.”

Ms Kondo says that in her own case,

she and her husband — the co-founder

and chief executive of her company,

KonMari Media — talk at the beginning

of every day and discuss their priorities,

and map out times they need to be in

meetings and when they can be availa-

ble for their two children, aged three

andfour.

Family demands

There are “natural tensions in balanc-

ing” the demands of children and part-

ners at home, says Prof Sonenshein.

“This is a negotiation of your time and

deliverables, so start by being clear on

what a positive outcome looks like for

everyone.”Heencouragespeopletotalk

totheirbossandteams.“Letthemknow

what you are balancing and ask for their

support and feedback on what’s essen-

tial in a crisis, and what can wait. Get

clear on what parts of your job are time

bound, and how much flexibility you

haveforwhenyourworkwillgetdone.”

Time shaved off commutes and the

school run will help. If parents talk to

children who are old enough to under-

stand, they might volunteer to become

“goodhelpers”.

Prof Sonenshein’s own offspring are

12 and seven. “We asked our kids to

help develop a schedule for learning so

we had some buy-in from them. We

decided that we care most about active

learning and less about curriculum, so

during blocked-time for subjects, we let

them explore what they are intrinsi-

cally interested in. This lets us get some

workdone,whiletheydolearning.”

Marie Kondo is back: even in

lockdown, our work can ‘spark joy’

The tidying guru is

advising home workers to

declutter, de-stress and

find new meaning in our

jobs. ByEmma Jacobs

Restoring order:

Marie Kondo

says it is best to

start with small

steps. It is not

just about

tidying your

office, but

setting priorities

Andy Kropa/Invision/AP

Uncertain

times

‘People are facing

unprecedented demands.

So we need to strip down

to the work we need to do’

Working Lives

This week’s problem

I have been driving a cab for

26 years and now want to

stop and study, and learn new

skills. In the short-term I am

doing some IT courses so I

can get a new job quickly. But

in the long term, I want to

study chemistry and be a

chemist for a pharmaceutical

company. By the time I

complete my degree I will be

60. Would I be able to get a
    job?Male 50s

Jonathan’s answer

After 26 years in the same job,

you have clearly got a

determination to change

direction and move to a more

demanding role. Driving a taxi

you will have learnt patience,

an ability to cope under

pressure, an affinity with

other people, and to drive

efficiently.

What is motivating this

apparent urgency of change?

Perhaps it is some

combination of becoming

conscious of your age and

feeling that if you are to

change, it better be now, or

maybe you believe you can

achieve in other ways, or that

you want to make a different

contribution to society.

In the current pandemic, it

is clear which jobs are vital for

our very survival.

Governments’ lists of jobs in

critical sectors reflect

Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy

of needs, from his seminal

paper of 1943, “A Theory of

Human Motivation”. He

proposed five layers, each of

which humans seek to fulfil

before being able to move to

the next; in ascending order

of importance they are:

physiological, safety,

love/belonging, esteem, and

self-actualisation.

The lowest two layers

include food, heat, health and

wellbeing, and societies

across the world have

recently prioritised these as of

highest value. One side-effect

of current circumstances is

that more people may, like

you, question their current

role(s) or are taking on

additional roles and may seek

to change to something more

meaningful for them and

society.

Desire to change course, at

whatever age, with somewhat

of a leap into the unknown, is

commendable and brave. As

President John F Kennedy

said: “Efforts and courage are

not enough without purpose

and direction.” Try to define

your underlying purpose for

IT training, (beyond the

practical reason that it can be

done from home), or for

working in a pharmaceutical

company.

There is no doubt that your

age will make this more

challenging as employers may

feel that you’d only have a few

years to contribute.

Overcome this by perhaps

choosing a career that is

going to be in high demand

and short supply, maybe even

building on your current work

and skills.

You could, for example,

consider becoming a

paramedic — training can be

just two-four years, there will

be no shortage of work, and

you have some of the skills

already: calm in stressful

situations, confident and

reassuring, resilient in dealing

with other people’s emotions,

and able to work alone.

You will probably also have

excellent driving skills and

local knowledge to get you

where you’re needed quickly.

Readers’ advice

If you are only going to be

around, and/or productive for

a few years, it is not worth it.

That is doubly true if you

don’t have any relevant work

experience in the field.

Skeptic

Yeah, why not? Don’t expect

great salaries though, after

your studies you will need

three to five years to start to

add value to apply for better

jobs. But the journey is

worthy. I would do it.RGJ

Maybe you could study

chemistry and do other things

with it. As a cab driver you

must be a terrific

communicator. Classes about

science, pharma and

chemistry for people so they

know which medicine they are

actually taking and why?

Target aged care homes,

pharmacy talks... it will be

brilliant for your brain to

study a new subject.GDH

The next problem

I work within the technology

function of a financial services

firm and I am beginning to be

considered for roles at the

next level. I want to develop

new skills and stand out, but I

am not sure I can afford an

MBA, or justify the cost and

time out of work. Are there

any alternatives (academic or

otherwise) that will help me

progress?Male 30s

Jonathan Black is director

of the Careers Service at

the University of Oxford.

Every fortnight he answers

your questions on personal

and career development

and working life. Do you

have a question for

Jonathan? Email him at

[email protected]

Dear Jonathan

YOUR QUESTION FOR OUR EXPERT — AND READERS’ ADVICE

If I qualify

as a chemist

at 60, could

I get a job?

Set daily goals for yourself in the

categories of mind, body and soul. Mind

could mean making a list of your most

critical functions at work; body could

mean taking a walk while talking to a

colleague on the phone; and soul could

mean saying thank you to someone

supporting your work.

Practise gratitude.Focus on what you

are thankful for. Be thankful for being

healthy and the opportunity to help

during the crisis.

Make human connection.This is

important to our wellbeing. Hop on

conference calls a few minutes before the

start time and chat with whoever joins

early. Ask colleagues how they are doing

“today”, given how our moods fluctuate.

Add a daily joy. Do something that no

matter how the rest of your day goes,

you have something joyful to look

forward to. A call to someone you care

for deeply, or even a piece of chocolate.

Positive meaning. Psychologists find

that the brain pays more attention to bad

news. End the day by identifying one

thing you did that made a positive

impact on someone.

Tips on

how to find

joy at work

APRIL 6 2020 Section:Features Time: 5/4/2020 - 16: 05 User: nicola.davison Page Name: CAREERS1, Part,Page,Edition: USA, 12, 1