Making good decisions

Good judgment is the ability to make well-informed decisions after considering all the facts. It comes into play when there’s not a clear or right answer in sight, and requires you to draw on your experience and knowledge. As a new manager, how can you develop this skill? Here’s a tip: When making big decisions, use a combination of data and intuition. Depending on the nature of the decision and resources available, you may want to look at revenue, costs, customer data, market trends, or other data to help you analyse a situation, form an opinion, or test a hypothesis. Make sure the data is high-quality: accurate, complete, reliable, timely, and fit for its purpose. Remember also that data analysis alone will not make a decision right or wrong. Research shows the importance of intuition — or your ability to understand something instinctively rather than by conscious learning — in making decisions. Intuition can help you see patterns in data. Your emotions, such as a feeling of discomfort, might be a clue that something doesn’t add up or that you need further input.

(Adapted from “How To Develop Good Judgment As A New Manager,” by Hanna Hart, published by HBR Ascend)

Worries about being obsolete

About 22pc of workers say they’re worried their job will become obsolete because of technology, up from 15pc in 2021. And these fears aren’t unfounded: Gallup’s latest research finds that 72pc of Fortune 500 chief human resource officers foresee AI replacing jobs in their organisation in the next three years. Fears about AI are driven not only by the threat of losing one’s job, but also the uncertainty of whether they will have the skills they need to succeed in the AI era. Less than half of employees (47pc) in the US strongly agree they have the skills they need to be exceptional at their current job. And with only 2pc of CHROs strongly agreeing their upskilling efforts are developing the skills their employees need for the future, workers are hungry for proactive leadership and training. However, this doesn’t mean employees are resistant to change. On the contrary: 48pc of American workers say they would switch to a new job if it offered them skills training opportunities.

(Adapted from “No More Fear Of Being Obsolete: Upskilling And The AI Revolution,” by Rachael Yi, published on February 2, 2024, by Gallup)

War in Gaza hits McDonald’s

McDonald’s has reported weaker than expected same-store sales in its fourth quarter, as the fast-food chain became the latest company to warn that boycotts related to the war in Gaza have hurt its business. Within the division covering the more than 80 markets internationally where McDonald’s has licensed its franchising rights, same-store sales edged up only 0.7pc in the period, sharply missing analyst expectations for an increase of 5pc. McDonald’s primarily blamed this on a drop in demand at its restaurants in the Middle East as well as those in predominantly Muslim countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. ‘We do not expect to see meaningful improvement until there is a resolution in the Middle East,’ chief executive Chris Kempczinski said on an investor call.

(Adapted from “Mcdonald’s Says Boycotts Over Israel-Hamas War Have Hurt Sales,” by Alexandra White, published on February 5, 2024, by the Financial Times)

Tiktok layoffs

Videos of disastrous layoffs accumulating on TikTok are prompting companies to seek help in delivering the bad news. More people are sharing intimate details and recordings from workplace conversations that used to transpire behind closed doors. TikToks about getting laid off are now routinely dissected in public — from CEOs’ mea culpa memos to awkwardly timed announcements and the precise intonation used by human resources managers. Fear of social-media backlash has executives, especially from smaller tech firms that don’t have big HR operations, looking for advice on how to lay people off without it blowing up in their faces. While the overall jobs market data remains robust, big job cuts are nonetheless showing up in a slew of industries to start the year. A mismanaged layoff can damage a company’s reputation and its recruiting.

(Adapted from “Employers Are Seeking Help When Firing Workers So They Can Avoid Getting Shamed On Tiktok,” by Charlotte Hampton and Jo Constantz,, published on February 10 by Bloomberg)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, February 12th, 2024