A new workforce trend has emerged, called the "Great Detachment," where employees are disengaged with their work and want to leave, but are constrained by a tough, competitive labor market. Gallup's Corey Tatel, who co-authored a recent report on the phenomena, attributes the disengagement to poor communication between employees and their supervisors. "Managers simply are not showing-up for their employees," says Tatel.
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The pandemic-era trend of job hopping appears to be over, with multiple surveys now showing that fewer US adults are looking to leave their current positions. "People feel really satisfied with their compensation and they are very happy with their flexibility, which are two big drivers," says Dawn Fay of Robert Half. In addition, potential job switchers must grapple with a tightening labor market.
Despite the Age Discrimination in Employment Act prohibiting mandatory retirement, many older employees are still forced out, often due to company downsizing or health problems. A study found that 56% of workers over 50 experience early job loss, and only 10% secure comparable employment. Employers may provide severance packages or early retirement incentives, but it is crucial for workers to consult a lawyer before signing any agreements.
Economist Richard Baldwin's 2023 statement, "AI won't take your job. It's somebody using AI that will take your job," highlights the need for a collaborative human-AI workforce with clear policies emphasizing accountability and experimentation. Leaders need to create a forward-thinking workplace that doesn't fear AI but sees its potential for creating a more productive work environment.
When it comes to offering perks to get employees to come back to the office, research by Emmy van Esch, a management lecturer at the University of Auckland, found the most compelling reason to return was a nice view from the office window. The study found that views that are too busy, such as urban landscapes, caused stress, but "mystery" views, such as mountains, or "coherent" views like symmetrical skyscrapers, contributed to a feeling of well-being.
Today’s workers have a lot of noise coming at them daily, all of which affects their productivity, according to our Leadership & Development story from Forbes. Data from Atlassian shows that they get interrupted more than 50 times each day and spend 28% of their time managing email. They spend roughly 62 hours, monthly, in meetings.
So how do we get work done? My solution: Focus time. My Google calendar has a feature that allows me to carve out time just to focus on projects, tasks and assignments. When I create new calendar events and mark them as “focus time,” the system will automatically decline any new invitations or tasks that come in during that timeslot.
I’m still getting used to truly honoring this time for project work, but just going through this process has been eye opening. I’ve been able to see where my time is getting sucked up by non-essential tasks or meetings. I have encouraged the rest of my team to use this feature.
What do you do to protect your time and productivity? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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