The Benefits of an Unexpected Career
Right out of graduate school, journalism still a gleam in my eye, another recession prompted an early career detour into retailing. After a six month stretch while I finished my thesis, unexpectedly I became what generations had known as a floor walker. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: consumer spending, low wages, retailing, survivor jobs
You Can’t Fire Everyone by Hank Gilman
Hank Gilman, the Deputy Managing Editor of Fortune has come out with a new book, You Can’t Fire Everyone, a career reminisce packed with solid advice for all those who are a promoted to management and then find they need to stay ahead of the curve they didn’t know existed. It’s not just aimed at those who have reached the tippy top of management. For journalism buffs, its also offers insights on the recent transformations in the industry. Read the rest of this entry »
Stress on the Job
If you feel stressed at work, you are not alone. In a study released today by Everest College, (a for profit college that’s part of the Corinthian network of colleges) and conducted by Harris Interactive, more than three quarters of American workers are stressed about something related to their jobs.
What stresses us? Low pay is highest on the list at 14%, followed by commuting 11%, unreasonable workload 9% and fear of layoffs, also 9%.
Co-workers, the boss, lack of work/life balance and lack of opportunity for advancement, also hold their share of annoyance.
Wendy Cullen, vice president of employer development at Everest College says employers are becoming well aware of the need to address rising employee stress and those who don’t address it will likely suffer lower morale and productivity.
In upcoming posts we’ll see what employees can do on their own during their commutes and balancing their responsibilities to alleviate stress.
Tags: compensation, layoffs, stress, workload
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 »
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
Top Jobs for the Class of 2011
Back in January we reported 47% of accounting majors received job offers before graduation, followed closely by business majors, 45% of whom received offers.
Now the results of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) 3 have been released. Among the class of 2011 accounting majors are currently receiving the most job offers. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Accounting, career choice, Consulting, entrepreneurship, Financial Analysis, Investment Banking, Management Training, National Association of Colleges and Employers, Sales, Young Entrepreneur Council
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.
Keys to a Successful Career
Even as we examined the influences on the rise of two black executives the EEOC was preparing to hold hearings about whether unemployed job applicants are being discriminated against.
With some employers only considering currently employed applicants, there are those who say denying jobs to the already-unemployed can also have a disproportionate effect on certain racial and ethnic minority community members. Algernon Austin, Director of the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy of the Economic Policy Institute, says that unemployment rates for African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are higher than those of whites. Restricting applications to the currently employed could place a heavier burden on people of color, he concluded. Read the rest of this entry »
Overcoming Career Setbacks
Reaching the top of the corporate pyramid is rare, but it’s especially tough for women and minorities.
Every career has its chutes and ladders, pauses and moments of opportunity.
We turn to two executives who faced periods of indecision during their careers and found inspiration for what to do next. As it happens both are black.
When Deborah Wright, CEO of Carver Bankcorp, New York was laid off from the investment bank First Boston she turned to Robert Holland, the first black partner at McKinsey and Company but is perhaps better known as CEO of Ben and Jerry’s for advice about what to do next. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: career decisions, Carver Bankcorp, consultants, executives, Globalhue, intutition, McKinsey and Company, mentors
A Million Jobs Here, A Million Jobs There, but Unemployment Remains High
It was just before New Year’s when Associated Press reporter Pallavi Gogoi broke the news that many U.S. companies are hiring…..overseas.
The Economic Policy Institute a think tank in Washington, D.C. estimates American companies created 1.4 million jobs overseas in 2010, compared with fewer than 1 million domestic jobs.
Now Ed Stoddard at Reuters is reporting that during the last two years as unemployment hovered at or near double digits, over 1 million immigrants found work. Many were here illegally.
The common denominator in both these stories is one of cost savings for employers.
Tags: Associated Press, Economic Policy Institute, hiring, immigration, job creation, outsourcing, Reuters
