Expand Your Mind: State of the Workplace
by Miki Saxon
I thought it was time to check back for a snapshot look at what’s happening in terms of people in the workplace.
First, an overview from Boston Consulting Group’s six-part article (free registration required) that presents strong support for the idea that you get more from your people by providing more for them.
Those that excel in leadership development, talent management, and performance management, for example, experience substantially higher revenue growth and profit margins.
I remember the oil crash in the mid-1980s; I was working in executive search (I was a headhunter) and I watched as several recruiting firms devoted to oil and gas closed their doors when the industry crashed, laid off, stopped hiring and adopted Draconian HR policies. Those companies are currently reaping that which they sowed, with the exception of Devon Energy Corporation. (Booz & Company’s strategy + business requires free registration.)
When the oil price fell, companies stopped hiring, and a generation of geological science and engineering students chose other fields of study instead. Now, as turnover rates rise and competitors lure away skilled engineers, this talent gap means that human capital capabilities have been strained for nearly every company in the industry.
As a life-long single this article on the inequities of so-called work-life balance between those with kids and those without really resonated.
As a result, many Americans who work for companies that embrace flexible hours are confronting a sort of office class warfare. Some employees have come to expect that the demands of their children, in particular, will be accommodated — and not all of their colleagues are happy about it.
Quick; what has changed most since you started work? How ‘bout summertime Fridays?
Everyone leaves work at noon on Fridays, said Ben Morris, 31, a British photographer who was a host of one of the Thompson parties, which start at 3 p.m. “People just leave the office. And Mondays become a write-off because no one’s there on Friday. They’re playing hooky.”
“We used to go out a lot at night, but we’re getting older, concentrating on our future,” said Reign Apiim Artis, 23,
Flickr image credit: pedroelcarvalho
