About 71% of workers say their pay isn't keeping up with inflation, an increase from 58% in February, according to a survey by the Bank of America. In addition, 62% are worried about their finances and half are taking action to cope, such as drawing on emergency savings, working additional hours or seeking jobs with higher pay. Full Story: CNN (9/27)
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Recruiting & Retention
The keys to an effective onboarding process An effective onboarding experience may keep new employees more engaged in their jobs and less likely to engage in quiet quitting. Part of a successful onboarding process involves encouraging socialization, perhaps by setting up new hires with a work buddy and letting them know where to go with questions. Full Story: ZDNet (9/27)
Go Green: How Does Your Org Stack Up? Environmental challenges are mounting against us by the day. You may not realize it, but your organization has more influence on ecological efforts than you might think. So how eco-friendly are you, really? Take the quiz to find out.
Long COVID symptoms a challenge for many older workers Estimates suggest that between 7 million and 23 million Americans may be suffering from long COVID symptoms including brain fog, cough, respiratory problems, fatigue and malaise that last 12 weeks or more after infection. Data from the CDC show that the rate of long COVID in adults ages 65 and older is 1 in 4, compared with 1 in 5 for those younger than 65, and older workers and their employers are encountering challenges as symptoms persist and interfere with work. Full Story: Next Avenue (9/26)
Path to Workforce
PepsiCo supports underrepresented college students A total of 160 students over a two-year period will receive $2,000 scholarships to cover tuition and living expenses as a result of a donation from the PepsiCo Foundation to the Milwaukee Area Technical College. The $500,000 gift is part of the foundation's five-year, $40 million Uplift Scholarship program, which aims to support Black and Hispanic students in high-demand careers. Full Story: WDJT-TV (Milwaukee) (9/26)
The HR Leader
What does top talent want from culture? R-E-S-P-E-C-T Talented people will flock to a culture where they are respected and recognized for their efforts, so it's up to leaders to create that kind of environment, says S. Chris Edmonds in this video. Leaders may need to identify and weed out behavior that is creating a toxic atmosphere within their company, Edmonds says. Full Story: SmartBrief/Leadership (9/27)
About the Editor
Kanoe Namahoe
Jim was the head of marketing at my former company. He was a smart, down-to-earth, supportive manager. He overheard me once on the phone, talking with a content marketing client about their program. The client was frustrated with some aspects of the campaign and she and I were talking about ways to resolve it. Jim came to my desk afterward. "Who was that?" he asked. I told him and explained the circumstances. I watched his face change as I talked. "Why are you handling that?" he asked. "I always do," I said, shrugging. It had been that way since the beginning. I didn't think anything of it. Jim shook his head. "Sales should be doing that," he said. "They have the relationship." I got my back up. I had launched the content marketing program in my vertical and had always supervised the campaigns. I was proud of our work and its success. It was my baby and no way was I going to let sales mess things up. Jim saw my eyes narrow. "Hold on," he said, smiling and putting up his hand. "Easy." Jim explained that I was handling problems and complaints that weren't mine to handle. He wasn't afraid that I would make a mistake. He was concerned about the stress I was taking on unnecessarily. "They're paid to manage the relationships," he said. "Give them the complaints and let them work it out with the client. Let them take the hard shots. Let them earn their commission." His words were sinking in -- especially the commission thing -- but I wasn't quite ready to let go. "I don't trust sales," I said stubbornly. "They'll give away the farm. They'll say yes to any request or demand and I'll have to figure out how to make it happen." He shook his head. "Not anymore you won't," he said firmly. "Now that I know what's happening, I got your back. I'll make sure they don't strike any agreement without talking to you first. But you have to let them do their job. You're going to burn out otherwise." His words made sense and I agreed to give it a shot. I still didn't trust the sales folks but I did trust Jim. Good thing I did. Within days, I felt a huge weight lift off me. I didn't realize how much stress I'd been taking on until I started referring calls and emails to the sales team. Those relationships improved also. We began working more closely together, having better conversations, identifying the points where problems occurred and creating solutions to resolve them. Today's Leadership & Development story from Wharton talks about addressing burnout with employees. Jim saw burnout happening with me and took quick steps to address the areas he knew were causing it. But I had to buy in also. I had to accept -- or at least try -- his solution. I'm glad I did. Employers and managers have a tough job managing burnout. We can put strategies in front of our people but they still have to receive them and implement them. Is burnout an issue in your organization? Do you have tools and resources for workers dealing with this? How well is that working? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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It is all very well planning what you will do in six months, what you will do in a year, but it's no good at all if you don't have a plan for tomorrow.
