Monday, July 1, 2013
by Ed Bradstreet
According to research by Kenexa, over the past decade personality measures have increased in popularity as predictors of performance. There are many reasons for this, including the emergence of the five-factor framework, research showing personality measures can have very useful levels of validity, and the tendency for such measures to demonstrate less adverse impact than measures of cognitive ability. Many of Bohan & Bradstreet’s clients subscribe to a personality assessment as part of the evaluation process. The Predictive Index (PI) is a tool widely used in the talent acquisition and management process. The PI is a scientifically validated behavioral assessment that accurately predicts workplace behavior. The PI has helped organizations to understand what drives individual and team behavior in the workplace. This insight into employee behavior enables companies to make balanced decisions in the areas of talent acquisition, talent development, change management and growth strategies. The PI combined with the PRO (Performance Requirement Options), which helps managers identify the specific behavioral drivers that are critically necessary to perform a job well, provides a customized target profile for a specific role.
With this increased use of personality assessments as part of talent management strategies, there have been concerns about the “fakability” of personality inventories. Specifically, because most personality inventories are relatively transparent, concerns have been raised about the extent to which job applicants answer them honestly. Whether conscious or not, research suggests applicants are motivated to present the image most likely to be viewed positively by decision makers. Incumbents, who already have the job and who may be responding under “research-only” instructions, have less motivation to attempt to manage the impressions they make. The result of this “test-taker motivation” may well be exaggerated levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness and extraversion for many applicants.
When taking a personality assessment, it is critical you are honest and self-reflected; having said that, you should not be modest when taking this assessment.
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Monday, June 24, 2013
by Ed Bradstreet
Connecticut added 1,000 jobs in May, the third consecutive month of growth. However, the state's unemployment rate remained unchanged at a stubborn 8%. The state posted job gains in four of the first five months of the year, with blizzard-impacted February shedding 5,700 positions. That's the best five-month start to any year since 2010, when the state's on-again-off-again recovery from recession began. In the 39 months since the recession ended, Connecticut has recovered just 58,600 jobs, or less than half the total lost during the economic downturn.
http://gov.cbia.com/inside_the_capitol/article/state-adds-jobs-in-may-unemployment-rate-flat
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Wednesday, June 12, 2013
by Ed Bradstreet
The manufacturing sector accounts for 80+% of exports (United States) and 90% of patents according to the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce. Every new manufacturing job creates an additional 4.6 jobs to support it. For high-tech manufacturing jobs, the multiplier effect rises to 16 additional jobs. 300,000+ small and medium-size manufacturers based in the U.S. account for 50+% of the U.S. total manufacturing employment. The trend of offshoring and/or outsourcing manufacturing outside of the U.S. has shifted in the last 12+ months since labor cost savings overseas are being offset by energy costs (plentiful and cheap in the U.S.), and material and transportation costs (rising overseas). This bodes well for the U.S., where our workforce is huge.
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013
by Ed Bradstreet
We have provided three articles to help you be prepared for downstream situations/opportunities and build your awareness on global trends; building your knowledge base and discussing strategy with business colleagues will help you navigate the internal politics and external macro trends better, and allow you to play the game to “win”. Bohan & Bradstreet provides career coaching/development services to senior-level and executive-level leaders.
- 9 Things You Should Never Say When Asking for a Raise (http://www.salary.com/9-things-never-say-ask-for-raise/)
- The 10 Best Performance Review Tips (http://www.salary.com/10-tips-to-get-more-from-your-performance-review/?scm=s-n-050913)
- 10 Global Trends That Are Killing Your Career (http://www.salary.com/10-global-trends-killing-your-career/?scm=s-n-051613)
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013
by Ed Bradstreet
There are an abundance of recent articles and surveys suggesting U.S. Employers are unresponsive to employee needs. More than one-third of American workers experience chronic work stress, with low salaries, lack of opportunity for advancement and heavy workloads topping the list of contributing factors, according to a new national survey by the American Psychological Association’s Center for Organizational Excellence. On the heels of the recession, many employees appear to feel stuck, with only 39 percent citing sufficient opportunities for internal career advancement and just over half (51 percent) saying they feel valued at work.
Compounding the problem, less than half of working Americans reported that they receive adequate monetary compensation or non-monetary recognition for their contributions on the job (46 percent and 43 percent, respectively). Additionally, just 43 percent of employees said that recognition is based on fair and useful performance evaluations. In addition to feeling undervalued, employees also reported feeling unheard. Less than half (47 percent) said their employers regularly seek input from employees and even fewer (37 percent) said the organization makes changes based on that feedback. APA’s Work and Well-Being Survey was conducted online among 1,501 adults from Jan. 9-21, 2013 on behalf of the APA by Harris Interactive.
Despite growing awareness of the importance of a healthy workplace, few employees said their organizations provide sufficient resources to help them manage stress (36 percent) and meet their mental health needs (44 percent). In fact, only 59 percent reported having adequate employer-provided health insurance. Just 42 percent of employees said their organizations promote and support a healthy lifestyle and only 36 percent reported regularly participating in workplace health and wellness programs.
With almost two-thirds (65 percent) of U.S. adults citing work as a significant source of stress in APA’s most recent Stress in America survey and 35 percent of working Americans reporting that they typically feel stressed during the workday, employers need to provide resources to help their employees face work-related challenges.
“This isn’t just an HR or management issue,” said Norman B. Anderson, PhD, chief executive officer of the American Psychological Association. “The well-being of an organization’s workforce is a strategic business imperative that is linked to its performance and success.”
Each company should have an internal mechanism in place to measure the ‘Voice of Employee’. Collecting feedback is one step of the process. Employees expect action/change when providing feedback. Companies damage morale by not sharing the feedback results and more importantly, not assigning a Senior member of the team to be held accountable and act as a change agent for this initiative. Companies should build a task force with cross-functional exempt and non-exempt employees to ensure a valid representation of the employee base. The task force team should establish focus groups and interviews to gather more intelligence and help rank potential solutions. Further, the team needs to establish milestone dates so you are managing the expectations of the entire employee base. Delivering meaningful change does not happen overnight and can be costly to the business model, concentrate on low-hanging fruit that will demonstrate your commitment to this initiative. Lastly, you need to address the individual needs for employees in your talent pool; this should be a micro rather than macro approach.
http://www.apaexcellence.org/resources/goodcompany/newsletter/article/431
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