McKinsey just published groundbreaking research showing that companies implementing “future of people management” practices are 4x more likely to outperform financially.
Their solutions are designed for Fortune 500 budgets and enterprise HR departments. But here’s what they missed: small businesses actually have a secret advantage in implementing these changes.
After helping small businesses apply these exact principles, we’ve cracked the code on making McKinsey’s enterprise strategies work for companies with 5-50 employees.
McKinsey’s latest research on the “Future of People Management“ reads like a roadmap for exactly the problems keeping small business owners awake at night.
The challenge? McKinsey’s solutions are designed for Fortune 500 companies with massive HR departments and million-dollar technology budgets.
The opportunity? Every breakthrough McKinsey describes can be implemented by small businesses today – you just need to know how.
After analyzing their research alongside our experience helping 200+ small businesses transform their operations, here’s your practical guide to implementing the “future of people management” starting this week.
McKinsey identifies three core shifts reshaping how successful organizations manage people:
Their research shows that organizations excelling in these areas are 4x more likely to outperform financially and 1.5x more likely to remain top-tier year over year.
But here’s what they missed: Small businesses actually have advantages in implementing these changes. You don’t need to navigate corporate bureaucracy, get budget approval from five departments, or spend 18 months on change management.
You can start Monday.
đź’ˇ Key Insight: While Fortune 500 companies spend years implementing workforce transformation, small businesses can achieve the same results in weeks through strategic delegation and smart technology adoption.
What McKinsey Says: “Organizations will need to elevate their employee experience…offering tailored compensation and benefits, customized road maps for professional development, and AI-based coaching.”
What This Means for Small Businesses: Stop treating your team like interchangeable parts. Even with 5-15 employees, you can create individualized experiences that make people feel valued and motivated.
âś… Individual Development Conversations: Schedule monthly one-on-ones focused purely on each person’s growth goals, not just task updates.
âś… Flexible Benefits: Instead of one-size-fits-all benefits, ask what matters most to each employee – extra PTO, professional development budget, flexible hours, or remote work options.
âś… Personalized Recognition: Some people love public praise, others prefer private feedback. Some want career advancement, others want skill development. Learn what motivates each person.
What McKinsey Says: “Organizations will use forward-looking data to understand what’s needed…flexibly match skills to new tasks…the practice of adapting, reallocating, adjusting, and improving will become the norm.”
What This Means for Small Businesses: You’re already more agile than big companies. Now make that agility systematic and strategic.
âś… Skills Inventory: List every skill your team has (including hidden talents). Update quarterly. Match people to projects based on skills and interests, not just job titles.
âś… Internal Talent Marketplace: Create a simple system where employees can express interest in different projects, cross-training opportunities, or temporary role expansions.
âś… Strategic Flexibility: Instead of permanent hires for every need, build a network of specialized contractors, consultants, and virtual assistants who can scale up or down based on demand.
The VA Connection: This is where virtual assistants become game-changing. Instead of hiring a full-time marketing coordinator, you can access specialized social media VAs, email marketing VAs, and content creation VAs as needed.
What McKinsey Says: “Automation should free up managers’ time so they can provide more of a ‘human touch’…providing empathy, compassion, judgment, and inspiration.”
What This Means for Small Businesses: Stop drowning in administrative tasks and start leading. Your team doesn’t need another task manager – they need a visionary who can guide, coach, and inspire.
âś… Time Audit: Track where you spend time for one week. Identify everything that could be delegated, automated, or eliminated.
âś… Human-Only Time: Block 2 hours daily for activities only you can do – strategic thinking, relationship building, coaching, and complex problem-solving.
âś… Administrative Liberation: Systematically remove yourself from routine tasks through delegation, automation, or outsourcing.
The Leadership Transformation: When McKinsey talks about managers becoming coaches rather than task delegators, they’re describing exactly what happens when you properly delegate administrative work.
McKinsey notes: “Employees are too frequently hired for their past experience, not their current skill or skill potential.”
Small Business Advantage: Instead of competing with Fortune 500 salaries for “experienced” candidates, focus on finding people with the right skills and cultural fit, then invest in their development.
McKinsey describes: “Strategic workforce planning can happen in real time…as different capabilities and capacity are required, flexibly match skills to new tasks.”
Small Business Implementation: Build a network of specialized contractors and VAs who can be activated quickly when opportunities arise. No 6-month hiring processes, no long-term commitments until you’re sure.
McKinsey research shows: “More than 80 percent of role moves involve changing employers” – meaning companies are losing talent unnecessarily.
Small Business Strategy: Create clear growth paths and cross-training opportunities. Your 10-person team can become much more valuable if everyone has multiple skill sets.
Traditional Problem: Partners spending 40% of their time on administrative tasks instead of billable work or business development.
McKinsey Solution Applied:
Implementation: Start with one specialized legal VA handling intake, scheduling, and document preparation. Measure the impact on billable hours and client satisfaction before expanding.
Traditional Problem: Founder bottlenecked by customer service, inventory management, and marketing execution.
McKinsey Solution Applied:
Implementation: Begin with customer service VA during peak hours, then add specialized functions as you identify bottlenecks.
Traditional Problem: Consultants spending too much time on proposals, research, and administrative tasks instead of client value delivery.
McKinsey Solution Applied:
Implementation: Start with proposal and research support, then expand to project management and client communication.
McKinsey emphasizes building “an integrated, standardized core data lake” and “streamlined, cloud-based, AI-powered technology stack.”
Translation for Small Business: You don’t need enterprise software. You need tools that work together seamlessly.
The VA Advantage: Experienced VAs come pre-trained on these tools, meaning no learning curve or training costs.
McKinsey organizations track sophisticated metrics. Here are the small business equivalents:
Solution: Pick one area (usually administrative task delegation) and perfect it before expanding.
Solution: Measure impact on revenue and growth, not just expense reduction.
Solution: Include your current team in the planning process. Frame VAs as team enablers, not replacements.
Solution: Find VAs with industry-specific experience who understand your workflows and terminology.
McKinsey’s research reveals that only 5% of companies are successfully implementing these future-of-work practices.
For small businesses, this represents a massive competitive advantage. While large corporations struggle with change management and bureaucracy, you can implement these transformations in weeks, not years.
The result? You’ll be operating with the efficiency and strategic focus of much larger companies, but with the agility and personal touch that only small businesses can provide.
The future of people management isn’t coming – it’s here. The question is whether you’ll be among the early adopters who gain competitive advantage, or whether you’ll be playing catch-up in three years.
The McKinsey research proves what we’ve seen with 200+ small businesses: When you properly implement strategic workforce planning, your team becomes more engaged, your operations become more efficient, and your growth accelerates.
But here’s the key: You don’t need McKinsey’s enterprise budget to get McKinsey’s results.
Try our 2-week free consultation to see how these workforce management principles apply to your specific business. We’ll help you identify your highest-impact opportunities and create a practical implementation plan.
