Snow Crazed
February 28, 2008
photo credit: Our blog and press release last week regarding how companies deal with extreme weather generated a lot of interest. I’ve had interviews with the Associated Press, Wall Street Journal radio, and HR Executive - all looking to follow up on what employers should do to prepare for and manage through extreme weather conditions. The AP article ran in many print and online newspapers across the US. The survey results and/or the AP article were referenced in dozens of television and radio broadcasts. The Boston Business Journal opened up their own survey on employer behavior on snowy days that indicates employees wish their employers would act more quickly to send them home when the weather is bad.
The level of attention this survey received points to the universal human desires it surfaces around our need to be treated with consideration and respect. People want to believe that their employers care about them, but when employers put business ahead of human welfare, that trust is undermined. On the other hand, severe weather conditions create an opportunity for workplace colleagues to connect with each other around a shared experience external to their work.
What are your war stories about weather and work?
Dealing with Extreme Weather: An Inconvenient Truce
February 21, 2008
Today we’ve released the results of our most recent survey concerning the impact on the workplace of extreme weather. In Boston, we’ve had several severe workday snowstorms this year that ground the region to a halt. The picture here is from our storm on December 13th - when just about everyone’s commute became a nightmare. My one hour commute stretched to three, and I seriously considered abandoning the Mini Cooper in a snowbank. I was relatively fortunate to have a back road alternative. Other friends and colleagues spent up to six or seven hours getting home. Across the country, similar snow, wind and/or rain conditions have made this winter especially brutal.In our survey of 2810 working adults, 33% of respondents indicated that their commutes had been impacted by severe weather in the last 3 months. Once at work, employees note they are distracted from their jobs by concerns about how their commute will be impacted when they do leave, how they’ll provide alternative childcare or pick up arrangements, when or if their employers will decide to close early, etc. Employers, in turn, grapple with assessing the true severity of expected storms and determining the best course to ensure the safety of their employees while minimizing the adverse impact of closing or cutting back on staff. Read more
How can corporations share the love?
February 13, 2008
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we share an article entitled “Corporate Philanthropy: Breakthrough or Buzzwords?” by our board member, Ruth Bramson. After a long corporate career, Ruth has recently joined Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts as their CEO. In this article, Ruth explores the positive relationship between philanthropy and both customer and employee engagement. In addition, she offers suggestions for how corporations can get involved in philanthropy in ways that align their corporate vision and values (and results) with the organizations they support.
If you’re interested in a different viewpoint on this issue, a recent Harvard Business Review article, “Doing Well by Doing Good? Don’t Count on It” , presents research that indicates that corporations that demonstrate their social responsibility via cash contributions to charities show a stronger correlation with success than those that have socially responsible corporate policies or community projects. The authors weren’t sure what came first - deeper pockets or a predisposition to philanthropic giving. In either case, they conclude that for many organizations, doing good may need to be its own reward.
Our discussions as a group and our personal observations lead us to come down on Ruth’s side on this issue. Employees are proud to be associated with an organization that is contributing to the community (see this earlier post about a philanthropic event at Kronos). We believe that organizations that incorporate social responsibility into their mission are the kinds of places that people like to work and customers like to buy from.
Just yesterday, I read “How Starbucks Saved My Life” by Michael Gates Gill. This small book about life, expectations and finding dignity through work makes some powerful points about how Starbucks’ focus on corporate responsibility engages its Partners (workers) and suppliers to create a superior customer experience, and as a result has droves of loyal consumers.
Who are some of your favorite socially conscious organizations?
Launching Hourly Worker Retention Series
February 7, 2008
When we met with our Board of Advisors on December 4th to formulate our research and publication agenda for the coming year, we determined that the most urgent human resource challenge for many organizations today is the retention of successful employees. Relatively little has been written, however, on the topic of hourly employee retention - where voluntary turnover can exceed 100% per year in some organizations. Given that our mission addresses the entire workforce, we decided to focus our efforts in the coming year on helping organizations with large hourly populations meet this challenge.
Over the next twelve months or so, we’ll be publishing a series of articles aimed at helping organizations to formulate and execute a retention strategy for their hourly workforce. We’ve just published the first article in this series entitled “Building a Retention Strategy for Hourly Workers”. Consider this article an introduction to the retention topic, with a deeper exploration of related topics to follow over the coming months.
In addition, we’ll be conducting original field research on how best practices in onboarding can help control early attrition of newly hired hourly workers. Our goal with this research is to identify hourly onboarding practices that help organizations to retain workers beyond their first couple of paychecks - where the first wave of departures often occurs. Stay tuned for more on this project as it unfolds.
Last, but certainly not least, my firstborn turns 20 today. Happy birthday, Liz! You are a wonder.
The Sun Also Rises
February 4, 2008
…when the Patriots lose the SuperBowl. Over at Boston.com, Boston fans are feeling the pain.
In a portent of the sad things to come for our New England Patriots, this blog from Friday got a few people’s hackles up. Over at Cali & Jody, the authors took issue with my comment that in a time of economic uncertainty, employees may want to be extra careful about calling in sick the day after the Super Bowl. While I meant the tone to be light, I can appreciate their perception that it came across a bit harsh and old school. I applaud their commitment to and suggestions for helping organizations create a Results-Only Work Environment. When organizations have to make tough decisions about their workforce, it is absolutely the people who drive results that survive - and they aren’t necessarily those who maximize their face time with management.
Super Bowl Sick Days
February 1, 2008
We’ve just published the results of a survey we did this week of 1430 full time adult workers regarding the likelihood that the Super Bowl will impact their attendance at work on Monday. According to our survey, 3% or about 1.5 million workers are likely to call in sick while another 4.4 million are likely to arrive late after having celebrated the big game.
Super Bowl-related absences could be particularly striking for organizations with a high population of Gen X and Gen Y employees, as the majority of the employed adults who say they may call in sick the day after the Super Bowl are males and females between the ages of 18-34 years (4 percent and 3 percent, respectively). Does that mean that the boomers are more responsible, or just that they can’t stay awake long enough on a “school night” to impact their ability to go to work the next day?
According to the Wall Steet Journal today, “U.S. employment unexpectedly tumbled last month for the first time in more than four years, fueling worries that the U.S. economy, which already limped into 2008, might soften further or even slip into recession in coming months. Nonfarm payrolls fell 17,000 in January, the Labor Department said Friday, the first drop since August 2003, when payrolls slid 42,000.” Super Bowl or not, those workers thinking about blowing off Monday might want to think twice about the message they could be sending to employers who may be managing to tighter workforce budgets.
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