Employers intent on lowering headcount but hesitant to announce layoffs are instead imposing policies like stricter remote working rules, performance reviews, restructuring and forced relocation in hopes more employees to resign. Such moves do come with a risk, however, as consultants and advisers note it can lead to the loss of high-performing employees who can easily find work elsewhere. Full Story: The Wall Street Journal (2/26)
Recruiting & Retention
Companies support wellness with shortened workweeks Kickstarter, Panasonic and ThredUp are on a list of 15 employers offering a four-day workweek in an effort to attract and retain staff members and support employee wellness. Kathy Gardner of FlexJobs says employers implementing a shorter week should be clear about job expectations and how individual performance will be measured, and they should make sure their overall culture is conducive to work-life balance and mental wellness. Full Story: Employee Benefit News (free registration) (2/23)
Unleash Workforce Potential: 2023 iCIMS Report Discover the key trends and insights that will shape the future of work in the iCIMS 2023 Workforce Report. Whether you're an HR leader, business owner, or recruiter, the iCIMS 2023 Workforce Report is an essential resource for navigating the evolving world of work. Don't miss out on this opportunity to gain valuable insights and take your workforce to the next level. Download your copy today.
Tips for getting out of your head and into the present Overthinking and rumination can prevent people from being present in the current moment, but licensed clinical social worker Steph Tuazon says that focusing on one thing at a time can help. "Being present means slowing down, bringing awareness to the moment that's currently happening versus engaging in the unrelated thoughts that may appear," Tuazon says. Full Story: MindBodyGreen (2/23)
Benefits & Compensation
Employers to automate to make open enrollment easier Employers tend to divide into three groups when it comes to handling open enrollment: Those that still use paper-based manual processes, those that have a data collection system in place but haven't automated it to share information with human resources, payroll and insurance carriers, and those that have successfully automated to keep data flowing continuously. Companies in the first two groups should start planning now to update their processes. Full Story: BenefitsPRO (free registration) (2/24)
The HR Leader
Watch sports to get a new perspective on leadership Watching sports -- from yacht racing where the boss is always in charge, to baseball where skilled professionals do their individual part to create a winning team -- can provide leaders with a study in which form of organization fits their company the best, writes Henry Mintzberg, a professor at McGill University in Montreal. A lesson Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei says he learned from Brad McCarty, the head coach of the men's soccer team at Messiah University in Mechanicsburg, Pa., is how focusing on excellence over success can push teams to hone their craft to produce sustainable skills and not be satisfied with mediocre results. Full Story: Chief Executive (2/23),Axios (2/23)
It was an ugly win. We should have dominated the game. Instead, we trailed through the third quarter, looking lost and disorganized. Fortunately, the boys managed to come together in the fourth quarter to gain the lead and win. Some looked smug, others looked relieved. The coaches looked annoyed. I understood why. The boys won on the scoreboard but their performance was terrible. Sloppy offense. Swiss cheese-like defense. Too many turnovers. Sluggish energy. It was a cheap victory. “You could do a mediocre job and still find astonishing success,” writes Jim VandeHei in today’s HR Leader story. He’s right. We can put in a lackluster effort and still hit a goal. On the surface, it looks good. It satisfies the powers-that-be. But it’s a shallow win. Pursuing excellence-over-success – as practiced by Messiah University Men’s Head Soccer Coach Brad McCarty -- is a better strategy, VandeHei writes and I concur. It causes you to focus on your craft -- your performance, your skills, your growth. It keeps you sharp. It holds you accountable. It doesn’t let you slide into laziness. Best of all, it builds a foundation for consistent long-term success. I’ll take that all day long. What's your natural pursuit -- excellence of effort or tangible success? 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.
