The Economist - USA (2020-11-28)

The EconomistNovember 28th 2020 Business 61

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Bartleby Winter is coming

T

ime fora confession. Normally,

Bartleby’s family waits until Decem-

ber before putting up the Christmas

decorations. But this weekend, even

though it is only November, the festive

lights will go up. Furthermore, he has

bought some new (especially gaudy)

decorative items to brighten up the front

of the house.

Your columnist is far from alone.

Some celebrities have already decorated

their Christmas trees; Joan Collins, an

actress, was pictured next to hers on

November 10th. The local coffee shop

and minimarket had dressed in fir by

mid-November. These early seasonal

signals have been triggered by the pos-

sibility of a long and depressing winter,

in which the pandemic will disrupt

traditional celebrations and families

may be kept apart. There is the prospect

of a vaccine but, for most people, not

until the spring.

A recent survey found that 68% of

Britons said the pandemic had adversely

affected their mental health before the

nights started drawing in. In the circum-

stances, many people will be tempted to

put up more Christmas lights just to have

a cheerful sight.

The approach of winter is a problem

for employers and workers alike. When

Western economies endured their first

covid-19 lockdown, it was the spring. The

days were lengthening and people work-

ing from home could take a break from

their labours and go for a stroll in the

local park. Many could take their laptops

and work in the garden (if they were

lucky enough to have a backyard, and a

job that could be done remotely).

But the second wave of the disease has

hit as days get both colder and shorter.

Workers are stuck inside for most of the

day; in many countries, restaurants and

bars are shut. The idea of working from

home seems less inviting when there is

little scope for taking a break.

To counter the seasonal gloom, hu-

mans have long celebrated the winter

solstice, the moment when the days start

getting longer again. This helps explain

why even atheists are enthusiastic partici-

pants in Christmas festivities.

The fact that the solstice is followed by

the start of a new year only adds to the

need to mark the event in some way. In

Christian countries these celebrations are

a part of people’s working lives. At the

minimum, this means lights and dec-

orations in the office, or a Christmas tree

in reception. Often, it will involve a lunch,

after-work drinks or a party for staff, where

they can relax and reflect on the year’s

efforts. The effect is to bolster team spirit.

Look back to the suggestions made by

management consultants about improv-

ing winter morale in previous years and it

is striking how many of them involve

collective activities: ice-skating, fitness

classes, potluck lunches and the like.

Social distancing now rules out pretty

much all these distractions.

Online collective activities are a

substitute, but not a great one. When the

pandemic is over, few people will want to

maintain the tradition of “Zoom drinks”.

Quizzes are a potential substitute, al-

though they do not appeal to everyone.

Some will be embarrassed if they do not

know the state capital of South Carolina

or the losing side in the last fifaWorld

Cup final.

The other way companies can boost

morale at the year end is with an annual

bonus. But the economic damage caused

by the pandemic has crimped many

businesses’ ability to offer this perk; they

are struggling hard enough just to keep

everyone in their jobs.

That leaves another hardy perennial.

Around this time chief executives send

out a message to all staff in an attempt to

rally the troops by recounting the suc-

cesses of the previous year. These always

remind Bartleby of the scene in the bbc

sitcom “Are You Being Served?”, when a

department store’s elderly owner tells

his shop assistants “You’ve all done very

well”, before tottering away on the arm of

his nurse. It is hard to feel motivated by

such bland, indiscriminate praise.

So this year managers need to do a

better job. A personal message (or a

phone call) to each staff member in their

team is a good start. The conversation

should contain some praise that is spe-

cific to the individual, as well as a check

on how the colleagues are feeling at a

difficult time. This will be time-consum-

ing—and all the more appreciated for it.

The art of management is not merely

about hitting a budget.

If this doesn’t happen at your com-

pany, never mind. Praise from a boss is

priceless. For everything else, there is

always a display of luminous reindeer.

Morale will be hard to maintain this year

Recruiters remind clients that board-

rooms and c-suites are not overly blessed

with other ethnic minorities, lgbtq people

or women. They also highlight other

underrepresented groups, such as veter-

ans, migrants and refugees, the “differently

abled” and the all-encompassing “cogni-

tively diverse” (consultant-speak for peo-

ple who think differently).

The diversity industry has expanded be-

yond finding new hires. Consultancies’

and recruiters’ services include training

staff on bias, advice for diversifying supply

chains and coaching senior executives on

how to run more inclusive firms. Some of-

fer broad-ranging strategies for organisa-

tional and managerial changes. As one re-

cruiter puts it, “hiring can be a quick fix,

but you can’t just add a couple of diverse

fish. You actually need to change the water

in the pond.”

Demand for such services is unlikely to

abate any time soon. A survey by Edelman,

a public-relations firm, conducted soon

after news of Floyd’s death, found that 60%

of respondents said a brand’s reaction to

the protests “will influence whether I buy

or boycott them in the future”. Younger

customers and employees are likelier to

hold strong views: 53% of those aged 18-34

said they would not work for a firm that

failed to speak out during the protests,

compared with 42% for all ages.

The change is driven by the drive and

passion of younger employees, says Pame-

la Warren, who in July was appointed co-

leader of the dei council at Egon Zehnder, a

big executive-search firm. As more of them

enter the workforce, pressure on employ-

ers to be more representative of the popu-

lation will grow—and with it demand for

the diversity industry’s services. 7