In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy……
There is plenty of doom and gloom surrounding rising unemployment, free-falling equity values, locked-in credit markets and a housing situation that, well, you know. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine panic, dread and misery being a frequent co-pilot among the millions of mass-transiting, ride-share laneing commuters across the world. But beyond the anxiety over our economic security, are we generally more unhappy now?
Paul Ingram, the faculty director of the Columbia Senior Executive Program at Columbia Business School, recently released the results of a longitudinal survey of 500 young executives who are mostly based in New York or London and on the front lines of the financial crisis. Of the survey’s findings, he says “the overall happiness in this group has not changed as the financial crisis has unfolded.” Continue reading » »
In most industries, the jobs picture is bleak. Unemployment is high and new opportunities are harder to come by across the board – almost. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, education and health services continue to project job grow that is much faster than average through 2016. In fact, they predict that a full 30% of all new hiring done will be in these sectors!
A significant cause of this growth is the overall increase in spending on heath and education related services relative to the overall economy. But another important cause is the aging nature of many of the workers – at all levels – in both fields. Education and health are ranked in the top tier among all industries that anticipate recruiting and retention pressure as their workforce begins to retire in greater than average numbers. Continue reading » »
According to the Economist, sales of Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” track nicely with the ups and downs of the economy.
 Whenever governments intervene in the market, in short, readers rush to buy Rand’s book. Why? The reason is explained by the name of a recently formed group on Facebook, the world’s biggest social-networking site: “Read the news today? It’s like ‘Atlas Shrugged’ is happening in real life”. The group, and an expanding chorus of fretful bloggers, reckon that life is imitating art. |
The economy dominates everything right now – business planning, personal planning, hopes and fears for the future. We’re eyewitnesses to one of the greatest periods of creative destruction seen in our lifetimes. This article in the NYT captures the scale: “Job Losses Hint at Vast Remaking of Economy.”
Our authors are as focused on this churn as you are. Marshall Goldsmith in his webinar on Succession and Career Planning advised everyone to hang onto what’s working, even if it’s not completely satisfying, and think about what’s important at least as much as you think about what’s urgent. Jim Kouzes certainly echoes that perspective in his understanding of the journey of leadership.
Several of our upcoming webinars, including Lisa Orrell and Cindy Ventrice, are about generational issues in the workplace. While some people might think it’s a time for workers to pipe down about their concerns, in truth, those issues don’t just go away because of external circumstances, and organizations need to be as productive as possible right now. Bev Kaye tackles this issue head-on in her webinar on Engaging the Kept-On Workforce. Those who remain behind at a corporation that’s been shaken up can be traumatized and unproductive, unless they’re skillfully brought through the crisis. Rayona Sharpnack talks about the reality that women leaders are facing, with the double crisis of work and home.
On the big scale, FG Ghadar is going to be talking about tectonic shifts and how those impact an organization’s long-term business and people planning. And Al Vicere’s webinar is about the gap between planning, rhetoric and culture. As the New York Times’ article noted: “This rapid deterioration has prompted talk that some industries are being partly dismantled.” This holds to Dr. Vicere’s view that what we’re experiencing now is transformational change of whole industries and organizations, but when the rubble has settled, we’ll see the long-awaited rise of the true information-age economy.
As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, workplace leaders not only face having to deliver bad news at times, but they also face the consequences of the increased anxiety caused by today’s market conditions. A recent Gallop survey indicated that a majority of workers are not worried about being laid off, which is a good thing. But a closer look at the data indicates a very high level of stress is being carried by workers everywhere.
Economic climate places additional stresses on workplace leaders
Even if the “majority” are not worried about being laid off in the near future, having nearly 1/3rd of respondents answering affirmatively to the first four of these five survey questions has to be pressing on workplace morale and productivity. How leaders respond to this anxiety and steer the nervous energy into productive outcomes, while not hiding the threats or economic realities, will go a long way in determining which firms survive and prosper.
