Hello. Welcome to Working It.
The water temperature is 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Celsius), making it the perfect time to swim outdoors. Cold weather makes us euphoric 😍.
Why am I boring you with this? (Q: “How do you know if someone is an outdoor swimmer? A: They will always tell you.”) That’s because swimmers live in seasons, and we’re always aware of the changes. Because I’m immersed in it. I often think about the concept of “wintering,” accepting that cyclical seasonal differences affect us as humans. In the dark months, we may hunker down* and work slower. At least until the Christmas party starts 🤶🏽.
*Rivals certainly livened up my rainy night 😳.
Read the follow-up to the corporate philanthropy crisis we reported on here a few weeks ago. And Dear Jonathan has advice for graduates who don’t know how to find a mentor.
For work-related or freezing swimming questions, please email isabel.berwick@ft.com.
Corporate donations: first good news in a while
Earlier this month I wrote about the decline in corporate giving to charity in the UK. Importantly, donations from FTSE 100 companies have fallen by 34% in the past 10 years, with three in four non-FTSE companies expected to make no donations at all in 2023, research from the Charitable Aid Foundation found. It has become clear. Scrooge emoji, used here. )
We received a great response from our readers to our newsletter, so we would like to follow up on it. I think the only topic that will be of more interest to Working It readers is managing Gen Z staff (oh, that old chestnut 🌰).
Part of the problem may be a mismatch in expectations between businesses and charities. A senior philanthropic leader wrote, “We have noticed not only a decline in giving, but an increasing preference for pro bono donations over cash.” They say that this involvement can sometimes bring useful skills, but that “charity staff are less likely to work because private sector staff often look down on them, as if they are just ‘nice people'”. It may also lead to people feeling like they are being patronized. A new term has become quite common in this field: “Business Splaining” 👀. ”
No one can instantly solve the problem of funding and expectations, but business leaders can take a personal interest in corporate giving, make it a priority, and build long-term relationships with charities. Hopefully, it will definitely make a difference.
Rishi Khosla, co-founder and CEO of digital lender OakNorth, said: I have an interest in business and wanted to continue working at OakNorth. As a bank focused on empowering entrepreneurs, OakNorth is driven by a strong social purpose. So we started contributing very early on, when we hit cash flow break-even (within a year of launch). They then formalized it in 2018 and added 1 percent of team time in 2023. ”
Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs runs the Analyst Impact Fund, an annual global competition for young analysts, where teams are assembled to win prizes (the highest Pitch for a chance to win $250,000 (💰). This is a big deal within the company. More than 700 analysts begin the process each year, and four teams advance to the live finals, where they pitch to CEO David Solomon and company leaders, with an additional 2,500 staff watching via live stream. (No pressure 😰)
This year’s winners pitched to onebillion, a nonprofit organization that develops software that works offline to teach numeracy and literacy skills to students in Africa, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
I used to be unsure about the benefits or the ethics. — I was thinking about a competitive pitch event for charity, but changed my mind after attending a Funding Network event in London. These are live crowdfunding nights. Selected charities will have six minutes to pitch and the audience will have six minutes to ask questions, followed by a live pledge session with experts. Some charities raise more money than others on the night, but all charities are on donor radar for the future, and the atmosphere is supportive and celebratory. It has become.
We don’t know what the future holds for corporate giving, but ideas like Goldman’s pitching contest 🏆 and TFN’s model not only improve staff teamwork and presentation skills, but also make it exciting and persuasive. It becomes something.
In short, the key to increasing philanthropic giving may be a combination of a greater commitment to genuine long-term partnerships with charities and creating programs that energize and engage business staff. . (More ideas are also welcome.)
Want to know more? Impetus’ “venture philanthropy” model, a charitable foundation that supports organizations that work with young people, is an interesting innovation in how pro bono partnerships work.
This week’s Working It Podcast
Are you lucky at work? My colleague Emma Jacobs wrote a hit column on this topic, pointing out that many of us are reluctant to accept the role of privilege in (for example) career success. But there are many things we can do to maximize our chances of getting lucky. In this week’s episode of the podcast, we talk about that with Emma and Tomas Chamorro Premusic, Chief Innovation Officer at Manpower Group. Professor of Business Psychology at UCL and Columbia University. (Neither of my guests were impressed with my habit of asking the stars for luck through the Co-Star app 🔮.)
Dear Jonathan 📩
Problem: “I often hear and read about the importance of finding a mentor 👩🏻🏫 but I’m not sure why it helps or what to do. I don’t feel comfortable reaching out to strangers out of the blue. I’m not progressing, so why would they want to supervise me?”Graduate student, 20s.
Jonathan Black’s advice: Mentors are important friends who can guide, suggest, and challenge you when you ask for their opinion, usually for career decisions.
Mentors are usually outside of your organization, or at least outside of your department. The advice they give will be informed and useful, as it could be helpful if they have insight 🔍 about your industry or organization. The best mentor: The mentee relationship is based on trust and respect. Mentors typically have a few more years of experience in the workplace, so they may have seen the issues their mentee is facing before. You may seek out (or gradually acquire) multiple mentors throughout your career who bring different skills and insights.
When it comes to finding a mentor, these relationships can develop organically without being organized or specifically requested. You might chat with someone in a meeting, another department, or outside your company and ask them a question about a single issue. You can also follow up later and ask if you can discuss other issues. Some of these interchanges run their course and then stop, while others last for years 🗓️.
Some organizations, such as universities, run formal mentoring programs and introduce people to recruited mentors (such as senior members of the organization or alumni). When you sign up for a program like this, the host will try to match you and can answer any questions you may have about how to get started.
It is important that both mentor and mentee understand the limits of support. Mentors usually do not arrange for mentees to find jobs, but they may specify roles and contact information.
Why other people want to help is the same way you would help others who are seeking your advice. Basically, it’s nice to be asked for advice. And when you become a mentor, you’ll have learned what makes a beneficial relationship.
Jonathan Black is Director of Careers Services at the University of Oxford. For any career dilemmas, email dear.jonathan@ft.com. Next week is office therapy.
Top 5 stories from the world of work
Citigroup cuts promotions as it seeks to reform bank: Thousands of bank employees who expected to stay in their current jobs and get more money and better positions are disappointed. Citigroup has put some of these “in-seat” promotions on hold, the FT’s Steven Gandel reports.
Climate Change COP and the Art of Dealing: Pirita Clark attended the COP29 climate change conference and has some tips on the types of negotiation tactics used at these big events. That’s very different from a sales strategy, she writes.
The age of the partial outsider: Being a little outside the mainstream can be an advantage, writes Janan Ganesh, who uses Donald Trump as an example, saying, “New York but not Manhattan, urban but not metropolitan.” , rich but not classy, comes from the construction game.” finance”.
Massive X-odus: Professionals leave Elon Musk’s network: Emma Jacobs speaks to people who used X for work and enjoyed it, but now have jumped to Bluesky or stayed to get through tough times listen. (Includes a bonus quote from Lord Binface, a familiar figure on the British election platform.)
What America Can Learn from ‘Wicked’: One of my favorite FT writers, Patti Waldmeyer, explores the improbable friendship between Glinda and Elphaba in the hit movie and the politics of a fractured America. and found lessons for society. I always make space for that.
One more thing
Author Nick Hornby (Fever Pitch, About a Boy, etc.) publishes “A Fan’s Notes,” a Substack newsletter that covers “music, books, movies, work, soccer, TV, and more.” If you’re like me and like to stay informed by reading recommendations and playlists, this is a treasure trove. Nick recently wrote about Egg and Alice’s unsuccessful 1991 album 24 Years of Hunger. He describes it as a “minor classic,” but he says it can’t be a major classic because “nobody’s ever heard of it.” Oddly enough, I bought this in 1991, played it on repeat for years, and then completely forgot about it. This album is fun to (re)discover – I hope you agree.
Enjoy your career in a festive manner. . . 🎄
Career Collective’s live podcast event is coming up in London on Monday 2nd December. There, we will discuss work trends in 2025, concerns about AI, how to get a raise, and more with Bruce Daisley of Eat Sleep Work Repeat. Jimmy McLoughlin from Jimmy’s Jobs of the Future and Sarah Ellis and Helen Tupper from Squiggly Careers.
FT Working It Newsletter subscribers receive a 50% discount for ‘family and friends’ (costing £22) when booking through Eventbrite. Proceeds will go to Beam, a charity that helps homeless and refugees get jobs, and UpReach, which helps low-income students find top graduate jobs.
