How the right operating model can close your performance gap

More from McKinsey Talks Talent

1. 

   10 Dec 2025 · 12 min

   What leaders can learn from Homeboy Industries

   In the US, many companies still struggle to fill essential roles. What if part of the solution involves talent that has traditionally been overlooked? Take Johanna Carbajal, who spent her adolescence shuttling between juvenile hall, foster care, and the streets before landing in prison at 18. After her release, Johanna made her way to Homeboy Industries, the Los Angeles–based organization founded by Father Greg Boyle to help formerly incarcerated and gang-involved individuals heal, find stability, and build meaningful careers. For Johanna, finding Homeboy was a watershed moment. On…

2. 

   29 Oct 2025 · 25 min

   Building a talent pipeline for the AI era

   AI is ushering in a new era of work, and smart employers are staying ahead of the curve by rethinking how to cultivate the skills their organizations need to thrive. The best leaders realize they won’t be able to do it alone, according to Beth Cobert, president of affiliates and strategic partnerships at Strada Education Foundation. On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Cobert joins McKinsey talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock , along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss the kinds of cross-sector collaborations that help businesses and workers…

3. 

   23 Sep 2025 · 19 min

   Talent wins: the growing business of women’s sports

   On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , McKinsey talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock join Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly for a conversation with Jason Wright, managing partner and head of investments at Project Level and former president of the NFL’s Washington Commanders. Together, they explore how women’s sports is scaling rapidly—and what it takes to build an industry with lasting economic and social impact. See www.mckinsey.com/privacy-policy for privacy information

4. 

   25 Jun 2025 · 26 min

   What the labor market isn’t telling you—yet

   AI is fast transforming work as we’ve known it—and the latest data on jobs doesn’t always reflect the changes underway. “One word sums it up best: ‘uncertainty,’” says Svenja Gudell, chief economist of global employment platform Indeed. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, Svenja joins McKinsey talent leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock , along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to help leaders make sense of the current collision of labor market trends: generative AI, agentic AI, an aging workforce, shifting priorities, and more.…

5. 

   3 Jun 2025 · 35 min

   The future of work is agentic

   Think about your org chart. Now imagine it features both your current colleagues—humans, if you’re like most of us—and AI agents. That’s not science fiction; it’s happening—and it’s happening relatively quickly, according to McKinsey Senior Partner Jorge Amar . In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Jorge joins McKinsey talent leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly to talk about what these AI agents are, how they’re being used, and how leaders can prepare now for the workforce of the…

6. 

   26 Mar 2025 · 24 min

   The surprising state of employee health

   Leaders have long recognized the importance of a healthy workforce to driving economic productivity. But they might be surprised at the value at stake—and at the size of the employee population in less-than-fine fettle. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent, McKinsey talent leaders and Global Leader of the McKinsey Health Institute Lucy Pérez speak with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly about new research on employee health : what it means, its vital link to value, and the steps leaders can take to create workplaces where employees thrive—and competitive advantage…

7. 

   29 Sep 2026 · 33 min

   Leading when change feels threatening

   Leaders love to talk about resistance to change, but, as McKinsey research shows, resistance isn’t the full story. Fear of loss is a huge part of transformation, too, when roles, routines, and relationships are meaningfully redefined. On this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , McKinsey Partner Johanne Lavoie shares her latest research on on how leaders can support their teams through times of strain with Senior Partner Brooke Weddle , Partner Bryan Hancock , and Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly. They discuss why leaders who understand fear, rather than punish it, end up with…

8. 

   26 Aug 2026 · 30 min

   Your AI agents need performance management, too

   Agents: Everybody’s got them. But who’s managing them? And what happens to the human talent working alongside them—and being asked to show up differently as a result? “The rise of AI doesn’t mean we all suddenly devolve our responsibilities for quality control and critical thinking,” says Kate Smaje , McKinsey’s global leader of technology and AI and coauthor of the recent book Rewired . “That’s not the world we live in. There’s a premium on those capabilities now.” In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Smaje joins Senior…

9. 

   31 Jul 2026 · 31 min

   Is the AI productivity story at a turning point?

   "Is my generation doomed?" That’s what one Stanford graduating senior asked Professor Erik Brynjolfsson, economist and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. The professor had seen the data, so he didn’t dismiss the question. But as productivity gains begin to emerge, Brynjolfsson argues that the biggest opportunity lies not in replacing workers but in redesigning work. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Brynjolfsson joins McKinsey leaders Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock , as well as Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, to discuss what’s changing,…

10. 

    29 Apr 2026 · 17 min

    What it takes to build “genius at scale”

    That elusive Eureka moment : Every leader strives for it—but it can’t be forced. And as Harvard Business School Professor Linda Hill argues in her new book Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation (Harvard Business Publishing, March 2026), innovation is less about a flash of insight than about creating the conditions for breakthrough ideas to take hold and scale. In this episode of McKinsey Talks Talent , Hill speaks with McKinsey leaders and talent experts Brooke Weddle and Bryan Hancock , along with Global Editorial Director Lucia Rahilly, about the roles and…

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