by CHRC | Feb 12, 2020 | Big Data, Labor Markets
Why do analysts reach for the wrong pair of glasses the minute that the monthly job numbers are released? Maybe they have a rare form of myopia that prevents them from seeing that the greatest part of our labor force works in the service industry and focusing their attention on those implications.
I have been pouring over the statistics, articles, and analyses since Friday’s job numbers were released. Such excitement that a warm January led to gains in the Construction sector! Construction only makes up 5% of the U.S. workforce. Now, compare that percentage with the 11% of the workforce that jobs in Leisure and Hospitality comprises. Of course, analysts also singled out Manufacturing, concerned that this industry lost 12,000 jobs during the month. This trend is hardly surprising; it is one that started before the Great Recession of 2008 and continues; yet today manufacturing only employs about 8% of America’s workforce.
What catches our eye? In order to stay competitive, companies need to ignore the 3.1% the press plays up and instead pay attention to what type of employees, in what industries, with what skills, are demanding wage increases between 3.7% and 14%.
Charts that put the picture into focus:
- The number of candidates per job opening, broken out by industry. The JOLTS report, the most recent released yesterday by the BLS. Read More Here
- Individual Wage Growth between the median and the 75th percentile analysis per the Atlanta Fed. Read More Here
Perhaps the analysts drinking their cappuccinos need to get a little less excited about who is manufacturing the fancy espresso machine and pay a little more attention to the talents and current wage demands of the barista who foamed their milk. Read More Here
by CHRC | Feb 5, 2020 | Leadership, Performance Reviews, Work Place
We are just finishing our holiday puzzle. You know that puzzle that you do as a family so that you have a legitimate excuse to sit around for hours at a time in your holiday pajamas? Well someone (me) had a brilliant idea this year of selecting a 1,000 piece puzzle of the Sistine Chapel. Pazzo!
I think most people have strategies for doing puzzles: find the four corners first, then segregate out the edge pieces, and once the structure is completed, then start looking for colors or patterns. Most of us are set in our way of solving puzzles. Our family has traditionally had its roles set. My husband and son have extraordinary spatial development skills—and we have overly relied on these. I might have been staring at a section forever, desperate for a piece in one area, and my husband would come, stand over my shoulder, nonchalantly pick up the one piece I’d been searching for, and silently snap it into a gaping hole. Infuriating—yet this skill completes the puzzle at a much faster pace.
This year the tables were turned. Once the perimeter was finished, our traditional go-to guy’s secret weapon was of no use. Why? Because Michelangelo’s genius required color recognition to solve this puzzle, and no spatial development skill was going to help. My spatial development genius husband is very challenged when it comes to nuances in color.
Our son returned to college, our daughter (quite smartly) refused to help, and every time my husband wandered back to try again, frustration took over. I think I must have changed tactics five different times and employed entirely new ones. There was no one way to solve this puzzle.
This really made me think about the way we approach problem-solving at work. How often do we have a project or problem and our first response is to ask the office go-to guy? How often would the go-to guy admit this is a problem he can’t solve? That he’s never done a 1,000 piece puzzle before or that he is terrible at color recognition? How often does a boss or colleague tell the go-to guy that he doesn’t have what it takes to solve THIS problem? It’s time to recognize that sometimes, someone who has traditionally never been the strongest player for the typical problems tackled, just might have the required skill set to lead the team in solving a new puzzle.
I think there’s a lot of food for thought that anyone in an organization or leading a team should ponder. Anyone in the midst of performance reviews should definitely be thinking about team members as a collection of all of their strengths and perceived weaknesses. You could be overvaluing one person’s spatial development while overlooking someone else’s color recognition—an ability that someday might be the key to solving the team’s biggest challenge.
by CHRC | Feb 3, 2020 | Human Capital, Leadership
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a football fan. But this article about a football player caught my eye.
When my son was growing up, we often argued about specializing too early in just one sport. Isn’t it nice to know that sometimes, just sometimes, the parent might be right? I would often cite examples from my childhood, like my first and all-time favorite sports hero, Ernie Banks; he came to baseball fairly late. But this article about a 24-year-old sports phenom shows a similar pattern. He too, played many sports, and in doing so eventually became a better all-around athlete, star quarterback, and now 2020’s Super Bowl MVP!
Conveniently, Patrick Mahomes’ ascendency coincides with the re-recognition in management: the value of being a generalist. It seems that in both business and sports it can be of great value to not specialize too early. Perhaps we could all take a page from Mahomes’ playbook. Read More Here
by CHRC | Jan 29, 2020 | Competencies, Human Capital, Skilled Labor
Some of the most fun we have as compensation consultants is when a client says: “this is such an unusual job; you will never be able to price this job.”
What makes our job so interesting? Sleuthing to find such a unique set of skills to fulfill even the rarest roles. The minute I read this headline, I was intrigued not just because I love the costumes on this TV show, but because I immediately thought, “Where would you even find that person?” “What sort of background would they need?” “What knowledge, skills, and ability does a job like that require?” Once those questions are answered, then we can start finding matched roles and salaries.
The beauty of this article? The interviewer did his job; he obviously asked all the right questions, because the article answers all the specifics required to dress Midge Maisel.
Perhaps we should see if this interviewer would like to become a compensation consultant? Read More Here
by CHRC | Jan 22, 2020 | Productivity, Work Place
In the early 1990s, I lived in Japan, and was taken aback the first few times I saw people get on the subway, and go about their daily business wearing surgical-type masks whenever they were sick. Over time, I started to realize what a smart practice this was. This time of year, I wish my fellow Americans would put medical masks on as they sneeze and cough spreading their germs all around.
So, is it okay to call in sick with a common cold? Should you tough it out and keep working or go back to bed—for everybody’s sake? Having a cold doesn’t really warrant a day off; or does it? Rachel Suff, senior policy adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), suggests, “If you are really not well and your symptoms mean you are not going to be productive, it’s better to [call in] sick [rather than] spreading your germs around the workplace.” It’s also important to remember to “be more mindful of those with severely compromised immune systems” or those caring for others with compromised immune systems.
If you still can’t shake that cold, don’t be afraid to take the day off. You (and your co-workers) will be glad you did. Read More Here
