Good morning.
As the U.S. election heats up, many corporate leaders are backing down from their commitments to so-called “ESG” topics—climate, diversity, speaking out on social issues. They want to avoid being branded a “woke” CEO or getting caught in political crossfire.
But for the best companies, this discussion has never been about politics or adhering to some alphabet mandate. It’s about how you lead a great company in an economy where people are your most important asset and where engaging and inspiring people is the route to business success.
I spent an hour earlier this week with three of the best of this breed, in a webinar Fortune held in partnership with UKG, timed to the release of Fortune’s 27th annual 100 Best Companies to Work For list. (You can find the list here.) Three CEOs ran companies on the list—Hilton (No. 1), Edward Jones (No. 31) and Delta (No. 94). But what I found interesting was that none of them focused on a splashy pay and benefit package, and indeed two of them achieved their success while recovering from the devastating effects of the pandemic.
How did they do it? Some excerpts from the conversation:
“We used to write a lot about the perks. But what we know is that a great workplace is defined by trust—the trust that we have for the people that we work with. We want to be respected. We want to be communicated with in an honest way. We want to be treated in a fair and equitable way. We want to work with people that we enjoy working with and we expect leaders to add people to teams that are going to add to that enjoyment. And we want our work to have special meaning, which means, when we go to work, our personal purpose is somehow fulfilled by the work that we do.”
—Michael Bush, CEO, Great Place to Work (Fortune's partner on the Best Companies list)
“We're in a service industry, and our job is delivering exceptional experiences to our customers all the time…If I want to do that, and I want to do it better than our competitors and deliver that alpha. My team has to be inspired. They have to feel part of something bigger than them. They have to understand what the purpose is and understand how they fit into it and trust it. They have to feel good about it. And when they do feel good about it, they feel empowered. They give more effort, which translates into alpha and delivering better experiences for customers.”
—Chris Nassetta, CEO, Hilton
“Why are we here? Why do we get up every morning? Why do we continue to be resilient in the face of so many things that are changing for our clients and for us as professionals. Well, it's because it really matters. It really matters in the lives of millions and millions of people that we are entrusted with their assets, with their hopes and dreams, with their financial plans. And so that trust, that human connection is very purposeful. “
—Penny Pennington, Managing Partner, Edward Jones
“Trust is foundational, as both Chris and Penny expressed well. It sits at the core of culture. It sits at the core of our business. Our customers trust us with respect to their lives, you know. Every day we put 500,000 people on our planes, and we take the very best care of them to get them safely and comfortably to their destination, and we do it 5,000 flights a day, with over 100,000 employees scattered around the world. Our employees have to know we have their back.”
—Ed Bastian, CEO, Delta.
More news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
