Use "sparring sessions" to improve your strategy "Sparring sessions," which involve spirited team discussions about change and new ideas, can help determine an organization's best path forward, write Dartmouth College's Scott D. Anthony and Innosight's Natalie Painchaud and Andy Parker. Keep the sessions productive by collecting and presenting data, basing arguments on assumptions instead of beliefs and identifying misalignments, they write. Full Story: Harvard Business Review (tiered subscription model) (10/27)
Survey: Gen Z employees expect frequent feedback A StaffCircle survey of employees and HR professionals found 73% of Gen Z employees are more likely to leave their job if they get little feedback. "With Gen Z, working patterns have changed and they expect a certain level of interaction, whether it's online or face-to-face," says Mark Seemann, CEO of StaffCircle, which also found only 15% of employees have weekly interactions with their managers about performance. Full Story: WorkLife (10/26)
Good body language is part of every speaker's ability to project confidence and authority, but so is the tone, tenor and quality of their voice, writes Gary Genard, who recommends taking professional advice on how to relax your jaw and lips, speak clearly and avoid trailing off at the end of your sentences. "Your voice is thus an excellent barometer of how simply and honestly you are getting across to people," Genard notes. Full Story: The Genard Method (10/29)
Professional development relationships sometimes disappoint people who neglect the difference between a mentor and an advocate, writes Kaelin Peterson, a doctoral student in performance improvement leadership. Clarify whether guidance or advocacy is the goal and ask for it, notes Peterson, who suggests seeking connections through professional organizations, school alumni groups, LinkedIn and networking events. Full Story: The American Genius (10/26)
The Landscape
Are employers gaining the advantage in the hiring game? Job hunters have had the upper hand in salary negotiations since the pandemic as employers struggled to fill jobs. Now the market may be moving more toward the employers' advantage as there are fewer job openings and big salary hikes are decreasing, jobs data shows. Full Story: USA Today (10/31)
More employers offering deductible-free health plans A Mercer survey found the number of large employers offering at least one deductible-free health plan to their workers climbed from 11% this year to 15% in 2024 as health care affordability concerns rise among employees. About 25% of employees said they can't afford their health care needs without financial hardship, according to the poll of 4,505 workers. Full Story: Axios (10/30),Becker's Payer Issues (10/30)
Free eBooks and Resources
Free eBooks and resources brought to you by our sponsors
"Shallow work" gets in the way of productivity A recent study revealed a big irony about productivity tools like Slack, Gmail and Microsoft Teams: Constantly checking the tools can make workers less productive. The average knowledge worker can't go 6 minutes without checking a platform. The result is something called "shallow work," during which workers are unable to deeply focus on the task at hand. This article offers tips on what you can do to keep messaging tools at bay so you can improve your focus. Full Story: InsideHook (10/30)
Lace up your sneakers and enjoy this article that takes a fascinating look at what it takes to be a different kind of legend in the game of basketball. Rather than focus on LeBron or Steph or Dame or KD, this piece focuses on the player who is regarded as the best American basketball player to never play a minute in an NBA game. Full Story: Forbes (tiered subscription model) (10/29)
SmartBreak: Question of the Day
"Trick or treat, smell my feet, gimme something good to eat!" In a 2023 National Retail Federation survey, which pet costume ranks first?
