Today’s post comes to us from The Workforce Institute advisory board member Dennis Miller, AVP of human resources and benefits administration at The Claremont Colleges, and it is a follow-up to The Workforce Institute Weigh-In for August 2022, checking in our annual Workplace Predictions.

At the start of 2022, my colleagues and I from The Workforce Institute advisory board published our annual set of Workplace Predictions. Among the prevailing trends we forecast was this one: Manager training — including emotional support — and mentorship programs will become critical in the fight to retain great talent.

With organizations across industries still reeling from the Great Resignation, and millions of people still leaving their jobs each month, employers are scrambling for effective ways to attract or keep their talented performers. Perhaps even more alarming, our recent research on employees who left during the pandemic predicted managers may be next to leave en masse (two in five are contemplating leaving, according to the study).

It is clear that the underlying need for manager training continues to proliferate the work environment — and this need will continue for the foreseeable future. In fact, a quick scan of the internet informs us that many business leaders state that in-person and on-site human interactions are far more beneficial to employees when compared with interactions by using technology.

Therefore, these business leaders opine that working on-site is more beneficial when compared with working remotely (or a hybrid model). Indeed, they are making organizational decisions about remote and/or hybrid work arrangements based on their informed opinions.

However, what seems to be missing from this discussion is the necessity to provide managers with additional training specific to managing and leading remote and/or hybrid workers. Filling this gap in managerial training is pivotal to the discussion about subsequent comparisons on the effectiveness of different models (on-site and in person vs. remote via digital tools) related to employee interactions.

One great example can be seen with the managerial method of “Management by Walking Around,” or MBWA for short. MBWA has been used by many people leaders during the past several decades, with a certain level of success for those who have mastered this method.

However, MBWA will not be effective for remote workers, for obvious reasons. And, in the absence of creating a replacement method for remote and/or hybrid workers, this gap will likely result in one of three outcomes: 1) leave managers guessing regarding how to lead their teams; 2) require managers to develop their own managerial method to fill this gap; or 3) simply follow the opinion of their business leaders, and, therefore, require employees to be physically on-site to achieve what is believed to be more effective levels of employee interactions.

As such, as we continue down the path toward “normalizing” in our post-pandemic environment, where different management models continue to emerge for accomplishing work remotely, one essential element for business success is to ensure managers have the most current training and development to lead employees in this different environment.

Earlier this year, I read an article by Dr. Joanne Disch, RN, FAAN, and my fellow advisory board member, Nanne Finis, MS, RN, about research they conducted related to nursing productivity. The authors walk through important research, and, when considering employee productivity, it is evident the contents of their document can apply across multiple market segments.

One of their statements opines that, “Solutions will not come from improving the practices of the last 50 years, but from gaining new insights from stakeholders of what might work better in the current environment.” I believe this statement applies to many organizations, and certainly applies to management and leadership training.

As the old saying goes: Employees don’t leave their companies, they leave their managers. Success for businesses in a post-pandemic, hybrid-work world begins with better training of people leaders.

Today's post comes to us from Workforce Institute board member John Frehse.Here he discusses why a slowing economy doesn't release top talent for you.

Talented employees are a precious resource. The Container Store has a famous mantra: Three good employees are equal to one great employee. I agree with them. Great employees contribute more, promote a positive culture, and drive extreme results. Unfortunately, they are also becoming harder and harder to find.

The problem with talented employees is that they are always in demand. As global markets retract, the need for talent may actually increase as companies require a higher level of performance from fewer employees. This may cause the supply of available great employees to shrink, creating wage pressures and trapped revenue for those that cannot function without them.

Great employees are dedicated and rarely available in the free market for hire. They must be lured away from companies that place a high value on them. When negative market trends appear, they are the last to be considered for layoff. What does happen is medium to low performing employees become greater in supply and this does not improve hiring situations for companies in need of talent.

Challenges upskilling and large skills gaps are already clearly defined in areas such as manufacturing and technology, but this may only get worse.

It would be an incredible advantage if your company was better than the rest of the marketplace at identifying and hiring talent. As technology catches up with the marketplace for great employees, it has become easier to identify talented employees (and to hire them away from companies who do not fully appreciate them). Visibility into individual employee thought leadership, project work, and general accomplishments is on display on LinkedIn and other platforms, and more hourly employees are participating than ever before.

Because of sites like Glassdoor and social media in general, talented employees also have more visibility into the true culture of companies in their field of interest than they ever have before. It is easier to identify the great companies but also the underperformers. This visibility into areas of compensation, culture, and total rewards is allowing employees to find the right employer. Companies talking the talk but not walking the walk are getting punished both on social media and business sites. Transparency is allowing talented workers a job mobility they have not always enjoyed. This will only increase as technology improves this visibility into the truth.

So, what can be done? The first step is to look within your own company and be honest about the culture. Too many organizations suffer from the Pollyanna effect. This is when companies ignore realities and refuse to discuss internal challenges (which all companies have). Instead, they promote a false narrative about how everything is perfect. No company is without challenges, and employees know the truth. Not addressing this truth perpetuates a broken culture and this will inevitably spill out into public view.

Today's post comes to us from Workforce Institute board member and executive director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources, Neil Reichenberg, who provides a high-level overview of their 2019 Workplace Trends Survey.

The Center for State and Local Government Excellence recently released our 2019 Workforce Trends survey which found that the top workforce challenges facing U.S. state and local governments are (1) recruitment and retention of qualified personnel with the needed skills for public service and (2) providing competitive compensation. The survey results emphasize the importance of state and local governments adopting innovative practices in order to attract and retain needed staff. Other workforce issues important to state and local governments include employee morale, employee engagement, retaining staff needed for core services, and leadership development. The report is based on survey responses from the members of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources and the National Association of State Personnel Executives.

This year's survey included a focus on the gig economy, with office and administrative support, accounting, and information technology positions being the most common areas filled by those working on a temporary or contingent basis. Some functions such as policing, emergency dispatch, corrections, and firefighting/emergency medical are hard-to-fill positions, which due to the nature of the work are difficult to staff by those working on a temporary or contingent basis. The impact of the gig economy on governmental organizations was measured, with the biggest positive being management flexibility while the greatest drawback is the impact on the morale of full-time employees.

Reflecting a strong economy, hiring has picked up with 80% of respondents reporting that they hired employees. Only 7% say that they undertook layoffs as compared to 42% who implemented layoffs in 2009. This year, almost 60% of respondents indicated higher levels of full-time hiring as compared to last year, and only 10% noted that hiring would be reduced from last year. Interpersonal, technology, and written communications are the skill-sets most needed in new hires. The most successful recruitment practices in reaching qualified candidates include online job advertisement, government websites, employee referrals, and the use of social media.

Workplace flexibility is becoming increasingly important and almost 20% of survey respondents have either increased the number of those eligible for flexible work or the range of flexible work arrangements that are offered. The most common work practices are flexible schedules, flexible work hours, and telework. Employee development both through in-house training as well as funds for training and tuition, wellness programs, leave benefits, recognition programs, and onboarding are the most popular programs designed to encourage employee retention and development.

Survey respondents believe that their benefits packages are more competitive than their pay, with 88% indicating that the benefits they offer are competitive with the labor market while 56% say their wages are competitive with the labor market. Government employers continue to shift more health care costs from the employer to employee (36% of survey respondents) and are implementing wellness programs (28% of survey respondents). Almost 50% of respondents believe their employees are not prepared financially for retirement, indicating an area on which governments should focus.

Today's post comes to us from Neil Reichenberg, Americas board member and Executive Director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR).

The 2018 State and Local Government Workforce Trends report recently issued by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence found that the recruitment and retention of qualified personnel with the needed skills for public service was the top priority workforce issue. Other top priority workforce issues are employee morale, providing a competitive compensation package, and employee engagement.

The report is based on survey responses by members of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE).

This is the 10th year that the survey has been conducted and the report includes some very interesting trends data. For example, state and local governments report low incidence of negative employment actions as compared to 2009 at the height of the recession. Only 8% reported imposing either hiring freezes or layoffs in 2018 as compared to 68% reporting hiring freezes and 42% conducting layoffs in 2009. Similarly, only 16% as compared to 41% in 2009 reported making retirement plan changes.

Another positive trend is that almost 80% of the respondents indicated that they are hiring more employees this year. Policing is the top position that organizations report having a hard time filling. Due to the nature of the work, none of the respondents said they can fill positions through temporary or contractual arrangements. Engineering, information technology, emergency dispatchers, skilled trades, and accounting are other positions that governments are struggling to fill. Office and administrative staff positions are the ones most likely to be filled by temporary or contractual arrangements.

In terms of what employers are looking for, interpersonal, technology, and written communications are the skills most needed in new hires. Online job advertisements are the best recruitment source followed by employee referrals, government websites, and social media. To make themselves more competitive employers, almost half are offering flexible schedules, such as compressed workweeks and flexible hours. However, a third stated they do not offer any flexible work arrangements.

By a large margin, the respondents believe their benefits packages are more competitive than their pay. There were 90% who said that the benefits that they offered were competitive with the labor market as compared to 56% who reported that their wages were competitive. State and local governments continue to shift more health care costs to their employees, with almost 1/3 reporting they have taken this action during the past year. Close to 20% noted they have implemented wellness programs.

It's great to see state and local governments hiring and expanding, but the low rate of unemployment coupled with the increasing number of retirements (44% reported higher number of retirements than the year before) will make it a challenging environment for state and local governments to compete for top talent.

What challenges are you seeing in this space? What do you think state and local governments could do to better compete for top talent? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Today's post comes to us courtesy of board member John Frehse, Senior Managing Partner, Ankura Consulting Group, LLC.

July 1 marked the halfway point for 2018 and represents a good time to reflect on what lies ahead. National unemployment is extremely low at 3.9%, and employers from healthcare to logistics to manufacturing are all complaining about the same thing: The inability to hire and retain qualified employees. This has been an issue for decades, but the current state could, and should be labeled a crisis. Companies are not meeting demand and losing customers. There are three reasons why this will only get worse in 2019:

  1. The Booming Economy: This comes and goes in cycles and no single piece of legislation or President can really drive this cycle alone, but tax changes and relaxing of regulations are at least partially responsible for putting the economy into overdrive.
  2. The Changing Needs of American Industry: Every industry in the United States has evolved rapidly over the last decade. Service, products, and technology are all better. This evolution, largely driven by analytics and the ability to see inefficiencies and improve upon them, along with a wide range of technology breakthroughs (think Uber, robots, and other automation innovations), has created a demand for higher-skilled employees.
  3. The Changing Appetite of the American Workforce: The workforce is changing, and this is not just a discussion about Millennials. From the youngest to the oldest generation, changing attitudes about how long to work and how long to stay at a job have destabilized labor supply.

So, what are we going to do about it?

To answer this question, we need to understand what today's employees want from their employers. Uber and others have created a more on demand environment where you work when and where you want and report to no one. When compared to traditional employment opportunities, this is very attractive. Here are the top 5 things our clients talk about their employees wanting the most. Notice that pay is not on the list. Although important, it is not primary.

  1. The ability to make a difference every day
  2. Recognition when earned
  3. Time off - specifically a significant number of weekends off
  4. A shift schedule that maximizes the number of days off each week
  5. Shift schedule predictability

The labor supply is not growing, and based on birth rates, it may be shrinking in the next two decades substantially. Employers need to be proactive to compete for the talent they need to keep their businesses running. The right labor strategies can help any company standout. Instead of approaching labor strategy by copying what everyone else is doing, some differentiation will make a difference. If everyone is working 8-hour shifts, maybe offering 10 or 12-hour shifts, with the right work and pay polices, will drive interest and applications. Think about what your employees want most - beyond just a paycheck - and then find creative ways to meet and maybe even exceed their expectations. If you're able to do this, you'll be in a strong position to survive and maybe even thrive in this increasingly tough hiring climate.

The following post comes to us courtesy of board member Neil Reichenberg. Neil is the Executive Director of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) , a nonprofit membership organization representing public sector human resource managers and professionals.

Reflecting an increasingly tight labor market in the United States, recruitment and retention of qualified personnel with the needed skills for public service topped the list of workforce challenges, according to the State and Local Government Workforce: 2017 Trends report from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence. The report is based on responses to a survey by members of the International Public Management Association for Human Resources (IPMA-HR) and the National Association of State Personnel Executives (NASPE).

A total of 91% of survey respondents cited recruitment and retention as being important to their organizations. Staff development, leadership development, and workforce and succession planning also were cited as important challenges facing the public sector.

Hiring has picked up significantly, with 74% of respondents indicating that their governments hired employees during the last year, and 47% reporting that they retained contract or temporary employees. This finding is consistent with the annual IPMA-HR employment outlook survey, in which 66% of survey respondents reported that their governments planned to hire for new positions. However, for those who are creating new positions, half say that the increase will be less than 1% of the current workforce and 40% of the new positions will be in public safety. Despite the increase in hiring, there are fewer government workers today as compared to the start of the recession.

The report noted that interpersonal, written communications, and technology skills are the ones most needed by new hires. Police officer, information technology, engineer, and health care are the positions that governments have the hardest time filling. Online job advertising, government websites, employee referrals, and social media are the most successful recruitment practices for reaching qualified candidates.

Reflecting the increasing cost of health insurance, half of the survey respondents indicated that their governments had made changes to the health benefits they offered to their employees. The most common changes included: shifting more costs to employees, implementing wellness programs, and shifting employees to high deductible plans with a health savings account.

Overall, the survey respondents believe that their pay and benefits are competitive with the labor market. However, while 93% believe that their benefits are competitive with the labor market, only 64% indicated that their pay is competitive with the labor market. This finding is supported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which reported in June 2017 that for private sector workers, benefits comprises 30% of compensation as compared to 37% for state and local government employees.

Many of the findings contained in the report are likely to be similar for the private and non-profit sectors in the United States as well.

What about you? What are the major challenges your organization faces in 2017 and beyond? Do any of the findings of this survey surprise you? Tell me about it in the comments section!

job-hopping.jpgAt an upcoming meeting of the Workforce Institute Board of Advisors in Boston, we plan to spend a good deal of time investigating best practices in retaining hourly workers.  Although much is written about the retention of white collar knowledge workers, it's harder to find actionable advice for how to achieve the right retention equilibrium point for hourly workforces.   While a certain amount of attrition is healthy in an hourly workforce, just as it is in the salaried world, many organizations relying on hourly labor struggle mightily to keep their shifts covered.

 Dr. Charles Handler recently wrote about this topic in ERE in an article entitled "Turnover: Insights from the Real World".  One of the key points he makes is that for many hourly workers, the job is not where they turn for personal fulfillment, but rather to pay the bills while they seek personal satisfaction through other channels. 

We'll be writing much more on this topic after our upcoming meeting.  We'd love to hear from any of you who have real life examples of organizations who do a good job in managing voluntary turnover in their hourly worker populations.

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