Shift in Priorities Calls for Refocus

-
© 2013 AR_HRCom _TedPic_ Engagement
Have you ever seen negative people? They are not fun-loving.  I LOVE positive people. They make me feel good, they enlighten my day, and they bring me some fresh air. I just love them! I admire the inspiration that they are able to instill, just because they are beautifully positive! They find ways of bringing warmth out of cold days.
Positive people are beautiful. There is something about them that is different, special. I have met a few of them. And its seems that, more and more, quite a few of us, older and younger, have redefined what matters most to us. 


The latest Gallup survey shows that out of all employees, the category of service workers is the only one that shows a drop in engagement from 2009 to 2012. This marks a 3%  decrease versus a 6% increase for manufacturing and production workers. Interesting enough however, transportation and manufacturing workers are the most "actively disengaged" at 28% and 26% respectively, whereas service workers rate at 22%. Compare this to the best ranking for professionals and physicians who show an active disengagement of 9% and managers, executives and officials being at a 13% mark, and you get the idea. Impressive results with a +/- 1% margin of error according to the survey method used!

There is no surprise that the research points to the positive linkage between engagement and wellbeing. Clearly, the better your lifestyle and your outlook on life, the better your workplace engagement. This could be mostly related to the working environment. There are also reasons to believe that it is a combination of learned experience, knowledge, and environment. It could be simply put as situation awareness that one exhibits in a personalized fashion, that is, in lifestyle, working practices and attitudes among other factors, and that translate in unavoidable impacts in the overall economy, health situation, and sadly cascading in education, creating a vicious circle. To limit ourselves to one main subject, there is a "proven strong relationship between employees' workplace engagement and their respective companies' overall performance." This implies that scorecard goals are pointless if no work is done toward lingering or existing issues in employees' engagement.

A Labyrinth of Opportunities

 
© 2013 AR_HRCom _TedPic_ Engagement
Interesting enough, the more I think about this subject, the deeper I could go into my analysis. And I have no doubt that so could you. We all could have our own theories and hypotheses. It is a labyrinth of thoughts. But it could also be a labyrinth of opportunities. It is a matter of finding which way is the fastest and brings the best outcome for your organization. 

The latest SHRM findings on hiring expectations show a positive 6% increase in 2013 vs. 2012 in both manufacturing and service sectors while an overall -1.2% decrease in new hire compensation is observed. Combined with rising recruiting difficulty of 13.6%  in the above sectors, it is no surprise that the engagement is at the slowest point in manufacture and service jobs.

Source: SHRM Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE), shrm.org/line.
Add to the overall picture that voluntary turnover is on its rise and you get the gloomy side of Human Resource Management. Where did we fail? When did we drift away?

Globally, according to Towers Watson 2012 – 2013 Global Talent Management and Rewards Study, we do have considerable attraction, retention and sustainable engagement issues in critical-skill employees.

Sustainable engagement seems to derive from overall well-being. Organizations need to adjust not only to market changes and needs, but also and mostly to its internal clients changes: employees. There is a serious shift in employees' priorities. That is the simple explanation of absenteeism, voluntary turnover, short tenures, low morale. Aggressively or defensively addressing the issue is not a viable solution.

Organizations need to align their priorities to their workforce priorities. It is a matter of balance. Maybe it is just a matter of simple common sense. How about seeing things positively and  attacking the issue at its root causes? Are you positive and infusing that positive outlook to your employees and co-workers without hidden agenda? Are you bringing your thoughts to the table?
© 2013 AR_HRCom _TedPic - Engagement
As employees shift their priorities, let's stay in focus. HR needs to learn to look at the big picture, more often. It is now a must in the new partnership.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COMMUNICATION, SAFETY & WORKPLACE: "Je suis Charlie"

-
Image
©AR_HRComatrix_SCharlie C ommunication is powerful, today more than ever, with social media . Frontiers are erased . Time elapses. Things and situations take a different dimension. Everything is "here and now ". This week, " Je suis Charlie " has been the most recent and poignant picture of the power of communication. All started and ended in the workplace . Chilling for HR and Safety people. P eople all the over the world spend most of their time at work . The typical workday is about six to eight hours in the the US with the new approach to the notion of full time job . In France it is typically eight hours, with often some flexibility, and despite the official 35 hours a week. . How can we protect workers against unexpected violence since they spend most of their time at work? H R is not about damage control ; it is about proactivity . Disturbingly enough, only 31% of workplaces in the US seem to be proactive in emergency preparedness, acco
Read more

CATCHING FIRE: WORDS of WISDOM ABOUT and FROM MILLENNIALS- LESSONS FROM MILLENNIALS Part II -

-
Image
A lot has been said about Millennials. There are you tube videos , articles , blogs , research and polls... Most of them trying to help us understand this new generation. They appear as aggressive, daring, intimidating,  careless, smart, fast, clueless, in sum "different," regardless on who sees them. They certainly have many faces. Turning a New Leaf With Millennials © 2013 AR_HRCom-Millennials Those of us who have been working side by side with them have most likely experienced mixed feelings. It is basically turning a new leaf. Let's move toward greener fields! These young  partners can be exuberant and very lively and their concerns about professional or personal life can feel overwhelming. Often times you get what you see and hear. Does it make your assessment easier? I doubt. To me the challenge in assessment comes from the necessity to distance oneself from the individual. The ability to intellectualize things in this matter is a real gift. I can dea
Read more

Holistic HR - Part II: Socially Distant and Staying Relevant

-
Image
Ted_HRComtx_HolisticHR © Carving a Path for 2021 I t is said that silence is death, and that no news is good news. I have to say that I have been like many of us: affected in one way of another by Covid, being socially distant within relevancy. New resolutions? At least, carving a new path... in this icy cold world full of hot topics. It is not easy: it takes daring and willingness.   T he new year - already not feeling so new by now - has to be better in many ways, because it is practically a call to duty. What the pandemic has brought to us is not isolation but the exposure to a global environment that could reveal itself to be highly toxic , as well as the possibility of exacerbation of some situations of at-risk people . As we advance into 2021 we see the emergence of Wellbeing vs. Wellness verbiage because if anything last year has brought to light, it is the awareness of the importance of mental health .  This is more than ever a reason to understand and embrace that the whol
Read more

Holistic HR - Part I: Is Mental Wellness Relevant?

-
Image
Ad_HRComtx_1_620 © A s we are navigating the new ways of work, one aftermath of the pandemic for many of us is the unpleasant discovery of unvisited or neglected matters: our mental wellness. More than ever HR has to embrace its evolving approach to its core responsibility: HR is about "the whole person". T he pandemic has brought to the surface so many elements that neither HR nor the people had thought about, although always existing. To me, the two major concerns about mental wellness are depression and domestic violence. I have to admit that I never seriously thought about it until I lost sleep myself and couldn't understand why I was so inexplicably restless and unfocused. Quite a few people I talked to shared similar occurrences. This can only be exacerbated by the sense of isolation from familiar working environment as we work from home or are still transitioning to go back to work. If any of this happened to you, you are quite normal in highly abnormal ti
Read more

WORK LIFE / BALANCE DEBATE - Part I: A BUSINESS, A HR, OR PERSONAL CHOICE?

-
Image
W ork/Life balance exists and is possible for privileged functions. It is undeniably  accessible at both ends of the spectrum: high- and low-end positions, and globally, to a certain extent. The difference is in income stability and real choices . Is work/life balance just empty words or an intellectual speech for some of us? In a SHRM article, it is defined as a myth . So true, it is a matter of priorities. ACC Report- 2014 (on In-House Counsels) TOUCH: THREE ASPECTS OF WORK/LIFE BALANCE   Until you know first hand through one way or another about a specific subject, it is just talk, intellectualized talk. If you have ever been in a French environment, you would know about dwelling into that intellectual talk . Somehow inexplicably satisfying.  So, flexibility, let's talk about it, really: you have to touch and feel it. Then you would be able to say that you know it, from an individual standpoint. There are three major faces of Work/Life Balance. 1- Work/Life Balan
Read more

HEALTHCARE BENEFITS & ACA REQUIREMENTS SNAPSHOT

-
Image
© 2014 AR_HRCom-Ad_Healthcare Here we are stepping into January 2014, and the healthcare subject is of a major concern to employees and employers alike. Until now, decisions on eligibility for voluntary benefits has been the employer's prerogative. Health benefits were by essence not a mandated benefit. The landscape of healthcare regulations has dramatically changed with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Nothing seems to be really firmly set yet. One thing appears to be certain: the cost is skyrocketing at all levels . By now, large employers have already rolled out their programs and made necessary addition to their benefits staff. Individuals who wanted coverage to start with the new year have already filed their applications. It is somewhat different for smaller employers since their mandate on Healthcare coverage requirements is being delayed. In any event, here are a few key points as a reminder or a reference for those of us who still need it. QUICK RE
Read more