February 21st, 2010
This set of graphics appears in the New York Times Business Section, February 21, 2010. It highlights that unemployment is a heterogeneous and complex dynamic. (Click and it should expand for you.)
Here’s my thought – has the HR community thought about how to deal with the long-term unemployed? Will we shun them? Will we continue the natural selection perspective that the unemployed are always poor performers and deserve to be passed over for jobs?
Source: NYTimes.com
If you go back prior to the great recession, the big concern was how are we going to back fill the retiring baby boomers. (See representative article from Inc.com)I get that right now the issue is a lack of jobs, not workers. At some point however, that will change. The new jobs are likely to even more service oriented than now, and more super-sophisticated than now. In other words, low end and high end jobs – the have and the have nots. (See HumanMarkets: “Two-Tier Society”.
At some point the long-term unemployed will look like an attractive pool of candidates for something. They may need more training, they are likely to need more acculturation. Importantly, they may not respond well to conventional management techniques – not having a boss for a couple of years can change a guy. It is also possible that they will need personal rehabilitation to internally convert in way to become competitive in the new labor market. See: Human Markets: “I Am Going To Hell. No, They Are Not Hiring.” Frankly, I don’t know. Yet.
It is not too early to think about what is the range of approaches and your best thinking about engaging, or not, the long-term unemployed. It may be a good way to spend some time so that it does not become an exercise in self-reflection.
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February 4th, 2010
After how many years, I still can’t reconcile myself to the name “World At Work”. It is without a doubt the most stupid name for an organization ever.
I just referenced some WAW material (which was great) in a memo to executives. Now I am spending the rest of my day using the phrase “it used to the American Compensation Association.”
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January 20th, 2010
I work at a place where the employee cafeteria kicks butt. It is on the 43rd and 44th floor of a beautiful building and it is ours – all ours.
Friday I had the pleasure of hosting lunch there for a job candidate and his wife (they are from out of town). Watching them, watch us eating, interacting, laughing and engaging, reminded me how powerful it is to have a central place where all employees can be, more or less at the same time.
Our old headquarters did not have one and we did not miss having one. When our new building was being built it was not HR, but our CEO who insisted on it being built and it being built to very high standards. He knew. He was right.
Great lesson for all organizations. Every club needs a club house.
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November 20th, 2009
My apologies to the kind readers of HumanMarkets. I have been consumed with a pretty material project in my day job. Look for a return of posting from HumanMarkets after Thanksgiving. Best wishes to all for a nice holiday.
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September 15th, 2009
I took a pitch from a vendor today. He was selling a web-based tool which he promised would help me. In fact, he used the same phrase a few times. His product apparently would help me win the “War On Talent”.
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September 1st, 2009
Did you try the experiment on inviting other drivers to pass infront of you at stop signs? We wrote it up on August 13th. Use comments on this post to tell us how you did.
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August 23rd, 2009
Human Markets is on vacation – see you in September.
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August 10th, 2009
It’s a virtual certainty that individual tax rates will increase by 2011. If you work in or near compensation and benefits, you better get smarter about the tax effect of programs. Your organization is going to look down the table to you for ideas on how to help people manage their tax situation prior to 2011. That means maybe thinking about things to do in 2010.
Forewarned is forearmed.
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July 27th, 2009
You can’t go to everything. My advice is you can always skip an employee’s wedding (kids, their own, etc…); never skip a funeral (their parents, children or spouse). People don’t give you credit for showing up at the wedding party but people give you enormouse credit for supporting them in their grief.
6 Comments | In: Uncategorized | tags: Employee Relations, Funerals. | #
