The exterior of The Spheres is seen at Amazon headquarters in Seattle. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has announced that individual team directors will decide how often, if at all, employees will be expected to work in the office -- a reversal from the company's previous position that corporate staffers would be required to work from the office at least three days a week. "We want most of our people close enough to their core team that they can easily travel to the office for a meeting within a day's notice," Jassy said.
Have a talent development plan? The future of work continues to evolve and technology is changing. Organizations need to keep pace. With a solid talent development plan, you can secure long-term business success, while improving retention. Is your team ready? Take a talent assessment and close the skills gaps.
Rather than competing in the marketplace for full-time employees, many companies are snapping up temporary workers with specific expertise, insiders say. Freelance platform Upwork reports that a survey of 1,000 hiring managers in the US revealed that the COVID-19 crisis made companies more willing to use temps.
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RainmakerThinking CEO Bruce Tulgan examines the reasons behind the talent crisis and how short-term factors driven by the pandemic will have a long-term effect on the relationship between employers and employees, particularly the power wielded by the latter who will increasingly demand flexibility. Tulgan outlines the top causes of voluntary departures from jobs, advising employers that the top "strategy for winning today's talent wars is to retain the valued employees you already have by fighting these top causes of turnover."
The 2021 Pediatric Behavioral Health Needs Survey showed that 21% of parents and caregivers had quit their jobs or were planning to quit in order to take care of children's behavioral health needs. Employers can help stem the tide of staff resignations by adding children's mental health benefits that focus on self-guided activities, parent coaching and remote care.
High-level talent can be disgruntled because they don't believe their managers support their growth, seek their ideas or appreciate their output, writes HRPlus CEO Bryan Otte. "Instead of throwing more money at broad surveys, salaries and benefits, take the time to have real conversations to flesh out what really matters to your workforce," Otte writes.
Kawai, six years old at the time, had entered my room where I was getting ready for work. She looked annoyed. Concerned, I nodded and turned off the hair dryer.
“I would like to make my own lunches, please,” she said, a bit impatiently.
I cocked my head. Kiaha always made the lunches and she had never fussed before. Something had happened. “Okay. Why?” I asked slowly.
Apparently the day before, when Kawai was having lunch with her classmates, she bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich and grape jelly came squirting back at her, leaving a large purple stain on her white polo shirt. To avoid a recurrence, she asked her brother to spread the jelly instead of leaving it in a “blob” in the center of the bread. He refused, saying he was in charge of making their lunches and didn’t have time for special requests.
“But he blobs the jelly! And Diego kept laughing at me!” she argued through tears as she pantomimed the “blobbing.”
I nodded sympathetically (as I held in laughter) and put my hand on her shoulder. “Okay, kiddo. Let’s go talk to your brother.”
Kiaha rolled his eyes as I recounted Kawai’s story and started to counter with his own argument. I put my hand up to stop him. “I’m not questioning your PB&J technique, son. But I am going to let her make her own lunches.” He shrugged and handed his sister the bread. I laid out the rules for her and she got to work, happy with her newfound independence.
That incident popped to mind this morning as I read Bryan Otte’s story in The HR Leader. Otte advises company leaders invest time in “real conversations” with their employees to find out what truly matters to them. “CEOs have an opportunity to reflect on and react to their top performers’ wishes in a meaningful way,” Otte writes.
He’s right. Taking the time to talk and listen can yield valuable insight you otherwise might not get. You might discover new processes that can improve your efficiency and output, and stretch your workers’ skill sets in new ways.
I did -- and our mornings became much more pleasant as a result.
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