NEWYORKCITY

People Focus

An Interview with Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner, McKinsey & Co.

EDITORS’ NOTE Before becom- serving clients. These relate to peo- Also, some of our clients would prefer ing Managing Partner, Dominic ple. We spend a great deal of money to utilize our software as opposed to having Barton served as McKinsey’s and time on training. It’s one of our their own teams handling it. The range of Chairman in Asia from 2004 to most important areas of focus out- needs has broadened significantly and we 2009. He also led McKinsey’s of- side of the research and knowledge have to make sure we’re keeping up. fice in Korea from 2000 to 2004. development expenditures we make. Is your growth defined more in terms He is an active participant in We have to continue to broaden of clients and service areas or geography? the World Economic Forum, Le our people focus and as the world We look at it from all dimensions as a Cercle des économistes (Circle of moves faster, we have to learn more full matrix. We address geographies, sectors, the economists): Les Rencontres and train more. and industries, as well as functions includ- Économiques d’Aix-en-Provence, There is an increasing trend ing organization, marketing, and operations. the Asia Business Council, and for top talent going to work for I also look carefully at growth in parts of the Development Forum. Dominic Barton companies that didn’t even exist the world that will become even more criti- He is an adviser to the Asian a few years ago. Is the industry cal over time, like Asia and Africa, and in Development Bank, a trustee of the Brookings still attracting that top talent and is there growing sectors like tech, agri-food, and Institution, and a Rhodes Trustee. He is an an understanding of the type of work that infrastructure adjunct professor at , McKinsey can offer? Is there still strong growth in the . He has also authored more than 80 The number I obsess about most is our emerging markets for you? articles and is a coauthor, with Roberto Newell cross-offer win rate. That number is at a Our two more volatile regions are our and Greg Wilson, of Dangerous Markets: 23-year high. That said, we have had to work fastest growing. EEMA, which includes Russia, Managing in Financial Crises. His most re- at ensuring that people understand what it is the Middle East, and Africa, and our Latin cent book is China Vignettes: An Inside Look we do. We have had to put more senior time America region, which includes Brazil, are grow- at China. He graduated from the University into this because there is a more competitive ing fastest with rates in the high double dig- of with a B.A. Honours in market for talent today, so that is the number I its. The U.S. is fast growing as well. There economics and graduated from Oxford obsess about. is latent growth in the North American econ- Univeristy, where he was a Rhodes Scholar at We’ve broadened the reach for people and omy. We’ve had to be flexible in terms of ca- Brasenose College. we’re now getting about 450,000 CVs each year. pabilities. What we’re doing in Brazil today, It requires a lot of people to go through these for instance, is much different than what we COMPANY BRIEF McKinsey & Company to select the candidates we hire; it’s critically did there two years ago. Even within Brazil, (mckinsey.com) is a global management con- important to us. which has had a tough situation, there are sulting firm, deeply committed to helping in- We also need to look at this historically. some sub-regions and sectors of the country stitutions in the private, public, and social The investment banking competition came in that are still growing. sectors achieve lasting success. For nine de- the ’60s. Then there was private equity, the McKinsey is known for hiring the best cades, their primary objective has been to first wave of the Internet, and the recent tech talent. Will that, in and of itself, breed a serve as their clients’ most trusted external ad- push. We try to learn from each of those dif- diverse workforce or does it require spe- viser. With consultants in over 125 locations ferent periods. There has always been com- cific focus? in over 65 countries, across industries and petition beyond the consulting firms and we We need to be constantly focused on di- functions, they bring unparalleled expertise have to make sure our value proposition is versity. There is always the danger of grow- to clients anywhere in the world. They work understood in the market. ing accustomed to hiring from the same pools closely with teams at all levels of an organiza- Have service areas evolved as client and we need to recognize that there are other tion to shape winning strategies, mobilize for needs have evolved? pools of talented people we need to make change, build capabilities, and drive success- Yes – about 40 percent of the work we’re sure we’re in. ful execution. doing in the firm today didn’t exist three years We’re also looking to hire some peo- ago. We have to innovate in everything from ple this year who don’t have a university Are your people truly the differentiating the type of companies we serve to the top- degree. We have recognized that there are factor for McKinsey and the key to your ics we address in areas such as digital, data some talented people out there who could success? analytics, and the Internet of things. We’re not complete university for one reason or We spend a huge amount of our time on also involved more in turnaround work now, another. people issues. Senior people are involved in though not so much with bankruptcies. Many We need to make sure we maintain our recruiting all the way through and there is a organizations have a troubled group they diversity or we’re not really fulfilling a key lot of time spent on our evaluation of people. want to turn around quickly, so we have de- part of our mission. If we’re not participat- Every organization has a set of values veloped capabilities where we can leverage ing in some of the key community areas as but we try to reinforce the elements that will our sector and functional capabilities with the business leaders, then we’re not being good most help us in our professional approach to turnaround capabilities and create fast results. leaders.• 42 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2016 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 39, NUMBER 4