Thinkers & Ideas cover image

Thinkers & Ideas

The Case for Good Jobs with Zeynep Ton

Jun 7, 2023
28:44

In her new book The Case for Good Jobs, Zeynep Ton explains why creating good jobs, particularly for frontline workers, will help companies thrive.

Ton, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and president and co-founder of the Good Jobs Institute, has long been an advocate of investing in employees. Traditional bad jobs systems—characterized by low pay, high turnover, and poor operational execution—harm customer satisfaction and undermine a company’s ability to differentiate, innovate, and adapt. In a good jobs system, she explains, leaders unlock a virtuous cycle of employee engagement, which improves operational performance and will ultimately benefit employees, customers, and shareholders.

Together with Martin Reeves, Chairman of the BCG Henderson Institute, Ton discusses various aspects of the good jobs system—how it works, how to implement it, how to measure the value of good jobs, and what good jobs mean in an age in which labor is under threat of substitution by AI.

Key topics discussed: 

01:06 | The business value of good jobs

03:54 | What makes the good jobs system work?

12:21 | Data and metrics

17:10 | AI and labor substitution

20:29 | Good jobs beyond the frontline

24:48 | How to implement the good jobs system

Get the Snipd
podcast app

Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
App store bannerPlay store banner

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode

Save any
moment

Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways

Share
& Export

Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more

AI-powered
podcast player

Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features

Discover
highlights

Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode