B|L Research Note: Basic is the new Black
Context, signals and editorial directions for issue#2 (out Feb '24)
This is a research note exploring some of the thinking shaping issue #2.
It contains background information, expanded thinking and footnotes and will be updated and revised as the magazine deadline closes in.
These research notes can read more pretentious than the magazine article as they are the work to get the steak on a plate, not the steak on the plate.
When we worry, when we try to get an adequate intellectual grasp on the mess we see in the world, we almost instinctively streamline, focus and seek for anything to increase our literal sense of control so we sooth and tell ourselves that all is well1.
Whether it’s the above newly launched Toyota Basic Pick Up2, the US military going back to recruitment basics3 , the compulsion to cope with and control uncertainty seems universal.
In a business setting this can manifest itself by us moving down Maslow’s Hierarchy. our needs become basic and visible4.
From a HR/ESG/EDI strategy point of view, the move down Maslow’s hierarchy could present an opportunity to be of value (again) in the eyes of employees.
In an out-of-control world, control and stability feel like the right place for many employees to focus their energy on. The very things that have create the biggest credibility corporations have in the eyes of employees.5
C-suite → Narrative + Conditions
Directors → Strategy
Managers → Tactics
Employees → Execution
The trap for [people] leaders in unstable times is to act like humans [?] and move down the responsibility stack to get a sense to control [aka micro manage], instead of creating conditions for employees to experience those things.
But if they can resist the temptation to reduce personal anxiety by focusing on the “Fog of A.I” + prestigious causes6 they might see many ways to be of practical value and get/keep their seat at the CEO/COO/CFO table.
Narrative
The biggest ‘rights wars’ were fought around civil & workers rights with big looming “obvious” enemies that rallied many factions around issues.
What staples of HR/EDI that resonate from top to bottom (for various reasons), can we revisit with fresh ambition & energy?
PAYGAP
The gender pay gap has narrowed a mere 2% 7over the last twenty years and the statistics for minorities are even more discouraging.
But while eyes have been on many other prizes, in a tight economy expect this issue to be front and centre again from a cost cutting & attraction/retention p.o.v.8 Leading that conversation should not be CFO, but CHRO.