But how well do you understand what makes a great team?
If you think it’s simply assembling a group of highly talented people and letting them do their thing, then you’re in good company. Research shows that’s what people tend to believe. But, unfortunately, you’d also be wrong.
Read the full article on Kellogg Insight.
]]>But the big story is not this company, it’s the big idea that companies often over-hire. And this over-hiring results in bureaucracy, slowdown, and loss of innovation. Just as Meta has learned this, I believe every company has to learn this lesson. In today’s talent-constrained global economy, it’s time to run our companies with a focus on “fewer people” and “more clarity.” This podcast explains.
Why Do Companies Hire Too Many People? And What About Meta’s Earnings?]]>
To understand more about how employers can improve their value proposition to attract and retain workers of all ages, we looked past broad generational labels to explore the specific work preferences and drivers of employment decisions across smaller, consistently sized age groups. The data suggest that employees of all ages are looking for many of the same things at work and largely quit their jobs or start somewhere new for similar reasons. One notable difference is that once employees are in a job, the retention factors that motivate Gen Zers to stay aren’t the same as those for other age groups.
For employers, some broader lessons have also emerged: let go of generational stereotypes, focus on the employment factors that matter across all ages, and take a nuanced approach to understanding how different factors interact and affect each individual’s decisions to stay or go, rather than applying a generic range of tactics to broad demographic segments.
Read the full article on McKinsey.
]]>Competition for talent remains fierce. For certain categories of workers, the barriers to switching employers have dropped dramatically. In the United States alone, there were 11.3 million open jobs at the end of May—up substantially from 9.3 million open jobs in April 2021. Even as employers scramble to fill these positions, the voluntary quit rate is 25 percent higher than prepandemic levels. At the current and projected pace of hiring, quitting, and job creation, openings likely won’t return to normal levels for some time.
What we are seeing is a fundamental mismatch between companies’ demand for talent and the number of workers willing to supply it. Employers continue to rely on traditional levers to attract and retain people, including compensation, titles, and advancement opportunities. Those factors are important, particularly for a large reservoir of workers we call “traditionalists.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led more and more people to reevaluate what they want from a job—and from life—which is creating a large pool of active and potential workers who are shunning the traditionalist path.
Read the full article on McKinsey
]]>With millions of people job searching—including those who have been laid off, are switching careers, or have recently graduated—it’s never too early to start preparing for interviews. Common interview questions like ‘why should we hire you’ will remain popular, but you may find interviewers asking questions about hybrid work, artificial intelligence (AI), and other workplace trends.
While you can never be certain what the interviewer will ask, you can prepare for the types of questions employers need answers to in 2024, which increases the chance that you will get the job you want.
Read the full article on INHERSIGHT.
]]>These trends explore the evolution of these factors—because it’s putting society into a state of flux. People are now deconstructing everything as they try to figure out who they are in the world.
New intelligence layers are emerging in digital interactions, while people are examining the consequences of past experiences. The harmony between people, technology and business is showing tensions.
Accenture Life Trends identify and explore the various factors we expect will change the way people experience and interact with brands, organizations, governments and systems in the coming year and beyond.
So… where should we begin?
Read the full article on Accenture.
]]>In fact, most experts think that the average millennial in the work force today is likely to have a minimum of 3-4 jobs in a similar period.
Even so, I had many different challenging projects over the 11 years, loved my time and learned a heap with my previously employer.
That said I probably knew for 2 years that my time was coming to an end, I just didn’t want to admit it.
I like to think of myself as a relatively intelligent (thoughts?) guy. I also work hard, read situations well and lead with conviction.
Yet when it came to my own career and personal life I had ignored some key signs.
One, I had stopped learning new concepts and exploring new ideas. More importantly, I stopped searching for them both at work and outside in society.
Two, I was working non-stop and couldn’t switch off my thoughts to anything other than my job.
Most importantly, my personal life was a disaster! Failed relationships that were doomed from the start while my friends always saw me mentally and physically exhausted.
I was stuck and I didn’t know it.
Complicating things further, professionally I was having some of the best years I’d ever had. Record results kept coming each year and these brief rushes of adrenaline I felt papered over deeper emotional cracks.
It wasn’t until a series of personal situations blew up that I really felt like I was going to explode!
Something needed to change.
I obtained outside help to get a different perspective. Immediately, my coach challenged me on a range of things including whether my job was the best thing for me now?
Without boring detail, over an 18-month period I slowly started to appreciate my situation and engage with it.
Tough conversations forced me to realise that I didn’t see a future that worked for either my employer or me if I stayed.
Once I realised that, it was deciding what was next.
Mentally and emotionally though I was still stuck in a train of thought geared to my day job. I wasn’t anywhere near ready to make a call.
Fear of not working blocked me from pulling the trigger and walking away. Until I realised that I was successful, I did work hard and I was intelligent (relatively speaking) so surely those traits would ensure I would be ok?
I am happy to say that I am more than ok. I am great! Im also really thankful for all I had achieved with my last employer – it was a great 11 years!
More importantly though, having spent lots of time thinking clearly about my decision and what’s ahead, I know the next 11 will be even better!
]]>When my business coach (sometimes I call her my therapist) initially introduced the concept of taking a career break I laughed.
For so many years I had scoffed at CV’s that had come my way that had 3,6,9, etc month ‘career breaks’ on them. Now I was going to have one of those CV’s.
It wasn’t that I had second thoughts on the decision I had made to leave my most recent job… the opposite actually, I knew deep inside it was the right call. I also knew that I had gone through a rigorous process to get to that decision (more on that another time) so was totally comfortable.
No, the fear was more geared around the little voice in my head;
Well, I am happy to say that taking some time out was easily the greatest thing I could have done in my career and probably at the best time!
In fact all of you reading this… go out and do it now! Ok, wait, maybe just reflect on that for a bit first.
You can’t be away for that long and not have an amazing time.
I climbed mountains, swam in under-water caves, went to music festivals and meet amazing people from all walks of life (plus a whole bunch of other cool stuff too!).
I also spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting on what I had achieved to this point in my career and the type of person I wanted to be moving forward.
I realised, I had lost a little bit of who I was in the last 5 years and I wanted that person to come back.
Also, I had a clear idea of the purpose I wanted to have when I re-started my career. To help people be better at what they do and how they do it. Whether that is personally or professionally (the line here is getting blurrier by the day, but I digress).
What surprised me upon returning and starting the job search, no one really blinked when it came to my career break. In fact most just looked at me with those eyes… you know, those eyes that say ‘Why the hell haven’t I done that yet!’
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