“Fewer bosses, fewer rules.”
No, this isn’t a tagline to the latest workplace comedy coming to a theater near you. Instead, according to a recent article from The Wall Street Journal, it’s a foundation of pharmaceutical company Bayer’s new management playbook.
“The plan’s grand novelty,” writes the WSJ, “is CEO Bill Anderson’s [new] worker deployment scheme: Employees from various departments will be recruited to teams that decide on projects and work together for 90 days. Then, workers regroup in different configurations for their next undertaking.”
Bill developed this plan after hearing — and experiencing himself — a common complaint: It can often take too long at a large company like Bayer to get anything done. “Launching a new product takes years instead of months,” explains the WSJ. “Disputes between departments take too long to resolve. Bill learned that company rules and procedures fill 1,362 pages: ‘Longer than War and Peace,’ he said, ‘and a lot less exciting.’”
Bill believes his new playbook may help the company move faster, accelerate innovation, and shift decision-making and prioritization from managers to workers doing, well, the actual work. In other words: “Fewer bosses, fewer rules.”
To find out more about Bayer’s new management playbook — including how it puts skills front and center — be sure to check out the top spot on our list below of must-read articles for talent professionals. And further down our list, you can also learn why return-to-office mandates may cost organizations their best performers; why working parents are still feeling the squeeze; and which companies are leading the charge when it comes to innovation.
Here are the must-read articles from this week:
1. One CEO’s Radical Fix for Corporate Troubles: Purge the Bosses (The Wall Street Journal)
2. A Guide to Career Development Resources (The Edge of Work)
3. How to Use AI to Review Resumes and Reduce Bias (Glen Cathey on LinkedIn)
4. Return-to-Office Mandates: How to Lose Your Best Performers (MIT Sloan Management Review)
5. Headspace’s 2024 Workforce State of Mind Report (Russell Glass on LinkedIn)
6. U.S. Salaries Are Surging for Fully In-Office Jobs (BBC)
7. 5 Ways to Promote Your Employer Brand on LinkedIn (LinkedIn Talent Blog)
8. Why It’s Essential to Understand What Talent Thinks About You as an Employer (Peter Töpler on LinkedIn)
9. Working Parents Underwater, Narcissistic Colleagues, Turnover Costs (Worklife’s 5 Things to Know)
10. The World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024 (Fast Company)
Here is the must-listen podcast:
Surprising Results from the World Happiness Report: What It Means for You (The Josh Bersin Company)
