Plumbers, carpenters, builders, and engineers are in short supply. What will it take to meet the demand for these skills in the United States and globally? In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock join host Lucia Rahilly to discuss how to attract—and keep—people in these roles and drive productivity. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

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Narcissism. Overconfidence. Low EQ. Why do we persist in selecting for leadership traits that hamper organizational progress—and leave the right potential leaders in the wrong roles?  In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, author of Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It) (Harvard Business Review Press, March 2019), joins McKinsey talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, as well as global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss why the traits that propel us to the top seem to diverge so widely from those that make us great leaders—as well as how to choose stronger, more successful, and more diverse candidates for leadership roles.

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Yes, organizational health still drives long-term performance—but the way leaders measure and diagnose health should change, new research shows.  McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly to discuss McKinsey’s recently updated Organizational Health Index: how it works, what has changed, and why it’s still among the best predictors of whether your company will thrive over the long term.

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Empathy: we all aspire to it, but does it really make a performance difference in the workplace? Definitely, according to Jamil Zaki, a research psychologist at Stanford University and author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World (Crown, June 2019). In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Jamil joins McKinsey talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to make the case for investing in empathic behavior—for reasons including higher productivity, a stronger workplace culture, and better organizational health—as well as to discuss how to go about cultivating kindness at work.

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As the impetus of New Year’s resolutions starts to fade, the year’s real work begins. What
can the dizzying pace of change in 2023 teach us about what’s next? Join McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, in conversation with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, as they speak about the trends that shaped last year’s talent landscape—and those poised to redefine its contours in 2024.

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‘Humans in the loop’: It’s the angst-ameliorating mantra for the new age of generative AI. But what does it really mean? In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Stanford University professor Melissa Valentine joins McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and Brooke Weddle, along with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss human-centered artificial intelligence: what it is, how it improves performance, and how it can help shift skittish employees’ mindsets from “ugh” to “wow.”

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With the rise of more technical roles across industries and sectors, and a shortage of people to fill them, skills-based hiring could help organizations access new talent pools. McKinsey partners Bryan Hancock and new co-host Brooke Weddle join global editorial director Lucia Rahilly in conversation.

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Most of us don’t exactly dream about becoming a middle manager. But in fact, middle managers play a pivotal role in organizational success, according to the new book  Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Keys to the Future of Work (Harvard Business Review Press, July 2023). On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, authors Emily Field, Bryan Hancock, and Bill Schaninger talk with global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about the benefits the best managers can bring—and about how to rethink middle management roles for maximum ROI.

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Look around. If you’re like many of us, your workplace comprises members of four, possibly even five, generations—and attention to age-based differences is mounting. On this episode of the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast, talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Bill Schaninger talk to global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about new research on generational preferences at work: what’s myth, what matters, and how to manage the new multigenerational team.

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Generative AI: it’s powerful. It’s accessible. And it’s poised to change the way we work. On this episode of the McKinsey Talks Talent podcast, talent leaders Bryan Hancock and Bill Schaninger talk with McKinsey Technology Council chair Lareina Yee and global editorial director Lucia Rahilly about the promise and pitfalls of using gen AI in HR—from recruiting to performance management to chatbot-enabled professional growth. 

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