When bosses walk in employees’ shoes
It is hard for managers to understand what life is like for staff. But not impossible
Any manager worth their salt knows the value of spending time “walking in their customers’ shoes”. There are many ways to do it. You can observe customers in their natural habitat. Pernod Ricard’s boss recently told Bloomberg, a news service, about his habit of bar-hopping in order to see what people want to drink. Such research is a lot less fun if your company makes soap dispensers for public toilets but the same principle applies.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Walking in employees’ shoes”
Business
October 22nd 2022From the October 22nd 2022 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
How Trump’s tariffs could crush American carmakers
They must hope the levies do not endure
The Economist’s office agony uncle is back
Another bulging postbag for Max Flannel

The smiling new face of German big business
From Allianz to Zalando, pedlars of services are outdoing industrial firms at home—and foreign rivals abroad
Airbus has not taken full advantage of Boeing’s weakness
That could leave a gap for other planemakers to fill
The business of second-hand clothing is booming
Can it be profitable, too?
Zyn is giving investors a buzz—for now
Nicotine pouches are growing fast