A survey by The Conference Board shows 30% of workers feel less committed and connected to work than they did six months ago, with women and millennials indicating lower engagement compared with others. Workers have become less likely to quit because a recession is expected, but Rebecca Ray of The Conference Board says businesses still need to improve employee engagement to thrive, noting "it is important for leaders to reconnect all workers to the mission and purpose of the organization, as well as to lead with compassion." Full Story: Fortune (tiered subscription model) (10/20)
Register for Accelerate 2022 Today! At Accelerate, you'll hear from top experts and Lever customers on how to prepare for the next year's challenges in talent acquisition and retention--plus strategies, tactics, and inspiration to achieve your top hiring goals in 2023. Register Now.
ADVERTISEMENT:
Recruiting & Retention
Want to find Gen Z employees? Use TikTok Members of Generation Z are more likely to use TikTok than other platforms to look for jobs, according to Chisa Egbelu and Kayla Michele of PeduL, a diversity recruiting marketplace. Small-business owners can connect with these potential employees by using relevant hashtags, posting engaging videos and being honest about their company culture, other experts say. Full Story: Business Insider (tiered subscription model) (10/20)
Workforce trends in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Explore insights from PwC's annual Saratoga workforce benchmarking survey that show how organizations are acting on their DE&I commitments. Get the eBook
Exploiting Long-Term Inefficiencies in Today's Credit Markets Robert M. Almeida, Global Investment Strategist & Portfolio Manager and Henry Peabody, Fixed Income Portfolio Manager examine the shifting landscape across the US credit markets and how long-term active managers can try to exploit the market's short-term focus to add alpha. Learn more
ADVERTISEMENT:
Free eBooks and Resources
Free eBooks and resources brought to you by our sponsors
Staying active by working out with a friend Research published in the journal PLOS One suggests that exercising with a more active friend may lead to better fitness, after a mathematical model showed that sedentary people who interact with moderately active people become more active over time. Exercising in a group leads to accountability and this can encourage people to keep at it, besides the added enjoyment of participating with a group, experts said. Full Story: Healthline (10/19)
Benefits & Compensation
Survey: 66% of US workers worse off due to inflation A survey conducted by Salary Finance indicates inflation is weighing heavily on US workers, with 66% saying they are worse off financially than a year ago. Additionally, 72% of respondents said they have seen their savings diminish, with 29% saying their savings are gone, and 32% saying they often run out of money between paydays. Full Story: CNBC (10/19)
The HR Leader
Can embracing flexible work ease executive anxiety? Data from Future Forum shows both executives and managers report more stress and dissatisfaction with their jobs and want people back into the office to improve connection, productivity and culture, but data also shows improvement in those areas as flexible work options expand, writes Anne Helen Petersen. Petersen discusses this with Sheela Subramanian, the company's vice president, who says: "You have stronger connections with your manager and your colleagues when you're working flexibly because you actually trust one another to do your jobs and productivity -- both in our data as well as we've seen in other data -- has gone up in many companies over the last couple of years." Full Story: Substack/Culture Study (10/20)
I covered an education leaders conference this weekend. In one session, I listened to a conversation between three administrators from a Maryland school district. They were talking about a new reading curriculum the state had adopted and the challenges they were having training teachers to use it. The biggest problem was time -- finding time to get teachers together, train them and address questions they had. The administrators were caught between a rock and a hard place -- trying to balance complying with the mandate from their district leaders and being considerate of their staff’s time and bandwidth. They admitted they were frustrated and confused by the actions of their district administrators. They felt the district team didn’t understand the challenges school-based staff faced. “How is that?” one principal asked, raising her arms in frustration. “They were all teachers once. They all had the same issues. How do they not get this?” I had been listening quietly until that point. But when she asked that question, I had to chime in. “Is it possible that they do in fact get it, but they’re under other constraints -- maybe policy or budget or public pressure -- that they haven’t revealed? Because not taking the time thing into consideration before the adoption isn’t just inconsiderate -- it’s really bad planning on their part. And that would be weird,” I said. They nodded thoughtfully and then we all delved into a conversation about transparency. They agreed that transparency could be part of the issue but wasn’t likely the whole reason. That was fair, I felt. Transparency is tricky but important, as Hubspot’s Katie Burke says in today’s Leadership & Development story. Doing this well can mean the difference between earning a team’s trust or their ire, I’ve discovered. What’s tough is navigating the times when you cannot reveal something – such as a new policy or company-wide raise that would bring resolution to some employee griefs. Managing those situations can feel like walking a tightrope over a very thin net. So how are you doing it? How do you handle the “Just hang on -- I think something’s coming that will solve this” conversation? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
Sharing SmartBrief on Workforce with your network keeps the quality of content high and these newsletters free.
