MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Make Better Allies of Your Workforce

Amid economic uncertainty, supply chain restructuring, and a new wave of automation, businesses that once engaged in extensive hiring now face significant layoffs. Many companies are rolling back flexible work arrangements prompted by the pandemic.1 Meanwhile, employees increasingly want to see their own values and priorities represented in how their companies operate.2 And since the pandemic, many are redrawing the boundaries between work and their personal lives to protect their own well-being.

These trends have intensified tensions between American workers and corporate leaders, leading to a gradual erosion of trust and an increasing strain in their relationships.3 We can see this both directly, in the rise of workforce controversies, such as strikes and other disputes over wages, working conditions, diversity, equal opportunity, health, and safety; and indirectly, through employee disengagement.

About the Author

Ayse Karaevli is chair of corporate management and change, and Serden Özcan is chair of innovation and corporate transformation, at WHU—Otto Beisheim School of Management.

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