Roundtable Brief #4: Navigating Today’s Economic and Business Landscape
The Business Collaborative for Brain Health (BCBH) is a collaborative of private sector partners developing innovative solutions to cognitive health throughout the lifespan. The Collaborative hosts regular roundtables to learn from experts and stakeholders and refine the work.
The October 2023 Roundtable focused on identifying key challenges and opportunities in today’s economic and business landscape. Speakers included David Langdon, Deputy Director of Policy and Strategic Planning at the U.S. Department of Commerce; Steven Noeldner, PhD, Partner and Senior Consultant at Mercer; Anthony Darcovich, Consultant at McKinsey and Company; William (Bill) Heisel, Executive Director at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation; Andrew Nevins, PhD, Research Professor and Inaugural Director of the Brainomics Venture at the University of Texas at Dallas; and Theo Edmonds, Culture Futurist™ and Directing co-founder of University of Colorado Denver’s Imaginator Academy.
George Vradenburg, Co-Founder and Chairman of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s opened the discussion by recognizing the important work that the Department of Commerce is leading in the midst of economic and security challenges around the world. He highlighted the department’s critical role in setting strategic policy priorities and providing policy counsel to ensure equitable growth and opportunity for all. He emphasized that although brain health is traditionally seen as a healthcare issue, it is also an economic and security issue. Human capital is the foundation of our nation's ability to compete and thrive globally, and our brains are the command center. Neglecting brain health can have negative consequences on overall well-being, national competitiveness, and national security.
Creating Economic Growth and Opportunities for all Communities
David Langdon with the Department of Commerce provided a brief overview of the role of the department, which is centered on creating economic growth and opportunities for all communities. Achieving this means developing a strong workforce of all ages, one that represents the entire country. The Biden Administration is very cognizant of benefiting communities not only in a geographic sense, but also in a demographic sense, including keeping people in the workforce and improving employee retention. The department strives for two-way communication with the business community, communicating to the business community around administration priorities and also striving to be a place for the business community to share its concerns.
Mr. Langdon outlined a number of large investments the administration is making to help fuel economic growth around the nation. For example, the "Invest in America" initiative includes $120 billion in programs that aim to bring affordable broadband across the country and equip people to use it through digital equity training programs. Another $50 billion investment aims to rebuild and revitalize semiconductor manufacturing, and $500 million is being invested in 31 technology hubs to help communities be globally competitive. These investments also support certain key manufacturing technologies over the next decade, including biopharma and pharmaceutical areas as well the bio economy sectors, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI).
Mr. Langdon noted, however, that building these industries requires a strong labor market, and right now the market is tight. The labor market continues to grow, with around 300,000 new jobs per month. Unemployment rates are at 3.8%, and labor force participation is increasing, including among older populations. The number of Americans 65 and older who are part of the labor force has rebounded to above pre-pandemic levels for both women and men. However, businesses struggle to find workers and candidates.
The Department of Commerce has been a major voice in federal workforce policy for several administrations, investing hundreds of million dollars in key industries like construction and manufacturing. It promotes and funds mechanisms that bring industry together to identify common skills needed in local areas or regions, develop training programs, and provide support services to prepare people for jobs that businesses are committed to fill.
Still, while we have a very low unemployment rate, and labor force participation is increasing, there remain populations in the margins. Labor participation rates are still very low among minority groups, women, and older populations. We must also focus on job quality—that is, not just connecting people to jobs but also ensuring jobs are good.
To promote more equitable employment, the Department of Commerce aims to diversify the workforce through investments targeting marginalized populations such as minority groups, women, older populations, disabled veterans, returning citizens, and those formerly incarcerated. To ensure jobs are good, the Commerce Department, together with the Department of Labor, has developed a set of “good jobs principles[i],” outlining elements of a good job from both an employer and a worker perspective. A toolkit[ii] has been created to complement these principles, focusing on recruitment, hiring, pay, benefits, diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, empowerment, and representation to elevate worker voice. Job security and working conditions are crucial factors in job quality, as they provide the security of knowing that you will continue to receive a paycheck. Organizational culture, skills, and career advancement also play a role in job retention. Overall, understanding job quality from a broader perspective is crucial for retaining and attracting employees.
George Vradenburg thanked the Deputy Director for his remarks and mentioned that a brain health best practice scorecard for employers is under development by the Business Collaborative for Brain Health and HERO Health. Scores can be associated with business performance and financial performance in the marketplace. As this work yields insights, the Business Collaborative will report back and see how it connects with what Commerce has identified as the drivers of successful workforce development. One of the top three areas of focus for brain health at the National Institutes of Health are cognitive training tools, where the potential exists to intervene and increase brain performance in a wide variety of different domains. So much brain health research and practice relate to what the Department of Commerce is trying to do; we in this Business Collaborative look forward to working with you.
The Changing Labor Market: Post COVID Workforce Challenges
Mercer, a human resource consulting firm, conducts pulse surveys throughout the year to assess the impact of COVID-19 on employee productivity. Dr. Steven Noeldner, Partner and Senior Consultant, shared the results of Mercer’s most recent survey, conducted from May to July 2023. The survey reached more than 300 employers and asked about their current productivity levels. Among companies that responded, one-third said productivity has increased post COVID, while nearly two-thirds said productivity is consistent with pre-COVID levels. The survey also asked about the number of days employees are expected to be in the office. About 20% of companies reported that they have increased, or are considering increasing, the number of days they expect employees to work in-office.
These productivity and remote work data are important because work is a determinant of health. Factors that impact health include whether or not individuals feel empowered at work—whether they feel they have agency and control over their work, have psychological safety in the workplace, and can be their best, authentic self when they come to work. The workplace has an impact on all aspects of human health—mental health, physical health, and brain health—which is why this conversation about what is happening in the office world or work trends is important. These factors also affect an employer's ability to recruit and retain employees.
Mercer data shows that 57% of employers are looking to attract and retain employees by improving talent progression and mobility, and 48% are training managers on workforce development. Managers play a crucial role in the mental health of their workforce and need effective tools and training to deal with the challenge of external forces like wars and health inequity. Moreover, new realities such as AI require employers to reskill and upskill their workforce to give employees the opportunity to stay with their company and advance in their careers, as 38% of employers are focused on doing. Today, it is more important than ever for employers to better articulate their business’s purpose and impact in order to attract and retain employees, and many employers (38% in the survey) are working on this. In addition, organizations must be better prepared to manage the impact of climate change hazards on the business and its workforce. At least 45% of respondents are moderately prepared, 20% are very prepared, and 11% are poorly prepared. In summary, Mercer's survey results highlight the challenges that employers are facing and the importance of understanding and adapting to the changing workplace environment.
The Opportunity for Economic Growth with Improved Brain Health and an Older Workforce
The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is a non–profit-generating entity within the firm McKinsey and Company. MHI believes that over the next decade, humanity could add as many as 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life, which works out to roughly six years per person on average, with substantially more in some countries and populations. MHI’s mission is to catalyze the actions needed across continents, sectors, and communities to realize this possibility. Consultant Anthony Darcovich reported on a recent MHI study on societal participation in the United States. Between 17% and 42% of older Americans want to participate in an activity such as work or volunteerism but are not currently doing so. And those who are participating—independent of activity type—report better perceived health than those who are not.
When this opportunity cost is quantified, McKinsey estimates that the potential exists to increase GDP by up to 7.2% and add up to 8.7 billion national volunteer hours. The survey also explored the reasons why older adults are working and want to work, revealing that while financial reasons are an important motivator, almost half of older adults do so not for financial reasons but for personal fulfillment, health routines, and social connections. Key barriers to employment included a lack of attractive opportunities, difficulty landing a job, and skills mismatches. In summary, Mr. Darcovich said, these data suggest that retaining older adults in the workforce requires creating the types of opportunities that are best suited to what older adults want, and the economic size of the opportunity is substantial.[iii]
Bill Heisel with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) reported on IHME’s work quantifying the negative impacts of poor brain health at all stages of the lifespan, from early cognition all the way through dementia. They are documenting the economic impact in terms of lost work, of caregivers and families losing pay, for example. But it is very interesting and important to identify the inverse, such as the information McKinsey presented. That is to say, what are the positive impacts, including spiritual and social, of returning some of those healthy life years back? It is powerful to see those numbers. In addition to the billions of dollars in lost economic output, consider the billions that could be added back to the economy if we were to adopt some of the approaches with brain health that we have been able to implement in cardiovascular health—and not only in older age groups. When you think about brain health across the lifespan, we are talking about returning so much back to the economy if we optimize brain health. It is a huge opportunity.
Dr. Andrew Nevin, an economist at the Center for Brain Health, spoke about his “Brainomics” work, which focuses on the economics of improved brain health and in particular the economic benefits of brain health interventions. In this way, he hopes to illustrate not just the costs but the impact of the solutions. He made the point that we should be able to focus on brain health without focusing on economics, because it is inherently good for people, for communities, and for the world. But it is possible to document economic return. Unfortunately, many of our current business models are toxic to the brain. Many of the things we do, the multitasking that we do, the excess stress, the way work is designed, the back-to-back meetings we all have, in fact, are harmful to good brain performance. And while we need to fix this, it is also true that prevention is better than trying to fix something when there's a problem. In our in our view, if we want brain healthy people in their 50s and 60s working, connected to their communities, enjoying a flourishing life, they must start thinking about their brain and their 20s, 30s, and 40s. In fact, one of the most successful programs at the Center for Brain Health focuses on helping middle school children establish brain healthy habits, and we think from a life viewpoint, but also from an economic viewpoint, that is going to be the biggest payoff.
What is encouraging about this discussion is that I think there is today a coalescing around not just the neuroscience but also now the economics of healthy brains and the definition of what it means to be healthy. I was very happy to hear Anthony talking about connectedness and the importance of that for older adults. I think we're all heading to the same place, and I think we can have fantastic collaboration to bring these ideas to communities at an individual level and organizational level, but also at a national level. It really resonated with me when George was talking about the geopolitical aspects of brain health because in a competitive world, we would assume that brain health is actually one of the key sources of competitive advantage.
Imaginator Academy’s Theo Edmonds offered a potential reevaluation of human capital, challenging traditional metrics like GDP. The World Economic Forum's 2023 jobs report prioritizes analytical and creative thinking as top job skills, followed closely by self-awareness, resilience, and curiosity. Mr. Edmonds posits that a collaboration among cognitive neuroscientists, industrial and organizational (I/O) psychologists, data scientists, and creatives is key to developing new psychometric frameworks. These frameworks aim to refine existing indicators, like GDP and ROI, to more accurately reflect the balance of cognitive, social, and behavioral brain science within innovation teams. This approach seeks to identify and harness latent creativity within organizations, steering it toward product innovation and workforce well-being enhancement.
He and his colleagues call the concept "social brain capital," and its already gaining traction across five universities, focusing on group-level dynamics and their impact on innovation. This research examines creativity skills and the capacity of groups, organizations, and industries to foster creativity, which, in turn, adds value to the enterprise. Core skill areas like hope, trust, belonging, compassion, awe, curiosity, and eudaimonic and hedonic well-being are not only measurable but also critical in predicting a group's creative potential. Initiatives like Colorado’s Small Business Resilience Index underscore the significance of these factors, which have proven more indicative of small business resilience in recent years than traditional metrics like access to capital.
Mr. Edmonds also highlighted the group’s emerging impact initiative, "Creativity America," aimed at catalyzing American innovation through a renewed focus on wonder. This national initiative acknowledges America's historical feats – from democratic evolution to space exploration, cultural achievements, and entrepreneurial vigor – as manifestations of a collective sense of wonder. Creativity America positions wonder at the heart of organizational development, with the Imaginator Academy spearheading efforts to transform creative thinking at group and organizational levels. This transformation is rooted in human flourishing, self-awareness, and resilience. The strategy underpinning Creativity America encompasses three key elements: scientific rigor, organizational interventions, and storytelling.
Insights and Exploration
The roundtable elicited several insights, ideas, and next steps for exploration. One commenter noted that many of the outputs of beneficial brain health aren’t necessarily connected directly to the economy but are certainly connected to human flourishing. There was a discussion around how to bring some of these ideas to organizations in actionable, measurable ways, and one of the opportunities may be to help employers connect existing training and vendor products in a meaningful way and quantify the outputs better. The Brain Health Scorecard under development will help to do this. Another key insight was that there may be opportunities to build interest through intrinsic motivation, evident in the research. The desire to be engaged in wonder, to be more creative and get more out of life, may help motivate people to do the work the science is suggesting they do for better brain health. Perhaps there is a path that demonstrates the rewards as opposed to the costs of getting people to do things and that meets our human hunger for deeper more intimate social connection. The key question: how can we better use neuroscience to help inform our solutions and ground them not only in what works but in what people are motivated to do?
The Business Collaborative for Brain Health (BCBH) is a collaborative of private sector partners developing innovative solutions to cognitive health throughout the lifespan with a particular interest in our older years. Its mission is to build brain health capital by advancing measurably effective brain health workplaces, communities, and product and service innovations.
[i] https://www.dol.gov/general/good-jobs/principles
[ii] https://www.commerce.gov/work-us/job-quality-toolkit/drivers-job-quality
[iii] MHI Global Healthy Aging Survey, 2023; M. Guerriero, 2019, “The Labor Share of Income Around the World: Evidence from a Panel Dataset”; IHS Markit; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT, “ILO Modelled Estimates and Projections (ILOEST database)” accessed April 25, 2023, https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/; International Monetary Fund, International Financial Statistics; United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022); World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition; World Bank national accounts data; OECD data. National Accounts data files