HR Industry Brief

Automation and technology will continue to influence the American workforce moving forward. There will be a need for skilled, training, innovative workers. Now a new report predicts that the U.S. may experience a shortfall of 600,00 to 12.5 million workers by 2030. To prepare now for the future, your company can start with a few steps:

• Perform strategic workforce planning. Regularly assess the size, composition, and development of your workforce. Evaluate future demand based on strategic directions, then determine the gaps for certain jobs and skills. Proactively design the measures needed to close those gaps and develop measures to address evolving needs over time.
• Upskill and reskill existing workforces. Anticipate what skills will be needed for different positions and make sure workers get equipped with those now.
• Create a lifelong learning culture. Make sure workers understand that learning isn’t one and done. Give them regular opportunities … [Read more...] about (5/7) What the 2030 Workforce Will Look Like Without Reskilling

The pandemic has made business transformations more urgent than ever. However, this can be challenging, especially for more traditional organizations. To be a transitional leader, you need to create a deeper sense of purpose that guides strategic decisions and shapes workplace culture, repositioning core business, and creating new sources of growth. There are 4 actions transformational leaders need to take:

• Practice new mental models. This calls for visionary thinking, the capacity to identify and tackle complex problems, and the courage to make tough choices.
• Continually think about what your organization should become. Try to anticipate how employees and customers will react to change.
• Share leadership more systematically. Harness the organization’s collective intelligence, energy, and experience.
• Promise empowerment, then deliver it. It’s appropriate to encourage people to think, learn, and act differently, but give them the tools, … [Read more...] about (5/7) 4 Actions Transformational Leaders Take

Under President Biden’s American Families Plan, U.S. workers would get 12 weeks fo family and medical leave at partial pay. Among the details:

• The plan guarantees access to the level 10 years after the program’s start. It seeks to provider up to $4,000 per month and several types of leave for workers.
• If the plan passes, low- and middle-income families will spend no more than 7% of their income on “high-quality child care.”
• The plan calls for university preschool available to 3- and 4-year-lds.

Before you invest heavily in consultants or outside firms, look to your employees to help you promote a strong company brand. Here how:

• Realize that good branding comes from within. When your workers have a sense of purpose and feel valued, they can be great brand promoters and bring both customers and new employees to your organization.
• Stress authenticity. Talk about actual programs and efforts that demonstrate diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as employee wellbeing and health/safety.
• Empower your biggest promoters. The employee voice is three times more credible than the CEO when it comes to talking about working conditions, challenges, and solutions.

According to a new survey, employers say that their leaders rose the ethical challenges of the pandemic. Specifically:

• Most emphasized company values to motivate employees to make the rich choices during the pandemic.
• They say their boards supported ethics and compliance during the past year.
• There are still areas for improvement, including making programs more easily accessible to all employees.
• Leaders need to continue working to improve ethics and compliance pgorams to help workers deal with the impact of the pandemic.
• Moving forward, employers will need to recognize workers’ individual circumstances and needs and react with empathy and transparency.

Among the findings of a new poll about why Americans are hesitant to get the COVID vaccine:

• Vaccine hesitancy has dropped from 27.5% in January of this year to 22% in March.
• Nearly 40% of those who say they are hesitant expressed concerns about side effects.
• More than one-third say they don’t think they need the shot, don’t trust the government, are waiting to see if the vaccine is safe, or don’t trust the COVID-19 vaccine specifically.
• 14% of respondents say they don’t like vaccines in general.
• Occupation seems to influence hesitancy. Nearly half (46%) of construction workers say they are hesitant. Reluctance is nearly as high among workers in installation, maintenance, repair, farming, fishing, and forestry. Hesitancy was lowest among some health care professionals such as pharmacists (8.5%) and educators (9.6%).
• Hesitancy among medical assistance and home health, nursing, psychiatric, or personal-care aides is … [Read more...] about (4/30) Poll Reveals Who’s Most Vaccine Hesitant in America and Why

Obtaining valid references for potential hires isn’t as black and white as you may think. Companies have seen consequences both for sharing too much or too little about former workers; as a result, they may be hesitant to provide much (if any) really useful information. To get the best results, consider these tips:

• Let each candidate know that you check references. This can help ensure that the answers and insights you get from interviews are honest and real.
• Don’t delegate this task to others. If the candidate will report directly to you, you should perform the check yourself.
• Start with the job candidates. Ask them what they think a former employer would say about them. It will be useful to compare this with what you hear during the reference check.

• What was this person’s primary responsibilities?
• What are the person’s most impressive skills or … [Read more...] about (4/29) Here’s How to Check References

They may not tell you, but at least some of your team members dread virtual meetings. As more workers come back to the office, there are likely to be fewer of these events. However, there will be times when they are necessary. To make them more productive and less stressful and monotonous, forget about cute gimmicks and ‘fun’ activities. Get back to the basics:

• Keep it simple. Have an agenda that is easily achievable and simple, clear goals for your time together. Don’t try to cram too much into a short period of time and make the meetings drag on.
• Focus on the meeting, not the technology. When tech glitches happen, deal with them and move on. For instance, send out PowerPoint programs or other resources in advance in case you can’t screen share.
• Involve employees early. Interact with them as individuals. Ask questions and pay attention to their answers.
• Add a leader. Have another person be a co-moderator.
• Maintain eye … [Read more...] about (4/28) End Zoom Gloom: 5 Tips for Better Virtual Meetings

Your organization can’t possibly plan completely for all positive crises or disasters, but these eight steps can help you pivot and respond more quickly and effectively when unexpected surprises hit:

• Define the types of crises you could face. Determine what disasters are most likely to affect your business and put the greatest effort into planning for those. At the same time, determine what planning elements for these might apply to other issues or crises that may arise.
• Trigger the plan. Identify levels of urgency and determine what will trigger responses for each level.
• Determine the base of operations location. Designate at least one offsite command center in case of a situation that requires to evacuate your premises.
• Identify a chain of command. Then appoint a backup for each person in case he or she can’t fulfill his or her responsibilities in a crisis.
• Plan for internal and external communication. Have a clear set of … [Read more...] about (4/27) 8 Steps to Create Strong Disaster Management Plans

If you or your team members are exhausting and stressed from living the Zoom life, you’re not alone:

• Millions of people suffer from ‘Zoom’ fatigue, which includes symptoms such as exhaustion at day’s end, aching back, shoulders, and head, and feelings of detachment.
• 4 in 10 remote workers report feeling a sense of physical and mental exhaustion after spending time on video calls.
• Women reportedly suffer higher levels of stress during video conferencing than men. This may be linked to ‘mirror anxiety,’ where seeing oneself on the screen cause self-scrutiny.