| January
/ February 2006
Six
trends to watch in 2006
EACH
CAN IMPACT YOUR ORGANIZATION FOR GOOD OR BAD
CONCEPTS
COMPETE CONSTANTLY for our attention, with most darting out
of sight as quickly as they entered. A few, however, begin
to appear with such frequency that it’s hard to ignore
them, and they move from concept to trend. Here are six worth
watching as 2006 unfolds.
1.
Preserving Work/Life Balance
A business
magazine recently told the story of a financial services executive
who routinely worked such late hours that his wife would bring
his two children to the office, in pajamas, to say goodnight.
Fortunately, he worked in the suburbs near his home –
and not an hour or two away.
Even employers
who feel little loyalty toward their employees expect great
loyalty from them, and what better test of loyalty is there
than working long hours (unless one is also asked to cancel
a long-planned vacation)? Baby Boomers were bred in an age
that prized conformity with corporate standards, particularly
the demonstration of a strong work ethic. But this year, Baby
Boomers are beginning to retire, and those in Generation X
(the NeXters on their way to middle age) show little desire
to make their life revolve around their work. They value sports,
culture, community participation, travel and friends. Once
married, they become family-centric and don’t want to
miss the myriad activities that mark their children’s
busy lives.
Therefore it’s
no surprise that several recent surveys have shown time and
flexibility to be at the top of NeXters’ needs –
ahead for the first time of meaningful work and recognition.
Although it is difficult for most employers to give the gift
of time (unless one wants, like the French, to sacrifice productivity
for a 30-hour work week), many could think much more creatively
about flexibility. Flexible work hours and working conditions
may in fact enhance productivity by retaining employees who
otherwise might quit.
2.
Encouraging Sick Employees to
Stay at Home
Until bird flu
quarantines us all, employees with nasty viruses will continue
trudging to work – hacking and sneezing at everyone
in sight. The nom du jour for this deep-rooted phenomenon
is “presenteeism” – which is simply the
opposite of absenteeism. Employees both high and low feel
the need to be present at work for reasons ranging from feelings
of self-importance (“They can’t get along without
me”) to punitive corporate policies (e.g., no more than
five days of paid sick leave a year). If employees can either
bank or cash in unused sick leave, there may be additional
inducements to come to work ill.
It’s a thorny
issue for employers. On the one hand, you don’t want
workers staying home just because they have the sniffles.
On the other hand, you don’t want the genuinely sick
to infect an entire department. A survey this past summer
by CCH Inc. found 48 percent of employers to be concerned
about presenteeism, up from 39 percent just a year ago. One
possible solution stems from common sense: while you can’t
always tell when someone is faking it, real sickness is easily
spotted. Sick days notwithstanding, send the truly sick person
home.
3.
Coming to Terms with Outsourcing / Offshoring
Globalization is here. The design, manufacturing,
assembly and sale of your laptop computer … cellular
phone … digital camera … or any other electronic
device may have occurred in as many different countries as
there were steps in the supply chain. The same statement holds
true for automobiles and countless other products. Specialists
in India now interpret X-rays overnight for American hospitals,
while others prepare tax returns for accounting firms halfway
around the world. In the words of Fortune writer Geoffrey
Colvin, globalization increasingly lets multinational enterprises
“hire, source, and sell wherever they like, and that
is basically good news no matter where the incorporation papers
are filed.” He goes on to say it may be less good news
for workers.
U.S.
workers, in particular, face the dilemma of being overpaid
compared to their counterparts in India, China, Malaysia,
Mexico and elsewhere. The problem is likely to grow worse,
with China and India now each producing three times the number
of college graduates found in the U.S. – all of whom
are eager for work. China this year will graduate over eight
times more engineers than the U.S. will. The disparity is
likely to increase. American 15-year-olds now rank 29th in
math achievement, which will not help swell the engineering
ranks. As work / life balance becomes an increasing issue
(see Trend #1), what will happen to the average American’s
job prospects and pay?
4.
Offsetting Wage Deflation
Real wages, adjusted
for inflation, have been going nowhere in most highly developed
countries. That in part is due to the struggle of many companies
to remain competitive in global markets, coupled with the
availability of inexpensive sources of labor in developing
nations (think of all those Chinese and Indian college graduates).
It is difficult
to predict whether workers will become more mobile, in search
of better-paying positions, or will remain thankful for the
jobs they have (since almost any job can be outsourced, perhaps
including the CEO’s). Smart employers can help encourage
employee retention by paying attention to the intangibles
of job satisfaction – including flexible hours and working
conditions, on-site day care, greater benefits selection,
more challenging work assignments, greater job rotation, etc.
5.
Managing Pension Liability
As an
outcome of the Industrial Revolution and unionization, pensions
guaranteed that workers could devote 30 or more years of their
life to a single employer and retire with dignity. However,
as retirees have come to exceed the ranks of employed workers,
and as questionable accounting policies led many companies
to under-fund their defined-benefit plans, pension obligations
have threatened employers as large as General Motors. (Recent
accommodations with the United Auto Workers will give GM some
relief.)
A new
study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide finds that the average U.S.
company pension plan is over 80-percent funded against current
obligations, while almost 15 percent are fully funded –
so there is no looming catastrophe. Nonetheless, the four
out of five companies that also provide medical benefits to
retirees, plus the over three out of five that provide life
insurance, need to consider how long they can afford to do
so. As 401(k) and similar defined-contribution plans replace
defined-benefit plans, the pension problem will go away. Meanwhile,
many employers need to evaluate their risk exposure and begin
educating employees.
6.
Writing and Speaking Clearly
An increasing
number of college graduates arrive at their first job unable
to write a concise business memo or make a persuasive customer
presentation. The combination of muddled thinking, garbled
syntax and grammar, and reliance on filler words (“It’s
like so over with”) leaves readers and listeners puzzled.
As some colleges sacrifice exposure to the humanities for
greater vocational education, the problem is only likely to
worsen. If your business benefits from careful explication
and powerful persuasion, it may be necessary to help newer
employees become more articulate – either through on-the-job
feedback or formal instruction.
—
George Snider
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