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DataDome Blog |
Archive for the ‘General’ CategoryNew Web Site DesignSaturday, September 8th, 2007It’s been a little quiet here on the blog. The reason for that is we’ve been working on a completely new look for the Data Dome Inc. web site. The new site launched yesterday. New content is being added daily to create an even better resource for our clients. We have added an assessments application menu and a job-level menu – we’ll be adding more resources to those sections over the coming weeks. Top Companies for DiversityFriday, July 27th, 2007The 2007 Top Fifty Companies for Diversity® were announced in March at DiversityInc. Here are the top 10:
Employees Gone = Customers GoneWednesday, July 25th, 2007Quotes of the day – on selecting and retaining the right employees:
– Frederick Reichheld, author of The Loyalty Effect: The Hidden Force Behind Growth, Profits, and Lasting Value Don’t Like the Long Hours?Wednesday, July 18th, 2007An estimated 1.7 million Americans are working in high-pressure positions that require 70+ hours a week – “extreme jobs.” Some can thrive on long hours, especially if they love their jobs (and feel they can gain competitive advantage). Such demanding positions, however, may also pose challenges. Driven (or pushed) professionals can face significant problems in their private lives (family, relationships, health). Their so-called “work-life” balance doesn’t exist.
Retaining upper-level, skilled professionals at that standard will also be a challenge to HR.
Demographics: Younger vs Older Workers – A full third of employees younger than 44 are likely to leave their positions within the next two years if they are working 60+ hours per week, but only 19 percent of older employees working long works are ready to leave their jobs. Women vs Men – 57 percent of women said they’re unwilling to take on such schedules for more than a year, but only 48 percent of men expressed similar reservations.
It would be interesting to see a study that compared behavioral styles among these same participants. Some possible behavioral style factors might include: Extreme jobs might be fulfilling for High Ds (results-driven), especially if they also have a Low S (like to do a lot of different things at a quick pace). High Cs may feel they have to work longer hours – whether they really want to or not – to make sure everything is done according to their high standards. A High S likes a steady pace and a predictable schedule. While they may take longer to get things done, long hours would only work if they really felt like part of the team. Otherwise, they’d rather spend time with their families. Top Management Unhappy, Preparing to LeaveFriday, July 13th, 2007Management Issues has reported that a study by recruitment firm ExecuNet found job satisfaction levels among America’s top managers were “dangerously low.” The poll of 2,149 executives, all with an average salary of $221,000, found that nearly half – 48 per cent – were either not satisfied or “somewhat unsatisfied” with their current job.
General managers, marketing and sales professionals are all increasingly dissatified, and IT managers are the most unhappy of all. Why so unhappy? Limited opportunities for advancement, lack of challenge and personal growth, differences with the company culture, bosses not being a good match, and lack of adequate compensation. HR is on to the problem. Three-quarters of the HR executives also polled were concerned about retention and two thirds believed their company was working harder to retain executive talent than a year ago. Nearly three out of four believed that the war for executive talent had become more intense over the last year. We offer tools and strategies to address many of these problems. Contact Data Dome Inc. for your complimentary consultation. State by State Reports on Older WorkersFriday, July 13th, 2007The U.S. Census Bureau has begun launching its report series on older (55+) workers in 31 states, based on data from the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) program.
Check out the online tools from LED, too. QWI (Quarterly Workforce Indicators) shows 8 economic indicators: total employment, net job flow, job creation, number of new hires, separations, turnover and average monthly earnings for all workers and new hires. Each indicator combines wage information with demographic data to use as a measure of a local area’s workforce and economy. Industry Focus allows users to identify the leading industries for an area, focus on a particular industry to see how it ranks among top industries, and view graphs and charts of worker characteristics within industries. Users can analyze industries by state, county, workforce investment or metro area based on eight workforce indicators. On the Map is a Web-based mapping tool that shows where people live in relation to where they work. It includes reports on age, earnings, industry distribution and local workforce indicators. Country Rankings of “Whiney Workers”Monday, June 11th, 2007According to an FDS International study of work attitudes across 23 countries, and including nearly 14,000 workers, the United States ranks 4th in “whiney” workers. A “whiney worker” is unhappy and/or demanding about pay, actual income relative to cost of living, average number of weekly work hours, and work impinging on their private life. Here’s the lineup.
Where are the “least whiney” workers? Ireland, the Netherlands and Thailand. The Netherlands has the highest morale, and Irish and Thai workers rank second. Japan has the lowest. Russian workers were most likely to complain about their pay (61%), compared to 43% of Chinese workers, 40% of British workers, and 38% of American workers who expressed dissatisfaction with their compensation. Workers in Ireland and the Netherlands were least likely to complain about their pay. British workers are demanding about holidays; despite having 33.5 leave days and public holidays.
(via HR BLR) Observations: They weren’t shy on the value judgment of people who participated in the study and expressed honest information. Of course “whiney workers” is catchier, but why not look at it as targeted information that could be used to improve morale, productivity, loyalty and talent retention? I also see a problem in that we have no indication of any sort of demographic breakdown by job position or class, which would affect the interpretation of results. What is the context? In some places, there may be simple gratitude about having a job, any job, and there is certainly a wide range of available social “safety net” options in different countries and class levels. What might be the impact of cultural difference? For instance, would people in different places view complaining, demanding, or even sharing negative information differently? Is there any gender difference? Urban vs more rural? Service or manufacturing? Are they comparing apples to oranges in the study? How would you discriminate between “whining” and the simple expression of real-life problems may have about such things as working too many hours for the pay, or having your job impinge too much on your private life? Are such studies attempting to say, in effect, “be happy with what you have, there are people worse off than you are” – comparable to the way mothers used to get children to eat food they didn’t like? If so, that strategy isn’t going to work as the talent shortage heats up. U.S. companies that take such an attitude will simply cease to be competitive. Retention Tip: Develop Trustworthy ManagersWednesday, June 6th, 2007Approximately 32% of a worker’s desire to stay or go is the result of feeling or not feeling trust towards their boss. An employee’s longevity with a company directly correlates with how much they trust their immediate manager or boss. The extent to which an employee trusts their direct boss directly relates to their desire to spend their career with a company. People tend to trust their direct boss a bit more than they trust top management.
Specific trust issue predictors for employee loyalty and retention:
[Data from the Leadership IQ organizational trust study, which polled 7,209 executives, managers and employees.] How do you find out whether your managers meet these predictive factors? Ask the people who report directly to them! Ask your employees specific questions, using a third party survey provider that can provide complete anonymity (Many employees, understandably, will not provide honest – useful – information unless they can be sure that their answers cannot be held against them in the workplace). Data Dome provides surveys to assess all aspects of organizational culture vitality, and trending surveys are also available, so that you can validate successful changes. How do you hire and develop trustworthy managers that will fulfill the terms of these predictive factors? Use the proper validated assessments as part of your hiring process. Run 360-degree surveys to get the complete picture on their performance (make sure that survey questions are specific and validated). Invest in professional development and communication training. How can you build trust toward top management? Communicate your vision better, include bottom-up on-the-ground information insights in the planning process. Make sure that employees understand how they fit into the organization and how they affect the bottom line. If, in fact, your employees are correct to mistrust top management, it is long past time to confront and reshape the ethical values of the organization. Your top resource is the talent that drives the business and enables it to thrive and grow. As the skilled workforce shortage has an increasing impact, you’re going to need to be able to attract the best talent – and to do so in a much more competitive environment. Are You Offering a Competitive Salary?Wednesday, June 6th, 2007Salary Search is a new resource to determine the full range of salaries a job position is commanding – all the way from the top 10th to the bottom 10th percentile. Offered by the Compensation wing of Business and Legal Reports (BLR), it currently offers information on 2400 job titles.
An employer or employee can receive one free salary report.
Non-profits Need to Develop TalentMonday, June 4th, 2007A preliminary report issued by the Conference Board has found that non-profits – whose growth is currently outpacing the rest of the economy – will likely be hit hard by the talent shortage just when it needs talent the most. The demographic of the retiring baby-boomers affects almost all sectors, but executive-level and leadership skill shortages are already disproportionately affecting service sectors such as healthcare and social services. As non-profits grow, there are fewer skilled people to step up to the plate. The Conference Board report suggests that non-profits need to invest more than they have in human resource management, and in developing younger leaders. We would add that in addition to internal professional development, non-profits also need tools to identify talent from the start – and to employ effective strategies to retain the talent that they have developed. |
