13
Sep, 2022

Should You “Hoard”​ Your Labor?

Inc. magazine reported that economists are talking about “labor hoarding”. It’s another wrinkle in our strange economy that businesses should be thinking about.

The idea is to hold onto workers when entering periods of economic uncertainty rather than laying them off to avoid the cost of finding and getting new workers when the economy turns. It was a thing back in the day. Mitt Romney’s father, George, referenced the practice in 1945 in testimony before the US Senate about auto manufacturers struggling to find labor during the war effort.

So, why is it a thing again? Because during the post-war years, there was plenty of labor in the marketplace. More and more people entered the workforce, particularly in the late 1960s and 70s as Boomers reached working age and women started entering the job market. The labor force participation rate peaked in 2000 – when there was no longer questions about women working and just before Boomers started to retire. Businesses could afford to cut and rehire during recessions because it was viewed as less costly than simply hiring and retraining new workers with so much excess capacity around.

This has been the reality for anyone reading this. Today is a different reality. Labor force participation has been declining since 2000. Immigration, the labor fuel for our economic engine, is stagnant. Birthrates are declining. Workers are in the driver’s seat with more choices and power in the modern economy.

The bottom line is always economics, and the math has changed. It can be more costly to go out and find workers and train or retrain them vs. holding the labor expense in a contracting economy.

Should you “hoard” your labor? Get out the calculator. What are the costs associated with the action (legal, increased UI rates, severance)? Your processes will be challenged with fewer workers, so how will safety, quality, cost, and delivery metrics be impacted? Productivity will be hurt because of lower engagement and morale among those remain to pick up the pieces, so count that, too.

What about when stability returns and you need to go about backfilling roles? Will you have more attrition among the disengaged on your team as the job market loosens? Labor will continue to be scarce (because your competitors may decide to keep their workers out of the market and everyone else will be scrambling for the same crumbs when hiring restarts), so your time to fill will increase. What costs will be associated with time to productivity of new hires – training, retraining, and slow time to close the productivity gap. Morale won’t snap back, so engagement and other metrics will continue to suffer.

Add all of that up and compare that to the cost of holding onto workers through the turmoil.

How does your math add up? Maybe hoarding is something you should consider.

30
Aug, 2022

Can We Talk About Quiet Quitting?

The generation of people who own and run things is finally talking about “Quiet Quitting”. You can tell, because the Wall Street Journal has twelve items on it, all in the last two weeks.

That means the term was coined a long time ago by someone who probably doesn’t read the WSJ.
For reference, it simply means not going above and beyond anymore – doing one’s job well enough to not get fired. Now they are calling it a trend.

There is difference between a “trend” and “being trendy.” Quiet quitting is a trendy name for what has been around for as long as people have worked for others. Getting by at work isn’t a trend. The word “shirk” goes back to the 17th century.

The people who own and run businesses hate this idea of quiet quitting. They are, as they always have been, dismayed at the idea that someone wouldn’t want to give their all at work. The backlash from these quarters ain’t pretty as people serve up labels of “whiny” and worse to describe the modern shirker.

Let’s be real. While the idea of quiet quitting isn’t new, that fact that workers have choices and autonomy they never had before is.

This labor market combined with evolving attitudes toward work has changed the old formula. The formula of “if you want to get ahead you need to work hard, get noticed, make sacrifices” reflects the power being in the hands of business leaders. The new formula is, “If I want to get ahead, I will go where my efforts will be rewarded.”

That’s a power shift to the worker, and that’s why the people who own and run things are miffed.

Now what will leaders do about it? Make your place of business the one they choose. Lead with your values. Build a great culture. Deliver a great employee experience. Make yourself attractive. All those things that were “nice to have” for your employees are now “must haves.”

You now need to compete, so compete to win. Or you lose.

24
Feb, 2021

COVID Vaccinations and the Workplace

If you haven’t already, you will confront the topic of vaccinations and your business’s position on the subject. A newly published survey report from SHRM highlights the challenges confronting employers. It’s been clearly established that employers can mandate employees get vaccinated, and this will satisfy the 33% of Americans who believe the vaccine should be nationally mandated. On the other hand, if you do so, Read More

8
Apr, 2020

Leading in a New Reality

Let’s pause and reflect for a moment on just how much harder your job as a leader has become. Leading people is never easy, even if you have natural leadership qualities, but now add in the context of a pandemic, economic upheaval, and changes being forced on us in how we get work done, and it became exponentially more difficult. Read More

24
Mar, 2020
Distracting Home Office Cat

Tips for Employees Working Remotely

Working remotely has suddenly gone from a nice perk to an essential way to manage business in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone is trying to create more separation to reduce the chances of spreading disease, so having and managing a mechanism for work to get done remotely has become of critical importance to the health and safety of all.

Before the pandemic, we all knew remote work was growing in popularity as an attractive option for employees and employers alike. For employers, it can boost their ability to attract and retain good employees and increase employee productivity and engagement. For employees, being able to work from the comfort of home while losing the headache of the daily commute and gaining greater flexibility to manage life’s demands around work can be a huge benefit.

The challenge in today’s environment is people who weren’t necessarily asking to work from home are being forced to, and they may not be ready for the new normal. Read More