Telecommuting as an Antidote to Stress
As unemployment dips slightly and hiring continues, as reported last week stress continues to be a major factor in those whose jobs were not eliminated during the Great Recession. Low pay continues to draw attention, but so does extensive commuting as some travel further afield to seek meaningful employment. A heavier workload is also a consideration if companies are expecting employees to have greater productivity. Read the rest of this entry »
CEO Children and Gender Wage Gap
If you’re a woman interested in equal pay in the workplace it might be helpful to learn the sex of any children your CEO has. Your workplace pay parity may be influenced by the answer. Read the rest of this entry »
Where the Female Executives Are–Country by Country
Overall the numbers of senior executives dipped in the last two years according to research from the Grant Thorton International Business Report, an annual survery of the views of senior executives of privately held companies by the accounting and risk management firm of the same name. The percentage of female senior managers dipped from 24% tin 2009 to 20% in 2011.
Thailand led with 45% of senior management positions held by women, followed by Georgia (40%) Russia (36%) Hong Kong and the Phillipines (tied at 35% )
The data revealed the countries of the G7 lagged behind Asia/Pacific. Great Britain(23%) and the United States(15%). Stil the United States did better than Germany (11%) and Japan (9%). What can we learn from the Pacific Rim?
Criteria for Joining A Corporate Board
I recently interviewed Constantine Alexandrakis a search consultant at Russell Reynolds Associates in Chicago, who also has responsibility for corporate officer searches.
He’s noticed a gradual shift upwards in the last decade of the percentage of women on the boards of the S&P 500 ( a different number than David Matsa used) from 12% to approximately 16% now.
Asked why the number isn’t higher, and he gives a tutorial on how a hypothetical board search considers specific skills for an open board position. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: board of directors, executive search, management and leadership skills, women on corporate boards
Lessons in Shattering the Glass Ceiling
Attention recently turned to corporate boards in Europe again after a report commissioned by the British government said women should comprise at least a quarter of the boards of the largest British companies by 2015. The report stopped short of the mandate that’s existed in Norway since 2005. There 40% of corporate boards are required to be women by law. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Amalia Miller, corporate boards, female executives, Frank Matsa, glass ceiling, leadership, management, mentoring, networking, stock prices
Review–As One
Recently I received a review copy of a book called As One by Mehrdad Baghai and James Quigley. Mr. Baghai lives in Australia, earned his consulting stripes at McKinsey and is now associated with Alchemy Growth Partners and Mr. Quigley is the visible Global CEO of Deloitte Touche and Tohmatsu.
While some might consider As One a calling card for new clients, the authors appear to have tapped into the zeitgeist and applied it to the business environment. Mr. Quigley for one acknowledges the era of top down, “command and control management” may be way too narrow for modern times, a fact that has reverberated on the nightly news programs lately.
The Nuances of Smiling at Work
Could smiling make a difference in workplace productivity and employee satisfaction? In a new study led by Brent Scott assistant professor of management at Michigan State University the answer is only if it’s genuine. “Employers think that getting their employees to smile is good for the organization, but that’s not necessarily the case,” said Dr. Scott. “Smiling for the sake of smiling can lead to emotional exhaustion and withdrawal and that’s bad for the organization.”
Dr. Scott and a former doctoral colleague, Christopher Barnes, studied a group of city bus drivers during a two week period. They examined the effects of a fake smile compared to cultivating positive emotion by recalling pleasant memories or thinking about a current situation in a more favorable way.
The study, which appears in the current issue of the Academy of Management Journal found gender differences. The mood of women worsened even more than the men and they withdrew from work according to Dr. Scott who attributes the reaction to the fact women are expected and show greater emotional intensity and positive emotional expressiveness than men.
Turns out Peter Pan might have been right in his belief to think lovely thoughts. Dr. Scott found that thinking of a tropical vacation or a child’s dance or music recital, for example was all it took.
Ethical or Not?
About a decade ago, I wrote a story about corporate ethics and what companies were doing to practice more ethical behavior. Ethics is one of those stories that gets covered extensively when the economy is in reverse.
So are companies doing all they can to behave ethically? How we behave when others aren’t looking is a mark of character for individuals and is for companies also. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: contract workers, corporate citizenship, discrimination, ethics, executive privacy, fiduciary responsibility
Five Essential Skills for College Grads; The Majors Most Likely to Land Jobs
What skills do employers find most desirable in jobs candidates? Late last year the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania surveyed employers and came up with five and perhaps not surprisingly verbal communications skills topped the list.
Read the rest of this entry »
Are You the Boss You Need to Be?
Linda Hill and Kent Lineback ask that question on Harvard Business Review site today.
