Podcast appearances and mentions of jim morgan

Join us this month for a GREAT conversation with Jim Morgan! Jim is the President/CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Chattanooga and has a wonderful story to tell! Jim chats about his time in scouting, how the clubs make an impact of the youth of Chattanooga, and the how scouting is available to youth as a part of The Boys and Girls Clubs of Chattanooga!

Host Ben Rodgers sits down with Jim Morgan who is the Jackson County Mayor to talk about the special call meeting that happened recently, which is when Morgan was elected as the mayor of Jackson County. He was a part of the legislative board as a county commissioner before becoming the mayor. Listen To The Local Matters Podcast Today! News Talk 94.1

In this episode, Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Development at MRA, sits down with Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research and Advisory. They discuss shifting HR practices from reactive to proactive, drawing insights from Ben's recent global research on workforce development. Episode Highlights: Key findings from global research on workforce trends. How to anticipate and address future HR challenges. Steps to create meaningful growth opportunities for employees. Insights from Ben's upcoming book on payroll and HR skill-building. Practical tips for small HR teams to implement proactive strategies. Whether you're part of a small HR team or a larger organization, this conversation offers actionable advice to stay ahead in 2025. Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization's strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.  

Welcome to the latest episode of Harmonious World, in which I interview musicians about how their music helps make the world more harmonious.This episode offers something a little different - a snapshot of the world of songwriters and an insight into an international music competition. The International Songwriting Competition is an annual song contest that offers aspiring and established songwriters to have their songs heard in a professional international arena. Joe explains something of the aims and mechanics of the competition.I'm delighted that Harmonious World has become one of the ISC's industry partners.The track at the start and end of this conversation is the Harmonious World theme tune, performed by pianist and composer Joe English.Get in touch to let me know what you think!Thank you for listening to Harmonious World. Please rate, review and share: click on the link and subscribe to support the show.Don't forget the Quincy Jones quote that sums up why I do this: "Imagine what a harmonious world it would be if every single person, both young and old, shared a little of what he is good at doing."Support the showRead my reviews of albums, gigs and books as well as a little personal stuff on my blogFollow me on instagram.com/hilseabrookFollow me on facebook.com/HilarySeabrookFreelanceWriterFollow me on twitter.com/hilaryrwriter

Jim Morgan of Meet the Need and Drop the Stone talks about a movement to go against our hyperpolarization and angst, and choosing to be kind those we disagree with.  Sport Spectrum's Jason Romano talks about atheletes in who are actively ministering to their teammates and others.  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Big Jim Morgan's Chill and Thrills *** Written by: George Larson *** A Family Curse  *** Written by: Linda S Gambill and Narrated by: JV Hampton-VanSant *** Of Things That Go Howl in the Night *** Written by: Rachael Hagarstrom and Narrated by: Michelle Kane *** That Speleobox *** Written by:  Rachel Henderson and Narrated by: Danielle Hewitt *** Support the show at patreon.com/creepypod *** Sound design by: Pacific Obadiah *** Title music by: Alex Aldea Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, host Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Strategies at MRA, speaks with Andres Gonzalez, VP of Community Engagement and Chief Diversity Officer at Froedtert. They discuss how organizations can transition from simply raising awareness to actively implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Andres shares insights from Froedtert's journey, emphasizing the integration of DEI initiatives within leadership and organizational strategy. The episode provides actionable strategies for embedding DEI into the core of organizations to create lasting impact on both employees and the community. Episode Highlights: Strategic Alignment: The importance of aligning DEI efforts with organizational goals and ensuring strong leadership support. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): How ERGs contribute to talent management, development, and community outreach. Culturally Equitable Care: The role of providing culturally and linguistically appropriate care in improving healthcare outcomes. Community Collaboration: The impact of working with community-based organizations to address broader social determinants of health.   Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization's strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.    

Jim Morgan is a dynamic music industry professional with over two decades of experience spanning performance, event management, and competition oversight. He began as a drummer in Australia at age 16, later transitioning to the U.S. music scene in 2000. Jim played a pivotal role in the Boston Music Awards and NEMO Music Conference, and co-founded the International Songwriting Competition and Unsigned Only Music Competition. Currently, he oversees operations for both competitions, including the recruitment and management of high-profile celebrity judges. He is passionate about fostering new talent and promoting musical excellence. The International Songwriting Competition (ISC) is an annual contest whose mission is to provide the opportunity for both aspiring and established songwriters - covering all genres of music  - to have their songs heard in a professional, international arena. ISC is designed to nurture the musical talent of songwriters on all levels and promote excellence in the art of songwriting. Amateur and professional songwriters and musicians from anywhere in the world are invited to participate, and 74 winners share in awards that include cash and prizes. Categories include: AAA (Adult Album Alternative), AC (Adult Contemporary), Americana, Blues, Children's Music, Christian, Comedy/Novelty, Country, EDM (Electronic Dance Music), Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Hip-Hop/Rap, Instrumental, and Jazz - both instrumental and vocal. Importantly, entrants retain all ownership rights to all submitted songs. ISC will not have any ownership rights to any songs or lyrics submitted. Highlighted by a truly stellar panel of celebrity artist judges from all music genres, and also a wide array of music industry professionals including representatives of major recording labels and publishing companies, ISC offers a great opportunity for songwriters, musicians, and performers to further their music careers.  For complete details, including how to enter, the specific categories in all genres, who past winners have been, and the impressive list of world-renowned judges, go to https://www.songwritingcompetition.com/ While ISC covers the breadth and depth of all music genres, the role it plays in finding new talent is a story we couldn't resist amplifying, and one that's truly inspiring. 

My guest for Episode #515 of the Lean Blog Interviews Podcast is Jim Morgan, senior advisor at Lean Enterprise Institute and a board member at Adrian Steel. Jim's most recent industry experience was as Chief Operating Officer at Rivian, an electric vehicle manufacturer. Episode page with video, transcript, and more He was previously a guest in Episode 109 back in 2011. Before joining Rivian, Jim spent a little over ten years at Ford Motor Company. He began by leading the development of the Global Product Development System (GPDS).  He then served the last nine years as Director of Global Body and SBU Engineering and Tooling operations, where he and his team contributed to the company's historic, product-led revitalization under then-CEO Alan Mulally.    Prior to Ford, Jim served as Vice President of Operations at Troy Design and Manufacturing (TDM), a tier-one global automotive supplier of engineering services, prototype tools, and low to medium-volume production parts and subassemblies.  Jim holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of Michigan, where his original research into Product Development won two Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence. In addition, he co-authored (with Professor Jeffrey Liker) the award-winning books The Toyota Product Development System (2006) and Designing the Future (2018).  Sign up for the LEI Design Brief Newsletter We'll dive into his incredible journey, from his time at Ford, where he led the development of their global product system, to his work at Rivian, helping to shape the future of electric vehicles. Jim shares valuable lessons learned along the way, especially around integrating lean principles into product and process development. We also talk about how embracing risk and learning from mistakes can fuel innovation. Questions, Notes, and Highlights: Lean Origin Story: What's your lean origin story, and how did you get introduced to lean thinking? Product Development vs. Production: Can you explain the difference between product development and production systems? Rivian Involvement: How and when did you get involved with Rivian, and what drew you to the company? Challenges at Rivian: What were the major challenges and opportunities as Rivian evolved from concept to production? Recruiting for Rivian: How did you recruit talent for Rivian, and what was the mix of automotive and non-automotive experience? Rivian's Product Strategy: How did Rivian's product strategy differ from other electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla? Culture Development: How did Rivian focus on building its own culture and operating system from the ground up? Learning from Mistakes: How did Rivian's culture embrace learning from mistakes, and how was that risk tolerance cultivated? Ford and Alan Mulally's Leadership: How did Alan Mulally's leadership at Ford influence your thinking on surfacing and solving problems? Board Involvement: What has your experience been like as a board member at Adrian Steel, and how does it differ from your previous roles? LEI Learning Groups: Can you tell us about the LEI Product and Process Development Learning Group and how companies collaborate and learn together? Designing the Future: What's the central message of your book Designing the Future, and who is the target audience? Agile and Lean Integration: How are you integrating agile and lean practices, especially in product and software development? Key Topics: Jim's introduction to lean via The Machine That Changed the World. Differences between lean product development and lean production systems. Jim's role at Rivian and the company's approach to electric vehicle manufacturing. Rivian's unique culture and the importance of building the “Rivian Way.” Challenges in launching new vehicles and managing diverse teams. Importance of learning from failure and embracing risk at Rivian. Lessons from Alan Mulally's leadership style at Ford. Jim's board experience at Adrian Steel and how it differs from operational leadership. Collaborative learning through LEI's Product and Process Development Learning Group. The integration of agile and lean principles for better hardware-software development alignment. The podcast is brought to you by Stiles Associates, the premier executive search firm specializing in the placement of Lean Transformation executives. With a track record of success spanning over 30 years, it's been the trusted partner for the manufacturing, private equity, and healthcare sectors. Learn more. This podcast is part of the #LeanCommunicators network. 

From Summer Camp to Tech-Giant CEO to Nonprofit Advisor When Jim Morgan took the reins at Applied Materials, the semiconductor equipment company was on the verge of bankruptcy. During his three-decade tenure, he led its transformation into a multi-billion dollar corporation. Jim has also served as a technology advisor to three US presidents, been recognized for his global humanitarian work, and authored several books on leadership. And it all began at summer camp. Join us as Jim shares his journey and his latest book, Applied Wisdom for the Nonprofit Sector.

A new MP3 sermon from Gent Baptist Church is now available on SermonAudio with the following details: Title: Does Purity Matter? - Bro. Jim Morgan Speaker: Jim Morgan Broadcaster: Gent Baptist Church Event: Midweek Service Date: 6/19/2024 Length: 44 min.

In this episode of the WLEI podcast, we speak with Ben Armstrong, Executive Director of MIT's Industrial Performance Center, and Jim Morgan, Senior Advisor at the Lean Enterprise Institute. They share perspectives from Ben's extensive research on the history and future of US manufacturing and Jim's first-hand knowledge of developing new products and production processes.    In our discussion, we explore: The rise and decline of America's manufacturing expertise and how the decoupling of design and production has impacted innovation. Challenges currently facing small and medium manufacturers, and what investments they should consider. The role of industrial policy and government support in spurring new growth in US manufacturing. Emerging technologies like AI and how they could transform manufacturing operations going forward. This podcast was delivered to subscribers of The Design Brief, LEI's newsletter devoted to improving organizations' innovation capability. It is the second of four in a series on process development entitled “Making Things Well.”    Subscribe to the Design Brief newsletter by clicking here.

Exciting changes are coming … new content, new host, and new podcast schedule … 30 minutes THRIVE is now Talent Report+THRIVE – get even more Talent Report highlights featuring one-on-one Q&As with MRA members—the expert guests, industry leaders, and change-makers taking on the business challenges of today. Join us for this special episode where we celebrate changes and welcome Jim Morgan as our new host! Reflecting on invaluable insights from the past year and a half, we talk about the lessons learned and unveil the thrilling new podcast format! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sophie Boler for her leadership in guiding 30-minute THRIVE to success, and we wish her the best in her exciting next chapter at MRA. Join us for the next episode of Talent Report+Thrive Podcast on April 24th and get ready to embark on this exciting new direction with Jim Morgan leading the way!  Tune in every 4th Wednesday for your next episode.     Resources: MRA Membership  About MRA  Register for the next Talent Report+

In this week's episode, I'm talking to the fabulous Jim Morgan.Jim is a mental health coach, executive coach, eco therapist, forest bathing guide, helps facilitate nature retreats and vision quests in the wild, and helps with The Bioleadership project on their nature events. Jim is single and childfree, and lives in Sussex with his dog Ruby Rose. Topics that Jim & I cover are:Jim's connection to nature and how important it's been in his healing journey;Jim's story of yearning for a family, and the void it created;how Jim ‘thought long and hard' about adopting a child on his own;the grief that he felt around not having a child, and how he worked to find a purpose;how Jim's family and friends were incredibly supportive during his darkest days;the mental and physical health issues that plagued him for years;how our culture doesn't know how to hold grief;how Jim is creating nature sanctuaries where people can come and feel held and supported in their grief;his experience of Vision Quests, and what they involve;why listening is a lost art;how personal growth and spirituality tend to go hand in hand;how whilst Jim is happy, he hasn't fully accepted not having a family;how he is excited for the future.Email Jim on: jim@changeofnature.co.uk Support the showCheck out my YouTube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSuCiCzcPlAvxzQyHDrLoag Book a FREE 30 minute coaching 'taster' session HERE: https://calendly.com/lucymeggeson/30minute Fancy getting your hands on my FREE PDF 'The Top 10 Most Irritating Questions That Single People Get Asked On The Regular...& How To (Devilishly) Respond'? Head over to: www.lucymeggeson.com Interested in my 1-1 Coaching? Work with me HERE: https://www.lucymeggeson.com/workwithme Join my private Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1870817913309222/?ref=share Follow me on Instagram: @spinsterhoodreimagined Follow me on Twitter: @LucyMeggeson Follow me on LinkedIn: Lucy Meggeson Email me: lucy@lucymeggeson.com And thank you so much for listening!!!

Description: Embark on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth, where we unravel the intricacies of modern-day career development and its pivotal role in personal and organizational success.  Resources: Developing Career Paths Resource  Learning & Development  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Amanda Mosteller  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Amanda Mosteller  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:44:01 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. All right, Well, hi, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. And today's podcast, we're going to be talking about career pathing. And I'm joined by Amanda Mosteller, who is MRA's director of talent development and organizational development. So we really have a true career expert with us today. So I welcome you back, Amanda. You always do such a great job. 00:00:44:01 - 00:01:12:21 Unknown So I'm excited for this topic. Thanks for having me back and I love this topic as well. So, absolutely. And I know I talked a little bit about this before, but I know crew passing is not just for younger emerging leaders who have just started out in the workforce. It's really for everybody. So I guess kind of diving in then what is career path and exactly in why would you say it's important for an organization? 00:01:12:23 - 00:01:54:17 Unknown Yeah. So career pathing is typically quite what you would think. It would sound like taking a role or a career from entry into the organization and mapping out the path within that career within your organization. Why it's important is because it gives people a roadmap to see where they can go. Whether I'm coming in new to my career, as you were mentioning, or just newer to the organization, I might be popping in mid-level, but just seeing what is the opportunity for me in this role, in this space, in this organization? 00:01:54:17 - 00:02:22:21 Unknown What does that pathway look like? Is it mapped out? Is it defined? And can somebody walk me through it? Helps initially engage folks in not only their current space, but seeing the potential. I was just talking with my mother the other day about how I had 27 and a half years left before retirement. All right. Almost there. So close. 00:02:22:23 - 00:02:47:03 Unknown And I said to her, gosh, 27 and a half years, that feels like a long time. And if I thought in our organization, those 27 and a half years are in this role I'm in right now and there's nowhere else to go, no other way to grow my skills or move eventually into other spaces and roles within the organization. 00:02:47:04 - 00:03:19:16 Unknown That really becomes a defeating lot regardless of how much you love an organization. And I love being a part of me very much. But 27 and a half years in one role feels like a long time right? So that's why it's so important, that opportunity to look forward in your future and see evolution for yourself happening within an organization creates that that engagement and that increased retention and that connection to the company. 00:03:19:18 - 00:03:51:10 Unknown Yeah, for sure. This is something I think Jim Morgan talks about in some of his talent reports. I feel like speaking speaking for like a younger generation employee, surely, like when you're getting a job, like you talk about your current role, but it's like the career path is just as important as like this job that you're getting. So, I don't know, just talking to friends, I know some of them are like, Hey, if they don't kind of map out where I'm going to be in the next couple of years, I'm not interested. 00:03:51:11 - 00:04:24:10 Unknown So I know how important it is now. And I know you'll get to kind of like the evolution of it, how it's changed. But I just I've seen like a very big emphasis on career passing and making sure that employers talk about it right away in the interview process even. That's such a good point. In doing interviews in the past six months, I have noticed an increase in people asking me instead of my saying, Where do you see yourself in the next 3 to 5 years? 00:04:24:10 - 00:04:52:04 Unknown That standard question and most people, if they're any type of practice to interview viewers, they are with your organization. But if I have them turning around asking me what's the growth opportunity for this type of role within your organization and to get to where you're mentioning where we'll go during our conversation today, questions changing around what's the growth opportunity in your department? 00:04:52:06 - 00:05:20:16 Unknown That's not the question as much anymore as what's my growth opportunity in your organization? Meaning your company. So within the company you work for, not just your department. And that's that's telling that people are asking an interviewer is they're asking the hiring manager and they're changing their wording. And that's on purpose again, too. So then can you kind of talk about how career passing has evolved throughout the years? 00:05:20:18 - 00:05:51:21 Unknown And then why is that evolution really crucial for both employers and employees? Well, get to it like now. So. So traditionally, a career path. As an example for a sales professional, you come into an organization and you might be working foot in the door. Well, at lead generation and lead uncovering and then handing those leads off to a salesperson. 00:05:52:02 - 00:06:14:09 Unknown And that salesperson might have sales engineers come in depending on what they're selling. Eventually you become a sales manager. There might be an account executive in there where the size of territory or the size of client gets bigger and bigger. So you're getting bigger deals, eventually become a sales manager, then you become the sales director, then you become the sales VP, right? 00:06:14:14 - 00:06:56:06 Unknown Very linear career path and that is a defined career path. All within one type of job, role building on one another. That's the traditional career path. How it has evolved is people no longer think of a career path as a linear within this same type of job role. I mentioned that question changing the wording of the question changing, and that's because people are starting to say what skills and abilities can your organization provide me for myself that I can apply as I grow in my career? 00:06:56:08 - 00:07:25:06 Unknown People we know individuals coming to an organization and staying for 15, 20, 30 years is less and less common. Regardless of how amazing your culture is, regardless of how engaging and supportive and development focused your organization might be. And that's because if I'm sitting and waiting to become that leader or that manager or that next role, that means I'm waiting for somebody else to choose to leave in. 00:07:25:06 - 00:07:55:20 Unknown That can take a very long time, especially the higher up in an organization you go. So people are looking more for what knowledge, skills and abilities can you give me? Not necessarily just in one space, but cross-functionally in your organization? What that means is, as people are asking that question and that question is changing, instead of what is the growth opportunity in your department to what is the growth opportunity in your organization? 00:07:55:22 - 00:08:40:16 Unknown I might come in the door as a sales individual and skills that I'm looking for around maintaining multiple projects, time management skills, influencing for others, maybe owning a big opportunity within my organization and getting buy in across all groups. Those are all skills that can translate to any job role. So what I might find as I come in as a lead generation expert in a sales space and within two years I'm moving over to the marketing department because I'm starting to hone what does the buyer look for and how do I communicate that to the buyer effectively? 00:08:40:16 - 00:09:06:18 Unknown And marketing does a lot of that stuff also. So as I'm honing those skills, an opportunity in marketing is opened up and I might look over there to start building that skill. Now I have uncovering needs and I have really translating to what the buyer is looking for through my marketing expertise and then an opportunity in our bigger project management group opens up some of the skills I've been looking for. 00:09:06:18 - 00:09:49:11 Unknown If I want to become a leader someday does include managing multiple irons in the fire. I need to be able to do that. So I'll move over to that role because now I'm continuing to develop these knowledge, skills and abilities that eventually will get me into leadership positions. Now look at all these different spaces. I've been within one company, so when we talk about creating this modern evolved way of looking at career pathing, talk about engagement and retention, people aren't waiting till the next account executive leaves so that an account manager can become an account executive so that a lead generator could become an account manager. 00:09:49:13 - 00:10:18:18 Unknown You're doing a lot of waiting. That's what you're relying on your organization to do. And so looking at this evolution of career passing instead on where do you want to be in five years? Where do you want to be in ten years? Do you want to move into leadership? What types of skills do you want to grow in an eye as your organization can help identify opportunities for you that leverage those skills and will develop those skills in you? 00:10:18:20 - 00:10:49:14 Unknown You've created a different kind of career path that will really build your bench. I mean, now you have folks really learning all these different areas of your business, creating lots of effective, impactful needed skills as they move up and a well-rounded employee base, of course, THRIVEs a really effective and impactful organization. So what is modern day career path thing? 00:10:49:15 - 00:11:22:04 Unknown What is it evolve to? Not linear is what you really spiderweb it in a way. And yeah, focusing on transferable skills. Why is it crucial? For the same reasons. Everything else that we talk about in terms of development and culture and building your bench and growth is crucial. It's it's engagement for your employees, which creates high, effective, high, impactful workforces to THRIVE your business's success. 00:11:22:06 - 00:11:47:17 Unknown Yeah, that's a great point. And I feel like they've even started started the whole career passing thing, even on like when you're an intern, I know some intern programs. It's now not just focused on the type of internship you have. Maybe you're marketing intern, but they're putting you through all different departments so that you can start to see what the organization is as a whole. 00:11:47:17 - 00:12:21:06 Unknown And then you're also gaining skills from each of those departments. But your focus is a marketing term, but later on, maybe when you're applying for jobs, that's when you can apply what you've learned in the other departments. Kind of like what you said, the universal, universal transferable skills. So that leads me to another question on can you give any examples of how individuals can really assess those skills and interests and even identify them? 00:12:21:06 - 00:12:44:20 Unknown How do they know that? Yeah, So first it takes some self-reflection when you get asked that question of where do you want to be in five years, you better know the answer. Where do you want to be? If the answer is not a people leader, that's important to know because that's a different set of skills that we could develop in somebody that you might not be interested in. 00:12:44:22 - 00:13:14:16 Unknown If it is becoming just the best of the best and in your space, then let's identify what the best of the best looks like when we talk about how can you identify it, how do you know what to work on? There are I think it's a common misnomer that a 360 tool is something that only a leader in a high level leader should go through. 00:13:14:18 - 00:13:40:18 Unknown Three sixteens or just one eighties even, but are excellent sources of identifying your hidden strengths, your blind spots and things like that. And then identifying does that apply in the job? Well, I want the job well, I have. I might have a blind spot in an area that I don't need to use right now anyway. And so I'm not going to focus my energy on developing it. 00:13:40:20 - 00:14:09:20 Unknown But to that question of where am I trying to go with my career, I might need it when I try to get to that level. So what do I start developing now? So knowing the answer to the question is number one, knowing that there are tools out there that give you a well-rounded view of just universal competencies. Two, they don't have to be related to a certain type of leadership. 00:14:09:20 - 00:14:42:13 Unknown There are tools out three, six tools out there that that we utilize that could apply just just to an individual. Then the third one is start looking around at your organization, at what roles pique your interest, have conversations with your manager and with your peers around. What about those roles? Pique your interest so that you can start to get a view of what types of skills and activities are enticing to you and engaging to you that you want to learn how to try out. 00:14:42:15 - 00:15:09:03 Unknown So what? What levels and a career do I want to achieve? That's an answer you have to figure out for yourself. It might take some self-reflection and chatting with folks within your organization to see whether that's something of interest, chatting with your folks in your network outside of your current organization to see if that's something of interest. Using some tools that aren't just self reflection. 00:15:09:03 - 00:15:30:10 Unknown Because I love to THRIVE self awareness. Very few of us are just fully self aware in all of our strengths and the way we get self-awareness is by having somebody else give us some feedback. So looking at some tools that are out there for that and then starting to chat about what job roles are interesting to you and why do shadowing. 00:15:30:12 - 00:15:56:24 Unknown Go spend a day watching that job role to see if it is interesting it c It might sound cool. We can create some really cool job titles. That doesn't mean the role is as exciting as someone might think. So figuring out what's going on in your organization role wise, asking for opportunities to shadow, and then sitting down with with your manager to say, Here's what really did interest me about that role. 00:15:56:24 - 00:16:21:04 Unknown And then that can create we can you can start to get an idea of what types of jobs interest you and therefore what skills might be transferable to those jobs within your organization or any organization. And to your point, sometimes it's hard to identify your own skills and maybe you only have a couple that you write down or couple that you're definitely self aware of. 00:16:21:06 - 00:16:41:13 Unknown But or it's like personally help me as to like just taking a step back and asking maybe it's your manager or just a peer at work. Like in some their opinion. I know I've done that before and they're like, Well, you know, you did this project and I think you did a really good job on these things during that project. 00:16:41:13 - 00:17:01:02 Unknown Maybe you should start looking at that. So I think just trying to be outside sometimes and getting their perspective helps too, when you're doing some of that stuff. Yeah, it has to be somebody that you would define as like. And I talk to folks about this a lot and I say, Don't let the phrasing throw you off, but a safe person. 00:17:01:02 - 00:17:22:01 Unknown And what I mean by that is somebody that I think I've talked about this before, but somebody that you're open to their feedback, they will be honest with you, not in a hurtful way. So they're safe from that perspective. They'll be honest with you, but they're also somebody that you value and trust their opinion so you'll be less resistant if you hear something you don't like. 00:17:22:03 - 00:17:43:05 Unknown So who are those people that you could ask how that project went and you'd be open to hearing if they didn't basically just sing your praises and tell you how amazing you are, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, kind of moving on here. We've talked about this on the podcast, but we also hear it a lot about work life balance. 00:17:43:09 - 00:18:14:01 Unknown So I'm kind of thinking about that. What advice do you have for individuals who are trying to balance their personal life and their professional goals while they're planning their career path? You know, I've I've mentioned up until now about competencies and what are the elements of that role you like and what are things that they're doing. But there are also, depending on where you want your career to go, education requirements, certification requirements. 00:18:14:01 - 00:18:44:18 Unknown I mean, if you want to be the best of the best and managing large projects, you probably want to go get your PMP certifications. So what does that look like? So connect your HR Department and and i know we're in HR Organization. And so, of course, amanda's going to say go talk to HR But for real, your HR department as all of these, you know, job descriptions which which they can look at trending lee And they also know, you know, trending. 00:18:44:18 - 00:19:15:16 Unknown Lee Okay, you're talking about being a people leader one day. Most of the time, people leaders tend to require a certain level of education requirement, not always, but most of the time they'll certainly know in their own organization what's required to see whether you have that. Are there certain certifications that are required? Because if if that's an opportunity for you that you want to this balance, they'll also know what resources are out there to help you start going down that path and how much is too much right away. 00:19:15:18 - 00:19:48:16 Unknown So we have team members that move into the learning and development space. And if you want to be the best of the best in certain things, there are certifications we would encourage you to get. Some of them are quick and easy to do certificates. Some of them are larger, you know, six month to a year and several tests certifications depending on your goals and your aspirations for your career, we might say you should go the certification route. 00:19:48:18 - 00:20:24:10 Unknown It takes a bit longer. Here are several different ways to do that, and we can talk through what makes the most sense and when starting makes the most sense for somebody. So the balance becomes what things outside of shadowing in my organization and talking to mentors and doing some development within my daily work hours, what else is out there and what else might I need to invest my time and energy into to get to the level of what I'm aspiring to get to? 00:20:24:12 - 00:21:00:24 Unknown This to the same word Moore claims in one sentence. But because some of the stuff you just can't do it work, there's just going to be some things that that would be more impactful. A pimp certification, for example, whether you want to be a project manager or not, that teaches you a lot of great organizational and executional structure and how to keep people and a large group on track and how to communicate effectively and what metrics you can utilize to not only measure success but identify budgets. 00:21:00:24 - 00:21:21:17 Unknown And there's a lot of things that would be transferable to other roles that that certification would teach you. And then going and trying it at an organization. But you can't get that through many of your own internal companies. You have to go somewhere to prep for that and take the test. So there's going to be outside work put into it. 00:21:21:17 - 00:22:18:15 Unknown So it's talk with your HR Department. They know those kinds of things. They have that knowledge. Yeah, absolutely. What we're talking about building your career path. How can individuals really align their personal values with their career choices? And why is that alignment really important for long term satisfaction? This is where i always encourage folks, excuse me, to really lean on their network, whether it is an internal network or their network outside of their organization, because values of time, values of family, values of excitement in travel, the values around what you just are comfortable and not comfortable doing, whether you will ever be the person that does that or not. 00:22:18:17 - 00:22:46:21 Unknown Those are things that you really need to understand. Does this industry require that? Does this level of career growth require that? There was for myself, for example, there was a long time where I had a vision of sea level at a high international company that was my I will be that someday I will be a chief learning officer. 00:22:46:23 - 00:23:15:21 Unknown I was very adamant that was going to be the end. That's my where I'm trying to get to. And then things in my life changed and I continue to evolve and I said as I started to connect with mentors in the space and those that are at that level, it's a very exciting level. But I started to say, Gosh, you're you're, you're always on an international level that includes travel. 00:23:15:24 - 00:23:34:00 Unknown Do I really want to travel? I got to work at an international company and started to recognize I want to be home at my values. You know, I want to be at home at night to help my kids do their schoolwork. I want that on my own. No one's telling me to do that. It's just something I want. 00:23:34:02 - 00:24:03:21 Unknown And so it really it really made me pause and think. So I think before you start to go down the path of investing your time and your energy and your plans and your excitement into something, really understand the whole of what that role looks like to see if it's what you want and also continue to reassess what I wanted at 25 and what I want now. 00:24:03:23 - 00:24:29:07 Unknown My birthday is tomorrow. So what I want as I turn a milestone birthday tomorrow are vastly different. And I think that's something we need to remember too, in this whole conversation is it is okay for your career path to change? Yeah, that's a great point. That's you need to. I thought that in the show notes, it's okay. That is change. 00:24:29:09 - 00:24:48:23 Unknown So I feel like a lot of people want things kind of set in stone. Like, like you said, like I want to be here and that's where I'm going. But it is okay if it's if things change. So I told my husband we were having one of those big, you know, rarely in our lives conversations that we one tends to have. 00:24:48:23 - 00:25:21:12 Unknown And I said, gosh, if we could pull it off, I would totally be happy to just, you know, retire and well, who wouldn't be happy to in the next five years? So, you know, he'd always gone on this. You want to be a C-suite. I mean, we talked about this for a very long time. So my move to say, I think I just like to write, I think I would be very happy, you know, stepping back and writing and just write books and write articles and just do that. 00:25:21:14 - 00:25:41:05 Unknown And he was like, okay, well, I don't think one a different one doesn't just do that. Five years ago, I invested some time. I thought, maybe I want to be there, see, like I don't want to be a C-suite leader in a giant international company. I've learned I don't want that. That didn't align with my values. I want to run my own business. 00:25:41:10 - 00:26:08:02 Unknown That's what I want to do. So I went through the process to get my LLC and I went and got individually certified in several things so that I was a certified seller of those things to THRIVE my business. And then I started building my network of of others in this space with their own LLC. And for some reason in my head, I'd be less busy if I ran my own business. 00:26:08:02 - 00:26:34:10 Unknown I'm not sure what I was thinking. Newsflash, everyone, you're not less busy. You're having. It's fun. So. So then I thought, Well, I'm home with my kids, so I'm not traveling internationally, but I'm working at night and in the morning and on weekends and always. And I was like, That doesn't really align with my values either. So it's okay to to have your career path change up. 00:26:34:12 - 00:27:09:07 Unknown And I think the big value to an organization is recognizing people do that too. They can invest your time in somebody that, you know, came in and they were really excited and then they all of a sudden sit down with you ten years later. And they're like, So I've been thinking for a while, wrapping up here today. I know we've given a lot of great practical, practical steps, but do you have any last steps or pieces of advice that employees and employers can really take to create their own personalized career path and plan? 00:27:09:09 - 00:27:42:16 Unknown And if you have any resources that you kind of want to draw up here today, I think that would be a good ending to that. So, yeah, so a great step for organizations is to create that kind of open door conversation process where employees can come and chat with HR About what are job roles and what are kind of some universal expectations at different levels within the organization or different job roles. 00:27:42:16 - 00:28:24:08 Unknown Are there certain certifications that i'm completely unaware of and and for the organization to have an understanding of resources you can connect team members to. It's excellent to have tuition reimbursement, it's excellent to have certification. You know, spotlight staffs or bonuses if you go get the certification or will pay you back for it. But to also have that resource bank of where people can go to get those certifications and especially, you know, price preferred means for you as an organization, build that resource bank so that when folks do ask their managers or do come to your company's HR 00:28:24:08 - 00:28:51:15 Unknown Department, you have an answer for them from an individual perspective, it is one of the answer to that question. So do some self-reflection and prepare that kind of stuff, but also take some stock. And it doesn't have to be a full 360 assessment tool or anything. But to the resources, what what would I consider my strengths to be? 00:28:51:15 - 00:29:12:19 Unknown Look at the job description you applied for. What about it made you apply for it? If you can look back at different roles, you've had within your career, what are those skills you've built up over time? Create your own skill bank so that you can reflect back on that skill bank and say, Here's all the things I've learned, here's what I have, here's how I know I'm strong in it. 00:29:12:21 - 00:29:53:05 Unknown What gaps am I seeing? Because only you know your career better than anybody else. So when you know what things you've done better than anybody else. So really take your own self-assessment, make your own list of what you've created and what your strengths are, so that when you go have that conversation, folks can try to help you say, this type of job role utilizes that this type of job or utilizes that to help you get a sense for those things, you can go to it from a resource perspective, depending on the industry space that you do think you want your career to grow in. 00:29:53:05 - 00:30:20:10 Unknown Again, it might not be a specific job role, but it might be an industry specific. There can be lots of industry competency models out there that you can do your own. Do I think I need to grow? I'm I'm strong in this or have mastered it. ATD has one for learning and development professionals. They have one for sales professionals. 00:30:20:12 - 00:30:59:04 Unknown Sherm has them for HR Professionals and hrc has them for HR Professionals. P i don't even know who does the vp the project manager certifications, but it really depends on industry space, where or what assessment tools are out there to find out where you are within that space. But there's tons of them out there. Just give it a google and you will find find lots of resource is depending on what industry peaks your interest and why. 00:30:59:06 - 00:31:23:23 Unknown Yeah, for sure you can put some resources that we use in the show notes below as well. But that was, that was great advice. And with Amanda and I think everyone, whomever where they are in their career can relate to this somehow, which is, which is really great. So thank you for coming on today and being today's guest and really sharing your expertise in this area. 00:31:24:00 - 00:31:45:09 Unknown I always love your examples and the tools that you share to our listeners. If you liked our chat and topic today, don't forget to share our episode and consider joining MRA. If you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below, including resources on this topic. Career paths and the course. 00:31:45:09 - 00:32:06:24 Unknown We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to chime in and share any great success stories that you've had of your own career path or career path planning otherwise. Thank you so much again for tuning in today and we will see you all next week. That wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect. 00:32:06:24 - 00:32:22:07 Unknown For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Description: We're here with the latest talent trends in January, with a spotlight on the evolving role of AI in the workplace. Join us as we discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities surrounding artificial intelligence, and how organizations are harnessing this transformative technology to shape the future of work in the early months of the year.  Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:42:16 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Hi, everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive, which is on the January edition of MRA's Monthly. Taylor Report, which is an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent. With Jim Morgan, MRA's vice president of Workforce Strategies. So thanks, Jim, again for being here. 00:00:42:17 - 00:01:06:01 Unknown Yeah, it's good to be back in the studio. yeah. Well, this month the special focus was on essentials for HR Professionals. So I guess my first question to you is really why this topic now? And maybe before we get into that, let's look at your quote of the month, which was related to A.I.. So can you kind of speak on that for a little bit, why you chose that and then the topic. 00:01:06:04 - 00:01:34:02 Unknown Yeah. Sure. The quote was A.I. is moving from traditional Human Resources Shared Services Administration up to human resources, business partner work using virtual assistants who provide us with cognitive insights like Alexa. It's going to happen faster and harder than HR people are ready for. And that was somebody from Deloitte. And I just thought it was interesting because where we're at right now with A.I. in HR is the very beginning. 00:01:34:04 - 00:01:55:20 Unknown And, you know, we did some polling of our own members and talking to our own staff. I mean, it's really at its beginnings stages, and we're just trying to help our 4000 member companies kind of get out in front of it, see what's happening, you know, and where do I belong in all of this? And I think what really launched this is it took someone in the technology field to explain this to me. 00:01:55:20 - 00:02:18:04 Unknown But they said, you know, when they're when they're working on products, theirs is very much a ready fire aim philosophy. It's it doesn't have to be done. Let's just throw it out there and see what happens because our customers will scream at us with whatever is wrong. And if you think of any new version of Microsoft or any new Apple phone, there's a reason it's 2.02.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2. 00:02:18:06 - 00:02:38:24 Unknown And that they put something out there and they say, okay, what don't our people like? And then we'll fix it. And that's different than most any other industry that usually is like, we got to get this thing right to our customers or satisfied. But in the technology world, everything's moving so fast, it's more or less put it out there and then we can just pivot and go in a different direction of That's all we need to do. 00:02:38:24 - 00:03:06:10 Unknown So we pick now at the start of the year because I think this is going to be a huge year for artificial intelligence and certainly for our members and people in HR. Yeah, absolutely. And you had kind of subject matter expert Chris Krause, vice president and principal consultant at Naviant join you for this talent report as well. And he gave kind of insight into all things AI related in terms of implementing it in companies and with HR teams specifically. 00:03:06:11 - 00:03:34:17 Unknown So can you highlight some of his key points that you kind of talked about? And Yeah, and I would encourage people to watch that. One is Chris really did do a good job, but he was just sort of breaking it down in terms of where are different places that this will be used in HR And a lot of people have used Chad GPT or some other generative artificial intelligence to do things like how to write a job description or put together a career path. 00:03:34:17 - 00:03:53:06 Unknown And he was sharing examples of that. And again, you know, everybody has to understand this is is not perfect. You don't ask a question, print it out and send it out to an interviewer, closest friends. But it's a good place to start. And he used the example of a machinist he just typed in, you know, what's a good job description for a machinist? 00:03:53:08 - 00:04:14:24 Unknown And it came back with responsibilities and requirements and then he asked what would be a good, you know, career path for a machinist. And it came back with beginner, intermediate, advanced Leader and so, again, it wasn't the it wasn't the this is what's going into our policy handbook answer, But it was, wow, this is a pretty good start. 00:04:14:24 - 00:04:32:02 Unknown And now if I'm a company looking for that machinist, I figure, okay, this is a good start. Now I need to add what is it that we need and what are the things that we're looking for? And he talked about, you know, using things like chat bots because there's just so many things that are standard questions in HR 00:04:32:07 - 00:04:53:20 Unknown And i know that when benefits come around our age, our department and everyone would like to have some. If there was a way to just answer these, you know, what's the difference between plan one and plan two? What's duct to bowl? What does it mean to be out of service area? Those are all programable easy, you know, ready to answer questions. 00:04:53:22 - 00:05:17:16 Unknown And so looking at it from a what are the administrative tasks or the redundant things that might be able to be better done in a different way? That's kind of where he started, but then went on to say, you know, artificial intelligence is being used in learning and development, it's being used in recruiting, and all of it is how do we take advantage of this asset and use it for good and not for you all? 00:05:17:16 - 00:05:37:06 Unknown And he just had some real good examples of ways in which it was being used specifically in human resources. Yeah, I was going to say he did give a lot of great examples and I would urge you to take a look at that recording. And also while we're on this topic, do you want to kind of give an inch of the AI series that's going to be coming out? 00:05:37:07 - 00:05:57:10 Unknown Yeah, sure. We're we're very excited by this, are just putting it together. It'll probably be March, April, but we're really trying to break it down into sections and talk about, you know, here's a AI, here's the basics of what's going on, but then talk about what does this mean for our administration? What does this mean for HR And learning development? 00:05:57:12 - 00:06:17:11 Unknown What does this mean for HR and employee engagement? Yeah, all of them have samples of ways in which artificial intelligence is being utilized in a jar already. So i think it'll be a really good starting point for a lot of people who are like, I don't know where to go. I don't know where to start. I even know what the possibilities are. 00:06:17:13 - 00:06:32:12 Unknown We're going to bring in some folks. I think they're going to be able to lay things out, not here's the answer, not here's prescription as to how you should do it. But, you know, here's the possible you got to figure out where it fits in your company. So I'm we'll be putting those out pretty soon. I think that'll be very exciting. 00:06:32:15 - 00:07:02:21 Unknown Yeah. We also have a whole section on artificial intelligence at our employee law update that's coming up. So that's another one that, you know, again, we're trying to just help our members see where this might be going and they figure out what's going to be best for our company for sure. So stay tuned for that. But I'm kind of moving on here, looking at your actual talent report now with recruiting and retention innovation, it looks like you've pulled some stats from a new report from intelligent AECOM on some new and interesting happenings in recruiting. 00:07:02:21 - 00:07:26:09 Unknown So can you kind of highlight what was seen here in some of those stats? Yeah, what we what we pulled out there was really it was looking at bachelor's degrees, quite frankly. And I think I think a lot of companies have picked up on this already. But, you know, many if they haven't updated anything in a while, Bachelor degrees 30 years ago were a separation of two piles of resumes like has one doesn't have one. 00:07:26:09 - 00:07:59:19 Unknown And that's kind of the way things functioned. And the world has changed. And now it's you might be looking for a specific skill set and you might be looking for a certificate. You might just be looking for someone who's got the right attitude and fits your culture, and we can teach them the rest of it. So it was just looking at companies now that are starting to drop bachelor's degree from something that might have just been in there because it's always been in there and saying, what is it that we actually have to have, especially at in some entry level jobs and even middle level jobs where they may have gotten all kinds of experience 00:07:59:19 - 00:08:23:13 Unknown somewhere else or have the ability and the skill set to do things and don't necessarily have that degree. So it was really encouraging companies to take a hard look at their the job postings in their job descriptions, to say even beyond just bachelor's degrees. You have a bunch of things in there that maybe just don't apply anymore, or that if you find the right person, you can teach them some of the things that. 00:08:23:15 - 00:08:53:17 Unknown So it's just interesting. I think companies, again, are trying to get as big a funnel of candidates as they possibly can and not eliminate someone that might still have the ability to do the job. So get rid of those just qualifiers. Yeah, that is interesting. Kind of moving on from that point, then going off of recruiting and retention specifically going into more of the talent thinking talent pool, it looks like LinkedIn released its 34 big ideas that will change our world in 2024 or less. 00:08:53:19 - 00:09:16:20 Unknown And I know you took you looked at that list and from that list, what do you see that's really of interest to HR Professionals specifically? Yeah, it's a really interesting list. And if someone's got the time to go, look, i'm sure if you just google linkedin's 34. Interesting things for 2024, you'd find it. It's just overall, it was a look at just society in general and some things that are going on. 00:09:16:22 - 00:09:41:01 Unknown But some of the interesting ones that I thought, okay, well, these applied HR Specifically we've been talking about employee shortages, you know, here in the united states, but they had an interesting section in there on, you know, other countries that are actually encouraging and trying to put incentives in place for people to have children, whether that we're going to pay for child care or there's a bonus when the child is born. 00:09:41:03 - 00:10:17:03 Unknown They're really trying. I mean, they've got some serious problems. And, you know, years and years of China, you know, people having one male child, that's got consequences to it. And now some of those countries are starting to see it. So it's not just happening in the United States. It's it's happening other places as well. Were they also we're looking at this might be the year where tensions kind of come to a head between primarily, I would say, newer and younger employees and traditional employers where new employees expectations might not mij meet employers. 00:10:17:05 - 00:10:35:04 Unknown And I'm not saying one sided right or wrong, but if this is the way we've been doing things for 100 years and now you're coming in and you're telling me you want it done completely differently or you were expecting 10% raises every year, or the employer is saying, no, you have to come back to work, you have to be in the office. 00:10:35:06 - 00:11:05:09 Unknown A lot of these things may be coming to a head, you know, this year to say, all right, whereas an employee do I bend, whereas an employer do I bend, and probably somewhere in the middle is the fair answer. But we may see some some long held beliefs that are going to be tested this year and and see, you know, employer versus employee, you know, who ends up winning out on that and expected unretired payment wave in 2020 for people who just said, this is it, I'm getting out. 00:11:05:11 - 00:11:25:02 Unknown But now they're out and one they might miss the money, too. They might miss the socialization. Three, they might miss the purpose in life that some people maybe don't want want to go back to work in 60 hours a week. But they did get an awful lot out of work. And so now they might be taking a look at it again. 00:11:25:05 - 00:11:46:05 Unknown Yeah. And then just some interesting things around, you know, I think colleges and universities are starting to figure this out, teaching a little bit more about entrepreneurship and creator society and helping people. 1920, 21, 22 that might be looking to get into, you know, their own gig and get out there and get going sort of that might not have been taught. 00:11:46:05 - 00:12:04:12 Unknown There might have been more traditional business practices. Yeah. And so even they are now starting to see that there's a market here to say let's let's start looking at this creator environment and see if there are some things we can do there. So the world is changing and that was like three or four of them. But there was some pretty interesting insights into what might be coming down the pike. 00:12:04:13 - 00:12:31:14 Unknown Yeah, that just made me think of I saw a class, it was being offered online, unlike how to be an influencer, which I just thought was funny, but it's like that's kind of where you're shifting almost and it's funny, but it's true and it's happening. So. So the Healthy Boulder influencer on her podcast, you know, I guess you could say that class, I feel like there's so many different types of influencers though, so anyway though, let's talk about our creativity. 00:12:31:14 - 00:12:58:23 Unknown So you bring up generational diversity and what HR Professionals and MRA's roundtables are kind of sharing around this topic. So i'm curious to know what what are some of the things that they're saying about generational diversity that, you know, a lot of this, you know, looking at especially younger workers, you're starting to see some things like as a younger worker right now, I would say most look at it as like, I'm going to try out a bunch of things. 00:12:58:23 - 00:13:17:14 Unknown I'm going to have three, four, five, six jobs in the first ten years that I'm working, and I'm going to get this great breadth of experience that makes perfect sense. I understand what they're doing. My life, it was, Well, I'm going to find this job and I'm going to learn as much as I can about it, and I'm going to climb the ladder and I'm going to be here for ten or 15 years. 00:13:17:16 - 00:13:33:15 Unknown I'm not saying either one of those again is right or wrong, but if I'm looking at a resume and I've got my bias, I'm thinking, Wow, this person's moving all over. They can't hold a job. Yeah, that person's thinking, Wow, I'm a great candidate. Look at all the places that I've gone in order to get as much experience as I can. 00:13:33:17 - 00:13:55:10 Unknown So there's just a little bit of a we got to understand, you know, where each one's coming from. So I think people are starting to look at that a little bit. The feedback issue, you know, the traditional once a year will have some sort of review and we'll go through your entire year. Well, I'm not sure that's the best way to That's why it's been done. 00:13:55:12 - 00:14:17:11 Unknown But okay, So I'm trying to remember right now what my employees did last February. I'm likely to remember what did you do in December and January or December? In November. And if they had really good months, I'm probably thinking now is a great year for you. And if they had a maybe a mess up or two in the last two months, I'm thinking, boy, this has been a rough year and that's not what a lot of the younger talent is looking for. 00:14:17:11 - 00:14:38:22 Unknown It's, you know, monthly, it's immediate. You know, these sayings like, well, you'll learn if I go, don't make me make too many mistakes in order to learn, just tell me what you want me to do or what I didn't do, right? I guess so, Yeah. Yeah. So you're you're a living example of it. So I think it's, you know, understanding that that immediate feedback actually makes more sense. 00:14:38:24 - 00:15:01:11 Unknown It's more helpful, it's more productive when you've got, you know, a happier employee. And then we've talked about this before, but just the generational differences with communications. I text with you. If you know that you want to find me right now, you're liable to text me not emailing sure is like you're not picking up your phone and calling me, but that's the preferred method. 00:15:01:11 - 00:15:22:14 Unknown And for a lot of older folks, it's like we have email, just email. We need to do it that way. Am I giving you my phone number? Yeah, I'm not. I don't know which one is right, wrong or indifferent, but they're different. And so we either as a company have to figure out what our policy is or just as employees and employers figure out, you know, what's our philosophy going to be on this so that we're at least consistent with it? 00:15:22:16 - 00:15:59:19 Unknown Absolutely. Well, kind of going into some HR Trends from the field section. McLean company recently released some HR trends in 2024. So what were some of the interesting findings that you saw here? I think some of the things are still not surprises. Recruiting was at the top. Providing a great employee experience was up there and I think that has to go with the retention part as companies are seeing that now controlling labor costs is in there, which is interesting because we did go through a few years where we were just about paying whatever it took to get people, and I think we did that. 00:15:59:19 - 00:16:24:23 Unknown We had to do it. But now there is there's a business decision to be made here that we can't be increasing by six, seven, eight, 9% our employee costs every year because we can't afford to do it. So now there might be an emphasis on how do we get smarter, how do we maybe use machines, how do we use technology to do it a little bit better so that one's on their developing leaders is on there? 00:16:24:23 - 00:16:50:11 Unknown We're seeing a lot of that and I think a lot of that is all kinds of retirements, younger people coming in and how do we train them a little bit more quickly. And the good news side, actually a good news bad news side for the HR Folks, an increase in HR Departments and HR People that are being used and are a part of organizational strategy and over the last three years rose from 36% to 50% that they are involved in those decisions. 00:16:50:13 - 00:17:12:08 Unknown I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but at the same time, we saw an increase from 34% to 47% of our professionals saying they're stressed out. so I wonder why you asked for something. You got it. Now you got more work, you know, as a group. But, you know, the good news is I think that companies are much more conscientious about our people are a big part of our strategy. 00:17:12:08 - 00:17:29:01 Unknown And so folks are more engaged. And while I think that's part of the stress, I think the stress has more to do with just more things on their plate. You can of COVID. Now we're into remote work and where are people going to work and how do we get more out of less and how do we figure out where our compensation is right now? 00:17:29:01 - 00:17:47:19 Unknown Because the market is changing so quickly, we can't my people or I'm not I'm keeping people. There's a lot going on. And so I think that had an awful lot to do with them with the stress and the last one, I think is about 80, 81% of the people said, we think we're settling into the whole remote work thing. 00:17:47:19 - 00:18:04:09 Unknown Now, I think people are starting to figure out whatever that means for them, were totally remote, were totally in the office, or most likely we've got a combination, but we've we've kind of figured out what it is. It's three days a week. There's a week two days a week, whatever it might be. Companies are starting to figure it out. 00:18:04:14 - 00:18:28:16 Unknown Yeah, So I think we're getting there with that one. Yeah, definitely. And I feel like maybe part of the reason why there's more HR Folks doing more strategic work now too. Could be because of ai or that i could help grow that percentage just because, like you've mentioned, i kind of helps you focus on the strategic work while ai is helping you with more of the operational day to day routine tasks. 00:18:28:16 - 00:18:52:14 Unknown Yep. And kind of going off of AI. Then Emery actually released a recent hot topic survey on AI in the workplace in this month and charts you kind of looked at a couple of the questions from that survey. So can you give us some of the data and what were the questions? First of all, I guess, yeah, first, we were trying to figure out where our members were at, you know, because our job is to is to really to serve them. 00:18:52:18 - 00:19:21:11 Unknown Yeah. But we asked them the first question we asked them is what percentage of your employees are currently testing out AI? And we laughed at that broad. But really we're willing to take, you know, almost anything. You know, I've been on chatbot once. Okay, yeah, that qualifies. But we still had 76% of our members have less than 5%, or at least they think less than 5% of their folks are active in in AI and another 14% that 5 to 10%. 00:19:21:11 - 00:19:43:20 Unknown So still very new. You know, for all of them. We also asked them if they had an individual or a department, somebody responsible for whatever they were going to do and whether that was can you just figure out what's going on all the way to strategic development? And 74% of them were at a point of we have nobody in charge. 00:19:43:20 - 00:20:01:15 Unknown We might have people looking at it, we might have people taken, you know, stabs added, but they really didn't have someone who said, you know, your job is to make sure we know where we need to be and what's going on. So very new with all of them at the same time, you know, we said, well, what do you need from us? 00:20:01:17 - 00:20:25:03 Unknown And we had, you know, 80% of the people saying, geez, I could use some user guides and goals and objectives. I could use more content on what's going on. So they're looking for can you give me some things and start feeding me stuff? Because I think people know this is coming. Yeah, I'm not going to stop and you're not going to be able to control it, so we better get out in front of it a little bit. 00:20:25:05 - 00:20:50:18 Unknown So there was a lot of interest in that. And then because we had the webinar series coming up, we asked them about, you know, what exactly in age are you looking for? Is it? I think we offered them learning and development, just the admin side of our employee engagement recruiting, and all of them came back and, you know, different mixes and matches, but all of them, there were about 60 to 65% had an interest in every one of those. 00:20:50:20 - 00:21:15:07 Unknown Yeah. So I think it's I just need some help, Right. Well it's like just provide me something and I think that I'll be happy. So we are, you know, like everybody else, we not only have to figure it out for mirror with our own products and services and our own staff, but also figure out where our members are at and, you know, try to help them get to where they got to get because there's going to be a big year for I think a lot is going to happen. 00:21:15:09 - 00:21:31:06 Unknown I mean, we all got to be ready for it. Yeah, well, good thing we have the air series coming out. We do? Yeah, we do. So. So we've got your Alberts. Well, Jim, as a kind of close out here, can you give us a look ahead at next month's or February's talent report and the kind of topics you'll be talking about there? 00:21:31:10 - 00:21:58:05 Unknown Yeah, we're we're going to look at internships again, but a little bit deeper around. I think it's becoming one of the leading ways for companies to find people. But those strategies around how, you know, when do I find them, how do I find them, how do I prepare them, how do I make sure their experience is a good one and how do I hang on to them and kind of give them a path right into our organization? 00:21:58:05 - 00:22:21:21 Unknown Because if we're going to invest in bringing these people in and having these interns and helping them learn, it can't just be three months of busy work. Now we have to look at them as we're almost onboarding them, right? Three months. We're trying to prepare them, one, to understand the business and two, to want to work here. And then especially for those that, you know, maybe have another year of school left, we've got nine months now. 00:22:21:21 - 00:22:35:17 Unknown They figure out how to hang on to them. So what are we doing to make that a good experience that they're not looking anywhere else and we know we can count on them when they graduate the next May. So it is kind of going to be a, you know, right from the beginning to getting them to come work for us. 00:22:35:19 - 00:22:57:22 Unknown You know, how do we just look at this as this is our supply chain and we all take care of it? Yeah, well, that will be a great topic and February is a great time to start that conversation. So looking forward to a time to all. Jim, thank you again, per usual for all the back. Great information and kind of recapping what you were seeing, January's talent report. 00:22:57:24 - 00:23:24:02 Unknown But to our listeners, if you liked our chat and our topic for today, don't forget to share out this episode. Give it a like we recommend and consider joining MRA if you are not a member already. As usual, we have all the resources for you in the show notes below, so make sure to look at those. We have Jim's LinkedIn profile if you want to get in contact with him or have any questions for him and we'll see you next week for our next episode. 00:23:24:07 - 00:23:42:06 Unknown So thank you again. Jim. Yeah, my pleasure. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcasts updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. 00:23:42:06 - 00:23:47:00 Unknown Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Description: In this episode, we explore cutting-edge HR trends. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we delve into the evolving landscape. Discover how HR navigates challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to shape the workplace of the future. Resources: 2024 HR Trends 2024 HR Trends 2024 Employee Trends Labor Shortage MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest LinkedIn Profile - Keri Wozniak  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:54:07 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. In this episode specifically, we're going to be talking about cutting edge trends with MRA, our business partner, Kari Wozniak. From optimizing employee experiences to balancing tech with humanity, we'll give you advice on how to navigate challenges like hybrid teams and sustainability, while also implementing innovative recruitment and leadership development strategies to really shaped or the workplace of the future. 00:00:54:09 - 00:01:16:15 Unknown So, Kari, I know you really work directly with a lot of our member companies and you've been in HR for over 20 years, I think so you've really seen it all when it comes to trends and challenges. So I'm excited about the opportunity to really sit down and talk with you on what you're currently seeing trend wise. So thanks again for being here today. 00:01:16:15 - 00:01:44:08 Unknown I'm excited. Thanks. I'll be excited to be here to all just kind of kick in kicking it off. Employee experience is often cited as a critical factor in organizational success. So how are HR Professionals really working to enhance and optimize the overall employee journey with their companies? Sure. You know, this is an ongoing area of concern and has been for for for quite a while. 00:01:44:10 - 00:02:07:15 Unknown As as everyone is aware, we've been involved in a labor shortage for quite a while. It's not expected to change anytime soon. As you know, birth rates are low and generational changes and all that stuff's kind of coming through. So the employee experience becomes critical to attracting and retaining your talent. So some just key things to think about is you really need to be listening to your employees. 00:02:07:17 - 00:02:23:03 Unknown You know, it's okay to read the articles out there, listen to trends, you know, pay attention to what's going on in the world because that will help guide you in the right direction. But your teams, your environment is going to be a little bit different than anywhere else. So you want to make sure that you're you have frequent and targeted feedback loops of your employees. 00:02:23:03 - 00:02:49:08 Unknown So think about things like pulse surveys, small group listening sessions, day interviews, things like that, so that you understand why people stay and why you believe and you can address those to make sure that you have the right employee experience. You also want to make sure that you're starting small and implementing quickly. We just don't have the time anymore to plan for a year and then take a long time to implement and have the perfect programs. 00:02:49:10 - 00:03:05:16 Unknown Instead, we need to look at these things as continuous improvements. Pick a few things that you can implement quickly that will have an impact on your team and move those over the finish line so that you actually see the impact of those. And then, of course, circling back with your employees, making sure that did you actually hit the mark? 00:03:05:16 - 00:03:27:18 Unknown Is this what they wanted? So that's general guidelines and how to tackle things. But some actual specific ideas here are communication tools. So you need to make sure that you are communicating with your employees for the channels they actually use. And, you know, we are so used to using email newsletters, even home mailings that are now pretty old school versions. 00:03:27:21 - 00:03:46:10 Unknown You still need those because you have a lot of people who are comfortable with them. But now you need to be looking at your texting your employees. Are you recording video messages or are you utilizing instant messaging? What about like communication apps like Slack, things like that? You need to make sure that you're communicating with your teams in in those areas. 00:03:46:10 - 00:04:10:07 Unknown It is in all of these places or at least in a select few, and that you're having that same consistent message regardless of where you're communicating because you want them all to hear the same things, but where they're actually going to go, where they're going to go use it. And in that you're considering your generations, you're considering learning and communication styles and then what technology is actually available to the individual. 00:04:10:09 - 00:04:34:01 Unknown You know, your manufacturing employees don't necessarily have the same access to drop as team has. So how are you making sure that they're still getting the messages that you need to have them out there? And time is always an issue, so don't overwhelm your communications team with a million different things to focus on. Make sure it's a sustainable process and that you're automating where you can. 00:04:34:03 - 00:04:57:03 Unknown So some other things beyond communication tools is you want to make sure you're integrating and simplifying your technology tools. Again, the more things you have, the more you going to manage. So looking at fewer sources of truth or better aggregated tools to be able to pull your information and think about the the consumer experience your employees are used to when they're at home, right? 00:04:57:03 - 00:05:26:13 Unknown They're using Alexa, Siri and Google in order to get the information they need to do their personal work in seconds. But then at work, we're going into different THRIVEs, different disparate systems. You got to remember where everything's housed and how you actually pull everything together. It's time consuming and it's frustrating. So how do you mirror that consumer experience at work that they're used to at home or actually watching technology things? 00:05:26:15 - 00:05:45:23 Unknown absolutely. And I feel like just to add on that, the employee experience, it comes down to how well you can listen to your employees and implement the things that they want and that they're interested in. So I like that you highlighted that you don't always have to listen to that outside conversations that might be kind of pulling you in. 00:05:45:23 - 00:06:11:06 Unknown It's really about what does your company value, what do your employees value, and something that might work for one person might not work for another. But I'm glad that you personalization, right? Like at the end of the day, your employees want to know that you know them. You absolutely very well kind of moving on now into flexible work arrangements that's been a key trend the past couple years now. 00:06:11:08 - 00:06:35:17 Unknown So how how is really addressing the challenges of managing hybrid teams then and what strategies are being implemented to ensure collaboration and communication remain effective? Sure. So there's a couple different different things in there. So being flexible in the first place, creating those flexible work arrangements is going to be really, really important. And we're all we're hearing a lot about. 00:06:35:19 - 00:07:01:13 Unknown It's no longer about work life balance, it's about work life integration or fit and the concept there is it's not how do I fit my life around my job, it's how do I how do I have meaningful work that's going to support the life that I want to have? And while that seems like a nuance, it's a really important distinction because employees maybe don't want their whole identity to be what they do for a living anymore. 00:07:01:15 - 00:07:24:17 Unknown And everybody has different challenges, whether it's the raising children, if they've got aging parents, if they've got just hobbies or, you know, desires to travel the world or whatever, those things are, they want to figure out how to balance that while providing the opportunity to be a professional, to contribute in different ways. So to me, one of the key things that employers need to do is be creative. 00:07:24:17 - 00:07:50:13 Unknown We can't just sit there and look at, well, everybody has to work 9 to 5 in an office and do things exactly the way that we've historically used it, you know, the pandemic that we always want to bring that up. But it just changed people's expectations and how they can how they know they can get work done. So so whether it's remote hybrid, so where you actually do work, but there's also the actual schedule itself. 00:07:50:13 - 00:08:14:17 Unknown So can I work maybe four tens? Can I work long hours on weekends or even a combination of those things? Is it more I just need to get my work done when I get it done, maybe matters a little bit less. You can even look at hiring people into job sharing kind of situations where maybe you're hiring two part time people to accomplish the tasks of one full time job. 00:08:14:19 - 00:08:35:14 Unknown A lot of companies are starting to use contractors and consultants, kind of this gig concept. Like, I have a project, I'm going to pick that up, I'm going to work on it. So if you're employing people in these these new ways, it's not all just full time Monday through Friday kind of employees. Then you've got to figure out how do you how do you communicate amongst all these different schedules? 00:08:35:14 - 00:09:00:16 Unknown How do you ensure that people feel like a part of a team and that especially you hear it on weekends and like night shifts and things like that, They don't feel like they're part of the team anymore. So so a key is actually pulling people together in collaborative and community and strong communication ways. So with a focus on actually getting to know each other, having that social connection while you're still being productive. 00:09:00:20 - 00:09:30:16 Unknown And so can you build your team meetings in person, maybe have core hours that everybody has to be there on Wednesdays from from tended to. But other than that, we can kind of work around it. But in those times when you're having people in these more collaborative work environments, make sure it's fun and make it worth driving into the office when if I could have just done my meeting on Zoom at home anyway, why did I THRIVE 45 minutes into the office today? 00:09:30:18 - 00:09:57:24 Unknown So make sure it's worthwhile that they're having that those connections. And it's not always just work like some of it's getting to know your team, having just that time to talk so that they can work better on other things outside of those meetings too. So I think it's just really important that there is that environment when you're together, that you're having fun, you're still getting things done and you're building that that team environment, you know? 00:09:58:01 - 00:10:22:20 Unknown Absolutely. I love all those ideas. Kari And we talk a lot with Jim Morgan. You mentioned the generational differences and export work arrangements, brings up a lot of ideas and even challenges with with generations and working flexible hours. I know sometimes we talk about these like, why are you emailing me at 2 a.m. and it's like, Hey, that might work for me and it might not work for you. 00:10:22:20 - 00:10:45:02 Unknown But if the employer can understand that not everybody is the same, I think that will I don't know. It just helps create kind of that more cohesive team. Even if I'm working the same 9 to 5, like you mentioned one, when you get with employers, I think the resistance comes from we've never really learned how to manage people that way. 00:10:45:04 - 00:11:06:14 Unknown You know, historically I kind of button seat management, which is maybe not the best term, but we're so used to like, I see you, I see working on your computer, you're actively engaged in a meeting. I can tell that you're doing your job when you're not in front of me, when I can't actually see the work that not even seeing an output in that scenario. 00:11:06:14 - 00:11:33:09 Unknown But when I can't see that you're working, then people question, Well, maybe they're doing something else. And then there starts to be this little bit of distrust. We need to change our management styles to focusing on outcomes instead. So it's not as much about how many hours I worked or when I worked or, you know, whether or not you went through 100 emails today or, you know, all of that is I need to produce this result. 00:11:33:09 - 00:11:56:11 Unknown So is it in my doing something of quality? Is that effective and am I having a positive impact on my team? You know, those are things we need to start measuring. But the harder they're just because a lot of jobs, they don't make widgets. You know, it's not that I'm going to produce 30 of these things an hour so how can you say I have strong output in, in what I'm doing? 00:11:56:13 - 00:12:15:19 Unknown So managers and I need to take a step back in these and evaluate the roles? How do I manage these these positions effectively so that I'm not questioning whether or not they're actually doing the job, the right thing. The right thing is, is what I produce now, how long it takes me to produce and where I do it. 00:12:15:21 - 00:12:44:18 Unknown Absolutely. That's a great point, Harry. We're also in the age of social media and increased transparency. So I'm curious, how is employer branding evolving then, with that in mind, in what role does it really play in shaping and promoting a positive employer brand and culture? Sure, a lot of this goes back to that employee experience that we talked about as the first question, and this is now your content for your employer brand, right? 00:12:44:18 - 00:13:08:10 Unknown Like when you're asking the questions of your team, of what they want, then when you actually put programs in place, when things are effective, then that's what you need to do and tell tell the outside world about it and remind your your current employees when you're doing those things and what the benefits of having them are. So making sure that you're telling people the things that you're working at and getting that out there. 00:13:08:10 - 00:13:34:01 Unknown But you need to also make sure that the employer brand rings true to what your environment actually is. I think historically, marketing would put together this really professional and buttoned up program that made everything look perfect. We're seeing now instead that employers are taking their phones out and they're recording things just as much more casual, but it's more real. 00:13:34:03 - 00:13:57:16 Unknown And I think the candidates today and employees are they connect to that because they know that things aren't always produced. And it's not that everyone's always beautiful in an actress and they should leave things instead. I want to see my coworker wearing their uniform actually working on a piece of equipment, talking about what their day is. This comes in as like workers always refer to it as the realistic job preview. 00:13:57:16 - 00:14:27:19 Unknown You know, you want to know if you're coming into an organization, what you're actually going to experience, not just what your leadership wants people to see. So being very, very honest about it, making sure that what you're putting out about your employer brand, whether it's on social media, whether it's just through word of mouth, that it actually matches what your organization does, so that when someone comes into the organization that you know, okay, this is what I thought I was getting into. 00:14:27:21 - 00:14:52:01 Unknown And there's fun ways to do that, especially in small businesses. I think the they tend to think they need a full marketing team to build this out. You can put little notes out about employee promotions or new hires and anniversaries. You can talk about your long term employees and you know, what is their career path, kind of then throw out the time they've been there or, you know, you brought in pizza posted that's okay. 00:14:52:03 - 00:15:14:20 Unknown But those are truly things that you're doing as an organization. But then try to encourage people to do more. Like if you do volunteer days, can we post about those? If there is training that's been received, maybe you sent somebody to Emory and they got certified. Put that out there too, because these are things showing how you're actually supporting your employees in real life. 00:15:14:22 - 00:15:37:16 Unknown You know, absolutely. Those are all great examples, too. And I like that pulling out your phone and just taking a casual video feel like I've heard that so much recently. And I think Amanda Mosteller one of our working and developing instructors called it like the TikTok era, where you just do a quick 32nd video, kind of showcase who you are, what the brand is. 00:15:37:18 - 00:16:07:24 Unknown And I had a story about that. Our marketing team was in. We worked on some project for, like we to bring in the light, to bring in the cameras, kind of like you said, the full produce. And it's like, no, just take out your phone, your cart recorded selfie style. That's what everyone wants to see. And like you said, it's very relatable and it may or may not be a generational thing, as in, I think the younger generation is used to seeing that same all over. 00:16:08:01 - 00:16:42:16 Unknown And maybe that's something that the more seasoned professionals have to get used to that style. But I definitely agree that that's that's where branding and kind of digital content is going is the more relatable content. And I think while it is generational from the standpoint of expecting it in, I think all the generations kind of recognize that it feels more accurate in that it's like, okay, that actually probably happened, right? 00:16:42:20 - 00:17:07:09 Unknown They didn't spend $100,000 to produce this video, you know, and the questions behind that messaging. So I think it is a it's more about being transparent as an organization. And I think there's tools to make that easier to do. And actually, just as I'm saying, the word transparent, the other thing that is really important with employer brands and HR 00:17:07:11 - 00:17:30:14 Unknown Knows this is is your pay pay transparency is really, really important. It's it's coming. If it's not already in your state, it's coming and know the legislations their candidates expect it. We got to stop trying to pretend it's something nobody talks about and start being more upfront about it. And so how do you wrap that into your employer brand? 00:17:30:16 - 00:17:52:01 Unknown And, you know, we can't necessarily be the top payers and with all the benefits, you know, you have to balance your your dollars. But you can talk about what's key, you know, do you have incentive compensation that helps you stand out? Do you you know, maybe you are paying at the higher, higher level or you have some special employee benefit to your total rewards is is a is a balancing act. 00:17:52:01 - 00:18:24:01 Unknown But make sure that you're talking about that and and that you're just you're being upfront about what you believe the job is worth because then you're going to get the people to apply who and who also think that's what the job's worth, right? For sure. So just continuing with the digital digital training here with the rise of automation and I was really balancing technology adoption with the human touch in managing talent and fostering a positive workplace culture. 00:18:24:04 - 00:18:42:04 Unknown So that's been a big challenge for a lot of people recently. Well, it's so new and it's in I mean, my guess is not new. I grew up in the nineties. If we're watching The Terminator, right? Like, I mean, you expected it to come and, and now it's a question of what does it mean in reality and not in science fiction. 00:18:42:06 - 00:19:11:02 Unknown And so every business function, including ours, is grappling with this at some, some level. I think the most important thing that needs to get out in front of this is to remind employees and themselves they are not replacing you. There is still another job on the other side of it, no different than in in the Industrial Revolution when we started seeing machines come into manufacturing, we didn't stop hiring people because the machines were there. 00:19:11:04 - 00:19:32:05 Unknown Now we just needed a different skill set and so we had to make sure that that we're keeping people trained, that they're learning along the way so that they don't get left behind because the DNA not your replace your job, but you are not learning how to use it, will make someone else replace your job. The person who actually does have that skill. 00:19:32:07 - 00:19:53:04 Unknown And so that's important for for each of us as as professionals, You know, we're employees too, but we need to stay in front of our employees and remind them that their that jobs will exist. It just might not look tomorrow exactly the way that it looked today, but it never has. So that's not completely unheard of anyway. But so we need to get in front of that. 00:19:53:04 - 00:20:27:12 Unknown We need to communicate with them, you know, where we see AI coming into their particular roles and then take the time to build training and adoption tools to help them get there because it is going to be new for everybody. So let's just keep everybody moving at the same time. Things that I think about and where I probably should be coming into play is you're trying to automate manual, repetitive processes that don't require creativity, strategic thinking or what I think is important, an empathetic response, right? 00:20:27:12 - 00:20:54:12 Unknown People need to do that. But if the rules are already there and it's a plus B, we'll see. Get people out of that. It's not worth their time. That's when you start to have the technology come come into play too, to do that. So for our specifically, that might be answering questions on policies and benefit inquiries like it's factual and be able to use a chat bot for something like that. 00:20:54:14 - 00:21:34:21 Unknown How do you, how do you use systems and tools? You don't necessarily need to have somebody standing in front of them doing the training. How can you help affected training that that's there that they can utilize and access without the without taking up the time of an individual? Things like metrics and data reporting. I mean, I'll be able to set up automated resume screening and interview coordination are hugely time consuming things that again, as long as you define your factors and can can very much be done by by software and then performance cycle administration, I think is an area that can really get focused on what I want. 00:21:34:21 - 00:22:07:06 Unknown Scaring people is the idea that performance management, actual management might get in been used with I, I don't see that happening for quite a long time because there is still that's the creativity and strategic thinking and we have to have pretty pretty fancy software to be able to get that right. But that leads into HR Has to be a gatekeeper of if you want to call it algorithms, if you want to call parameters, whatever the rules are that are being built, HR 00:22:07:06 - 00:22:32:01 Unknown Has to review those for bias. So you can't have your recruitment software picking your hires because there is inherent bias in the data that we're using to automate this process in the first place, and we have to question it. We got to put those on that scene with compensation, career development, anything that is truly career and employment impacting HR 00:22:32:01 - 00:22:57:06 Unknown Really needs to be reviewing what those rules are that are being put into the system and and doing adverse impact analysis to make sure that we're not going to have whether conscious or unconscious bias come in because that's going to get you in legal trouble. But more importantly, it's unethical, right? No, i'm i'm really glad you reiterated the point that I is not going to get rid of your job and that we still need you. 00:22:57:08 - 00:23:23:00 Unknown I feel like I've heard that in a lot of places and we've talked about it on a couple of podcasts. But those are all great examples of where HR and just business overall can use AI and how you can kind of integrate it into your automated processes so you can focus on all of the strategic planning processes if the things you don't like to do because they're boring. 00:23:23:02 - 00:24:00:17 Unknown there you go, There you go. And then you can focus on like the stuff that you actually really want to do, which is using your brain. Exactly. Well, the concept of agile HR Is also gaining popularity. So my question is, how are HR teams embracing agility to respond quickly to changing business needs and marketing market dynamics? Yeah, this is a it mentioned a little bit earlier, but it's it's changing your mindset from only implementing things when they're perfect to getting into an iterative continuous improvement process. 00:24:00:19 - 00:24:29:01 Unknown We just don't have time with how quickly things change to make sure everything is perfect. We can't build a handbook, have to go sit on a shelf and five years from now look at it again. But you have to be pulling things out every six months, reviewing, making sure that there's minor tweaks and rolling things out. Was looking at some of my concepts like technology is becoming obsolete in 3 to 5 years. 00:24:29:03 - 00:24:53:10 Unknown So if it takes you six months to select a new system and a year to implement it and six more months to optimize and get it really working for you, you're now ready to replace it again. So you need to be constantly changing and tweaking and adjusting and that is going to to be the case for for not just your technology tools, not just your HR 00:24:53:11 - 00:25:14:06 Unknown Resources, but really anything that you were touching in support of the business. So when you're talking about career development, maybe you're creating career ladders, trying to retain people. You can't just build the program and come back to it a couple of years later and expect that it has been working the whole time. So we something out 80% good. 00:25:14:08 - 00:25:49:09 Unknown Learn from that and then make adjustments and be transparent with your employees. Be like, Hey, we tried it. We found something that didn't work. So now we're going to adjust and try to make it better. So that's necessary with just about everything. When regulations keep changing your employees and candidates, expectations are changing so rapidly. We're just in a in a world where the iterations are coming so much faster that you have to you just have to keep adjusting along the way and don't worry about perfection. 00:25:49:11 - 00:26:13:13 Unknown And then of course, we sort of automate where you can so that you don't have to spend your time on administrative tasks and you can focus more on on these things that need to keep changing in response to the needs your business. And I would say and celebrate wins because we kind of forget that step. We keep the burnout, all that stuff kind of comes because everything is coming so quickly. 00:26:13:15 - 00:26:35:11 Unknown So when you do implement something, remember to celebrate it. Say thank you, Remind people that it's happened so that they see the work and effort that's happening. Take a little bit of a breath before you move on to the next project. Yeah, no, absolutely. That's great advice. I'm kind of moving the conversation to a little different topic here. 00:26:35:13 - 00:27:07:18 Unknown How is HR addressing the growing importance of sustainability in corporate social responsibility, in shaping workplace values and practices? I think this is something our listeners are very curious on and they kind of want to want to know more about this topic. So we set out on this question that it's it's it's very different now than when when I started my career, I was even in even five or ten years ago when people were talking about corporate responsibility. 00:27:07:20 - 00:27:35:14 Unknown But it was more like, don't be a bad player, you know, don't don't have the you know, the Environmental Protection Agency coming in and doing something from a legislative standpoint. Now it's more about aligning your organizational values with your business process. So if you go out on many, many company websites, they'll have their mission, vision and values. You see common things about integrity and ethics. 00:27:35:16 - 00:27:59:23 Unknown You know, maybe environmental sustainability is is listed out there. But I think the most important thing is aligning that to, again, what you what you're actually doing. So it's important to to walk the talk. So you want to make sure that you're integrating your business practices in in that that social responsibility that you're saying you feel is important. 00:27:59:23 - 00:28:26:14 Unknown So think about like maybe you need to review your supply chain contracts because you want to align with, you know, maybe you've got a DEA and B program that you're very vocal about you're putting on your employer brand. You can't sit there and say, I'm in support of a particular group, but then never use them as your supply chain. 00:28:26:16 - 00:28:51:23 Unknown So what are your criteria for selecting vendors? How do you bring that in from from a social responsibility standpoint? You know, looking at your manufacturing practices, it's great to sit there and say we will we recycle, reduce, reuse, recycle. But what if your manufacturing practices are creating significant amounts of waste? You need to look at that process and find ways to to have a direct impact. 00:28:52:00 - 00:29:18:15 Unknown You might want to implement a scholarship program that's in support of, you know, organizations or groups that you're providing support to. So again, just that deeper integration that rings true to your organization. So it's not enough just to to post support out on social media or write a donation check. You need to align who you are as an organization, which you're saying in your values. 00:29:18:15 - 00:29:43:05 Unknown This is who you are with, what you're actually doing. And so that's going to help with your employees will see that it'll gain trust with them candidates where this is important to them. They'll be attracted to your organization because it aligns with their values. And I mean, that's the perfect scenario is if you can recruit people who believe what you believe, they're going to fit your culture. 00:29:43:05 - 00:30:14:02 Unknown They're going to they're going to they're going to stick with you, too, because there is more to the relationship than a paycheck. Instead, they feel good about what they're doing. So a couple of common areas, because I think people question, you know, what is it all mean? What's the definition of this? Some common areas that organizations are considering under that social responsibility kind of umbrella is, as I mentioned, the diversity equity inclusion, belonging activities, environmental sustainability, fair trade. 00:30:14:04 - 00:30:37:19 Unknown You know, again, you want to buy from vendors in potentially third world countries that are not paying people effectively or just have to the sustainable wages and then responsible labor practices within your own, your own environment, within anybody that you're doing business with. So those are things to to measure as well as make sure that you're considering when you're making decisions. 00:30:37:19 - 00:31:00:18 Unknown And as an organization. Absolutely. Those are great examples and I feel like a common one too, is just volunteering. A lot of organizations say they value volunteering, but then it's like, do you give your employees volunteer opportunities to sit out, kind of start to finish thing? Like, do you follow up with them? How is their experience? How how they get involved in the community? 00:31:00:18 - 00:31:19:16 Unknown Like you can't just stop at 25%. You got to keep it going kind of thing. There are some organizations and I won't name any, but I'm very recognizable that you see out in the world wearing their volunteer t shirts and you see them at events all over the place. And so, you know that that's really something that that organization takes seriously. 00:31:19:18 - 00:31:48:02 Unknown Right? Right. Well, just kind of wrapping up here today. One more question for you. Leadership development is obviously crucial for organizational growth. So what initiatives are HR Departments implementing to identify and nurture leadership talent within organization? This is a really key area for me, and i feel like we don't spend quite enough time and energy on this in an actual practice. 00:31:48:04 - 00:32:23:01 Unknown You know, so often we promote the best individual contributor into running a department, but we haven't necessarily stepped back and said, are they a leader? Are they somebody that people go to naturally when when when the managers in a meeting, who do they actually reach out amongst their team members to get support and help? So first, I think your selection process needs to definitely be evaluated a little bit more and you need to make sure that the individual contributors can still grow without becoming managers because not every person should become a leader. 00:32:23:03 - 00:32:47:04 Unknown But then another aspect of leadership development for me is actually the job evaluation of our front line and mid-level managers. We have a lot going on in these positions. There's high, high expectations of them and they don't always have the time and resources to be able to actually do the job effectively. So it's a really common pressure point. 00:32:47:04 - 00:33:20:22 Unknown And what I mean by that is senior leadership has expectations of goals and initiatives and growth plans that need to be executed on by these team members. And now we're seeing employee expectations and the employee experience has increased a lot of what they expect out of their frontline manager. You know, they're expecting that their managers want to know them as individuals, that they adjust their leadership style to them, that they're helping them develop in their careers, that they're representing the organization on a day to day basis. 00:33:20:22 - 00:33:55:12 Unknown Strong communication, regular feedback. You know, there's just a there's a lot that's being expected at that. And then these roles commonly have extremely high spans of control. So you see it's not uncommon to see a supervisor have 20 to 30 direct reports if you expect them to know their employees on an individual basis and provide a strong employee experience, while also meeting the strategic goals and needs of the organization, probably need to take a look at the span of control because that's probably not a realistic ask. 00:33:55:14 - 00:34:20:14 Unknown And they also have a lot of administrative work, whether it's time cards and performance reviews and you just all these tools and resources that they have to do on an ongoing basis. So I think it's a really important that we especially as we take a step back and then look at whether it's a program we're implementing, what's the impact on them, but also are we really designing the jobs in a way that's going to make them successful? 00:34:20:15 - 00:34:47:05 Unknown So that's a it's just a it's a key area for me is making sure that they're spending that time, especially given we know the direct managers are a key reason why employees stay or leave an organization. So if we don't provide the support to those specific individuals, how are we really long term impacting our ability to to get the right talent in the organization? 00:34:47:07 - 00:35:12:16 Unknown So it's like I said, we need to make sure that we're focusing on evaluating what those responsibilities are, how many direct reports they might have, what's the the individual contributor tasks we ask them to, because oftentimes they're also expected to be a producer on top of being the manager of a very large team that you might need to provide administrative support to them or an automation tools or something to make their jobs a little bit easier. 00:35:12:18 - 00:35:33:02 Unknown And then being clear on training them and the skill sets that they need to do their job well and providing very clear expectations of what they're responsible for so that they can be successful. And of course, Emery can help with the training and the development and even the job evaluations if that's something that people are interested in. But I do think it's important. 00:35:33:02 - 00:35:55:24 Unknown We very often look at our senior leaders and we're looking a lot at our individual contributors these days, but this group in the middle gets kind of forgotten. Well, I think that's a great place to close out on a great conversation today. So, Keri, I want to thank you for for your expertise in ensuring that sharing the trends that you've been seeing in HR currently. 00:35:56:01 - 00:36:18:10 Unknown But to our listeners, I want to thank you also for tuning in. When Keri mentioned we have resources linked in the show notes, so make sure to check those out today or you can find them at MRA. Net dot org. We also I'm curious LinkedIn profile linked in the show notes. So if you like to connect with her or ask or any follow up questions, be sure to connect with Keri. 00:36:18:10 - 00:36:38:15 Unknown I'm sure she'd be happy to do that. Keri Again, thank you for joining me today. And to our listeners, we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:36:38:16 - 00:36:48:09 Unknown And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

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William Cason interviews TCG board member Jim Morgan on his rise from the investment banking world to the CEO of Krispy Kreme and focuses on how culture makes a difference in an organizations health. - You can learn more about The Cason Group over at our website: https://thecasongroup.com/

This is Part 2 of our conversation with Jim Morgan. Please go back and listen to Part 1 if you haven't already! William Cason interviews TCG board member Jim Morgan on his rise from the investment banking world to the CEO of Krispy Kreme and focuses on how culture makes a difference in an organizations health. - You can learn more about The Cason Group over at our website: https://thecasongroup.com/

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Description: In this episode, we'll explore the August edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We'll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices, including: Attracting the next generation of customers and staff Employee engagement and experience Recruiting and the candidate experience AI platforms Implementing company-wide DEI initiatives  Uncover C-Suite priorities, top creative HR strategies, and more! Resources: August Talent Report  Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:41:24 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. All right. Well, welcome, everybody, to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. I'm excited to go over this month's talent report with Jim Morgan, MRA. Vice president of Workforce Strategies, as we go into what he's been seeing in the world of business in the month of August. So thanks for joining us again this month, Jim. 00:00:42:01 - 00:01:08:16 Unknown Always a pleasure to come back. Well, for August, it looks like the special topic was on diversity, equity and inclusion, specifically working on efforts in organizations. So why did you choose this DEI topic for this month? Well, I think, you know, it's a topic that we could probably do just about any month, and we hadn't done it yet this year on the talent report, and that now would be a good time. 00:01:08:16 - 00:01:32:19 Unknown And with the talent shortage and what we've talked about the last six or seven episodes, all of the issues around diversity, equity, inclusion also play into the talent pool as well. And we know what are companies doing in order to to figure that out. And so, Diana, what we brought in from our Ohio office talked about and we talked a little bit more a little bit later about the results. 00:01:32:19 - 00:02:15:13 Unknown But, you know, she started by talking about, you know, why are we doing this in the first place? And we had just done a survey of our Chief Diversity Officers roundtable. And that's sort of what drove this month's topic. And she had brought to it. Well, you know, here's what they were saying were the reasons that they had a DEA program in their company to build stronger teams, to foster collaboration, to make employees feel valued, to enhance productivity, to create a welcoming environment, to build trust among employers, to attract top talent, to increase retention, to increase business development, and to ensure the production of new ideas. 00:02:15:15 - 00:02:38:24 Unknown So that list of ten, I thought, well, okay, well, people aren't interested in those ten things and we're really in trouble. So that's kind of what we focused on, was sort of yea, the positives that come out of that, and especially in terms of engaging and retaining. And I can talk a little bit about our elite program here at Amara, but really it's it's just a strategy that I think almost every company is utilizing now. 00:02:39:00 - 00:03:06:15 Unknown We're just trying to help them see some of the best practices that are out there. Yeah, that was a great list of benefits that you just talked about. And this episode will kind of be a good leeway in to our next week's episode. After this, we're talking about how belonging fits into the diversity, equity and inclusion mix. So understanding that one, yeah, let's kind of go into what's happening in recruiting and retention world. 00:03:06:15 - 00:03:36:18 Unknown So Jim, what's what are you seeing here that's new? We were wrapping up our internal leadership program, of which you are a proud graduate and we were asking, you know, what are you doing in some of your wrap up things? And we got some really neat ideas from the coordinators around kind of their year end projects. And they shared with us that one of them had their interns look in their own department as to how do they attract the next generation of customers and employees. 00:03:36:20 - 00:03:59:14 Unknown And so depending on what department they were in, they were providing their perspectives on how do we go out and engage 20, 21, 22 or 23 year olds. So that was one of their their projects. Another company had them look at the entire employee cycle of life and basically say, What is our candidate experience look like? What's our onboarding experience look like? 00:03:59:16 - 00:04:21:22 Unknown Where does our experienced employee experience look like? And so they reported back on conversations that they had with employees at a variety of different places in that in that cycle, one of the groups developed a campus recruiting strategy for the company so that when they go out next year, they've kind of got the playbook and what it's going to take to go. 00:04:21:23 - 00:04:44:23 Unknown We we recruit people. One put together a social media plan for, you know, how do we go out and recruit. And then most of them were presenting their material to the executive staff, which really I think was a real bonus for the kids that were the interns in the program. It gave them a chance, you know, to have some exposure in front of those people. 00:04:45:00 - 00:05:02:12 Unknown And I think exempt were from everything that we got back. We're pretty excited about the fact that while these are, you know, some of the ideas might be out there a little bit but it's a fresh set of eyes looking at what does this mean for a 20, 21, 22 year old. So really kind of a cool wrap up to the season. 00:05:02:12 - 00:05:23:10 Unknown And I think with a lot of the the interns that we had. Yeah, absolutely. And I just have to mention because I just saw this on LinkedIn, but was Emory's interim leadership program with our intern grads, we gave them a little interim leadership badge to put on their own personal LinkedIn accounts and they can post it as an accomplishment. 00:05:23:10 - 00:05:48:13 Unknown And that also just kind of gets the word out and creates creates our own little intern program advocates and kind of in a fun way to. Yeah. So that was that was pretty exciting. On the intern side, we've also seen, you know, we're talking about salaries and things and the companies aren't in quite the same hiring mode that they were, but they're still looking for those critical positions. 00:05:48:19 - 00:06:14:11 Unknown But the pressure on salaries remains there. People coming in asking for more money than some of the experienced people in that same position. So that continues to be an issue, I think, for employers trying to help people understand what the market actually is. And just because, you know, your cousin made this much out in California, doing something doesn't mean you're going to make that much in Green Bay doing the same thing. 00:06:14:13 - 00:06:41:07 Unknown So they're continuing to try to educate, I think, their employees on on market value and things like that. The people wanting the remote worker mode remains a big deal. And we just keep hearing stories. This one came from an I.T. company that was just having a hard time finding computer technology folks because they were requiring them to come in and finally just said, we'll let them work fully remote. 00:06:41:07 - 00:07:16:08 Unknown And we're surprised at the increase in number and quality of the people that they were starting to get in. And that doesn't apply to every job. But again, people that are in the I.T. business might have already had some experience working remote, and that seems to be something that they're they're very interested in. And then lastly, seeing more of a push right now and candidates asking for more leads, whether that's family leave or paid sick time or vacation, that, yes, everybody still wants more money, but the lead time is coming into play. 00:07:16:08 - 00:07:34:21 Unknown And I think it's one it's a work life balance thing for a lot of people as they come in. But two, you've got folks now that are taking care of elderly parents. They're trying to figure out child care issues. You know, they're kind of stuck in the middle of taking care of both the the people that raise them and the people that they're raising. 00:07:34:23 - 00:07:58:15 Unknown And so I think that's putting a little more pressure on employers as well. You know, anything else in the thinking section just kind of goes along with the recruiting and candidate process. But I know you talked about recruiters being more involved with their hiring managers and actually shadowing the position that they're recruiting for. Can you expand on that a little bit? 00:07:58:17 - 00:08:17:22 Unknown Yeah, You know, I think the people in h.r. Have been pushing for this for quite some time because, one, i can't do it alone. And two, you're the hiring manager, you know, a little bit more about, you know, what's happening in the position. So I think you're seeing a lot more teamwork between the two. I think the hiring managers have begun to understand what the h.r. 00:08:17:22 - 00:08:38:20 Unknown Folks are facing in terms of trying to find good candidates. I think they're buying into the process a little bit more and i think it takes a little bit of the pressure off the human resources people to, you know, basically do everything, but it also engages the hiring manager and the process to it rather than after you've gone through the entire process and said, here's your person. 00:08:38:20 - 00:08:59:17 Unknown They're like, this isn't what I'm looking for. You can find that out a lot earlier, that this is not the skill set or the person will know it right away versus after having them interview and come in and and do the rest of it. So I think that partnership is really sort of helping, helping us find even better people and probably find them a little bit faster as well. 00:08:59:19 - 00:09:21:10 Unknown We also, in connection with that paid time off, there was a Georgetown University survey that came out that said the flexible work schedule is right up there, along with paid time off as the two things that young adults are asking for more than anything else. I don't know that that's really different. You know, I'm guessing when I went in for my first job, I sure I said, how much does this pay? 00:09:21:10 - 00:09:41:00 Unknown How many days off do I get and what's the work schedule? But I think it's just there's more of an openness now to bring it up and have that have that discussion. And like I said, the salary issue, you know, there's a lot of data out there and I think people can look up, Oh, I'm an electrical engineer, how much should I get paid? 00:09:41:02 - 00:10:07:17 Unknown And depending on what sorts you get, all kinds of things come out. Second of all, you talk to your cousin and they say, Oh, I made this much. So you take that and your generation, more than mine, shares information on social media a lot more openly than people did 30 or 40 years ago. And I think we had just as human nature, we have a tendency to find the highest number that anyone shared and said that must be the starting salary. 00:10:07:19 - 00:10:31:17 Unknown So employees and candidates, I think, are coming in with what they think is here's my data and it all says 80,000 and then meeting up with the employer that says, Well, here's our benchmark survey and it says 60,000. And so we're having some tough conversations, I think. But, you know, it is what it is. People have some information and at least gives you a place to start from and have the conversation for sure. 00:10:31:19 - 00:11:06:21 Unknown But we always talk about employee engagement in our talent report conversations. And this month you stated that 31% of us employees are thriving at work or are very engaged where 52% are quite quitting or not engaged in. 17% are actually wild quitting or actively disengaged. So my question is, what do you do with these three different groups? Well, all of this data came from Gallup, and they are well known for their employee engagement surveys and do literally hundreds of thousands of individuals. 00:11:06:21 - 00:11:26:07 Unknown So it's a pretty good database that they can pull from. But yeah, those were those were the results. And, you know, you look at that and you're like, holy smokes, you know, what do I do with this? And, you know, Gallup's advice out of all this was, okay, first of all, you've got more than half of them. They're quiet, quitting, not engaged category to them. 00:11:26:07 - 00:11:46:09 Unknown That's the low hanging fruit. You know, these are people are still showing up. They're not disruptive. They're they're working. And they're probably the group that would be the easiest to sort of push into that engaged group if we figure out what it is. Well, you know, what's missing is it camaraderie? Is it you know, you're feeling like you're independent. 00:11:46:11 - 00:12:15:02 Unknown Is it more social activities? Like, you know what? Why don't you feel engaged? And if we can find that, we can probably push that group, maybe some of that 52 into the 31, the people that are actually, you know, engaged and thriving at work. The second suggestion comes even from those people that are engaged, you know, are they really, you know, like you've got that group of people that you can send them out on the street to sell the organization no matter who it was to? 00:12:15:04 - 00:12:37:21 Unknown And how do you maybe get some of that group that's already engaged, but to that really engaged group? And is there a little bit something special that these are our high performers. These are people that are getting the work done. Can we give them another nudge? And yeah, they'll still be in the same category, but they'll be even bigger zealots, I guess, you know, and advocates for your for your organization. 00:12:37:23 - 00:13:09:17 Unknown And then a little bit of, you know, okay, if you've got people that are loud quitting, which was their term, which basically is now, you know, and not engaged, I'm telling people I'm not engaged and I'm posting things that say I'm not engaged. That's a group that can do some damage. And so with that group, it may be, okay, let's bring you in and find out, can we move you into someone that you know is satisfied with their job, at least not actively out there, you know, saying bad things about stuff? 00:13:09:19 - 00:13:31:19 Unknown Or is it someone who just is a bad fit for the organization and we have to deal with it that way. So I think, you know, if you go from top to bottom, take those really good engaged people and make them even more engaged. Take the group that's not engaged but is just kind of on the fence and try to move them to those that are thriving and for those that are, you know, actively sabotaging. 00:13:31:19 - 00:14:06:04 Unknown And almost we either got to get them under the tent or help them find a different tent in which to play under. And so there's work for all groups, basically across groups. Everybody can move up a notch. I think actually we're kind of moving into more of our tech talk. Last month we talked about how AI is just continuing to grow every second of the day, which means that companies are figuring out how to use it and how to incorporate that in AI into their work, in their day to day responsibilities. 00:14:06:06 - 00:14:35:07 Unknown So any new updates this month on how AI platforms are being used in in work today? Yeah, I just got done doing a seminar with folks that were utilizing it and recruiting and it's fascinating. And all of this that I'm about to tell you came from the part of Chat GPT that you actually have to pay for, which you know, I knew there was the free part that I've used and then there's the paper and I thought, Well, I'm getting what I need from the free part. 00:14:35:13 - 00:14:56:05 Unknown But now having seen the part that you can pay for, it does even a heck of a lot more. But they just gave examples of things that were real, I guess just time savers writing a job description. You know, you can feed in. This is what it is. This is what we're talking about and get an awful lot of information back. 00:14:56:07 - 00:15:15:03 Unknown Give me 12 really good interview questions and they can come back with a whole bite, you know, save you the time of trying to figure out, you know, what are we going to ask this type of job? There was one sample where they took a very complicated job. It was some sort of engineer, and I wouldn't have understood what they did. 00:15:15:05 - 00:15:38:23 Unknown And the question that they actually asked of Chad GPT was explain a whatever a nuclear engineer to me. Like I'm 12 years old and you know, the h.r. Person said he just gave me a better idea of. Okay, i understand now seeing all these big words over here, but now i know what they actually do. So in terms of writing it, I've got a much better idea of what it is I should be talking about. 00:15:39:00 - 00:15:59:04 Unknown And then even, you know, saying, what are 12 good lunch and learn topics that we can share with all of our employees, you know, and you get a list back not only of the 12, but with some bullet points underneath that say you might want to touch on this and this and this and this. So it was really it was really interesting to see the things that could generate that were really time savers. 00:15:59:06 - 00:16:19:24 Unknown All of this comes with a caveat that says don't just take it and put it out there, take it and read it because funky things can happen because this is, you know, this is machine learning. This is a language that is looking for, you know, and pulling out our chat. GB t it basically stop taking in new data in September of 2021. 00:16:20:01 - 00:16:44:20 Unknown So if you're looking for something that's up to date, you're not going to get the latest and the greatest, at least from that platform. But when you're asking for questions like what are good topics, what are good questions, you know, missing out on the last two years probably doesn't make a whole lot of difference. And then I think the most interesting quote I heard during the whole webinar was, you know, people are afraid that AI is going to come and take their job. 00:16:44:22 - 00:17:08:12 Unknown And the person's response was, A.I. is not going to take your job, but someone who knows I might and they're simply saying this is another tool. This is now you know how the Excel and PowerPoint and Word are basic skills. Now, PDFs are basic skills now, and knowing something about A.I. is going to become a basic skill is basically the point that she was making. 00:17:08:14 - 00:17:40:21 Unknown And I've also heard that it's like we all know it's it's never going to go away. So the businesses that figure out how to incorporate it and use it successfully are going to be the businesses that come out successful all through A.I.. Yeah. So Diana Small, our executive director of Emory Emory's Ohio division, Like we said, she also made an appearance on this month's report talking about implementing DEI strategies and efforts into organizations. 00:17:40:23 - 00:18:03:09 Unknown So you talked a little bit about the why, but do you have any other key points or takeaways that Diana mentioned that you want to highlight today? Yeah, When we got done, I just said, you know, and she walked through the beginner and intermediate advanced and everything that was was going on there and people can see the recording of that if they want to go look at the talent report. 00:18:03:11 - 00:18:23:04 Unknown But I just said to her, you know, I said, you've done enough of this just at a gut level, what what has to be in place in order for someone to be successful in putting a DEI program in place? And she said really two things. You know, one, you've got to have a culture that's ready to accepted employees that are willing to engage and want to be a part of it. 00:18:23:06 - 00:18:47:10 Unknown And two, you've got to have leadership buy in. And, you know, that sounds so simple, but, you know, you can just see how things will move faster if you're not trying to overcome your leadership team, but you're being driven by your leadership team that makes such a difference. And then if you find people that are really engaged in this and are passionate about it, that really changes the game too. 00:18:47:12 - 00:19:10:08 Unknown And that, you know, I shared with her, you know, our employee resource group here is called I Lead at MRA and I'm a part of that and about 40 other people are. And it's really our place to go have these deep discussions. And I said to her, I said, That makes complete sense to me, because the people that come into those meetings are passionate about, you know, how do we make sure that we're diverse and equitable? 00:19:10:08 - 00:19:36:07 Unknown I include people and there's a sense of belonging, and people really are very open and honest, sharing their own stories. Here's what they're seeing, here's what they're hearing. And then what do we as a group of employees do to reach out and engage even more of our employees? And so I thought, as simple as you, when you say culture and leadership, it, when you think about it, if those two things aren't in play, boy, then you really got your work cut out for. 00:19:36:07 - 00:19:51:13 Unknown So I just thought you did a really nice job of breaking it down to that point and saying, you know, look, you got to you've got to set the place up to be ready for it and you've got to have the leaders that are willing to lead on it. So it was succinct and simple and but a big deal if you don't have it. 00:19:51:15 - 00:20:18:22 Unknown Yeah, absolutely. I would just reiterate to make sure to tune in to next week's episode. If you do want to learn more about implementing DEI strategy in your organization and how belonging should send to mix. But just as we kind of wrap up here, we've got another chart question, and I know you included the chart at the end of the Taylor Report, and it shows the working age population annual growth rate. 00:20:18:24 - 00:20:43:18 Unknown So what does this chart shows or anything that we should necessarily be scared of when we're looking at it? I think you're doing this to me on purpose, that you're trying to have me. Okay, let's see. And how many words can you describe this chart? So I'm just going to put it on the website. You can go look at it now if you want to see what the chart is, Is it the working age population annual growth rate? 00:20:43:20 - 00:21:21:04 Unknown So how much is it growing each year? And it goes from 1960 predicted through 2050, and it's got ten different countries, continents, areas of the united of the world on there, North America, Africa, Russia, West Europe, Japan, China. So you're getting a look at basically the whole world and what exactly is going on there. And the simplest thing I can say is the chart from 1960 to 19 8085 looks like you're climbing up the ladder to a to go down the ski slope, I guess. 00:21:21:06 - 00:21:48:06 Unknown And when you hit about 1980, 1985, you basically go down the slope and it's for every single country that's in the group, some more severe than others. But you have countries that are dropping below, you know, the 0%. I mean, they're actually getting smaller, which includes North America, it includes Russia, it includes Western Europe. You know, so this isn't just a United States problem. 00:21:48:06 - 00:22:11:19 Unknown It's sort of an all over the place problem. But even the countries that are staying above and are the ones that you think of the fast growing like, you know, Africa, they're starting you know, by the time you get to 2030, you're starting to see a drop off there. So it's a universal thing. And the point we're trying to make with that is this is happening everywhere, maybe for different reasons in different places. 00:22:11:21 - 00:22:31:10 Unknown But as people are thinking, oh, well, I'll just go to where the people are, they might be having the exact same problem that we're having in the United States. And so as people are trying to figure out, if I can't do it here, how do I outsource? Where do I go? It was just sort of take a look around the world because you can see that other people are going to be facing the same problem, too. 00:22:31:12 - 00:22:52:03 Unknown So that chart is I know it's in the tail report that's on the tail report website and maybe we can put it up on the podcast site as well. Yeah, absolutely. Well, you did a good job of describing it. Thank you. Just think of the up and down. Yeah, well, as we wrap up here, can you give us a sneak peek on what September's talent report will be? 00:22:52:05 - 00:23:13:01 Unknown Yeah, it's going to be about compensation and compensation trends. We've got our big comp trends event in September. And just as another plug, we've got our Big D conference coming up in October. So I would encourage everybody to go to the MRA website and take a look at both of those. But we're not going to share all the comp trends data because that's coming out a couple of weeks. 00:23:13:01 - 00:23:33:07 Unknown We won't have the final information, but we are going to have some trends of what people we may not have the specific data for 2023, but we will be talking about some of the things that people are starting to look at and as the teaser, I guess for for for next month that we're sort of at this generational tipping point. 00:23:33:13 - 00:23:57:15 Unknown We're at the point now where the workplace is about 50% millennials and Gen Zs and 50% Gen Xers and Baby boomers. And if you think about the Xers in the Boomers, and then you think about the Millennials and the Zs, they want different things. And so when you start talking about benefits, not just because they're in different age groups, which does drive a lot of it, but they are very different lifestyles too. 00:23:57:15 - 00:24:19:01 Unknown And so now how are companies going to figure out their total compensation practice when these this group of people might be looking for things that isn't what we're offering right now, but we still have to offer them for this group until they retire. And I think it's going to it's going to be an interesting sort of tipping point as we go from one to the other. 00:24:19:03 - 00:24:47:23 Unknown And we'll have some thoughts on that in September. Yeah, sounds like a great topic and a great leeway into the terms about. Yeah, but Jim, thank you for all your great information today and kind of recapping what you've been saying in business with an emphasis on talent for August. So to our listeners, if you liked our chat and topic today, I'd urge you to comment something new that you learned today or any current trends or topics that you've really been seeing in the h.r. 00:24:47:23 - 00:25:09:03 Unknown World. Don't forget to share this episode and consider joining mra. If you aren't a member already. Like always, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below, including jim's resources on the talent report plus. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. 00:25:09:04 - 00:25:27:11 Unknown Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Description: In this episode, we'll explore the July edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report: Trends From MRA's 1,000 Roundtable Members. We'll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices regarding employee engagement, uncover C-Suite priorities and top creative HR strategies, learn roundtable trending topics, and more!  Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:40:19 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. All right. Well, welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. I'm excited to go over this month's Taylor Report with Jim Morgan, our vice president of Workforce Strategies, as we kind of go into what he's been seeing in the world of business in July. So thanks again, Jim, for joining us. Per usual. My pleasure. 00:00:40:20 - 00:00:58:24 Unknown It's good to be here. So this month, it looks like you're kind of focusing on roundtables, the importance of networking. Why did you choose this topic for July? Well, you know, it's interesting, as everybody is trying to figure out how to get more done in less time and figure out how to make the best use of their time. 00:00:59:01 - 00:01:19:08 Unknown You know, one of the things and not just making a sales pitch for our roundtables, but I think one of the things that people find the most valuable is when you find that peer group of people that share the same issues that you share and face the same problems each day that you face, that becomes a pretty strong group of people to really, you know, be able to call on and do things with. 00:01:19:08 - 00:01:37:02 Unknown And with all this time spent on staff development and learning and development and things, there's nothing like a group of ten or 12 people who are living the same life you are to just be able to sit down and say, What would you do in this situation? And have half of them say, I've been in that situation. Here's what I would do. 00:01:37:04 - 00:02:08:17 Unknown And so we just without one, that would be good. Just, you know, so people remember, take advantage of those opportunities. In fact, we surveyed everyone on how many networking groups they were in, and like over 50% of the group were in at least two. So that was that was pretty good. And I think later on we can talk a little bit about what we shared, too, because our roundtables, our peer groups, you know, our C-suite people, their senior age, our people, their age, our managers, and we shared a lot of data with people on here's what everybody's talking about. 00:02:08:17 - 00:02:25:03 Unknown So that was a real advantage for that talent report. And I'll share some of that with you later, too. So that was the that was the reason for the focus is, you know, really just to get people to take some time and find that really good group of people they can sit down and talk to on a regular basis to, you know, sort of help them with the day to day stuff. 00:02:25:05 - 00:02:44:11 Unknown Oh, yeah, absolutely. It was cool to see what topics are top of mind right now in roundtables and what our roundtables are kind of discussing. And we'll get into that. But let's kind of talk about what's happening in recruiting and retention world right now. So, Jim, what's new here? The idea is what's new is older. What's old is new. 00:02:44:13 - 00:03:04:04 Unknown I think the internships continue to be really the best recruiting strategy that people are finding now for the simple fact that you're you're getting people that are close to working age within a year, you know, two at the most of being ready to come work for you. You get a chance to kick the tires and, you know, do they fit with your culture? 00:03:04:04 - 00:03:23:23 Unknown Do you fit with what they're looking for? So it's just been a really I think people are just more and more realizing if we can give these young adults a really good experience at our place, we have a leg up in being the ones that they want to go work for. And even though a lot of the talent has eased a little bit, there's still some really tough people to find. 00:03:24:00 - 00:04:03:23 Unknown And the internships have really been an opportunity to to to go find them. Yeah, absolutely. So kind of moving into talent thinking section, you talked about low cost employee perks activities that employers are kind of implementing nowadays. So can you expand on some of the ideas and points you have listed in this category? Yeah, and I'll I'll I'll go with the interns for a second and move into those because I think it applies to, you know, that what we're seeing with the the interns is in terms of the retention part of it, it really gives if you've got some emerging leaders and you're looking for some opportunities to help them grow, they can be a 00:04:03:23 - 00:04:28:04 Unknown mentor, you know, to these interns. And so that's another advantage of what they're they're getting out of all of this. You're seeing companies now put people through a rotation where they might get to see two or three or four different jobs while they're there to really help them figure out what is it they want to do. And again, I think for both the company and the individual, that's just a jumpstart done. 00:04:28:05 - 00:04:45:14 Unknown I thought this is what I wanted, wanted to do. But now that I see what it is, I'm not quite sure that's what I want to do. You know, I think that that really benefits everybody. And I think they're, you know, they're putting them to work a little bit with putting together programs at the end and really demonstrating. 00:04:45:15 - 00:05:05:19 Unknown Here's what we learned. You know, and these are the things I went through and this is my end of the summer, end of nine months presentation that said, this is what I worked on, this is what I did prove a little bit of the ROI. Why did we have these folks here and what were they up to? So that all of that, I think, you know, feeds into the talent part of it too. 00:05:05:19 - 00:05:31:13 Unknown And, you know, the talent thinking this time was really kind of a focus on keeping people happy. So, you know, that's one group where it's like, okay, we're trying to keep this group happy because we might want to hire them soon. But the keeping people happy, it was interesting to see, okay, retention is now the big deal. And most of that has to do with what the level of engagement and how happy our employees working for us. 00:05:31:15 - 00:05:53:15 Unknown And so we just started collecting. All right. You know, what are people doing? What are they up to? And they kind of came fell into a couple of categories. I would say, you know, the personal well-being that when you're doing something for the individual, whether that's, you know, we're offering them a gym membership or we're doing the massage chairs, are, you know, something about, okay, I feel better now. 00:05:53:17 - 00:06:08:08 Unknown You know, most of us are, you know, self-Thriven by those types of things, like, okay, this this would actually be good for me. This would be great. You know, so I'm going to go do it. So I think you're seeing companies try to figure out what is it that some of our people may want and how do we offer that to them? 00:06:08:10 - 00:06:27:21 Unknown I think the second big one was, you know, what are the services that people need that they may not know where to go and get? And some of that might be financial planning assistance. That might be I want to do a well, where do I get, you know, legal services? I might need some counseling, where do I go to that for that? 00:06:27:23 - 00:06:47:11 Unknown And a lot of companies have that in their employee assistance programs. But, you know, people may not know it. And these are all, you know, difficult things in life that if people are having trouble with their finances, are having, you know, trouble trying to figure out some of these things, they bring that to work, too. And so this is, I guess, also a personal wellbeing thing. 00:06:47:11 - 00:07:07:08 Unknown But it's like, you know, one of the services that people are looking for may not know where to go to get them or they might be incredibly expensive or scary. And if the company can help them find that lawyer or that legal assistance or that financial assistance that just makes their life a little bit easier and makes them a little bit happier. 00:07:07:10 - 00:07:31:06 Unknown And then rewards was another and, you know, rewards we think about signing bonuses and referral bonuses and that's all great, but just the sum of it is just the Thank you. Is it? You know, here's the cup of coffee. Let's go do this. Like they'll take you to lawn chairs, a gift card or, you know, some gas money, whatever it might be, to just, you know, constantly be trying to think about what are the things that are going to mean something to people. 00:07:31:06 - 00:07:56:02 Unknown And it doesn't necessarily have to be, you know, tens of thousands of dollars. It might be just recognizing the fact that, you know, you went above and beyond on this and whether it you just you take the time to say thank you or you acknowledge that to their supervisor or, you know, bring them something and put it on their desk and say thank you, that seems to be another one where, again, companies are trying to be more purposeful in trying to do that. 00:07:56:04 - 00:08:12:16 Unknown And they'd say the last one was just food. And no matter who you're talking to, you know, they'll always say, well, you know, if we bring a food truck around or if we have ice cream sandwiches or if we have a pizza day or, you know, any of those things, it's just an opportunity. And we'll talk about this later, too. 00:08:12:16 - 00:08:31:00 Unknown But it's a chance for everybody just to get together, to talk with each other, maybe across departments, across plants. And they just get to know each other and it just makes people feel good. So I think, you know, those are all the things that we sort of saw in the you know, if our people are happy, we're happy about doing that. 00:08:31:02 - 00:08:57:07 Unknown So I can say some of my best conversations at work happen when we're eating the leftover pizza that's sitting out in the cafe. So, yeah, I would definitely agree on that food desk, right? Yeah. Well, you know, and it's amazing because we're all in this routine that, you know, I meet with my department here and then I meet with this department there, and then I go back and I do my work and there may maybe a couple of departments that I have no reason to interact with for any reason whatsoever. 00:08:57:09 - 00:09:19:09 Unknown But then just bump into them and, you know, you sort of force the conversation and then you've got a couple more people around the office that I share this in common with them. So I'm just trying to make it a more enjoyable place to be. Oh, yeah, I love that. Well, from your from the field section, you've got a 2010 to 2020 overall population change chart. 00:09:19:09 - 00:09:37:20 Unknown So what can you really see in this chart? Why is this included? Yeah, you know, these are the hard ones on the podcast to say, okay, look, I'm going to throw a thousand numbers at you and just try to keep track of it. But I think there were two things that we were trying to share. You know, one, the first one was, as you mentioned, the overall population change. 00:09:37:20 - 00:09:58:12 Unknown And I was using our five states Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. And over the last ten years, Minnesota actually grew by about seven and a half percent, which was close to the national average. And so they were sort of holding their own. But Iowa was under 5%. Wisconsin was three and a half. Ohio was a little over two. 00:09:58:14 - 00:10:28:03 Unknown In Illinois was just barely negative. And the point of that one was just to say, we're not growing in the upper Midwest at a rate that's going to keep up with who we need. And then went on to dig a little bit deeper to say, okay, if I take that same ten year period and I'm looking at 2010 to 2020, let's look at the younger folks, because that's going to give us a pretty good idea of what's going to be coming. 00:10:28:05 - 00:10:56:10 Unknown So if I look at the under five population, so, you know, this is 15 years from now before to back the workplace, but you've got numbers like -15% in Illinois, minus ten in Wisconsin, minus seven in Ohio, minus six in Iowa, minus four in Minnesota. All of them are negative, meaning they're shrinking in that category. And so as people are starting to plan for the future, they got to start thinking about these things. 00:10:56:12 - 00:11:15:14 Unknown And even in the 5 to 17 category, Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin are negative and Iowa and Minnesota are positive, but not at a number that's going to keep up with what's going on. So there is there's this real. Yeah, it's long term and you know, how much time do I want to be spending thinking about this type of thing? 00:11:15:16 - 00:11:38:00 Unknown But, you know, it's going to be a big deal and we're going to have to, you know, track it and and see what's going to happen. So the aging thing was part of it. And then on the other end of the aging part is the percentage of growth in the people over the age of 65. In all, five of our states are in the 30 and 40% in Minnesota, in Wisconsin. 00:11:38:00 - 00:12:03:08 Unknown So 40% growth in the people over the age of 65. While you're saying we have negative some number in the under five. So that's not good and people are going to have to start thinking about that. So that was the first point that we were trying to make from the Census Bureau data. And then the second one is just the incredible change in ethnicity that's going to be happening in our five states. 00:12:03:08 - 00:12:39:01 Unknown And again, if you look at the population over the age of 65, other than Illinois, in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, that the index for that in the index is really just if I randomly grabbed two people in Wisconsin, what are the chances that they will be of two different ethnic backgrounds for that over 65 group. All of our states are in like the 15 to 18% range, meaning there's an 80% chance that you're probably going to grab two people that are Caucasian, that, you know, came from somewhere in Europe. 00:12:39:03 - 00:13:04:21 Unknown So that's what's moving out 65, 84. But then when you start looking at the under five, everybody is at at least 50%. So we're moving from 16% to 50%, meaning now there's a 5050 chance that if you grab two people, one will probably still be white, but one's going to be something else. So that's a pretty big change to go from 15% to 60%. 00:13:04:23 - 00:13:27:01 Unknown And I think, you know, this is now going to be the next couple of generations that are going to flip this whole thing. But you're going to see very different upper Midwest states over the course of the next 15 to 20 years, because the and this is the ethnicity of everyone is going to change dramatically. So as we're just trying to help companies what their long term thinking, you know, one is we got a whole group of people that are getting older. 00:13:27:01 - 00:13:41:23 Unknown What are you going to do about that? And then you're going to have a whole group of people that are not going to be quite as homogeneous as they have been in the past. And so how are you going to assimilate them? How are you going to help them with whatever their cultural issues are? How are you going to prepare your communities and your company for that? 00:13:42:00 - 00:13:59:24 Unknown So nothing is going to get easier, I think as we go forward, it's just going to get a little bit more complicated. Well, I know we can't see the chart that you explained, but you did a heck of a job by giving us the main points. I feel like I can see the chart right here. What we're getting, we're getting old and we're getting more diverse. 00:13:59:24 - 00:14:25:01 Unknown So there there's the chart for you in a nutshell. So how about in terms of C-suite level? What what are some top of mind topics going on here? Well, we heard a lot about in the last month through the roundtables and just from meetings with members is there's a real focus right now on what's the financial acumen of the people that are running our lines of business, those running our facilities. 00:14:25:01 - 00:14:45:10 Unknown And I think, you know, historically it's always been, well, the accountants and the CFO will take care of the financial stuff, and I'm just going to be out here doing my job and now as as things have gotten more technical, as they've gotten more modernized, there are a lot of tools that are available to every single line of business leader and plant manager. 00:14:45:10 - 00:15:08:12 Unknown And from a CEO's point of view, I think there's now this question of are we getting as much as we can out of that? And so are they taking responsibility for their own line of business and the decisions that they're making and what that financial impact might be. So rather than just having the CFO come back and say, Hey, you're up or you're down, and what happened, they should know the answer before the CFO does. 00:15:08:12 - 00:15:32:02 Unknown They should know where they're at. And so they're spending time providing learning and development opportunities for sort of the accounting for the non accountants, helping them understand, you know, what does it mean when I, you know, amortize things over a certain period of time or how is a capital expense different than a regular expense so that they better understand the decisions they're making and what the impact of that is going to be. 00:15:32:04 - 00:15:52:01 Unknown And then all of us have more tools available to us. You know, we have Salesforce at at Mirror. It can do all kinds of things in terms of, you know, what's the incoming business look like, What's the last month look like? Can we compare year to year, month to month, last three months, all that kind of stuff. But not a lot of people are always using it. 00:15:52:01 - 00:16:15:08 Unknown And so how do we get them to better understand it and then take advantage of these tools that we've invested in so that they know when I make this decision, it's going to have this sort of impact on the bottom line of my line of business. So the whole financial thing I think is really becoming an added responsibility for those who have some income and expense related responsibilities. 00:16:15:10 - 00:16:38:16 Unknown In Emory's internal leadership program. Actually, we do a finance for the non financial leader topic there, and the feedback on that one was it was actually some of the interns favorite topic, which is very interesting and some were even like I'm a marketing major, but now I kind of want to move over to finance. So they know just they know just enough to be dangerous now. 00:16:38:17 - 00:17:01:22 Unknown Oh yeah, You know, but you think of all of those people that are going into their first job and, you know, if they were in marketing or if they were in human resources or they were in communications, the odds of them having had an accounting class, you know, of any kind other than maybe in general, you know, checkbook writing and not any more debit card using, you know, class in high school. 00:17:01:22 - 00:17:24:09 Unknown That's probably about it. And so to be able to go in and even understand financial statements probably puts them in a well ahead of of an awful lot of people. Yeah, absolutely. Well, there's also been a lot of talk in takeover of A.I. and that's only going to continue to grow. So any creative strategies here or how are companies using A.I.? 00:17:24:11 - 00:17:50:09 Unknown Yeah, you know, I think A.I. and the Chatbot and all that sort of snuck up on everybody and all of a sudden, you know, really hit the news in about November. And then all of a sudden everyone had, you know, access to it. And, you know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So I think what what companies are trying to do now is have training opportunities for their people to bring in folks who know something about it, to say, you know, here are the goods and here's of that. 00:17:50:10 - 00:18:08:22 Unknown But here are the bads and here's how you can use this. And here what you might want to be careful of. And so we're starting to see that type of training so people understand, you know, yes, you can go into Chad GPT and you can ask a question and it'll give you information back in. The information that comes back is as good as the information that it's searching in. 00:18:08:24 - 00:18:32:17 Unknown So you can't just put the question and get the answer and send it out to a thousand of your clients saying, Hey, look at this. You still got to add that human element that says, you know, let's look into this. And companies that are a little nervous that if people are putting a lot of information in there when they're asking their question, are they putting in some company information so that their question is a little more detailed, But now that information is being fed in? 00:18:32:23 - 00:18:49:20 Unknown And so that's sort of out there now. And so that causes them to have some caution. So I think people are trying to figure out and that how do we use it to maybe Yeah, it's a great starting point to say I'm trying to put together this presentation on X and I ask some questions and it gives me some resources. 00:18:49:20 - 00:19:06:09 Unknown Fan tastic. It saved me all kinds of time and now I can start digging into things on earth if I think I can just say, Hey, write me a speech and give it back to me and I'm going to go out and give it. You know, that might be asking a little bit too much. So I think right now people are really sort of finding their way. 00:19:06:09 - 00:19:23:20 Unknown Most companies have a couple of people that are out there like trying it and sharing their knowledge with other people. But I think the companies themselves, the employers are really just trying to, you know, where, you know, do we put a stop to this? Do we figure out how to use it in our best interest? Should we be going crazy with it? 00:19:23:20 - 00:19:43:12 Unknown They're trying to find where they fit in all of that and everybody's scrambling pretty quickly because I think it came up, you know, we all knew it was coming, but all sudden it just came in. So how about any other creativity? Anything else you're seeing in this category? The two other ones that came up this month, one was just on team building. 00:19:43:12 - 00:20:16:02 Unknown And this kind of goes back to that the food comment that we had a little bit ago. And that is, you know, how do we create opportunities for people to interact? And food does that, you know, I mean, people come in and whoever your next to in line as you're walking through, you have a conversation with. So things like that trying to come up with maybe, you know cross-functional team activities where they come up with a problem to be solved and you grab two groups of people that maybe don't have to work together and let's put them together and they get a chance to to, you know, to meet some other people, especially with a 00:20:16:02 - 00:20:48:15 Unknown lot of the remote workers. How do we do some fun things online? You know, how do you do a treasure hunt online or how do you have prices online? Or does it start with let's all share a recipe, just things to get people to interact a little bit and make it a little bit more personal. And so you're seeing all kinds of you know, companies are there's always walking groups at lunch and there's, you know, book clubs and now there's some that go out and get e-bikes at lunchtime and take a ride, you know, But they're all they're trying to encourage people to, you know, go find different opportunities to meet with maybe some different 00:20:48:15 - 00:21:12:20 Unknown people and, you know, build some teamwork that way. And then the other one is still the mental health thing and, you know, how do you help employees get through everything they're are going through? And one of the interesting ideas we got from one of our members was they have what they've called mental health champions. And these are folks that, you know, have been trained by the HR department in the offerings that they have. 00:21:12:20 - 00:21:35:11 Unknown They're not mental health experts are not counseling people, but they know what is our EAP offer, What do we have to offer within the company? Who are people that you can call to get further assistance? And they share information and, you know, the start of a staff meeting or a department meeting and say, hey, just a reminder, I'm one of our mental health champions and we have these available to you if anybody's needing any help. 00:21:35:12 - 00:21:59:11 Unknown Don't be afraid to, you know, to reach out. So they're just trying to keep on, I think, top of mind for people so that they don't forget we have these resources if you need them. Oh, yeah, that's a great idea. So like we mentioned, Kimberly Emery's round table manager also made an appearance on this month's report webinar, and she gave a lot of great information on top topics and concerns for HR 00:21:59:11 - 00:22:21:16 Unknown Professionals, c-suite executives, and more. So could you give us a little bit of an overview on some of this information starting out with the senior HR Top ten topics for 2010. This is sort of and this is almost like the the data like. All right, keep track of these. Here come the test. Yeah. Run them down. You know, in my best. 00:22:21:18 - 00:22:40:17 Unknown David letterman top ten. I'll try to lay them out there for people. Yeah. So this was interesting because we did a couple of things, you know, one is we started with, okay, what's of interest? And we have, you know, 80, 90 roundtables, 1200 people in them. And, you know, so we're always trying to figure out what's on people's minds. 00:22:40:17 - 00:22:57:23 Unknown And so from the senior HR People, the top ten were first of all, was trends in HR and that makes sense. They're just trying to make sure they're staying up on what's going on. Culture was number two. And how do you build it and how do you, you know, make sure that you're creating a place that people want to be a part of. 00:22:58:00 - 00:23:19:11 Unknown Leadership was three. I think some of this is the emerging leaders. This is the lot of people retiring and people moving up behind them. And how do we make sure that they're prepared, The business climate and the impact on staffing after everybody came through 2022, you know, and it was just higher, higher, higher, higher. And we still there. 00:23:19:11 - 00:23:39:15 Unknown What do we need to do? HR Leadership and what's their role? You know, how do they be at the table when the strategic planning is taking place and things like that related to the leadership. Number six was emerging leaders and high potentials. How do we take those best people that we've got and keep them engaged and make sure that they want to continue to work with us? 00:23:39:17 - 00:24:01:03 Unknown Communicating wages and benefits again after 2022 and everybody, you know, money was going here, there and everywhere else. And now it's like, okay, we can't do that forever. And now, you know, we don't if we've got this expectation of, hey, I'm going to get 10%, this is going to be great, you know, that's not sustainable. And so how do we communicate that information related to that? 00:24:01:03 - 00:24:22:17 Unknown Number eight was benefit trends. What are companies doing? What are they changing? What might they be offering that they think is going to get people more engaged with what they're doing? Number nine, with strategic planning and business planning and number ten with workforce planning and talent management shortage. So for the HR People, there's probably nothing there that's surprising. 00:24:22:17 - 00:24:52:01 Unknown They're all huge. And that's sort of why you have an HR Feel that people that are kind of stressed out right now, i think. How about some topics that are on top of mind of just executives in general right now? Yeah. And the executives side of things. The top five were strategic planning, engagement and retention. HR Compliance, performance management and recruiting and hiring. 00:24:52:03 - 00:25:14:05 Unknown So that was interesting in that if we compare the top five, this is just from this year now benefits recruiting and hiring, strategic planning, engagement and retention, organizational development for the minds of the professionals. There's not a whole lot of difference between the two. A little bit different use of words, maybe a little bit different level on some things. 00:25:14:07 - 00:25:37:22 Unknown But the strategic planning shows up on both the recruiting and hiring signs shows up on both the engagement and retention shows up on both. So they're on the same page, I think, as they try to to go forward. Yeah. And then you also explained or Kimberly explained and compared 2018 to 2023 with these topics. So can you compare some of the executive and senior HR 00:25:37:22 - 00:26:05:24 Unknown Discussions from yeah, this this was almost comical when you think about it. You know, the we were just looking at 2018, which would have been just before the pandemic and then what people were looking for this year and i think the c-suite ones were the most interesting. And I think back because I have a couple of ceo and CFO roundtables of, you know, what we were talking about in 2018, and the top three were finding talent and looking at the nontraditional workforce. 00:26:06:05 - 00:26:25:11 Unknown And that one that's kind of the same. It's changed a little bit and it's had a little bit of panic put into it with the pandemic. But that was the same. But then the next two from 2018 one was the experience economy appealing to consumers. And you probably were you were still in college at that point, I think. 00:26:25:13 - 00:26:46:17 Unknown But there was this big push in 2018 that everything was going to be about an experience that your product had to be about, an experience it had to like just engulf people, like they weren't going to forget it. Companies are starting to look at giving away experiences as bonus. That is like, Here's $1,000, go on a vacation, you know, some exotic island. 00:26:46:17 - 00:27:10:04 Unknown But everything was about experience. And I just as I look at that now, that was 2018, and within a year or so we were locked down for two years, you know, So all that talk of an experience economy and then we all go into our homes and don't come out for two years. I don't think I've heard the words experience economy ever since, you know, so that one just sort of left. 00:27:10:06 - 00:27:29:24 Unknown And we've been having all of these discussions because prior to the pandemic, things had sort of been chugging along. And, you know, we had the Great Recession in 2000, seven, 2008, but we had ten years of, hey, things are going pretty well here. And we were having discussions at the sea level around what's going to be the next biggest disruptor. 00:27:30:01 - 00:27:53:12 Unknown And if anybody had pandemic on their bingo card, I would give them, you know, they win the prize for predicting that one. But, you know, we're talking about all kinds of things, but none of them had absolutely anything to do with the pandemic. So we go from that five years ago to now planning for growth with economic uncertainty, you know, which is the exact opposite of where we were five years ago. 00:27:53:14 - 00:28:13:23 Unknown And learning from the unexpected and the impact on future planning, that five year period changed the way everybody thinks about everything. You know, no one's doing strategic plans now five years out, some even three years out, they're doing it one or two years, and they're reviewing every quarter because the world is just changing so much and there's so much at play. 00:28:13:23 - 00:28:36:23 Unknown So it was just an interesting exercise for everyone to look at. What were you talking about just five years ago and where are those things now? They've they've sort of all disappeared. Yeah, I was going to say interesting to see the difference between the two. Definitely. Yeah. So that was that was actually kind of funny. We had some people, you know, on the chat checking, engineering. 00:28:37:00 - 00:28:57:04 Unknown Wow. That something. Yeah. And then from the h r point of view, five years ago it was active shooters, you know, and everyone was being trained in that and it was also the MeToo movement. And you know, again, those two years that followed that, you know, not that you mean the shootings have certainly continued and that continues to be a big issue. 00:28:57:06 - 00:29:33:11 Unknown The MeToo movement is still there. But when you think those things were like all encompassing until the pandemic hit, and then it was, you know, wow, we're in a different world now and everything was focused on that. It does feel like a different world now. Well, well, as we kind of wrap up here, I've always got to ask you, can you give us a sneak peek on August report And the topic again, we're going to be looking at diversity, equity and inclusion next month, and we're going to be finding some best practices from companies, you know, finding companies that maybe, you know, how did you start it? 00:29:33:11 - 00:29:52:16 Unknown How did you get to where you are right now? And even some of those that are very advanced, how are they measuring it? How do they know that it's something that they really want to be doing? And that'll probably lead into a little bit of discussion on all of the ESG things where companies are having to look at their environmental, social and governance governance responsibilities. 00:29:52:16 - 00:30:10:05 Unknown So I think it would be sort of interesting because that's driving a lot of things in HR right now that that ESG, where it's what is our corporate social responsibility policy? What are we doing about that? How are we proving it? So I think we should have some some pretty interesting information for you next month, too. So awesome. 00:30:10:05 - 00:30:33:02 Unknown Thanks. I'm looking forward to that. Thanks for being on the podcast. Today. We shared a lot of fascinating information, so I would encourage our listeners to comment. The most interesting or valuable piece of information you learned today or any current trends or topics that you've been seeing in our world currently. Don't forget to share this episode. Consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. 00:30:33:04 - 00:30:55:09 Unknown We have all the resources you need in the show notes below, including the resources to report plus or otherwise. Thank you for tuning in today and we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:30:55:10 - 00:31:05:02 Unknown And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Description: In this episode, we'll explore the June edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report: Employee Engagement and Assessments.  We'll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices regarding employee engagement, uncover C-Suite priorities and top creative HR strategies, learn how to improve employee retention, and more!  Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:04 - 00:00:55:23 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. We're excited to go over this month's talent report with Jim Morgan, vice president of Workforce Strategies. As we kind of go into what you've been seeing talent wise for June. So just as a reminder, if you aren't familiar with the monthly report, Jim Morgan gives an up to the minute review on what's going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent, which is based on input from CEOs, CFOs and HR leaders from MRA's 3000 plus member companies. 00:00:56:01 - 00:01:21:20 Unknown So thanks for coming on the podcast again, Jim. Glad to be here. Well, this month it looks like you're focusing on employee engagement. So why did you choose this topic for you? You know, we've talked in the past on the Talent Report about, you know, last couple of years were attraction, attraction, attraction and everybody spinning. And now people are starting to take a look at retention and how do we hang on to the people we've got. 00:01:21:20 - 00:01:43:12 Unknown So we're not spending quite as much. And so employee engagement is just a huge part of that. And, you know, one of the things that we do here at MRA- to do employee engagement surveys and do employee engagement strategies, because I mean, right now companies are really trying to get a handle on to what extent are their employees invested in the organization. 00:01:43:14 - 00:02:04:10 Unknown How do we how do we get them engaged? How do we get them aligned with the mission and vision of the organization? How do they know that what they're doing truly contributes to what it is? The organization as a whole is going to do? And really just trying to figure out, you know, how do we make sure they know their contributions are valued? 00:02:04:12 - 00:02:28:23 Unknown And that all sounds very oh, of course, you know, it's value. You know, we want to have you here, but, you know, if you're a couple layers removed from the top of the pyramid here, they can okay, I'm just down here and I'm running the marketing department. What do I have to do with the other things? It's really trying to make sure that everybody understand what you did here today makes a difference in everything that we're we're trying to do to accomplish. 00:02:29:01 - 00:03:04:04 Unknown So I think part of it is just trying to figure that out and then, you know, really trying to look at those employees that are having an organized national impact that are not just in my little corner doing my own little thing, but I can see how if I keep doing this and add this to it, it has even a bigger impact, you know, on the organization and really some of those employees that are going the extra mile, that that usually is a pretty good sign of engagement that, you know, we asked Sophie to do a and she went and did A, B, C and D and engaged employees that you want me to do 00:03:04:04 - 00:03:23:05 Unknown A, I'll do it when you add those other things on. And that's usually a pretty good indicator that you've got somebody that is good, is engaged and you really want to keep an eye on and those are the people you want to retain. And so how do we put something in place then? You know, we talked about emerging leader programs and things, you know, a week ago or were a month ago. 00:03:23:05 - 00:03:44:00 Unknown And it really does take that to say, okay, so if he's an overachiever, let's make sure, you know, Sophie wants to stay with us so everybody thinks you're the greatest person ever because you're my example for everything. So I know I was going to say, gee, it's just an honor. I know you have Kristie Haase joining you, our employee engagement survey director. 00:03:44:00 - 00:04:15:08 Unknown And she was just on the podcast, too. And she's got some great insight. So, yeah, Kristie is really good at what she does. I mean, she really understands and has helped a lot of companies. Absolutely. Well, let's talk about what's happening in the recruiting and retention world right now. So, Jim, what's what's new here? A couple of things that, you know, I've heard over the course of the last month, you know, people are talking a lot about perfect attendance for employees and trying to hang on to them. 00:04:15:10 - 00:04:43:02 Unknown And, you know, some folks may or may not know, but if you reward someone for perfect attendance, that might get into some salary and wage related issues that, you know, you may want to talk to your legal counsel about, but it affects their income. And so companies are now taking a look at you know, maybe what we should be doing is offering paid time off for perfect attendance, because in essence, those people are there every single day in one. 00:04:43:02 - 00:05:01:08 Unknown The PTO might mean more to them and two, it gets them away from some of those wage related issues. So companies now are looking at, you know, if you have perfect attendance for a quarter, you you earn 2 hours or you earn 4 hours. And so if you do that all year long, you can earn an extra day or two of paid time off. 00:05:01:08 - 00:05:26:23 Unknown So try to use that perfect attendance as a motivator by providing paid time off is is a new one for us, an interesting one and kind of the negative side, talking to some people somehow we were talking about what their recruiters are seeing and companies are starting to see folks say, oh, you know, it says on your resume that you grade that you graduated from UW Lacrosse. 00:05:26:23 - 00:05:54:12 Unknown Yeah, yeah, I did these. We called there and they don't have a record of that. Oh, I'll send you a copy of my diploma. And candidates are photoshopping diplomas, putting their name on it and sending it off to people. So I think employers are getting very smart about checking and double checking. I think it's pretty safe to say that if the registrar doesn't think you graduated, that's probably the person that you're going to go to. 00:05:54:12 - 00:06:12:18 Unknown And because you sent me a Photoshopped picture of a diploma, that's probably not going to do it for me. So points for creativity, but I'm not sure you're going to get away with that. I was going to say, if they're going that far to get the job, yeah, I think I would just go back and take the six more credits and actually get the diploma. 00:06:12:18 - 00:06:40:12 Unknown I think if anything else that's going on, yeah, we've talked in the past about, you know, companies that were rewarding people for if you were fired, someone that they hired, you would get a bonus or whatever it might be. And we had an interesting come another one from a company that said, you know, we're now rewarding people for just giving us a qualified candidate, even if we never interview them and we never hire them. 00:06:40:14 - 00:07:08:09 Unknown We're just trying to increase that funnel of people whose names we have should we ever need them. And so they're now rewarding. I think it was with gift cards, someone who I just write, Hey, I know Sophie Boler. She's really good at marketing and social media. Just want to throw it out there. And even if they're now looking for a social media expert or whatever it might be right now, but they look at their resume and they say this would be a qualified person if we were ever looking. 00:07:08:11 - 00:07:39:04 Unknown They'll reward them just for that, just so they've got names in the hopper. So that's sort of going a little bit farther than we than we have before. And then lastly, you know, there's been some surveys that have come out now just on employee engagement. And this is going to be a mixed message talent report. But the Conference Board had said something out that, you know, work life balance, satisfaction is up, workload satisfaction is better than what's been performance review is better. 00:07:39:06 - 00:08:02:06 Unknown So they're getting a lot of feedback from employees, basically saying, you know, things aren't quite so bad. You know, I think, you know, we're doing okay here and it's hard to read yet whether or not we've been through so much in the last three years that I don't know if they'll ever be normal again or they'll love or be like the dust has settled and now we're back to even. 00:08:02:08 - 00:08:24:08 Unknown And it might just be that some employees are starting to settle back in to say, All right, either I moved in, this is where I'm going to be now. And so I'm more content or I didn't go, but people took care of me and so I'm more content. So the engagement statistics from the Conference Board, at least have a little bit better, a little bit more positive in terms of employees outlook. 00:08:24:10 - 00:08:49:10 Unknown I'm going to contradict that in about 5 minutes. So, you know, I feel like an economist, the economy might go up, might go down. One of those two things is probably going to happen. So but there is some positive news out there. So another topic I'd like to dive into is thinking section. You talked a lot about training and change management, so can you expand a little on that? 00:08:49:12 - 00:09:19:09 Unknown Yeah, you know, the change management thing with everything that's been going on, remote work, new resources, new technology, we've started, disrupted everything and companies are always talking about, boy, we really need to prepare people because we're about to move or we really need to prepare people because the shock is about to hit the organization. But the shock that's about to come ends up overriding the needs. 00:09:19:10 - 00:09:43:09 Unknown Okay. We got to we got to give everybody some change management skills so that they're ready to go. And so one of the companies that we talked to said, you know, we have now made it part of our managers and hiring managers job to have conversations about change management with their employees at their one on ones. So they change management training at least took place at the higher levels. 00:09:43:09 - 00:10:06:05 Unknown But their job now is to say, look, we may not have time to send 200 people through change management, but here are the skill set. So we want you to be talking about your employees, about how people adjust to change differently, how people prepare for change, some terminology and nomenclature about what change management might look like. But they've almost taken it to a one on one stage. 00:10:06:05 - 00:10:31:12 Unknown It sounds like this is an important skill set for you. Here are some resources for you, but if we're not going to have time to get everybody through our typical four or eight hour training session, we're at least going to expose everybody to some of the training that is necessary for for change management. So it was just a different way of approaching it and trying to make sure at least everybody had had a little bit of a flavor anyway of what's available up there. 00:10:31:14 - 00:10:56:06 Unknown Yeah, that's a great example. Anything else you're seeing here? Well, the other thing, this will be sort of the I guess this is still part of the good news part. But on the retention side, you'll survey by a dive that was talking about, again, how companies are trying to in essence double down on let's identify what are the roadblocks and problems for people. 00:10:56:06 - 00:11:21:23 Unknown Let's identify, you know what, I just started those stones in their shoes that maybe we can get some of those things out of the way to really better understand what's causing some of the strife in their employees or what. Maybe there's just some little things that we're this close to making them really happy, but we're going to really start trying to get some of those things out of the way that if this is what the stickler is, we can change the coffee in the coffee machine. 00:11:21:23 - 00:11:42:12 Unknown We can do this type of flexibility, we can have healthier snacks, just some of the little things that might be irritants. But now we're trying to really adjust those and get them out of the way for people. All for kind of keeping that positive vibe here in the from the field section. You mentioned that American workers are more content than ever. 00:11:42:12 - 00:12:00:21 Unknown According to a recent survey from 2023. So why is that? You know, I guess I think I'm going to go back to what I just said a couple of minutes ago, is that there was so much turmoil, turmoil and so much change and so many people realizing I can make four bucks more an hour, six bucks more an hour. 00:12:00:23 - 00:12:21:23 Unknown I'm in demand right now. I can get a signing bonus if I go someplace else. All of those things are very attractive and I think people went and did them because there was obvious personal benefit. But that's a little bit of turmoil in your life too, that all of a sudden you uprooted yourself. Maybe you had to move, maybe you've got different hours, you got to meet all new people at the office. 00:12:22:01 - 00:12:50:03 Unknown And as good as it sounded and as great as the money was, you now have to figure out a whole bunch of things. And that all happened a year and a half ago. And so, again, I think we might be back to people are now settling in again like, okay, I've been here. I'm a little bit happier with my pay maybe now because I moved or I went to a working office, whether it was in-person or remote, that better served me. 00:12:50:05 - 00:13:08:22 Unknown And so I made a decision to go somewhere that met my work life balance, that met my needs and demands. And I think you're starting to see that now as people are starting to report out on here's what's going on, here's what we're seeing. And now there are just a little bit happier about some of the things that are happening. 00:13:09:00 - 00:13:36:16 Unknown Yeah, it's all good stuff. Yeah, there's the good stuff. So there's my there's my contradiction of what's happening out there. Right. So how about C-suite level, what our leaders doing now and what should they really be aware of right now? There's a couple of things going on. One of them that was sort of interesting is, you know, in a lot of cases, companies are using their own employees as trainers and which is a wonderful thing. 00:13:36:16 - 00:13:57:04 Unknown It's complimentary, you know, and we may come to you and say, Hey, Sophie, can you put on just basic training on social media for some of our people that are engaged, or can you do a little advanced training for some of our people that are engaged? And while I'm sure that would that's flattering to you to say, oh, people recognize that I can be training and teaching on these things. 00:13:57:06 - 00:14:34:06 Unknown I also have my day job and now I've got to start to prepare for that. And so people are being picked because of their subject matter expertise to go train others on some of the things that are going on. And companies are now rewarding that, saying, look, you know, you're making blank dollars an hour or we're going to give you an incentive if you're an hourly person to say, we'll upgrade when you're doing preparation and training because we know it's above and beyond for you, or we'll provide you a bonus to do this one time, prepare, execute, measure your success. 00:14:34:06 - 00:15:00:22 Unknown And so they're realizing that that's not everybody can trade. And so if you've got a subject matter expert who can train, you know, let's begin to reward them for some of that. You're actually we're seeing things now on the economic uncertainty, you know, continuing to sort of swirl about. I don't think anybody's in panic mode still. It's like it's always three months away and it's been three months away now for a year. 00:15:01:00 - 00:15:29:06 Unknown But it's causing companies to start with some of the, you know, what ifs. If something happens, if all of a sudden sales dropped, if we can't get raw material, if we have to cut back, what's the playbook look like? Like, let's think through this when we have time to think through it so that if we actually do have to execute it, it's sort of like, you know, we all did disaster recovery plans a while back where we thought, boy, we better be prepared for this. 00:15:29:08 - 00:15:48:10 Unknown We've all put cybersecurity plans in place now because we think, boy, we better be ready for this. The same things happening now with just what if we have to cut back or we have to adjust and, you know, reduce our expenses, whatever it might be, They're started putting in the what if playbook so that they're they're prepared for it. 00:15:48:12 - 00:16:21:03 Unknown And the last thing that we're hearing a lot about is sort of this environmental, social and governance issues that are going on because of the European Union's corporate sustainability anti reporting directive. And that's a whole bunch of words or letters around words. But it's on CRT, those radar because the European Union has set these rules around environmental, social and governance issues that have expectations around, you know, what are your emissions, what's your social contract, how are you running your organization? 00:16:21:05 - 00:16:45:22 Unknown And even though it's not an American requirement, if your mother ship is in Europe or you are a supplier to a market to a European company, they're now looking down the supply chain and saying, okay, well, we're being judged on this and we're supposed to be judging our suppliers on this. So we now have some questions for you around your environmental, social and governance issues. 00:16:45:22 - 00:17:10:08 Unknown And can you report back to us on this? And so companies are now you're starting to see it pop up on websites. They're starting to review some of the things that they're doing to make sure that they have data to back up their environmental footprint or whatever they might be doing to reduce emissions. So it's putting a little bit more pressure on companies to be telling your story, to be recording what they're doing. 00:17:10:10 - 00:17:32:22 Unknown So seeing a little bit of more of that and that's becoming, I don't want to say a headache for people, but it is another piece of information that they have to in essence begin to record. And you don't see what's happening now on some of the earlier strategies you mentioned for under succession planning, but any other creative strategies you've been seeing here? 00:17:33:00 - 00:18:01:17 Unknown The succession planning is it's sort of omnipresent now. Everybody's talking about it. Everybody knows what should be going on. I think I talked a month ago about there seems to be a little conflict growing between some of the people who are looking at maybe demographics, a whole bunch of other things, saying, you know, we're going to lose 75% of our executive committee in the next five years or 30% of our staff are over the age of 60. 00:18:01:17 - 00:18:20:12 Unknown We're going to have a lot of intelligence walking out the door, really just trying to get people to think strategically about, are we ready for this? What happens not only if we lose at this level or we lose at this level or three key people out of one department can, in essence, shut that down? Are we ready for that? 00:18:20:12 - 00:18:43:14 Unknown So they're really looking strategically around the entire company to say, you know, if we lose this person or two people out of this department, or we only have one person who knows how to run this piece of machinery, those people are just as important. And succession planning now as who's the next CEO. So who's the next CFO? So it's really become almost a strategy within strategic planning. 00:18:43:14 - 00:19:07:17 Unknown Now on the talent side to say, what are our biggest weak points here where, you know, where can this all break down? But it's going to have just an incredible sort of impact on us to say if this happens, we don't really have a plan B. So I think they're just trying to make sure there's a plan B for just about everything that's out there. 00:19:07:19 - 00:19:26:02 Unknown And I'm looking at the end of your report now, the last section, you've got a chart there that shows the top six reasons why different generations stay in their current job. So can you kind of talk about what's on the chart for a little bit? Yeah, The first one we looked at is why did you decide to stay? 00:19:26:04 - 00:19:46:22 Unknown And, you know, this was done by McKinsey and it's a very large study and it took all of the generations into place just to see if there were differences and things like that. You know, and in terms of overall, the number one reason for staying was total compensation. You know, so we talk about a whole bunch of things, but money still matters. 00:19:47:00 - 00:20:12:00 Unknown And it mattered more to the two older generations, the Gen X and the baby boomers. But it really was right there in second place for the millennials, Gen Z. It was actually at the very bottom. And I think that's mostly because their first job probably increased their salary by four fold and they just wanted for making $12 an hour somewhere, getting their job. 00:20:12:00 - 00:20:35:12 Unknown But for just about everybody else, that's still a big deal. The second big deal is meaningful work, and that is really amongst everybody that I want to know that what I'm doing actually makes a difference. And, you know, I'm having an impact on things. So that was number two. And number three was workforce flexibility. And we hear that absolutely everywhere. 00:20:35:12 - 00:21:00:07 Unknown And we hear it from basically everybody that I'm looking at. You know, I want to be able to work a little bit on my time and, you know, my my situation, the work life balance. I want to be able to do it. And the way I moved here, the money is everything across all five, four generations. Money matters. 00:21:00:07 - 00:21:26:03 Unknown That was was basically number one. The second one, though, with the people who took the new job was career development and advancement potential. So that might be one where on that retention side, wherever they were working, they weren't paying attention to what are these people looking for and what is it that they need? So they're really that one jump up between, you know, why I stayed and why I left. 00:21:26:03 - 00:21:44:11 Unknown So I think it really speaks to that career ladder. The where am I going? How am I going to get there? That part is really a big deal. And somehow these new companies that they went to, they offered them money and that probably got the retention. But then they were very excited to find out the development advancement opportunities. 00:21:44:11 - 00:22:11:11 Unknown So I think that plays a little bit more to the long term of what they were looking for. So money matters, but I think that advancement and that, you know, feeling like I'm wanted and feeling like I'm, you know, sort of loved here in terms of what's going on does make a difference. DO Yeah. As we wrap up here, I've got to ask you, can you give us a sneak peek at next month's July ten report? 00:22:11:15 - 00:22:44:18 Unknown Yeah, I'm pretty excited for the July one. We're going to be talking with the head of our Roundtable's department. We have over a thousand people in our roundtables throughout our now five state area, representing about 600 companies. And this is everything from payroll h.r. Generalist rose marketing, i.t. cfos, ceo hours. And we're going to be talking about basically cumulatively, what are we hearing out there? 00:22:44:19 - 00:23:02:07 Unknown Like what's going on? This is not just a focus group of a thousand business people to say when we look at the first six months of this year and maybe the last 18 months, what are they talking about? What's the commonality? Is the same thing on the mind of a CEO as is on the mind of a benefits manager. 00:23:02:12 - 00:23:21:03 Unknown Are those completely separate? Where are the differences and things like that? So I think we're going to have some pretty interesting insights from business leaders all over the upper Midwest and all different levels talking about, Hey, this is what's keeping us up at night and we'll see how that relates to some of the other things that are going on out there. 00:23:21:05 - 00:23:46:19 Unknown And well, I'm excited for that one. Looking forward to it. Yeah, I think it's going to it's going to be fun. Yeah. Well, thank you again, Jim, for being on 30 minute Thrive and sharing June's report. You always bring great insights and information, so we appreciate it. It's my pleasure. Love doing. But to our listeners, I'd encourage you to share this episode, leave a comment or review and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. 00:23:47:01 - 00:24:09:00 Unknown We've all the resources you need in the show notes below. We've got Jim's bio and LinkedIn profile along with some talent report resources in the show notes as well. Otherwise, again, thank you for tuning in and thanks. Thanks, Jim, too. And we'll see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. 00:24:09:00 - 00:24:24:03 Unknown For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.  

This week we are joined by Jim Morgan. Jim Morgan is a Christian business leader who has led six different companies, including Executive Chairman of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Chairman/CEO of Wachovia Securities.  He is on the board of Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc., The YMCA of Greater Charlotte, and Youth Commission International. In helping lead Krispy Kreme's successful turnaround, he said of his approach, “I wanted to be like Jesus to the employees.  They just needed someone to love on them.  That's all I did.” 

Description: In this episode, we'll explore the May edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report: Emerging Leaders, Planning for Your Organizational Future!  We'll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices regarding emerging leaders, uncover C-Suite priorities and top creative HR strategies, learn how to improve employee retention, and more!  Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR. powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:04 - 00:00:42:16 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive, I'm excited to go over this month's talent report with Jim Morgan, our vice president of Workforce Strategies here at MRA. We're going to kind of go into what he's been seeing talent wise this month of May. So I know this month kind of highlighted emerging leaders as the featured topic, too. 00:00:42:17 - 00:01:12:18 Unknown So I'm excited to kind of talk about that and put that into the conversation, too. Okay. Looking forward to it. But just as a reminder, if you aren't familiar with the monthly talent report, Jim Morgan gives an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business in HR., with an emphasis on talent. And that's based on input from CEOs, CFOs and H.R. leaders from MRA's 3000 plus member companies, 1000 roundtable participants and subject matter experts. 00:01:12:21 - 00:01:38:09 Unknown So again, thanks for coming on the podcast. My pleasure, Jim. So we'll kind of kick off the episode talking about what's happening in the recruiting and retention world. So, Jim, what are you seeing here this month? Well, we found a really interesting one. This was in northern Wisconsin, and we're always talking with companies about is there a niche of people that you can attract, that you can really sort of absorb into your workplace and differentiate yourself in the market? 00:01:38:11 - 00:01:58:06 Unknown And in this case, they had a number of Hispanic speaking people. And in that area there is a pretty good population of Hispanic people. And so they had found that, you know, they were trying to accommodate that people that had English as a second language. And as they saw more and more people coming in, they thought, you know, there's more and more that we can do. 00:01:58:06 - 00:02:22:07 Unknown And so, one, they began to offer English as a second language to the people that were primarily Spanish speaking, but they also turned it around the other way and were helping their English speaking people learn Spanish or if they had had Spanish before. You were mentioning before the podcast that, you know, you had an outstanding high school experience and got a great grade and went on to take it in college, but then maybe you don't use it for a few years. 00:02:22:10 - 00:02:46:11 Unknown So they would do the refresher so that people could understand a little bit more Spanish. And so then the communications began to improve. They had some interpreters that they were floating around their three shifts in an effort to help them sort of facilitate conversation. And then they actually worked with their technical college that, you know, learning a language is one thing, but learning it specific to an industry is another. 00:02:46:13 - 00:03:11:12 Unknown And so they had the technical college come in and sit in on some of the conversations, and this was our food manufacturing business. So they learned words like, you know, volume and moisture and P-H and things that may not be in your Spanish 1 to 1 when you're learning dog and cat and things like that, but more specific to the industry so that when the harder words came up, both sides of it began to understand. 00:03:11:15 - 00:03:35:24 Unknown They made sure all of their signs were, you know, bilingual, not only by law, but you know, in addition putting up additional signage as well. Anyway, the long and the short of this was that this began to spread through the Hispanic community. And they were saying, wow, if you come to this company, they really seem to care about making us feel at home, making sure that we can be heard, making sure we can communicate with others. 00:03:35:27 - 00:03:56:27 Unknown And it actually has become sort of a talent supply chain issue for them now, where they're finding out that people are making a conscious choice to come work for them because of all the effort they're putting in to make them feel comfortable. And so, again, as you know, we talk about trying to match the work life balance of people to try to match what your employees want in terms of needs. 00:03:57:00 - 00:04:24:10 Unknown Here was one where it was really a language thing, put a real emphasis on let's make that's remove the language thing from the barriers. And as a result, they've sort of become a magnet now for English as a second language group people. Scott That's an interesting recruiting and retention tactic, and I feel like it's one thing to say that you can do all of that in a company, but it's also another thing to actually implement that and yeah, kind of show that culture around. 00:04:24:10 - 00:04:42:04 Unknown So that's cool. Yeah. And it's obviously so important to these people if they're going home and yeah, you know, telling me, telling their friends, you know, and so it becomes a topic of discussion and all of a sudden they're seeing people come in and you know, they're coming because it's a comfortable place to be. Yeah, exactly. Successful tool, right? 00:04:42:09 - 00:05:06:06 Unknown That's right. So I mentioned earlier that emerging leaders was a topic that was highlighted this month in the talent report in MRA, just actually released their results of our Hot Topic survey on emerging leaders. So can you talk about that survey and the results a little bit? Was there anything that kind of jumped out at you? Yeah, I would say what it did was confirm some things we thought we already knew. 00:05:06:06 - 00:05:26:25 Unknown And it is almost become I've sort of developed this hierarchy now of emerging leaders, which if I go into almost any company and I say to them, Do you have emerging leaders? And they'll say, Oh yeah, we have emerging leaders. And I said, Interesting. You know, have you identified them? We sort of know who they are and where they're at. 00:05:26:26 - 00:05:51:14 Unknown Okay. Do they know that you've identified them as an emerging leader? And usually the answer then becomes, well, no. Yeah. And said, well, you know, why haven't you identified them? Well, we're not clear on the criteria and we don't really have a game plan for them after we've identified them. And you kind of go through this list and you're sort of realizing that everybody knows it's a big deal, everybody knows who they are, and then it gets hard. 00:05:51:14 - 00:06:13:01 Unknown And then that sort of where it begins to drop off. And so when we started, one of the questions that we asked in the survey was, you know, what's the criteria for your emerging leaders? And they're, you know, 90 plus percent said, oh, high potential or, you know, good work ethic. And some of these you know, I'll know it when I see it, but I'm not quite sure how I put a measurement on it. 00:06:13:03 - 00:06:43:24 Unknown And really not so much about getting a little more specific, like because they live the mission and vision of the organization, because they're looking to develop their skill side, because they have a learning plan in place and have worked with their manager to see this is how they're going to upgrade all that they're doing. And what it really began to confirm for us as we're trying to help companies with their own emerging leaders is there's got to be a whole bunch of steps put in place here that says this emerging leader program has to tie to your succession plan. 00:06:43:25 - 00:07:05:25 Unknown It has to be tied to your mission and goals. You've got to have a career plan in place for these folks. There has to be a learning and development plan. They have to be able to apply what you're trying to teach. Because if you tell me I'm an emerging leader and what I get out of that is a whole bunch more work because, you know, I'm trying out and I'm doing things that's great and I'll feel good about that. 00:07:05:25 - 00:07:29:16 Unknown But, you know, is there a recognition component? Is there a compensation component? Is there a promotion component? Is there a learning and development component? And so what we're really starting to see is this is really important for companies. They understand the value of it, and now they're just sort of getting to I'm not sure we can just say the emerging leaders are who I think they are, but it's criteria based. 00:07:29:16 - 00:07:49:18 Unknown It's confirmed by the senior team, by their supervisor. Other people that work with them that, yep, you know, this is someone who goes the extra mile. This is someone who really understands the organization and then we have to put in place, okay, well, what does that mean? And then how do we continue to build them up? So we did learn that, you know, there are companies that have some criteria. 00:07:49:18 - 00:08:09:23 Unknown They've gone through the whole thing and using some of those best practices. Now we're working with other companies to say, all right, you know, have you done this? Have you done this and have you done this Because in Emerging Leaders program that only consists of, well, we know who they are and that's the end of it doesn't really qualify as an emerging leader program. 00:08:09:25 - 00:08:31:14 Unknown And going off of that, as you're talking about emerging leader programs, you mentioned this and talent thinking section. So you talked about how emerging leader programs can help with retention and as a kind of aid as a retention tool. So can you expand on that a little bit more? Yeah, You know, and I think we've gone through this. 00:08:31:14 - 00:08:49:06 Unknown You know, we had a couple of years of everybody frantically trying to attract talent that just churning that, you know, as many as we can. Let's get them as quickly as we can and hopefully bringing in more people than were going somewhere else. And while that's still going on, I think that pendulum has stopped swinging quite so much. 00:08:49:09 - 00:09:06:06 Unknown And the attraction, while still important, has now focused a little bit more on retention, like, okay, we're gonna go through all this work to try to attract these people. How do we then hang on to them and ultimately how do we hang on to the best of our best? And I would argue that that's probably your emerging leaders. 00:09:06:08 - 00:09:34:16 Unknown And so this is a group of people that, you know, that they're high fliers, you know, that they're high motor, their high energy. They're looking to be recognized for that. They're looking to have growth opportunities. They're looking for opportunities to, you know, move up in their career. And so now it has become a retention strategy that says we can't just say we have an emerging leader program and say, hey, self-congratulation, journey, emerging leader. 00:09:34:18 - 00:09:55:10 Unknown That doesn't mean much to Sophie or if we say to Sophie, what we'd like you to do now is we're going to do a skills assessment of you and see where you're strong, in which case we'll just keep building on those and maybe some areas where you haven't had the opportunity for experience. And we'll give you more of that and make you more broad based and give you a little bit more breadth in what you know about the organization. 00:09:55:13 - 00:10:18:21 Unknown Will give you some applicable opportunities. Maybe we'll have you run a project, we'll have you get on a volunteer board somewhere, will expose you to the executive committee and the board of directors. Those types of opportunities that now say, Wow, somebody has recognized what I'm doing. They publicly recognize it to say, Hey, these are our emerging leaders for the year and here's what's about to happen. 00:10:18:23 - 00:10:37:05 Unknown And so I think now they're seeing, oh, I've got a future here. People are taking an interest in me because if they become unengaged, that's when they start looking. What if you're keeping sort of that carried out there that says there's opportunities for you, there's growth for you now that's become part of. All right. You know, we've got these best and brightest. 00:10:37:05 - 00:11:14:17 Unknown How do we make sure we keep them? It seems like there's more of a strategic plan involved with the emerging. Yeah, and that's a really good point, because first of all, if there isn't any plan that bad. Second, if the plan is almost department by department, that's that's good. But it's not a strategic initiative for the organization. Whereas if the organization has said, now, look, we need we're going to need to fill position, you know, the number of people that are saying, yeah, of our 12 leaders in the organization, seven of them are going to retire in the next three years, or we just lost 200 years of experience with our last round of retirements 00:11:14:17 - 00:11:39:13 Unknown in the past 12 months. Those are things that people are having to start to plan for now. And an emerging leader program is really, you know, sort of the way to build that bench and build those succession planning for sure. So is there anything else you want to highlight in that talent thinking section? Well, I think, you know, really your point on the strategy part of it that says this is our succession planning. 00:11:39:13 - 00:12:03:03 Unknown This is not only trying to fill the C-suite positions, but to try to fill all of our critical positions. And that might be, you know, somebody on the factory floor, might be somebody in the accounting department, it might be someone at the front desk. There are jobs that, you know, are going to be important. And when that person goes, you're going to have to try to figure out what are we going to do in all of these and how are we going to fill them. 00:12:03:03 - 00:12:25:20 Unknown So I think it really that strategic part is really become a big part of, yeah, all of the emerging leader work that companies are doing. Mm hmm. And you just talk about succession planning and that's kind of been a buzzword, I feel like nowadays. And just more frequently I feel like I've heard that. But in terms of C-suite level, what are leaders really doing with that and what are they doing now? 00:12:25:23 - 00:12:53:09 Unknown You know, I think people always want to say they've got a succession plan and I think people are really trying to push now to say, you know, the succession plan doesn't come when the person gives three weeks notice. The succession comes long before that. And I think there's two sort of parts of this. One is, you know, not to be crude, but what's the succession plan if the person gets hit by a bus tomorrow and we don't see them again, because that's a next day. 00:12:53:10 - 00:13:14:01 Unknown Yeah. And it happens. And that may not be the long term fix, but who is the person that you know? Okay, let's take you you're running our social media. If you're not there the next day, does anybody know what we're doing in social media? It doesn't have to be their primary job. It can someone walk in the next day and say, wow, here's everything that you had planned. 00:13:14:03 - 00:13:39:25 Unknown They may not be our permanent solution, but there's somebody who can step in the next day. And from the external world, they don't know that we miss a beat so that succession planning part one and then part two is did we plan someone that was going to be the next person up to say, okay, this person can get us through the next two weeks, three weeks, the month, but then we've got to get this other person off speed and they can take it on the long term. 00:13:39:27 - 00:14:01:07 Unknown So I think from the C-suite perspective, they're trying to look at both. And then they're also with the emerging leaders. You know, this is kind of a balance to say right now, if I said to you, congratulations, you're an emerging leader here. I can't really follow that up and say, you know what? And in six months you'll be our director of marketing, because I don't know if that's what's going to happen. 00:14:01:07 - 00:14:19:09 Unknown We've got a director of marketing and he does a wonderful job. So I don't know if he's going to be here or not be here, so I can't say that to him. So from a C-suite perspective, I think there's almost a there's no promises here. I can't guarantee you a raise or a promotion or whatever. What I can tell you is we're going to support you in all of this. 00:14:19:09 - 00:14:38:03 Unknown We'll put resources into you and you are going to be in a much better position that should that job open up or should that opportunity become available, you'll be ready to fill it. And that's, I think, what we're trying to prepare that next generation. And as much as someone might say, okay, if I do this in six months, how much more money do I make? 00:14:38:06 - 00:14:55:17 Unknown I'd love to be able to tell you that. But if you're still doing the exact same job right, then that's not something that I can. Yeah, that's a good point. So trying to make sure that everybody is realistic in their expectations that we're going to make sure you are as ready as you can possibly be. Yeah. And then we just have to sort of see what happens. 00:14:55:18 - 00:15:17:07 Unknown Yeah. I feel like being realistic is a great point to bring out because you don't want to make any promises that are going to come true or give high hopes to someone that I don't know. Those things might not happen to them. Yeah. And we also then, you know, we added that to the CEO, to the C-suite, that there was a new CHRO poll that came out sort of asking what they were thinking. 00:15:17:07 - 00:15:39:06 Unknown And we confirmed this, you know, with some of the CEOs and CFOs, too. But there seems to be for the first quarter anyway, at least some optimism that the world is settling down a little. And I say that because we're going from completely frantic hair on fire to maybe just completely frantic. Yeah, that's still better step down. But it's not like we're all sitting back and, you know, enjoying life. 00:15:39:06 - 00:15:57:27 Unknown But at least the turnover has stopped a little. It seems like the are out the door, back in the door. All of that has slowed down a little. And when we just had the Talent Report, one of the questions we asked is, you know, sort of where are you at right now? And one of the choices is, hey, I at least I have time to breathe. 00:15:57:29 - 00:16:20:07 Unknown And a majority of the people said at least they have time to breathe. So that's a little bit better. And at least can you do some strategic thinking? The first quarter went relatively well for most industries, so nowhere near normal when I think people feeling just a little bit better about what's going on for sure. Mm hmm. Well, earlier we talked about some of the characteristics of emerging leaders. 00:16:20:07 - 00:16:51:27 Unknown But I know you have a chart that it kind of explains the criteria used to also identify emerging leaders. So can you talk about what's on the chart or a few points on the chart? Yeah. You know, and as I said a little bit earlier, when I was talking about the emerging leaders that, you know, high performer, high potential and there's almost an intrinsic like, yeah, I know the people that are getting stuff done and those, you know, were like, you know, in the nineties but those were followed relatively closely by demonstrated motivation and desire. 00:16:51:29 - 00:17:10:23 Unknown The behavior aligns with the organizational values. They're a team player. And so I think you're starting to get, you know, some of them maybe more subjective. They're doing the things that we want them to do. Now, measuring some of those are difficult, but even team player, you know, that's coming from other folks who are saying, you know, I enjoy working with Sophie. 00:17:10:23 - 00:17:36:29 Unknown She's easy to work with. She's flexible. She, you know, listens to other people ideas. And so, you know, they had some of those things in there. And then I'd say, you know, the next round still, you know, in the 70% influence and it inspires other employees, has a real knowledge of the organization, takes the initiative they're those people are I didn't you know you didn't have to go say hey, this isn't getting done. 00:17:36:29 - 00:17:51:05 Unknown You know, they're the ones who say like, I'll do it. Yeah, you know, might be outside their area, but you know that they're going to step up or you're sitting in a meeting and you just say, Boy, we really need some help on blank. It's the person who raises their hands as well. You know, I can do it. 00:17:51:05 - 00:18:16:27 Unknown Yeah. And so, you know, you see those things and other people see it. So you start getting a little bit of. That's what's going on out there. Mm hmm. And then lower down. But I think the pandemic sort of showed this. It's it's the, you know, who's who's willing to be the person that's there who was willing to just kind of roll with it and say, okay, I'm going to be flexible here. 00:18:16:27 - 00:18:42:07 Unknown I understand there's a hardship here. I'm going to take this. This isn't really my job, but I understand there's somebody else here who can't do it. This person dealt with an illness, this sort of thing happens. So they really were good under fire, I think in almost every organization as they went through the pandemic, you just saw certain people who just sort of ducked down and said, I'm just going to hope this thing passes and I'll still be here. 00:18:42:09 - 00:18:58:04 Unknown And the others who stepped up and said, All right, we're not going to able to do things the way that we used to do them. So I'll come in and I'll help with this part. Might just be for a month, might be for a year, might be until, you know, normalcy returns about now. But they were the ones who just always raised their hand. 00:18:58:05 - 00:19:19:12 Unknown Yeah, that's interesting that you can identify, I don't know, a high performer, high potential from a global pandemic. Yeah. Yeah. You know, for all the bad things that happened, it certainly nothing else the pandemic sort of showed us. Yeah. Who can work remotely. Exactly. Who can step up and who is adaptable. Yeah, we did pick up on those. 00:19:19:14 - 00:19:47:08 Unknown Well, as we kind of wrap up here, I've always got to ask if you can give us a sneak peek to what next months our part looks like for June. Yeah, I'm very excited. We're going to talk about employee engagement and employee assessments and, you know, similar to almost what we talked about today, there's a lot of companies that will say, Oh yeah, you know, we want to know more about employee engagement and yeah, we want to know how our people are feeling and they might do it from a gut feel, which isn't all bad, you know. 00:19:47:10 - 00:20:13:13 Unknown But you also really want to find out what people are thinking and why they're thinking that and once you get those results, you really want to put something in place that says, All right, look, they told us this and that. We got to dig deeper into that and maybe do some focus groups and sit down with a group of employees or by department, have some different discussions because, you know, if you don't ask the questions, you don't have any idea what the answers are. 00:20:13:16 - 00:20:31:19 Unknown And the flip side of that being is if you do ask the questions, you better do something about it. And so we're going to have a discussion with Kristie Haase about just, you know, what do some of those assessments look like? What happens when you're done with those assessments? What is some of the follow up, you know, and what do you see from companies that really do it well? 00:20:31:22 - 00:20:53:10 Unknown And what are some some of the best practices out there? So again, with this emphasis on retention and keeping people happy, one of the things that we're really, you know, seeing more and more because of the pandemic, because of the these last two generations, is you really have to start to know the individual and what they want. And sort of a one size fits all doesn't really work anymore. 00:20:53:10 - 00:21:20:11 Unknown Yeah. So we'll have some pretty, I think, interesting discussions around best practices and employee engagement and employee assessment. Yeah, awesome. I'm looking forward to it. Do you have any last pieces of advice you want to leave the listeners and I know you've given a lot, but any and I know your last mike Drop my, my mike drop. Okay Yeah I think my mike drop is, you know, sort of hanging in there and we just had our our conference, we had about 500 people there. 00:21:20:11 - 00:21:41:23 Unknown And, you know, we were surveying them on different things. We did a word cloud on, you know, how are you feeling? Yeah. And, you know, I think people are still stressed. They're still a little overwhelmed. But like I said, they're feeling a little bit better about what's happening. I don't know that the end is in sight, but at least they feel like we're we're moving in the right direction. 00:21:41:26 - 00:21:58:25 Unknown And we had some really good conversations around mental health and, you know, people being overwhelmed and strategies to deal with that. So from an H our point of view, I would encourage, you know, the people that about the center of the storm, you got to take care of yourself because you spend a lot of time taking care of a lot of other people. 00:21:58:26 - 00:22:27:26 Unknown Yeah. You know, don't be afraid to, you know, spend some time on yourself. Yeah. Self keep yourself healthy. Yeah. Good, good. Lasting advice. Well, thank you for being on the podcast stage and sharing this month's talent report to our listeners. We hope you liked our chat today and the topic today, so I'd encourage you to share this episode and leave a comment or review and make sure to share it with your coworkers and on social media and then consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. 00:22:27:28 - 00:22:54:00 Unknown Like always, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below, and we've got some resources from today in the show notes and Jim's contact information there too, if you want to get in touch with him. Otherwise, we'll see you next week. And thanks for tuning in. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcasts updates, check out other Amari episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:22:54:00 - 00:23:03:19 Unknown And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.  

Description: In this episode, we'll explore the April edition of MRA's monthly Talent Report!  We'll hear from Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies, on best practices regarding internships and cross-departmental training, uncover C-Suite priorities and top creative HR strategies, learn how to improve employee productivity, and more!  Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler  Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:01 - 00:00:03:10 Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, 00:00:03:10 - 00:00:06:20 your go to podcast for anything and everything HR. 00:00:06:21 - 00:00:09:22 Powered by MRA, the Management Association. 00:00:09:23 - 00:00:14:06 Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR?MRA has got you 00:00:14:06 - 00:00:14:18 covered. 00:00:14:18 - 00:00:17:15 We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. 00:00:17:16 - 00:00:21:03 I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:04 - 00:00:23:03 Now it's time to thrive. 00:00:23:03 - 00:00:27:01 Hello, everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. 00:00:27:07 - 00:00:31:06 We're happy you're here, and I'm excited to introduce to our guests for today. 00:00:31:06 - 00:00:32:20 And that's Jim Morgan. 00:00:32:20 - 00:00:36:02 And we're going to be talking about the latest information on all things 00:00:36:02 - 00:00:41:06 talent related for April's edition of MRA's Talent Report. 00:00:41:19 - 00:00:44:20 So if you aren't familiar with the monthly report, 00:00:45:03 - 00:00:48:07 Jim Morgan, our vice president of Workforce Strategies, 00:00:49:00 - 00:00:52:15 really gives an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business 00:00:52:15 - 00:00:57:19 with an emphasis on talent, which is based on input from CEOs, CFOs 00:00:58:04 - 00:01:02:08 and HR leaders from MRA's 3000 plus member companies. 00:01:02:13 - 00:01:06:14 Thousand roundtable participants and subject matter experts. 00:01:07:04 - 00:01:10:00 So thank you for joining us on the podcast today, Jim. 00:01:10:12 - 00:01:11:13 Great to be back again. 00:01:12:19 - 00:01:14:00 Well, let's really start off 00:01:14:00 - 00:01:17:13 by talking about what's happening in the recruiting and retention world. 00:01:18:00 - 00:01:20:23 So I know that you really emphasize retention 00:01:20:23 - 00:01:23:19 and retention strategies in this month's report. 00:01:24:05 - 00:01:26:20 So what are you really seeing here? 00:01:26:20 - 00:01:30:15 I'd say one of the most interesting things that we're starting to see is, 00:01:30:21 - 00:01:35:07 you know, historically companies have been pretty protective of their employees. 00:01:35:07 - 00:01:39:18 And then even within a company, managers are pretty protective of their employees. 00:01:40:03 - 00:01:44:12 So, you know, if I report to you and I say, Hey, Sophie, 00:01:44:13 - 00:01:46:14 I'd like to go work in this other department, 00:01:46:23 - 00:01:49:07 you're probably thinking, I don't want you to go work in the other department. 00:01:49:07 - 00:01:50:21 It took me five years to train you, 00:01:50:21 - 00:01:54:01 and all this time, you know, I don't want to have to go replace you. 00:01:54:16 - 00:01:57:00 And companies are starting to take a little bit 00:01:58:06 - 00:01:59:00 bigger picture 00:01:59:00 - 00:02:02:11 view of that with their hiring managers and their supervisors. 00:02:02:20 - 00:02:08:08 That if the goal is to keep me and I want to go try something else, 00:02:08:15 - 00:02:13:14 let me go try something else, because at least I'm still working in the company 00:02:13:19 - 00:02:17:12 and I'm still available to you as a talent, provided 00:02:17:12 - 00:02:20:14 you think I'm worthwhile employee and you want to keep me. 00:02:20:22 - 00:02:24:18 And so we're seeing more companies emphasize with their employees 00:02:24:18 - 00:02:28:12 and do a little bit more of a sales job to say, here are the openings we have 00:02:28:12 - 00:02:29:13 at the organization. 00:02:29:13 - 00:02:33:01 And so you're starting to see people that maybe were on the facility 00:02:33:01 - 00:02:37:01 floor saying, hey, I'd like to work in customer service or a machinist 00:02:37:01 - 00:02:40:11 that now wants to go out on the road and fix things somewhere else. 00:02:40:23 - 00:02:43:13 And as companies are telling these stories and as I hear them, 00:02:43:13 - 00:02:46:04 you're sort of like, well, you know, does it always work? 00:02:46:06 - 00:02:49:23 And for the most part, they're like, you know, if it works, it's fantastic. 00:02:49:23 - 00:02:50:18 They're happy. 00:02:50:18 - 00:02:54:01 And if it doesn't work, they go back to where they were before. 00:02:54:02 - 00:02:57:10 They have a greater appreciation for wherever it is that they went, 00:02:57:20 - 00:03:00:06 and they're still talking about it with the other people. 00:03:00:07 - 00:03:03:16 So, for example, one company had the person on the facility floor. 00:03:03:23 - 00:03:08:00 They wanted to do customer service and after about two weeks he was like, 00:03:08:00 - 00:03:10:04 This is not for me. I want to be back there. 00:03:10:04 - 00:03:14:15 I want to be fixing stuff, making stuff, doing things and not talking to people. 00:03:15:00 - 00:03:18:05 So he went back and did they invest some time in his training? 00:03:18:05 - 00:03:21:15 Yes, But he got to see a little bit more of the organization. 00:03:21:15 - 00:03:22:05 He's happy. 00:03:22:05 - 00:03:25:09 He likes what he's doing even more, having had to see something else. 00:03:26:00 - 00:03:28:14 So I think one of the new things we're seeing is the goal 00:03:28:14 - 00:03:32:09 is to keep them in the organization and we can keep them in the organization. 00:03:32:09 - 00:03:35:20 We should be willing to let them have a variety 00:03:35:20 - 00:03:39:11 of different types of experiences so that that's sort of a new one 00:03:40:03 - 00:03:42:23 as companies really try to hang on to the best people that they've got. 00:03:43:13 - 00:03:44:12 Yeah, absolutely. 00:03:44:12 - 00:03:48:10 And just kind of going back to talking about internships. 00:03:49:14 - 00:03:50:15 I interned at 00:03:50:15 - 00:03:54:10 Emory a couple of years ago, and I would just emphasize a point 00:03:54:10 - 00:03:58:06 on really just being introduced to each department. 00:03:59:04 - 00:04:03:11 That was kind of a big aspect that made my internship so meaningful 00:04:03:11 - 00:04:07:06 and successful was being introduced to each department and just getting 00:04:07:06 - 00:04:12:19 a better idea of the company as a whole instead of just being kind of submerged 00:04:12:19 - 00:04:15:23 in marketing team for the whole summer, I was able to see 00:04:16:16 - 00:04:19:19 what other leaders were doing and what other kinds of businesses, 00:04:20:02 - 00:04:23:09 how they work, and that just gave me a better picture 00:04:23:09 - 00:04:26:23 of the company as a whole, which helped in my internship a lot. 00:04:26:23 - 00:04:30:07 And then I would just add another aspect 00:04:30:07 - 00:04:33:07 that I loved about the internship was just 00:04:33:07 - 00:04:35:18 being involved with the senior team as well 00:04:35:18 - 00:04:39:08 and being able to show them the work that I did throughout the summer 00:04:40:04 - 00:04:45:07 and just kind of having the opportunity to have open camera session with them 00:04:47:01 - 00:04:50:09 just made my work more meaningful, knowing that, Hey, 00:04:50:09 - 00:04:53:17 the senior team is involved and cares about what I'm doing to. 00:04:54:15 - 00:04:55:20 There's plenty of other things 00:04:55:20 - 00:04:58:22 I can mention, but I would say those were very impactful 00:04:59:15 - 00:05:04:10 for me on my end and making it enjoyable and successful at the same time. 00:05:04:23 - 00:05:07:20 Yeah, and I would say, you know, if someone were to say, well, 00:05:07:20 - 00:05:08:11 how do I build 00:05:08:11 - 00:05:12:04 a successful internship program, I think you just, you know, good for us. 00:05:12:18 - 00:05:14:12 But I think you just hit on some of the ones 00:05:14:12 - 00:05:17:17 that it really it's access to people, you know, whether that's 00:05:18:03 - 00:05:22:06 the vice president or the C-suite or whatever it is, It's variety, 00:05:22:06 - 00:05:25:18 you know, like you just got done describing 00:05:25:18 - 00:05:28:01 about having the opportunity to go to different departments. 00:05:28:18 - 00:05:33:23 I saw the list of ideas for projects that we gave you before you started. 00:05:33:23 - 00:05:38:00 I think not being bored is another big one where it's like, 00:05:38:00 - 00:05:39:18 I can see where I'm digging into something. 00:05:39:18 - 00:05:41:13 I actually get, you know, 00:05:41:13 - 00:05:45:04 to work on projects to lead a team to do those different things. 00:05:45:15 - 00:05:48:09 Those are really what makes those internship 00:05:48:09 - 00:05:51:00 experiences even even better. 00:05:51:00 - 00:05:53:18 And so, you know, we're really seeing now what you just described 00:05:53:18 - 00:05:58:04 both in internships and in onboarding, where, you know, companies 00:05:58:04 - 00:06:02:13 from a best practice point of view will rotate people through that. 00:06:02:13 - 00:06:04:06 That's just like you might have come 00:06:04:06 - 00:06:07:19 to our insurance company because you wanted to be in an actuary 00:06:08:03 - 00:06:12:01 or we're going to spend the first six months or year with you spending a month 00:06:12:01 - 00:06:16:08 in benefits, a month as an actuary, a month in customer service, 00:06:16:13 - 00:06:21:01 a month in sales, and let you see the whole organization because 00:06:22:01 - 00:06:24:10 maybe actuary isn't what you want to do for the rest of your life. 00:06:24:10 - 00:06:26:18 And now we've exposed you to some different things. 00:06:26:18 - 00:06:31:06 So making that experience, one that I think you just described, especially 00:06:31:06 - 00:06:34:15 with a internship, apprenticeship co-op, whatever it might be, 00:06:35:20 - 00:06:38:13 that is an incredible retention tool, 00:06:38:18 - 00:06:42:21 whether it's trying to sell an intern like you to continue to work with us 00:06:43:05 - 00:06:45:02 or even a new employee who's, you know, 00:06:45:02 - 00:06:48:07 maybe trying to spread their wings a little bit and look around 00:06:49:08 - 00:06:51:20 any other types of trends you're seeing here. 00:06:51:20 - 00:06:54:13 And I know on your short report you had 00:06:55:19 - 00:06:58:01 the idea that mentors play 00:06:58:07 - 00:07:02:21 a big role in internships and emerging leaders and stuff like that. 00:07:03:05 - 00:07:06:07 So I think that's also a good point to touch on. 00:07:06:07 - 00:07:10:01 Just having that personal weigh in on When you first start at a company 00:07:10:01 - 00:07:13:19 or maybe having a mentor in various different departments, 00:07:13:19 - 00:07:16:11 like you said, is there anything else you want to touch on? 00:07:16:19 - 00:07:20:03 Yeah, And I think we you know, we're seeing mentors that traditional 00:07:20:09 - 00:07:23:07 this is the person I can get advice from and things like that. 00:07:23:13 - 00:07:25:23 We're seeing companies also maybe add a buddy 00:07:26:06 - 00:07:32:00 who may not have the experience and you know the long in the tooth person 00:07:32:00 - 00:07:34:02 who's been there forever and knows everything, 00:07:34:11 - 00:07:37:20 but they're the friend who can just say, be careful 00:07:37:20 - 00:07:38:23 when you're going to this meeting, 00:07:38:23 - 00:07:41:23 because here's what usually happens or here's the history on that. 00:07:42:05 - 00:07:45:07 Just to give you a heads up, that becomes another 00:07:45:07 - 00:07:48:07 really important person in that person's career. 00:07:48:22 - 00:07:52:08 And you're seeing companies now look at you walked into the marketing 00:07:52:08 - 00:07:53:23 department at Mirror 00:07:53:23 - 00:07:57:15 that were saying, all right, six or seven other people in the marketing department. 00:07:57:15 - 00:08:01:12 Part of your job is to make sure Sophie has a really good experience 00:08:01:12 - 00:08:03:04 here for the next three months. 00:08:03:04 - 00:08:06:22 So your job also is check in on her, ask her how she's doing, 00:08:06:22 - 00:08:09:23 make sure she's got projects, make sure she's happy. 00:08:10:06 - 00:08:14:11 And so all of those things really just, you know, surrounding Sophie, the intern 00:08:14:18 - 00:08:17:02 with a buddy, a mentor and a team, 00:08:17:02 - 00:08:20:12 that makes a huge difference in terms of what your experience is like. 00:08:20:12 - 00:08:22:19 And, you know, in those three or four months that you spent here. 00:08:23:13 - 00:08:24:16 Absolutely. 00:08:24:16 - 00:08:28:17 Another topic I'd like to dive into is your talent thinking section. 00:08:28:17 - 00:08:32:11 So this month you talked about being cared for at work 00:08:32:11 - 00:08:36:12 and how that affects employee productivity, loyalty and retention. 00:08:36:21 - 00:08:39:17 So can you expand on your findings there? 00:08:40:09 - 00:08:43:22 Yeah, this one has been pretty interesting too, as you're talking to people. 00:08:44:06 - 00:08:46:12 Part of it is pandemic. 00:08:46:12 - 00:08:49:09 Part of it is the influx of younger workers. 00:08:49:19 - 00:08:51:22 But companies are starting to really understand 00:08:51:22 - 00:08:55:16 what they're missing out on that wanting the stealth 00:08:55:16 - 00:09:00:02 of belonging in walking into a remote workplace, 00:09:00:06 - 00:09:03:14 a hybrid workplace, and not, you know, not going to make an argument 00:09:03:14 - 00:09:05:21 to say which one's right and which one's wrong. 00:09:05:21 - 00:09:09:09 But if it's a first job for someone and they're walking in 00:09:09:09 - 00:09:13:13 and the mentor isn't there all the time or the team isn't there all the time, 00:09:14:01 - 00:09:17:12 there's a little bit of isolation, I think, that that's going on. 00:09:17:12 - 00:09:21:05 And, you know, people who are onboarded without ever meeting people in person 00:09:21:05 - 00:09:24:07 and have worked there for six months and still haven't met their boss in person. 00:09:24:19 - 00:09:28:03 Those are really conscious efforts now by companies to say 00:09:28:04 - 00:09:30:21 this is how we're going to operate because we have to be remote 00:09:31:03 - 00:09:33:04 in order to attract talent. 00:09:33:04 - 00:09:36:03 But we're also attracting talent for the first time. 00:09:36:09 - 00:09:39:02 And do they feel like they've got a support network? 00:09:39:02 - 00:09:41:23 Do they feel like they've got people to go to 00:09:42:05 - 00:09:44:05 Because a buddy in person who can take you out 00:09:44:05 - 00:09:47:21 for lunch is different than a buddy that you're setting up A Zoom call 00:09:47:21 - 00:09:50:16 with and hoping you can talk to them for 15 or 20 minutes. 00:09:51:02 - 00:09:52:17 You're not you're not 00:09:52:17 - 00:09:55:09 having the opportunity to experience the same things at the same time, 00:09:55:09 - 00:09:59:03 see the same things at the same time, and you know that. 00:09:59:03 - 00:10:00:13 Do I have a friend at work? 00:10:00:13 - 00:10:05:11 Do I have a buddy and a mentor and work to have the person that's my my real go to? 00:10:06:07 - 00:10:08:09 That's really becoming the issue 00:10:08:16 - 00:10:11:12 with remote workplaces, 00:10:12:00 - 00:10:16:04 maybe people that are on some days off, others that how do we make that connection 00:10:16:04 - 00:10:19:03 and we have to do it purposefully because it's not just going to happen 00:10:19:10 - 00:10:22:14 because everybody's in the office and we bump into each other now. 00:10:23:01 - 00:10:25:14 So again, that that becomes another human 00:10:25:14 - 00:10:29:00 resources hiring manager team thing that says, all right, 00:10:30:00 - 00:10:30:07 if is going 00:10:30:07 - 00:10:33:02 to be here and she may not see everybody all the time. 00:10:33:09 - 00:10:34:14 How do we make the connections? 00:10:34:14 - 00:10:36:03 How do we consciously 00:10:36:03 - 00:10:40:04 get everybody together or have an outing or build project teams 00:10:40:04 - 00:10:43:17 that are cutting across so that people do have a chance to feel like? 00:10:43:22 - 00:10:46:06 I know people now, they know me, they like me. 00:10:46:06 - 00:10:48:18 We can do things. We share common interests. 00:10:49:04 - 00:10:50:16 That all adds to the experience 00:10:50:16 - 00:10:54:02 at work as well, for sure, and kind of going off of that. 00:10:54:11 - 00:10:57:09 Talking about getting everybody together and talking. 00:10:57:18 - 00:11:02:18 You also mentioned conversations, starting spaces in the town or so. 00:11:02:18 - 00:11:04:06 Can you give some examples 00:11:04:06 - 00:11:07:16 of what this means and what companies are doing with this? 00:11:08:08 - 00:11:12:18 Yeah, you know, and I think this is a good follow up to the last one that 00:11:13:07 - 00:11:16:21 if everybody's not here and you don't have as many bump into each others 00:11:16:21 - 00:11:18:15 and you don't have as many in person, 00:11:18:15 - 00:11:18:20 you know, 00:11:18:20 - 00:11:21:00 when you think of all the in-person meetings, 00:11:21:00 - 00:11:23:11 if you're one of the first people there and somebody else is there 00:11:23:11 - 00:11:26:17 early, we'll strike up a conversation about something, you know, 00:11:26:17 - 00:11:29:17 and you'll learn something or somebody will hang around afterwards. 00:11:29:17 - 00:11:32:18 So we don't have those. So how do we 00:11:33:17 - 00:11:36:01 create these places where people are going to sit there 00:11:36:01 - 00:11:38:09 for a couple of minutes and have to have a conversation? 00:11:38:09 - 00:11:43:00 And so is that over a ping pong table or a foosball table where. 00:11:43:07 - 00:11:45:17 All right, let's both take 5 minutes. We'll have a little game. 00:11:45:17 - 00:11:48:02 And while we're playing, we'll learn something about each other. 00:11:48:21 - 00:11:52:03 A company's got a garden out back and they've got a gardening group 00:11:52:03 - 00:11:55:13 now that gets together on their lunch hour before work. 00:11:55:13 - 00:11:58:12 And so while they're gardening, they're learning from each other. 00:11:59:05 - 00:12:03:09 A company that just sets up puzzles in some of their break rooms, 00:12:03:16 - 00:12:04:17 they're just that way. 00:12:04:17 - 00:12:05:14 You sit in an area, you're 00:12:05:14 - 00:12:09:02 walking by to put a couple of pieces in and you're there for five or 6 minutes. 00:12:09:12 - 00:12:10:18 You're going to strike up a 00:12:10:18 - 00:12:12:23 you know, you're going to find out who the other puzzle lovers are. 00:12:12:23 - 00:12:15:10 And so you're going to have that to talk about. 00:12:15:15 - 00:12:19:00 So they're just they're trying to create places where 00:12:19:06 - 00:12:22:09 there's a little bit of lingering to maybe replace some of the 00:12:22:21 - 00:12:27:08 bumping into each other water cooler meeting type things that they want 00:12:27:08 - 00:12:31:10 to encourage folks to know each other and get to know each other. 00:12:31:10 - 00:12:32:13 And so that means you might have to 00:12:32:13 - 00:12:36:03 consciously say, how do we get people to stop somewhere for a couple of minutes 00:12:36:09 - 00:12:37:15 and actually talk to each other? 00:12:37:15 - 00:12:41:13 And that it sounds kind of crazy, but you can also see how some of these things 00:12:41:13 - 00:12:45:08 work where it's like, if I see a puzzle, I'm stopping to make a couple of pieces. 00:12:45:08 - 00:12:48:13 And if you're there doing it too, I mean, hey, how was your weekend? 00:12:48:13 - 00:12:49:17 What are you doing? What's up? 00:12:49:17 - 00:12:51:02 Nice day to day. Where are you going to go? 00:12:51:02 - 00:12:55:09 Do? And I hopefully that just creates a little more camaraderie in the office. 00:12:55:18 - 00:12:56:01 Yeah. 00:12:56:01 - 00:13:00:13 No, I was going to say, I love that idea and I love that concept of doing that. 00:13:01:17 - 00:13:02:10 I know I have a 00:13:02:10 - 00:13:07:20 friend at work that where they do kind of a game day Monday, 00:13:07:20 - 00:13:11:19 where one of their rooms is kind of filled with the puzzles and card games, 00:13:11:19 - 00:13:15:22 and each Monday they have like a 15 minute card game kind of competition. 00:13:16:04 - 00:13:18:05 And so everybody in the room 00:13:19:06 - 00:13:21:11 kind of starts off their week in a fun way. 00:13:21:11 - 00:13:24:12 And I'm sure there's conversations going on, too. 00:13:24:12 - 00:13:28:12 So, yeah, we we had another couple that just had a huge whiteboard in their 00:13:28:12 - 00:13:31:14 in their staff cafeteria lounge lunch room 00:13:32:06 - 00:13:35:12 and people just put a question up there each day that. 00:13:35:19 - 00:13:38:00 Who's your favorite Disney character? 00:13:38:00 - 00:13:41:03 And people start drawing pictures of people and they put theirs up there. 00:13:41:03 - 00:13:42:10 What was your first car? 00:13:42:10 - 00:13:45:17 And oh, my first car was a Ford Pinto and it's always a deal. 00:13:45:17 - 00:13:47:17 Those cars used to explode. Yeah. 00:13:48:06 - 00:13:51:02 And they just, you know, even if it's a conversation on a whiteboard 00:13:51:07 - 00:13:54:17 where you start, who is a car person, who's a Disney person, who's a 00:13:54:18 - 00:13:55:14 whatever person? 00:13:55:14 - 00:13:56:10 And again, 00:13:56:10 - 00:13:59:08 you've just created more opportunities for people to share common interests. 00:14:00:00 - 00:14:03:05 I've seen that, too, and I think the whiteboards are fun idea. 00:14:05:00 - 00:14:07:16 The kind of switching gears here and talking more about now 00:14:07:19 - 00:14:10:20 C-suite level, what are leaders up to now? 00:14:12:02 - 00:14:16:10 We've talked about this I know before, but the visibility of the C-suite people 00:14:16:10 - 00:14:20:10 of being out on the floor, making the rounds through the office, 00:14:20:18 - 00:14:23:14 knowing whose birthday it is, whose anniversary it is, 00:14:24:00 - 00:14:27:05 it's really become a priority and part of a day that even if I, 00:14:27:05 - 00:14:31:05 as the CEO, CFO, Arrow, whatever things I got 00:14:32:18 - 00:14:35:15 to and then walk through the facility, 00:14:36:05 - 00:14:39:00 they're really starting to see that I'm going to pick up 00:14:39:00 - 00:14:42:01 at least two or three tidbits of information while I'm out there. 00:14:42:09 - 00:14:44:20 I'm going to be seen as more approachable. 00:14:44:20 - 00:14:46:14 I'm not behind, not down this hallway. 00:14:46:14 - 00:14:50:09 And in my day, in my office with the door closed, I'm part of this. 00:14:50:15 - 00:14:52:08 I can ask questions of people. 00:14:52:08 - 00:14:53:22 I can stop it 00:14:53:22 - 00:14:56:16 at one of the cells on the factory floor and say, 00:14:57:00 - 00:14:59:08 What do you see and what's happening? What's going on? 00:14:59:14 - 00:15:02:18 And I probably feel unvarnished truth from people. 00:15:03:02 - 00:15:05:20 So the visibility of people knowing that they can talk to me 00:15:06:02 - 00:15:08:21 and maybe learning some things along the way, 00:15:10:03 - 00:15:12:07 that one has really gotten people's attention and, 00:15:12:15 - 00:15:15:07 you know, to the point where they'll put it on their calendar at 10:00 00:15:15:07 - 00:15:17:14 am, going for a ten minute walk through the place, 00:15:17:14 - 00:15:19:22 and they're going to know they're going to see me. 00:15:19:22 - 00:15:20:22 And we had this conversation 00:15:20:22 - 00:15:23:17 with the fire department, too, which was interesting because 00:15:24:17 - 00:15:28:04 so many people thought, oh, my gosh, if I was walking around, what's going on? 00:15:28:04 - 00:15:32:00 And, you know, they're standing outside my desk, does that mean I'm being fired? 00:15:32:00 - 00:15:34:03 What are they doing on the facility floor? 00:15:34:13 - 00:15:35:03 And the H.R. 00:15:35:03 - 00:15:38:02 departments are starting to realize that we have to be out there more often. 00:15:38:02 - 00:15:41:12 So when we are out there, people aren't freaking out thinking, 00:15:41:16 - 00:15:45:03 oh, my gosh, 50 people must be like, You let go because I was out here. 00:15:45:11 - 00:15:48:08 No, they're out there because are just trying to see what's happening 00:15:48:08 - 00:15:52:09 and so being conscious about let's make sure they know we're here. 00:15:52:09 - 00:15:52:15 You know, 00:15:52:15 - 00:15:56:13 we're not just back there doing forms or making decisions were part of the group. 00:15:56:13 - 00:16:00:21 So a lot more visibility both from the C-suite and from the H.R. 00:16:00:22 - 00:16:01:10 folks. 00:16:02:19 - 00:16:05:05 Lots of discussions around chat 00:16:05:23 - 00:16:09:03 and artificial intelligence and what do you do with that? 00:16:09:10 - 00:16:12:18 And the range is everywhere from shut it down 00:16:13:04 - 00:16:15:18 to, well, let's embrace it and see what's going to happen. 00:16:16:04 - 00:16:19:18 And it's really interesting as companies are starting to experience it 00:16:21:04 - 00:16:23:08 because it can do so much, 00:16:23:17 - 00:16:26:16 but on its own it probably can also be dangerous. 00:16:26:16 - 00:16:28:08 Like everything else. 00:16:28:08 - 00:16:30:09 And so companies are trying to figure out 00:16:30:09 - 00:16:35:03 how do we use that artificial intelligence to make what we write 00:16:35:03 - 00:16:39:01 make our content better, but not just say, well, 00:16:39:01 - 00:16:46:02 if I just push the button that says create a content piece on FMLA in Illinois, 00:16:46:10 - 00:16:47:13 and I just expected to 00:16:47:13 - 00:16:51:00 give me everything and say, All right, send that out to our 3000 members, 00:16:51:18 - 00:16:53:22 That's, you know, you're getting a little risky there. 00:16:53:22 - 00:16:57:02 And in some cases, there are people who get a little lazy there who just say, 00:16:57:08 - 00:16:59:15 Oh, well, there it is. All I've got to do is turn around and send it out. 00:17:00:15 - 00:17:04:00 But if you use it for, hey, I'm trying to write this marketing piece 00:17:04:00 - 00:17:09:03 for whatever it is, and I can talk about these are that these are what it does. 00:17:09:03 - 00:17:10:14 This is why it's good for us. 00:17:10:14 - 00:17:12:07 And I can put in some questions. 00:17:12:07 - 00:17:15:02 I might be able to get back some things that like, Hey, part of 00:17:15:02 - 00:17:18:07 that is really good or how does that line up with what I wrote 00:17:18:07 - 00:17:22:01 and are we on the same page and are people expecting the same things? 00:17:22:19 - 00:17:24:19 So right now I think it's okay. 00:17:24:19 - 00:17:28:00 And let's fill this out where, you know, where do we weigh in? 00:17:28:00 - 00:17:30:04 What's the good, what's the bad? 00:17:30:04 - 00:17:32:16 But I think like everything else with technology, it's 00:17:32:16 - 00:17:37:09 not perfect on its own, but it's got some real pluses. 00:17:37:14 - 00:17:40:16 And how do we as an organization try to figure some of that out so 00:17:41:04 - 00:17:43:16 that one is on people's minds and they're trying to figure out where 00:17:43:16 - 00:17:46:07 does that fit into everything that we do at our organization. 00:17:46:19 - 00:17:49:19 Now, we just launched a LinkedIn poll on that. 00:17:49:19 - 00:17:51:06 Actually, you 00:17:52:10 - 00:17:53:13 it's so hard 00:17:54:19 - 00:17:57:00 and it's just interesting to see, 00:17:57:00 - 00:18:00:12 you know, like what companies are are using it as a tool. 00:18:00:12 - 00:18:03:04 Some companies haven't even heard of it yet. And 00:18:04:04 - 00:18:06:16 so, yeah, we're kind of digging around with that. 00:18:06:19 - 00:18:08:15 Yeah, that's good. 00:18:08:16 - 00:18:10:14 But how about anything else? 00:18:10:14 - 00:18:11:21 Technology wise? 00:18:11:21 - 00:18:14:21 I know you touched on cyber security plans. 00:18:15:03 - 00:18:18:01 Yeah, we had a couple of roundtables and brought in some people 00:18:18:01 - 00:18:20:10 to talk about cybersecurity. 00:18:21:08 - 00:18:24:07 That's top of mind for everyone, you know, And everyone's going to, 00:18:24:08 - 00:18:24:16 you know, 00:18:24:16 - 00:18:26:01 multiple authorization 00:18:26:01 - 00:18:29:22 to make sure that, you know, we we've got some checks and balances in place. 00:18:29:22 - 00:18:33:09 But so much of it, as you you know, there's a lot that can be done, 00:18:33:15 - 00:18:37:06 but so much of it is just the blocking and tackling and your 00:18:37:19 - 00:18:42:20 your people being vigilant around, you know, update your computer. 00:18:42:21 - 00:18:46:22 So everything is you know, we've got all the patches that are supposed to be there. 00:18:47:11 - 00:18:51:15 We don't just use your last name or your birthday as your password. 00:18:51:15 - 00:18:54:02 That's probably one of the first, you know, your dog's name. 00:18:54:07 - 00:18:57:22 All those things that you commonly get asked those your security questions, 00:18:58:08 - 00:19:01:12 you know, just be a little bit smarter than that, but smarter than that. 00:19:01:22 - 00:19:04:07 Don't use the public life wi fi. 00:19:04:07 - 00:19:05:12 Use your VPN. 00:19:05:12 - 00:19:09:00 So you've got that secure connection at your workplace. 00:19:09:09 - 00:19:13:11 Don't just open stuff, you know, look at it, see what that email address 00:19:13:11 - 00:19:15:13 looks like. Are there Misspellings. 00:19:16:01 - 00:19:18:17 So much of it is just an education of our folks 00:19:18:17 - 00:19:22:12 to just say she's done, don't do dumb things, you know, 00:19:23:13 - 00:19:24:13 And then some of it is, you 00:19:24:13 - 00:19:28:04 know, as company wide where, okay, we've got to do some training. 00:19:28:09 - 00:19:31:08 We've got to make sure our i.t Department is on top of things. 00:19:31:15 - 00:19:36:01 We've got to make sure we've got a good cyber security insurance plan. 00:19:36:21 - 00:19:38:21 We've got to test our incident report. 00:19:38:21 - 00:19:40:18 Let's pretend something happens. 00:19:40:18 - 00:19:43:02 What gets shut down? Where do we go? 00:19:43:02 - 00:19:44:11 You know, how do we get our backup? 00:19:44:11 - 00:19:47:20 Is our backup protected so that whoever the bad actors are, don't 00:19:48:05 - 00:19:50:18 destroy our backup and our current data. 00:19:51:04 - 00:19:54:05 So again, it's one of those where life is, 00:19:54:12 - 00:19:57:15 you know, falling back on the CTO to say, what's the plan? 00:19:57:15 - 00:19:59:03 What are we doing? What's happening? 00:19:59:03 - 00:20:03:12 But so much of it is it's going to get in because somebody got lazy 00:20:03:12 - 00:20:06:18 or somebody did something silly and said, Well, this looks okay. 00:20:06:18 - 00:20:08:09 I think I'll click on it. 00:20:08:09 - 00:20:09:07 And the next thing you know, 00:20:09:07 - 00:20:11:11 there's something in your system and we're off and running. 00:20:11:11 - 00:20:14:17 So training of employees to make sure that they're 00:20:15:12 - 00:20:19:09 following the rules and yep, I hate having to log in every time I go 00:20:19:09 - 00:20:23:12 someplace and I hate having to do this, you know, multi-factor authorization 00:20:23:12 - 00:20:24:08 and all the rest of it. 00:20:24:08 - 00:20:26:17 But there's a reason for it. 00:20:26:17 - 00:20:29:19 And I think people are starting to realize that pretty good reasons. 00:20:30:07 - 00:20:32:18 Well, and you can make some of it kind of fun. 00:20:32:18 - 00:20:36:13 Like I know here at Emory, we do the phishing alerts 00:20:36:13 - 00:20:38:09 where you have to kind of report 00:20:38:09 - 00:20:42:17 if you think an email is a phishing, a spam email, and if you get it right, 00:20:42:17 - 00:20:47:13 you have all this confetti that possible that exactly you can make it fun. 00:20:47:20 - 00:20:50:03 And if you get it wrong, then you've got to go through a class. 00:20:50:07 - 00:20:52:17 Exactly why you should have known better. 00:20:52:23 - 00:20:57:11 Yeah, but how about some of the top creative h.r. 00:20:57:12 - 00:20:59:06 Strategies that you've been seeing? 00:21:00:07 - 00:21:03:10 Get a handful of these this month. 00:21:03:10 - 00:21:07:00 You know, on the candidate experience, you know, people are getting 00:21:07:00 - 00:21:09:23 they're feeling a little bit better about finding candidates. 00:21:09:23 - 00:21:11:03 It's still not. 00:21:11:03 - 00:21:14:07 Oh, we had 100 employees of 100 people are applying. 00:21:14:07 - 00:21:15:09 We'll pick the best five. 00:21:15:09 - 00:21:17:21 We're not anywhere near that, 00:21:17:21 - 00:21:21:12 but we're getting some better candidates and companies and hiring managers, I think 00:21:21:12 - 00:21:26:10 are starting to realize that we may not get the 72 credentials that we asked for. 00:21:26:16 - 00:21:30:05 But if we've got somebody with a good attitude, that's got to work 00:21:30:05 - 00:21:32:09 ethic, that's got a little bit of experience, 00:21:32:09 - 00:21:35:04 that gets what it is that we're trying to do, 00:21:35:21 - 00:21:37:01 we're going to go with them, 00:21:37:01 - 00:21:39:15 you know, and we can train them up on some other things. 00:21:39:15 - 00:21:41:23 And so i think h.r. 00:21:41:23 - 00:21:43:02 Departments are really 00:21:43:02 - 00:21:46:17 helping to educate their supervisors and their hiring managers. 00:21:46:23 - 00:21:49:06 Look, you may not get everything, but if you get a good person 00:21:49:06 - 00:21:51:10 who's going to work hard, we're going to get there. 00:21:51:15 - 00:21:52:19 So i'm not going to worry so much 00:21:52:19 - 00:21:55:07 that they may not have these six other things you asked for. 00:21:55:07 - 00:21:57:05 We can, we can teach those. 00:21:57:05 - 00:22:03:02 So people are really looking for for fit and then sort of teaching the rest of it. 00:22:04:01 - 00:22:06:10 Onboarding we've been talking about forever. 00:22:07:09 - 00:22:10:08 But really talks about getting team support, 00:22:10:12 - 00:22:13:20 getting the body, getting the mentor and approaching 00:22:13:20 - 00:22:19:08 onboarding from a fun point of view versus the let's cram all this stuff in there 00:22:19:08 - 00:22:23:18 as fast as we possibly can and make them do all this stuff in a day or two. 00:22:24:04 - 00:22:26:16 Let's, you know, they don't need it all in three days. 00:22:26:16 - 00:22:29:06 Let's spread it out, make this a little bit more enjoyable 00:22:29:18 - 00:22:33:23 and let's show them what the whole first 90 days maybe looks like. 00:22:34:11 - 00:22:37:17 So you come in the first day and we say, Here's our finances 00:22:37:17 - 00:22:39:18 and this is what we do and this is how we budget and whatever. 00:22:39:18 - 00:22:44:02 And you leave there thinking, Holy Moses, I'm not sure I held on to any of that. 00:22:44:11 - 00:22:47:23 But then you look at your 90 day onboarding, you use the are thank goodness 00:22:47:23 - 00:22:51:00 in two weeks I sort of get a primer on our finances 00:22:51:05 - 00:22:54:02 and I get another thing three weeks later on, whatever. 00:22:54:10 - 00:22:57:12 Now I'm not in a grandma panic about, oh my gosh, 00:22:57:12 - 00:22:59:07 I hope I can remember all these people name 00:22:59:07 - 00:23:02:23 I can look at and be like, Oh good, I get to be with them again later on. 00:23:02:23 - 00:23:04:22 So people are taking a very strategic approach 00:23:04:22 - 00:23:08:02 to their onboarding and saying, What does the whole process look like? 00:23:08:02 - 00:23:09:10 So the candidate 00:23:09:10 - 00:23:12:18 doesn't show up each day wondering, okay, what am I going to have to do today? 00:23:13:03 - 00:23:17:07 They see what's going to happen and that makes them a little bit more at ease. 00:23:17:21 - 00:23:21:12 And then the emerging leaders again, 00:23:22:13 - 00:23:23:11 making sure that 00:23:23:11 - 00:23:26:22 those people are being identified and good criteria 00:23:27:05 - 00:23:30:21 with a game plan in place, that when I tell you, Sophie, congratulations, 00:23:30:21 - 00:23:33:15 you're one of our emerging leaders, one of our high potentials, 00:23:33:22 - 00:23:37:17 I can then follow that up and say, you've shown these characteristics. 00:23:37:21 - 00:23:39:10 This is what we're going to do with you. 00:23:39:10 - 00:23:41:01 Here's the training we're going to provide. 00:23:41:01 - 00:23:44:05 Here's the career path that we're trying to put in place for you. 00:23:44:10 - 00:23:46:23 Here are some opportunities that you're going to get now. 00:23:47:06 - 00:23:49:17 And it's not just, hey, when you go, you're an emerging leader. 00:23:49:22 - 00:23:51:13 Okay, great. What does that mean? 00:23:51:13 - 00:23:54:18 But it's something that you're like, okay, I've been identified. 00:23:55:01 - 00:23:57:04 People have recognized what I've done. 00:23:57:04 - 00:23:59:22 It's been announced people now. 00:23:59:22 - 00:24:01:00 So it's a big deal. 00:24:01:00 - 00:24:03:13 And letting people know that it's a big deal and it means 00:24:03:13 - 00:24:07:00 it's got some things behind it, whether that's advancement 00:24:07:08 - 00:24:10:22 or increase in compensation or benefits 00:24:11:05 - 00:24:15:08 or responsibility, it really it really means something. 00:24:17:18 - 00:24:18:10 We hear all the 00:24:18:10 - 00:24:22:06 time about how people don't quit their job or quit the company. 00:24:22:06 - 00:24:23:19 They quit their manager. 00:24:23:19 - 00:24:26:13 And one company said, you know, we're very aware of that. 00:24:26:13 - 00:24:29:21 We think we've got really good managers, but not all managers are created equal. 00:24:30:08 - 00:24:34:04 And what they've been trying to do is you come into our organization 00:24:34:04 - 00:24:38:03 and rather than you just have one manager that you report to, 00:24:38:08 - 00:24:42:11 we make sure you get a chance to meet three or four or five different managers. 00:24:42:18 - 00:24:47:11 So if by opportunity or by faith or by whatever 00:24:47:21 - 00:24:51:09 you might be a really good match with your boss, you might not be 00:24:51:09 - 00:24:54:01 might be a personality thing, might be all kinds of different things. 00:24:54:20 - 00:24:57:20 We want you to see a variety of different leadership styles. 00:24:58:02 - 00:25:00:01 So if you're thinking about going, 00:25:01:07 - 00:25:02:11 you looked around a little 00:25:02:11 - 00:25:06:00 bit, you like, you know, I do like my job and I do like this place. 00:25:06:08 - 00:25:09:07 I've got a little bit of an issue with my manager. 00:25:09:12 - 00:25:11:02 We can begin to experience that. 00:25:11:02 - 00:25:13:21 We can talk about that and either fix that relationship 00:25:14:06 - 00:25:15:14 or at least you know 00:25:15:14 - 00:25:17:21 well, there's other people around you who approach things different, 00:25:18:05 - 00:25:21:17 and maybe you're a step by step person, and this person is kind of a big thinker 00:25:21:17 - 00:25:23:01 or the opposite. 00:25:23:01 - 00:25:24:05 It might just be, 00:25:24:05 - 00:25:28:05 you know, there's a better place for you in the organization and you've seen it. 00:25:28:05 - 00:25:30:08 So I'm not going to just quit this manager now. 00:25:30:16 - 00:25:33:00 I'm going to see if there's something else I can do. 00:25:33:15 - 00:25:35:11 So those are a few things in the h.r. 00:25:35:11 - 00:25:38:05 Area that seen in the last month or so. 00:25:38:15 - 00:25:39:05 Yeah. 00:25:39:09 - 00:25:43:07 So as we begin to wrap up here, there were there was some research 00:25:43:07 - 00:25:47:21 summarized from executive networks which found that a lot of workers so h.r. 00:25:47:21 - 00:25:51:16 Leaders, business leaders, frontline leaders and workers 00:25:52:07 - 00:25:56:06 are saying that coming to the office is not commute worthy. 00:25:56:06 - 00:26:00:03 So any comments on this are no comment. 00:26:00:17 - 00:26:03:02 Commute worthy. I like that. 00:26:03:02 - 00:26:06:02 You know, i think what they were getting at was 00:26:07:06 - 00:26:09:16 i'm not going to come in, especially if my 00:26:10:10 - 00:26:12:19 if you can imagine your commute is a little bit of a pain, 00:26:13:00 - 00:26:17:21 whether it's traffic or distance or or just screws up your whole day 00:26:17:21 - 00:26:20:15 for getting kids to school or whatever it might be. 00:26:22:06 - 00:26:25:16 You have had an opportunity now to not have to have that hassle. 00:26:26:03 - 00:26:28:17 And there are, you know, legitimate reasons for going remote 00:26:28:17 - 00:26:30:20 and there's legitimate reasons for being in the office. 00:26:31:07 - 00:26:35:08 But from an employer's point of view, to make that commute worthy 00:26:35:13 - 00:26:39:02 of your time, it's got to have a purpose to it. 00:26:39:03 - 00:26:42:21 If I can do exactly what I need to do today at home 00:26:43:06 - 00:26:45:10 or at work and work means 00:26:46:00 - 00:26:49:17 45 minutes, an hour or 2 hours driving back and forth. 00:26:50:03 - 00:26:52:20 Why would I do that if I if there isn't a reason? 00:26:53:03 - 00:26:54:22 Now, is there an important meeting? 00:26:54:22 - 00:26:56:10 Do I have to be a part of something? 00:26:56:10 - 00:26:58:11 Other people coming to the company? 00:26:58:11 - 00:26:59:13 That's a big part of it. 00:26:59:13 - 00:27:02:04 And that might be part of the culture and that's tough. 00:27:02:04 - 00:27:05:08 That's the organization and you have to be there, you know, for that. 00:27:05:21 - 00:27:08:18 But organizations are looking at like, how do we become a magnet? 00:27:08:18 - 00:27:13:05 How do we make this a place that you're willing to drive 30 minutes to come here? 00:27:13:09 - 00:27:15:01 Because it's fun. 00:27:15:01 - 00:27:17:18 It's interesting. I like the people I'm working with. 00:27:18:00 - 00:27:20:06 I've got some team meetings set up. 00:27:20:06 - 00:27:24:05 We do have some conversation spaces and I want to do a puzzle for 5 minutes today. 00:27:24:10 - 00:27:27:13 I don't know what it is, but what makes what makes the office 00:27:27:13 - 00:27:30:22 look is as attractive as going to the Starbucks down at the corner. 00:27:31:08 - 00:27:33:14 And so I think the commute worthy is 00:27:34:01 - 00:27:36:21 as an employer, I can say, look, this is the way we want to function. 00:27:36:21 - 00:27:38:04 And you decided to work here. 00:27:38:04 - 00:27:41:21 And as long as I was upfront with you, that commute is part of what you do, 00:27:42:10 - 00:27:44:01 but it's your change, your attitude. 00:27:44:01 - 00:27:45:12 If you're coming in knowing 00:27:45:12 - 00:27:48:15 it's pizza day or it's jean day or it's something else day 00:27:48:15 - 00:27:51:16 and it's going to be kind of fun and relaxed or the board's coming in 00:27:51:16 - 00:27:55:01 and it's going to be really exciting because we're going to talk about new ideas. 00:27:56:03 - 00:27:57:10 We just have to be the magnet 00:27:57:10 - 00:28:01:07 for attract and we've just become a place that we want people to come to. 00:28:01:07 - 00:28:04:11 And then it's it's a non-issue for sure. 00:28:05:01 - 00:28:07:18 So you've got a chart on the talent report, too, 00:28:07:18 - 00:28:12:07 that shows keys to organizational success in 2023. 00:28:12:07 - 00:28:14:14 So can you share what's on that chart? 00:28:15:05 - 00:28:18:00 Yeah, and this was the executive networks, too, and they were just looking 00:28:18:00 - 00:28:21:20 at, you know, what's everybody focusing on for the next year? 00:28:22:00 - 00:28:24:23 And it's sort of interesting because there's probably four 00:28:24:23 - 00:28:28:11 or five things here that are all pretty close together now. 00:28:28:11 - 00:28:32:11 I don't think anything is going to shock anybody but upskilling the workforce, 00:28:32:16 - 00:28:35:11 what are people doing and how can we make them even better 00:28:35:11 - 00:28:36:20 at what they're doing, 00:28:36:20 - 00:28:41:11 enabling that new ways of working, whether that's remote or hybrid or in-person? 00:28:41:18 - 00:28:45:11 How do we create environments where whatever we're trying to set up 00:28:45:11 - 00:28:47:07 is what people are looking for? 00:28:47:07 - 00:28:52:09 And so that becomes a plus, not a not a minus in terms of how people 00:28:53:00 - 00:28:56:15 go to work addressing employee wellbeing and mental health, 00:28:56:15 - 00:28:59:07 how do we make this a place that's supportive, 00:29:00:01 - 00:29:02:20 making sure that they're utilizing our EAP program, um, 00:29:03:12 - 00:29:05:20 knowing that the department is there for them, 00:29:06:03 - 00:29:09:19 you know, how do we make this a good place for them to go and work? 00:29:10:09 - 00:29:12:18 Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging? 00:29:13:03 - 00:29:16:10 Are we doing what we need to do to make sure we are welcoming 00:29:16:16 - 00:29:20:22 everyone who wants to come work for us, whether that's our policies, our approach, 00:29:21:02 - 00:29:25:22 whatever it might be, looking at that, and then talent, attraction, retention. 00:29:26:01 - 00:29:28:13 You know, like I said earlier, I think it's gotten better. 00:29:28:13 - 00:29:31:16 I don't think it's quite as big of a headache for people as it has been, 00:29:32:06 - 00:29:34:23 but people have been through it now and they're like, okay, there's 00:29:34:23 - 00:29:38:05 certainly not an abundance of people and I don't want to go through what 00:29:38:05 - 00:29:40:10 we've had to go through the last couple of years. 00:29:40:10 - 00:29:42:15 So let's keep the pipeline moving. 00:29:42:20 - 00:29:44:08 Let's have people available 00:29:44:08 - 00:29:47:13 and let's make sure we're doing everything we can to hang on to the folks that 00:29:48:06 - 00:29:51:13 that we've got that we know are good and we don't want to lose. 00:29:52:06 - 00:29:53:03 Absolutely. 00:29:53:03 - 00:29:55:10 Last question here. 00:29:55:10 - 00:30:00:07 Can you give us a sneak peek what May's Senate report will be on? 00:30:00:22 - 00:30:03:12 I can tell you, but don't tell anybody else because it's topic. 00:30:04:14 - 00:30:07:09 We're going to dive deep into emerging leaders 00:30:07:09 - 00:30:11:10 and those high potentials, those people that you've identified. 00:30:11:10 - 00:30:15:13 And we're going to kind of go through what is a really good emerging leader 00:30:15:13 - 00:30:21:02 program look like, because what we're seeing is a lot of companies are saying, 00:30:21:02 - 00:30:24:10 yep, we've got emerging leaders, we've got high potentials. 00:30:24:18 - 00:30:26:08 What are you doing about it? 00:30:26:08 - 00:30:29:01 Oh, we've identified them. Okay. 00:30:29:06 - 00:30:30:13 Do they know that? 00:30:30:13 - 00:30:32:07 What was the criteria? 00:30:32:07 - 00:30:33:23 What are you doing with them? 00:30:33:23 - 00:30:36:00 And we're just seeing a lot of people are at the. 00:30:36:04 - 00:30:37:13 Yeah, that's a good idea. 00:30:37:13 - 00:30:40:08 We should be doing something about that. 00:30:40:08 - 00:30:43:04 We're going to go through sort of how do you start all that up? 00:30:43:04 - 00:30:44:17 How do you make that happen? 00:30:44:17 - 00:30:46:14 What are the steps to do that? 00:30:46:14 - 00:30:49:04 And quite frankly, where are the ways that an organization like 00:30:49:09 - 00:30:52:07 MRA can help support companies in that type of growth? 00:30:52:07 - 00:30:54:16 Because they're going to be critical in the next 00:30:55:16 - 00:30:58:15 5 to 50 years? 00:30:58:15 - 00:31:00:18 Great. Looking forward to it. 00:31:00:18 - 00:31:05:15 So I know you kind of you gave a great overview today on the April report, 00:31:05:15 - 00:31:10:05 but do you have any last thoughts or pieces of advice you want to end with? 00:31:11:05 - 00:31:15:07 I think people are starting to, like I said, feel a little bit more relaxed. 00:31:15:11 - 00:31:18:14 My advice for this month would be don't get too relax. 00:31:19:09 - 00:31:22:11 We might have a good month or two or and like we've got everybody we need 00:31:22:11 - 00:31:23:10 and whatever. 00:31:23:10 - 00:31:24:10 I would still make sure 00:31:24:10 - 00:31:27:09 there are people in the wings and you're still focusing every day on 00:31:27:15 - 00:31:30:00 how do you keep the ones you've already got? 00:31:30:00 - 00:31:32:07 Because we still have 00:31:32:17 - 00:31:35:07 a numbers problem, especially in the upper Midwest. 00:31:35:07 - 00:31:40:04 So don't get too complacent with your talent attraction and retention. 00:31:40:16 - 00:31:43:07 All right. We want good advice. 00:31:44:08 - 00:31:45:23 Well, thank you for being on 00:31:45:23 - 00:31:49:05 the podcast today, Jim, and sharing this monster report. 00:31:50:05 - 00:31:52:19 I encourage you all to share this episode. 00:31:52:20 - 00:31:56:08 Leave a comment in review and consider joining MRA 00:31:56:08 - 00:31:58:07 if you aren't a member already. 00:31:58:07 - 00:32:02:06 We do have all the resources in the show notes, so make sure check those out. 00:32:03:05 - 00:32:06:19 We also include a Jim's LinkedIn profile and his bio 00:32:06:19 - 00:32:09:18 so you can get in touch with him easily there. 00:32:10:06 - 00:32:12:08 Otherwise, thank you for tuning in today 00:32:12:08 - 00:32:15:00 and thanks Jim, for all the great information. 00:32:15:14 - 00:32:16:07 My pleasure. 00:32:16:07 - 00:32:20:13 And I hope everybody joins us at our HR conference in Wisconsin. 00:32:21:01 - 00:32:23:21 Virtually ah, and in person, which is on May 10th 00:32:23:22 - 00:32:26:06 and then a month later in June were up in Minnesota. 00:32:26:06 - 00:32:28:09 So I'll being join us for that as well. 00:32:28:19 - 00:32:30:20 Absolutely Good part. 00:32:30:20 - 00:32:31:19 Thank you. 00:32:32:06 - 00:32:34:07 And we will see you next week. 00:32:34:07 - 00:32:37:02 And that wraps up our content for this episode. 00:32:37:03 - 00:32:40:07 Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign up to connect. 00:32:40:07 - 00:32:41:23 For more podcast updates, 00:32:41:23 - 00:32:45:18 check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:32:45:18 - 00:32:50:16 And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes Thrive so you don't miss out. 00:32:50:17 - 00:32:53:16 Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry 00:32:53:16 - 00:32:55:07 on the HR conversation.  

Description: This episode delves into the importance of training and retaining your greatest assets - your employees. We discuss how investing in employee training and development can enhance their skills and knowledge and increase their job satisfaction and loyalty to the organization. Our guest for this episode is Jim Morgan, Vice President, Business Development & Workforce Strategies. He shares insights into MRA's March Talent Report, which includes trends from recruiting & retention, top creative HR strategies, c-suite level happenings, and more.  Whether you are an HR professional, a manager, or an employee looking to enhance your skills and advance your career, this episode offers valuable insights and practical tips for training and retaining your greatest assets. Join us as we explore the importance of investing in your employees and building a culture of continuous learning. Key Takeaways: Companies are teaching about the challenges that come with change—letting go of control, getting teams to buy in, communication, not understanding the “why” of the change, thus preparing their staff to handle the disruption. Generational diversity training is showing up more and more in corporate learning and development. Some companies have included developing the preferred organizational chart during their strategic planning, and using it as a guide when making key hires. Resources: Talent Report + Webinar Series  March Talent Report +  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler    Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:01 - 00:00:03:10 Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, 00:00:03:10 - 00:00:06:20 your go to podcast for anything and everything HR. 00:00:06:21 - 00:00:09:21 powered by MRA, the Management Association 00:00:09:23 - 00:00:12:23 looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? 00:00:12:23 - 00:00:14:18 MRA has got you covered. 00:00:14:18 - 00:00:17:16 We'll be the first, to tell you what's hot and what's not. 00:00:17:16 - 00:00:21:03 I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:04 - 00:00:22:23 Now it's time to thrive. 00:00:22:23 - 00:00:25:11 Welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive. 00:00:25:17 - 00:00:29:08 We're happy you're here, and I'm excited to give you the latest information on 00:00:29:08 - 00:00:34:03 all things Talent related is our guest, Jim Morgan, vice president of Workforce 00:00:34:03 - 00:00:38:19 Strategies here at MRA, covers the March edition of MRA's Talent Report. 00:00:39:07 - 00:00:42:18 So if you aren't familiar with the monthly talent report, Jim 00:00:42:18 - 00:00:46:17 Morgan gives an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business 00:00:46:17 - 00:00:51:13 with an emphasis on talent, which is based on input from CEOs, CFOs 00:00:51:13 - 00:00:55:19 and HR leaders from MRA's 3000 plus member companies, 00:00:56:01 - 00:00:59:22 1000 roundtable participants and subject matter experts. 00:01:00:10 - 00:01:02:09 So thanks for coming on the podcast, Jim. 00:01:02:09 - 00:01:02:23 My pleasure. 00:01:02:23 - 00:01:03:18 Good to be back. 00:01:03:18 - 00:01:05:16 So so let's really kick off 00:01:05:16 - 00:01:09:04 the conversation with what's happening in the recruiting retention world. 00:01:09:12 - 00:01:13:18 And I know that staying on top of mental health needs is always been a priority 00:01:13:18 - 00:01:14:18 for HR. 00:01:14:18 - 00:01:18:18 and employers, but it's really a tricky thing to be proactive on. 00:01:19:06 - 00:01:22:06 So do you want to really start us off with what you're seeing here? 00:01:22:15 - 00:01:23:05 Sure. 00:01:23:05 - 00:01:25:20 You know, the mental health, everybody mentions it. 00:01:25:20 - 00:01:28:23 But when you're trying to figure out, okay, exactly what is it 00:01:28:23 - 00:01:31:23 that we do about that, that's where it gets a little bit more difficult. 00:01:32:09 - 00:01:38:12 We're starting to see companies now use wellness and fitness things as incentives 00:01:38:18 - 00:01:43:03 for more time off or for additional pay that maybe if you walk 00:01:43:10 - 00:01:47:13 10,000 steps a day for ten days in a row, you get a half day off 00:01:47:13 - 00:01:51:10 or if you eat right or if you lose weight or you quit smoking, 00:01:51:10 - 00:01:54:16 they're trying to figure out how to not necessarily monetize it, 00:01:54:23 - 00:01:58:21 but develop it in such a way that now there's real motivation 00:01:58:21 - 00:01:59:18 for employee to say, 00:01:59:18 - 00:02:02:19 you know what, that's it's worth it for me now to go and do that 00:02:03:01 - 00:02:08:06 because the rewards are not just I feel better and maybe I'll be healthier, 00:02:08:06 - 00:02:11:10 but it's also like there's a short term to it that, you know, 00:02:11:10 - 00:02:14:20 maybe just kind of keeps people motivated for a while to stick with it. 00:02:15:15 - 00:02:19:15 That reminds me of those treadmills that you can get for under your desk 00:02:19:15 - 00:02:20:10 when you're working. 00:02:20:10 - 00:02:22:05 Exactly. Walk your steps. 00:02:22:05 - 00:02:24:20 Yeah, well, incentive. Those those are the types of things. 00:02:25:01 - 00:02:29:16 So we're seeing companies doing mindfulness breaks and telling people 00:02:29:16 - 00:02:30:15 during the course of the day, 00:02:30:15 - 00:02:34:10 you know, take a couple of minutes to yourself, take a walk outside. 00:02:34:10 - 00:02:37:18 Companies are bringing massage chairs into the office. 00:02:37:18 - 00:02:39:23 We do that here. 00:02:39:23 - 00:02:40:22 They're, you know, 00:02:40:22 - 00:02:45:15 providing now experiences where a lot of people have been giving gym memberships. 00:02:45:15 - 00:02:46:19 And that's directly related. 00:02:46:19 - 00:02:50:10 But it might be also a Netflix subscription with sort of a note 00:02:50:10 - 00:02:55:12 that says, hey, once a week, take 2 hours and just sit back and watch a movie. 00:02:55:22 - 00:02:57:16 So I think they're trying to just find things 00:02:57:16 - 00:03:00:18 in everyone's lifestyle that those are moments where you 00:03:00:23 - 00:03:03:09 you feel good about it and you know, it's good for you. 00:03:03:09 - 00:03:04:23 It's what you should do. 00:03:04:23 - 00:03:08:16 And then if we can give people a little extra nudge to go do it, you know, 00:03:08:21 - 00:03:10:18 hopefully they're happier, they're healthier, 00:03:10:18 - 00:03:12:22 and that means they're more productive at work. 00:03:12:22 - 00:03:16:07 I know you just listed a few, but do you have any other 00:03:16:07 - 00:03:19:16 wellness trends that you are seeing from employers? 00:03:20:07 - 00:03:24:06 I think some of it now is around almost training 00:03:24:10 - 00:03:27:20 people to understand the wellness and how to take care of them. 00:03:27:20 - 00:03:28:04 So, I mean, 00:03:28:04 - 00:03:30:08 I can give you a gym membership, 00:03:30:08 - 00:03:33:06 but if you never go, it doesn't have a whole lot of value to it. 00:03:33:20 - 00:03:37:12 But if we can explain to you what are the good things that happen 00:03:37:12 - 00:03:40:22 if you exercise three times a day or if you get out and walk and you do things. 00:03:40:22 - 00:03:45:21 So I think the education part of it is becoming a bigger a bigger deal. 00:03:45:21 - 00:03:46:20 And a lot of companies 00:03:46:20 - 00:03:50:05 have employee assistance programs and they've always had an EAP, 00:03:50:14 - 00:03:53:03 but they didn't necessarily tell anybody they had it. 00:03:53:03 - 00:03:56:21 It was probably buried in your benefit somewhere that says, Oh, we have an EAP, 00:03:57:07 - 00:04:01:12 and some of those cover everything from, you know, doing your will 00:04:01:18 - 00:04:05:08 to, you know, how do you identify your beneficiaries 00:04:05:09 - 00:04:08:14 and leave money behind to financial planning. 00:04:08:23 - 00:04:12:03 And those are all things that are additional stressors in people's lives. 00:04:12:03 - 00:04:15:10 And so again, if we can figure out how to help them with some of those 00:04:15:10 - 00:04:18:16 things, then, you know, that's helpful to the employee as well. 00:04:18:17 - 00:04:19:01 Yeah. 00:04:19:01 - 00:04:24:22 And I know you've mentioned before, like for workplace cafes or cafeterias 00:04:24:22 - 00:04:29:11 now, employers are replacing some of that food with a healthier option. 00:04:29:17 - 00:04:31:02 May not be. Yep. 00:04:31:02 - 00:04:33:11 No more late summer apples. Exactly. 00:04:33:23 - 00:04:38:06 Or another topic that I'd like to dive into is your talent thinking section, 00:04:38:13 - 00:04:42:00 which I know the importance of training and developing employees 00:04:42:00 - 00:04:44:02 is really emphasize this month. 00:04:44:02 - 00:04:46:03 So can you expand on that a little bit? 00:04:46:20 - 00:04:50:15 Yeah, the learning and development, a couple of things have happened there 00:04:50:15 - 00:04:52:05 and we'll talk a little bit 00:04:52:05 - 00:04:54:01 about emerging leaders, I think, in a minute 00:04:54:01 - 00:04:56:06 because that's been another big part of it. 00:04:56:06 - 00:04:59:13 But the shift that's taking place in the workforce right now 00:05:00:02 - 00:05:02:05 generationally has been a big one. 00:05:02:14 - 00:05:03:01 And the 00:05:03:01 - 00:05:06:18 expectations of people in the workplace, especially managers and supervisors, 00:05:07:00 - 00:05:08:08 have changed. 00:05:08:08 - 00:05:12:05 So now you're watching all of the baby boomers begin to exit. 00:05:12:20 - 00:05:16:09 Finally, and they're being replaced by smaller, 00:05:16:12 - 00:05:19:22 a smaller generation, which means we're dipping into the next one, 00:05:20:18 - 00:05:22:04 which are the millennials. 00:05:22:04 - 00:05:26:00 And a lot of them are now being pushed into a leadership position 00:05:26:00 - 00:05:28:07 earlier than perhaps I would have been. 00:05:28:13 - 00:05:32:09 I might have had 20 years on the job to watch other people, as I say, 00:05:32:09 - 00:05:33:16 watch other people make mistakes. 00:05:33:16 - 00:05:35:06 So I didn't have to make my own 00:05:35:06 - 00:05:37:19 and then hopefully be smarter as a leader when I got there. 00:05:38:05 - 00:05:42:19 And some of the younger folks are not getting that same amount of time to do it. 00:05:42:19 - 00:05:46:08 So there's a training issue around that that we can talk about. 00:05:47:00 - 00:05:50:03 And the second part is, I think for a lot of hiring managers 00:05:50:03 - 00:05:54:01 and supervisors, especially those that have been at it for a long time, 00:05:54:01 - 00:05:56:16 their job has changed dramatically. 00:05:57:01 - 00:05:59:17 It's changed because of the shortage of people we have. 00:05:59:17 - 00:06:01:04 So they have to be much more involved 00:06:01:04 - 00:06:04:14 now in recruiting and retention and making sure their people 00:06:04:19 - 00:06:07:18 feel satisfied in their job and that they want to stick around. 00:06:08:10 - 00:06:13:04 And they've also had to take on more of a role in the entire employee. 00:06:13:04 - 00:06:15:04 It's not that I'm just going to evaluate 00:06:15:04 - 00:06:19:04 you on your ability to get your work done and your innovation at work. 00:06:19:09 - 00:06:21:15 Now it's you. What's your mental health? 00:06:22:04 - 00:06:23:11 Is there any stress in your life? 00:06:23:11 - 00:06:24:10 Is something happening 00:06:24:10 - 00:06:27:23 that we need to know about that maybe we can help accommodate it? 00:06:28:06 - 00:06:30:23 And so their life has changed quite a bit, too, and trying to help 00:06:30:23 - 00:06:35:06 them understand that they need to understand the younger employees. 00:06:35:06 - 00:06:37:14 They're not better, they're not worse, they're different. 00:06:37:14 - 00:06:39:23 And what they want is very different. 00:06:39:23 - 00:06:43:09 And you can complain about it, but you're also the people that are saying, 00:06:43:09 - 00:06:47:03 I need more people to come work for me because I'm working too much. 00:06:47:03 - 00:06:47:16 All right. 00:06:47:16 - 00:06:49:19 But if you want us to help you find new people, 00:06:50:03 - 00:06:53:13 then you've got to understand how do talk to those people, 00:06:53:13 - 00:06:55:16 communicate with those people and keep those people happy. 00:06:55:16 - 00:06:58:11 Because if they leave your back to having too much work again. 00:06:59:02 - 00:07:02:08 So all of that falls into that learning and development 00:07:02:16 - 00:07:06:23 sort of bucket that says, what do people have to deal with now? 00:07:06:23 - 00:07:07:22 And how is we as 00:07:07:22 - 00:07:11:03 how are we as an employer going to figure out how to train them in that? 00:07:11:13 - 00:07:14:13 And can you give some examples of what companies 00:07:14:13 - 00:07:17:08 are actually doing with that information? 00:07:17:19 - 00:07:18:07 Yeah, you know, 00:07:18:07 - 00:07:22:09 I think what they're trying to do is, one, they're trying to identify the skills. 00:07:22:09 - 00:07:28:10 We did that in our in our last talent report webinar that it's communications. 00:07:28:10 - 00:07:30:08 It's decision making. 00:07:30:08 - 00:07:31:21 It's accountability. 00:07:31:21 - 00:07:35:09 It's things that, you know, have been there probably for a long time. 00:07:35:09 - 00:07:36:06 But they 00:07:37:05 - 00:07:39:00 they are much more prevalent right now. 00:07:39:00 - 00:07:42:04 And so they've got to figure out how to do some of those things. 00:07:42:04 - 00:07:44:21 We are trying to begin to mix people a little bit 00:07:44:21 - 00:07:48:03 more by age as well as by a variety of other things. 00:07:49:01 - 00:07:52:12 If you and I are in the same meeting and somebody says, here's 00:07:52:12 - 00:07:55:00 the direction that we're going in, this is what we're going to do, 00:07:55:07 - 00:07:57:20 your take on it's probably going to be very different than mine. 00:07:58:03 - 00:08:03:07 And so it's a good thing to have a 25 year old, a 45 year 00:08:03:07 - 00:08:06:12 old and a 65 year old in the same meeting, because they're going to see things 00:08:06:12 - 00:08:07:17 very differently. 00:08:07:17 - 00:08:11:00 So you're starting to see the way people do meetings differently, the way they do. 00:08:11:00 - 00:08:12:15 The strategic planning is changing 00:08:12:15 - 00:08:15:23 dramatically to have different voices in the room. 00:08:16:12 - 00:08:19:03 Mentoring and reverse mentoring. 00:08:19:03 - 00:08:21:21 I think there's a couple of things I could probably teach you. 00:08:22:14 - 00:08:27:14 I know there are things that you can teach me, so how do we set up those meetings 00:08:27:14 - 00:08:31:19 and those relationships in a way that people can take advantage of that? 00:08:32:03 - 00:08:34:05 So trying to take that, this is what we need 00:08:34:05 - 00:08:37:11 and now how do we work it into the to the daily work? 00:08:37:11 - 00:08:40:13 Because if we just say Jim, Sophie, you two should talk to each other 00:08:40:13 - 00:08:43:04 once in a while, that might happen and it might not. 00:08:43:11 - 00:08:47:11 And so we have to sort of be intentional in how we're doing it. 00:08:47:16 - 00:08:50:12 Absolutely. Kind of going along with that. 00:08:50:12 - 00:08:53:21 You recently spoke at a generational differences conference 00:08:54:05 - 00:08:55:01 where you really talked 00:08:55:01 - 00:08:59:04 about emerging leaders and how how they can use their skills 00:08:59:04 - 00:09:02:07 and how to develop them, communicate with them and more. 00:09:02:07 - 00:09:06:14 So can you kind of highlight some of the key points that you discussed there? 00:09:06:18 - 00:09:08:21 Yeah, we actually tag teamed it. 00:09:08:21 - 00:09:12:06 So we had a millennial and then a baby boomer, 00:09:12:14 - 00:09:16:03 you know, and started it just by, you know, sort of saying, okay, 00:09:16:10 - 00:09:18:18 let's just ask you a couple of questions 00:09:19:12 - 00:09:22:03 if you needed technical assistance, 00:09:22:07 - 00:09:26:11 who would you go to the the 27 year old or the 62 year old? 00:09:26:20 - 00:09:29:23 If you wanted help with strategic planning, which one would you go to 00:09:30:02 - 00:09:33:13 if you had a financial question, if you needed a project manager, 00:09:33:20 - 00:09:36:04 if you wanted to understand what TicTok was 00:09:36:14 - 00:09:40:02 and went through a series of questions where some of them are pretty obvious 00:09:40:02 - 00:09:44:03 and they're correct and some of them you might, you know, be wrong 00:09:44:03 - 00:09:50:01 that you're just assuming that, well, he's never been on TicTok as he's this age, 00:09:50:01 - 00:09:53:07 but she's been on Tic TAC as she did Tic TAC. 00:09:53:21 - 00:09:55:17 One of the biggest generational differences. 00:09:55:17 - 00:09:59:06 It's a Tic TAC to me. Is the TicTok to you? 00:09:59:06 - 00:10:00:14 It's a hard to say. It is. 00:10:00:14 - 00:10:04:04 And you know, I've been saying tic tac longer than it's saying TicTok. So. 00:10:04:05 - 00:10:05:13 All right. Showing my age, 00:10:07:02 - 00:10:07:19 you're one of those 00:10:07:19 - 00:10:10:21 more likely to have that type of experiences as well. 00:10:10:21 - 00:10:12:20 So, yeah, we started with that. 00:10:12:20 - 00:10:14:06 Just trying to get people to say, 00:10:14:06 - 00:10:18:07 you know, what sort of opinions, what biases do we have already? 00:10:18:07 - 00:10:22:01 I just assume a 25 year old can tech can do technology. 00:10:22:01 - 00:10:24:10 Yeah, there's probably a 90% chance. You're right. 00:10:24:15 - 00:10:29:00 But there's some 25 year olds who never bothered. So 00:10:29:11 - 00:10:34:01 and there are 60 year olds who got into it as soon as it came and they love it. 00:10:34:14 - 00:10:38:09 So just trying to get people to think just because they look like this age, 00:10:38:16 - 00:10:41:18 you know, doesn't necessarily mean that that's that's what's right. 00:10:42:10 - 00:10:44:16 And then, you know, we introduced ourselves 00:10:44:16 - 00:10:47:10 kind of in a joking way saying, okay, what's 00:10:48:04 - 00:10:50:08 what's your impression, you know, of this person? 00:10:50:08 - 00:10:54:01 And I can, you know, say, well, they're on Tik tok too much. 00:10:54:01 - 00:10:55:15 Okay, that's just my opinion. 00:10:55:15 - 00:10:58:02 And then I get to hear the rebuttal on that that says you are 00:10:58:02 - 00:11:02:05 you can learn on Tik tok and now you know that that that's legit, 00:11:02:15 - 00:11:04:14 you know, and saying, okay, you got to speak up more 00:11:04:14 - 00:11:06:00 because you have really good opinions 00:11:06:00 - 00:11:09:07 and you know, you're not necessarily sharing them with people. 00:11:09:07 - 00:11:12:16 And so some of it is constructive and some of it is, you know, 00:11:12:17 - 00:11:14:11 just in good humor. 00:11:14:11 - 00:11:15:10 And, you know, 00:11:15:10 - 00:11:18:15 the young person can look at me and say, God, your memos are way too long. 00:11:18:23 - 00:11:22:04 You have these long paragraphs just like get to the bullet points 00:11:22:04 - 00:11:23:10 and let's be done. 00:11:23:10 - 00:11:26:13 That or joking when I say, Hey, did you see the commercial 00:11:26:13 - 00:11:27:10 or what you look like? 00:11:27:10 - 00:11:29:12 Why in the world are you watching commercials? 00:11:29:16 - 00:11:31:06 How dumb can you be? 00:11:31:06 - 00:11:33:23 So some of those are just sort of like, understand? 00:11:33:23 - 00:11:38:10 Yeah, most definitely where they're at, how they consume things, technology, 00:11:38:16 - 00:11:43:07 television, radio, music, you know, just very different things. 00:11:43:07 - 00:11:47:03 So just, you know, try to open up their minds a little bit to saying, yeah, 00:11:47:03 - 00:11:50:09 let's think about some of these things before we just run 00:11:50:09 - 00:11:53:12 and make, you know, assumptions of of what's happening. 00:11:53:13 - 00:11:54:13 Absolutely. 00:11:54:13 - 00:11:58:21 And in terms of communicating with emerging leaders or developing them, 00:11:59:06 - 00:12:02:04 what do you really think members ought to be thinking about? 00:12:02:17 - 00:12:06:00 I think we've lived in a world for so long that, you know, 00:12:06:00 - 00:12:11:04 usually there was a primary form of communication. 00:12:11:13 - 00:12:14:22 You know, at one point it might have been actually having 00:12:14:22 - 00:12:19:11 to make copies of something and stick it in everybody's actual mailbox. 00:12:19:17 - 00:12:23:03 And then we knew all the staff got it, and then we sent out 00:12:23:03 - 00:12:26:07 all emails emailed to all staff saying, okay, here it is. 00:12:26:16 - 00:12:32:00 We assumed everybody got it, we faxed it to people and we assumed everybody got it. 00:12:32:09 - 00:12:35:11 And we're in a world now, especially with these four generations 00:12:35:11 - 00:12:38:17 that, you know, if I said to you, what's what's your 00:12:39:10 - 00:12:42:07 primary way that you would like me to communicate with you? 00:12:42:07 - 00:12:46:05 So if I said, I want to get a hold of you and I want a quick answer, 00:12:46:05 - 00:12:48:00 how would you want me to communicate with you? 00:12:48:00 - 00:12:49:19 Text. Text to me. 00:12:49:19 - 00:12:52:22 And that's that's spot on, you know, 00:12:52:22 - 00:12:56:11 and I might say I'm actually I would probably say, text me at this point, too. 00:12:56:19 - 00:12:58:23 Mostly, though, because I'm adapting to other people. 00:12:59:05 - 00:13:03:06 I would have said normally I was at email me because that would be the fastest way 00:13:03:15 - 00:13:04:21 to get a hold of me. 00:13:04:21 - 00:13:08:10 But what companies now are having to deal with is if your primary way of 00:13:08:10 - 00:13:14:15 communicating is texting and mine, is email in others might be on our system. 00:13:14:15 - 00:13:17:18 And so they wanted in chatter and others say, you know, 00:13:17:18 - 00:13:21:07 if you could just do a video and I could watch it, that's easier. 00:13:21:10 - 00:13:22:01 And quite frankly, 00:13:22:01 - 00:13:25:19 if you recorded it, I can listen to it while I'm driving or something like that. 00:13:26:10 - 00:13:28:23 So that's five different ways of communicating 00:13:28:23 - 00:13:32:06 the same message, trying to make sure that it gets to everybody right. 00:13:32:16 - 00:13:35:17 And I think we have to understand that if there's a primary way 00:13:35:17 - 00:13:39:05 of communicating with people, that's the way that they're going to consume it. 00:13:39:10 - 00:13:43:23 And I can not like it, but I can't be mad either when they say, Well, I don't know. 00:13:43:23 - 00:13:44:21 Did you ever text me? 00:13:44:21 - 00:13:46:19 What's that? No, I never texted you. 00:13:46:19 - 00:13:47:19 Come on. 00:13:48:00 - 00:13:48:12 Right. 00:13:48:12 - 00:13:51:01 And, you know, you went through our entire leadership program. 00:13:51:01 - 00:13:53:06 And that was one of the questions we asked people was, 00:13:53:06 - 00:13:55:23 what do you want most when you you know, you start your employment 00:13:56:06 - 00:14:00:20 and after the box of swag was I want my supervisor cell phone number. 00:14:00:20 - 00:14:01:04 Yeah. 00:14:01:09 - 00:14:04:14 And that's a huge you know, you might have a 55 year old 00:14:04:14 - 00:14:07:06 like I'm not giving my cell phone number to a 25 year old there. 00:14:07:10 - 00:14:09:21 Call me from the bar on Saturday night. 00:14:09:21 - 00:14:11:16 You know, that's not the point of it. 00:14:11:16 - 00:14:14:08 You know what the probably you're looking for is 00:14:14:12 - 00:14:17:01 And in answer to a question and I want it quick. 00:14:17:03 - 00:14:17:19 Absolutely. 00:14:17:19 - 00:14:20:00 And if I text you, I better get a response from. 00:14:20:13 - 00:14:21:20 I can attest to that. 00:14:21:20 - 00:14:23:04 So, you know, there you have it. 00:14:23:04 - 00:14:26:03 So I think you are having to try to begin to figure out 00:14:27:00 - 00:14:31:09 how do we communicate with everybody in a way that they will actually consume 00:14:31:09 - 00:14:34:11 what it is that that we want them to consume For sure. 00:14:34:11 - 00:14:36:15 Because like I said, I can throw out a thousand messages, 00:14:36:15 - 00:14:40:04 but if I'm putting my messages on commercial TV, 00:14:40:17 - 00:14:42:16 you're not ever going to see it right? 00:14:42:16 - 00:14:46:17 And if you're putting everything on Spotify, I might never hear it. 00:14:47:03 - 00:14:50:13 And so where do we go and how do we communicate? 00:14:51:15 - 00:14:54:14 So kind of moving in a new direction here. 00:14:54:20 - 00:14:56:12 There were two recent surveys 00:14:56:12 - 00:15:00:07 that MRA just published in there and this month's talent report, 00:15:00:07 - 00:15:05:00 but it's the Business and Economic Outlook for 2023 in the Turnover survey. 00:15:05:08 - 00:15:07:12 So what was found in these surveys? 00:15:09:10 - 00:15:12:01 I'll go with the second one first because it's easier. 00:15:12:13 - 00:15:14:13 Turnover was up 00:15:14:13 - 00:15:16:19 and it was up in almost every type of job. 00:15:16:19 - 00:15:22:06 It was about 25% this past year, which is what it was last year, 00:15:22:13 - 00:15:26:09 but historically had been more in that 15, 16, 17% range. 00:15:26:09 - 00:15:29:14 So it's still there and it's still going on. 00:15:29:18 - 00:15:35:18 It's much higher at the lower level jobs than it is at the executive jobs. 00:15:36:01 - 00:15:38:16 Executives as low as eight or 9%. 00:15:39:10 - 00:15:42:23 But the people that maybe are in a manufacturing job 00:15:42:23 - 00:15:46:02 that are just starting, it might be as high as 35%. 00:15:46:16 - 00:15:50:18 So the turnover is still there and companies are really trying 00:15:50:18 - 00:15:55:01 to focus on keeping them for that first week and month. 00:15:55:06 - 00:15:57:00 And if they can keep them for that 00:15:57:00 - 00:15:59:00 first week in month, they've got a much better chance. 00:15:59:00 - 00:16:00:15 And so you're seeing a lot of 00:16:00:15 - 00:16:04:12 how do we surround this person with buddies or friends or mentors? 00:16:04:17 - 00:16:06:02 How do we keep in touch with them? 00:16:06:02 - 00:16:07:14 How do we contact them? 00:16:07:14 - 00:16:09:00 And spending a lot of time on that. 00:16:09:00 - 00:16:12:06 But the the turnover is up, I think right now 00:16:12:17 - 00:16:15:17 the employers are a little bit more optimistic that maybe we're going to 00:16:15:17 - 00:16:19:11 stabilize here, that those who are jumping just for money 00:16:19:17 - 00:16:21:06 have perhaps jumped 00:16:21:06 - 00:16:22:06 and others are starting 00:16:22:06 - 00:16:25:14 to look around and say, okay, I've got the wage that I'm looking for. 00:16:25:14 - 00:16:27:18 We always want more, but I'm pretty comfortable. 00:16:28:06 - 00:16:31:22 Now. What I'm looking for is maybe a little more longevity, 00:16:31:22 - 00:16:33:00 a little bit more about 00:16:33:00 - 00:16:36:03 what do you have to offer, a little bit more about my work life balance. 00:16:36:03 - 00:16:38:21 So maybe it's going to start the evening out. 00:16:38:21 - 00:16:39:23 We'll see. 00:16:39:23 - 00:16:43:09 We're still at 2% unemployed moment here in Wisconsin. 00:16:44:01 - 00:16:46:01 We're around under three. 00:16:46:01 - 00:16:50:01 In Minnesota, we're around three in Iowa, a little bit higher in Illinois. 00:16:50:09 - 00:16:52:06 So there's still going to be opportunities for people. 00:16:52:06 - 00:16:55:03 If there's opportunities for people, they're a little bit more likely to move 00:16:55:04 - 00:16:55:18 right in. 00:16:55:18 - 00:16:58:06 How about the business and economic? 00:16:58:12 - 00:17:01:02 The business, an economic one is really fascinating 00:17:01:02 - 00:17:04:01 because I think individually it was in people's companies. 00:17:04:08 - 00:17:07:13 They remained pretty optimistic that if I'm a manager, 00:17:07:13 - 00:17:11:07 I'm a manufacturer, I might have six months backlog. 00:17:11:07 - 00:17:14:21 So I know I've got work that's coming in and people can see that 00:17:15:10 - 00:17:18:13 most of their customers and clients are still doing well. 00:17:18:13 - 00:17:21:19 So they're feeling pretty good about that. 00:17:21:19 - 00:17:24:11 But then you ask them about, well, do you see a recession coming? 00:17:24:12 - 00:17:25:20 You think that's going to happen? 00:17:25:20 - 00:17:30:23 And, you know, over two thirds are saying, yeah, I think we're going to see that. 00:17:30:23 - 00:17:34:09 And then you ask another question, it says, well, then how optimistic are you? 00:17:34:14 - 00:17:39:16 And almost 90% are either very or somewhat optimistic 00:17:39:16 - 00:17:42:15 that their company is going to remain profitable and do all right. 00:17:42:23 - 00:17:46:15 So it's almost like my company's okay, but the rest of the world 00:17:46:15 - 00:17:48:01 is in a lot of trouble. 00:17:48:01 - 00:17:50:12 But there's a lot of people saying, my company is okay. 00:17:50:12 - 00:17:53:14 So if there's enough companies that are saying, I think mine's all right, 00:17:54:01 - 00:17:56:14 maybe we're in better shape than we think. 00:17:57:02 - 00:18:00:17 Now, the Midwest, I think, is very unique because as we've talked 00:18:00:17 - 00:18:04:12 demographics in the past, we were going to have a labor shortage 00:18:04:19 - 00:18:08:18 and we could have some people doing layoffs and still have other companies 00:18:09:03 - 00:18:10:03 who can pick them up. 00:18:10:03 - 00:18:13:19 So to the extent that we're going to keep people employed 00:18:14:05 - 00:18:18:00 in northern Illinois and Iowa and Minnesota and Wisconsin, 00:18:18:08 - 00:18:20:05 that's going to make a difference for us, I think. 00:18:20:05 - 00:18:23:09 And I think it'll make us a little bit more resilient 00:18:23:09 - 00:18:27:23 because those companies optimism means, okay, they're going to be hiring people. 00:18:28:04 - 00:18:30:12 And most are still saying they are looking. 00:18:30:21 - 00:18:35:13 So that that gives us kind of a leg up on maybe we're going to be okay here. 00:18:35:15 - 00:18:36:08 Yeah. 00:18:36:14 - 00:18:41:06 And in terms of C-suite level, what are the leaders really doing now? 00:18:42:07 - 00:18:42:21 They are 00:18:42:21 - 00:18:47:03 you know, they continue to be concerned a little bit about the uncertainty. 00:18:47:03 - 00:18:50:21 And that is one of the things that, you know, if you're a CEO 00:18:50:21 - 00:18:53:02 and you're looking at things, the one thing you want to do 00:18:53:02 - 00:18:55:22 is really be able to control the narrative. 00:18:55:22 - 00:19:00:02 You want to be able to say, look, I, I can control these types of things, 00:19:00:02 - 00:19:03:15 but if you're going to have price increases every two weeks, 00:19:03:23 - 00:19:07:23 yes, the government is going to pass some new compliance law 00:19:07:23 - 00:19:12:21 or they're going to change the way in which they might say we can 00:19:12:22 - 00:19:16:18 We can't have non-compete that changes the way we do things. 00:19:17:03 - 00:19:20:22 There is all kinds of political activity out there. 00:19:20:22 - 00:19:23:13 There is world affairs going on. 00:19:23:19 - 00:19:27:00 So all of those things combined, you start adding five 00:19:27:00 - 00:19:29:11 or six or seven or eight of these together and it's kind of like, 00:19:30:04 - 00:19:32:04 you know, let me control what I can control. 00:19:32:04 - 00:19:34:22 I can hire people, I can improve my processes. 00:19:35:03 - 00:19:38:09 But you're throwing all these other things at me and that's caused me 00:19:38:17 - 00:19:39:18 quite a bit of strife. 00:19:39:18 - 00:19:43:01 So I think that that's that's an issue for them. 00:19:43:12 - 00:19:47:05 They understand the talent issue for sure, and they continue to be concerned 00:19:47:05 - 00:19:47:17 about that. 00:19:47:17 - 00:19:50:15 And I think they're spending a little bit more time with their HR. 00:19:50:15 - 00:19:53:01 Department saying, you know, what do we do about this? 00:19:54:00 - 00:19:57:01 And in my presentations, i often say, well, 00:19:57:01 - 00:20:00:03 you know, the problem looks an awful lot like me, that there's a lot of people 00:20:00:03 - 00:20:04:01 that are, you know, 60 some years old, have been doing this for a long time. 00:20:04:01 - 00:20:07:17 And they're saying all these young people, you know what's coming in here, 00:20:07:22 - 00:20:09:18 How do we get them to be more motivated? 00:20:09:18 - 00:20:13:14 And I would argue that I think they're motivated as I've ever been. 00:20:13:14 - 00:20:17:08 It's just we're looking at digging into the the 2%, 00:20:17:08 - 00:20:21:05 which I think unemployment was 7% when I was looking for my first job. 00:20:21:12 - 00:20:23:15 So there's 200 people applying for every job. 00:20:23:15 - 00:20:24:23 I pick the best one. 00:20:24:23 - 00:20:28:07 You're walking around saying, I got five people who want me to come work for them. 00:20:28:15 - 00:20:30:03 I can pick whichever one I want. 00:20:30:03 - 00:20:33:19 So that's a that's just a very different world. 00:20:33:23 - 00:20:34:15 Absolutely. 00:20:34:15 - 00:20:37:19 And I think they're pushing their HR. 00:20:37:19 - 00:20:42:13 Departments very hard on especially going back to this emerging leader thing. 00:20:42:20 - 00:20:44:01 What should we be doing? 00:20:44:01 - 00:20:48:10 The mentoring, the reverse mentoring, the helping them with assessments 00:20:48:10 - 00:20:52:06 of personalities and assessments of communication styles, 00:20:52:18 - 00:20:56:00 getting them into team building and cross-functional teams, 00:20:56:00 - 00:21:02:01 putting the high potentials on our Strat planning group, giving them opportunities 00:21:02:01 - 00:21:06:02 to see this is where I can be a bigger part of this organization. 00:21:06:02 - 00:21:08:17 If I know I'm a part of it, I'm going to stay in. 00:21:08:17 - 00:21:11:18 If I see opportunities, then we'll be much better off. 00:21:12:07 - 00:21:14:13 So I think at this point everybody's figured out who we can hang on to, 00:21:14:14 - 00:21:16:19 people we don't have to be looking for as many people. 00:21:16:19 - 00:21:18:07 So that's 00:21:19:06 - 00:21:21:10 that's sort of where folks are at and saying, yeah, 00:21:21:15 - 00:21:25:01 let's let's keep the ones we get because we spent a lot of money time 00:21:25:01 - 00:21:26:09 trying to get them. Yeah. 00:21:26:09 - 00:21:29:00 And how about for HR. Strategies? 00:21:29:00 - 00:21:32:15 What are you seeing for creative strategies wise? 00:21:32:20 - 00:21:35:10 You know, i think the most creative one that I got 00:21:36:03 - 00:21:38:15 this time around from one of my roundtables. 00:21:38:15 - 00:21:42:13 It was a smaller rural town, but it was a company that had changed 00:21:42:13 - 00:21:45:18 their name, wasn't necessarily 00:21:45:18 - 00:21:49:16 delivering a product direct to consumer where you'd say, 00:21:49:16 - 00:21:52:08 Oh, I recognize that it's Coca-Cola, you know, I get it. 00:21:52:23 - 00:21:55:17 And they were they've been recruiting and are trying to find people 00:21:55:17 - 00:21:57:00 and there's just not that many people. 00:21:57:00 - 00:21:59:07 And a lot of folks are, you know, stealing from each other. 00:22:00:01 - 00:22:02:03 And they decided it 00:22:02:16 - 00:22:05:06 really as an effort to try to get their name back out there 00:22:05:06 - 00:22:09:00 and remind people that they were in town, basically held a community event. 00:22:09:10 - 00:22:11:23 And it was just sort of like a community fair. 00:22:12:05 - 00:22:14:18 They had games for the kids. 00:22:14:18 - 00:22:18:12 They had, you know, drink tickets, they had a tent. 00:22:18:20 - 00:22:22:17 They had all kinds of fun activities for people to do and just said, come on in. 00:22:22:17 - 00:22:26:03 We want to celebrate the community and we'll see what happens now. 00:22:27:00 - 00:22:29:10 And then near the where the drink tickets were, 00:22:29:11 - 00:22:30:14 they had set up a booth 00:22:30:14 - 00:22:33:02 that just explained who their company was and what they did. 00:22:33:02 - 00:22:35:19 And you know, they had job applications there as well. 00:22:36:11 - 00:22:40:12 And what they found was, one, people didn't know they were there and they were 00:22:40:12 - 00:22:43:11 picking up brochures and saying, Wow, this is really interesting. 00:22:43:11 - 00:22:48:02 But they also got 25 employees out of the deal from the applications 00:22:48:02 - 00:22:49:09 that were picked up here. 00:22:49:09 - 00:22:52:23 And these weren't even necessarily people that were looking, but they saw it. 00:22:52:23 - 00:22:55:01 They came to a place that was fun. 00:22:55:01 - 00:22:58:17 They saw the employees that were there and they were having fun and looked like 00:22:58:17 - 00:23:00:07 they were committed to the company. 00:23:00:07 - 00:23:03:11 And if you ask them about it, I would say you know, good thing. 00:23:03:11 - 00:23:04:00 Yeah. 00:23:04:01 - 00:23:06:22 And this is a company that puts out activities like this. 00:23:06:22 - 00:23:08:18 This all sounds pretty good to me. 00:23:08:18 - 00:23:13:18 And just based on their experience there that day and talking to their employees, 00:23:14:06 - 00:23:17:03 they got 25 new employees out of it 00:23:17:11 - 00:23:20:17 at a time when they'd been spending thousands on advertising 00:23:20:17 - 00:23:23:23 and using recruiters and maybe getting two or three. 00:23:24:15 - 00:23:28:21 So almost by accident, but outside the box time. 00:23:29:10 - 00:23:32:06 So so I would say that that was probably 00:23:32:06 - 00:23:35:06 the most creative one on Newcastle on in the last month. 00:23:35:11 - 00:23:37:17 That sounds creative. Ended up 00:23:38:20 - 00:23:39:16 well for that one. 00:23:39:16 - 00:23:39:21 Yeah. 00:23:39:21 - 00:23:42:12 All worked out well and I might have another one. 00:23:43:14 - 00:23:46:16 Or as we kind of wrap up here, there's a lot of changes 00:23:46:16 - 00:23:51:02 happening in the workforce and a lot of those hard population. 00:23:51:02 - 00:23:55:09 So can you talk about the change in population over the last ten years 00:23:55:09 - 00:23:57:16 and how that's really affected the workforce? 00:23:57:22 - 00:24:01:01 Yeah, you know, if you look around and I've mentioned this 00:24:01:01 - 00:24:04:06 before, the the Northeast and the upper Midwest 00:24:04:19 - 00:24:09:04 are sort of the places where that is now where people are moving to. 00:24:09:05 - 00:24:13:11 And so without that migration that's been that's a problem. 00:24:13:11 - 00:24:16:09 And so good news over the last ten years. 00:24:16:18 - 00:24:21:13 We saw growth in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Illinois 00:24:21:20 - 00:24:27:09 between three and 5%, which isn't great, but at least it's growth. 00:24:28:05 - 00:24:30:07 Illinois is is struggling. 00:24:30:07 - 00:24:32:19 It's one of the biggest migration out states. 00:24:32:19 - 00:24:35:13 So they they have their own set of issues. 00:24:36:00 - 00:24:38:15 But before everybody gets too excited about plus three or four 00:24:38:15 - 00:24:42:23 or 5%, the digging into the numbers is really the key. 00:24:42:23 - 00:24:47:23 And that grows in three, four, 5% are all working age people. 00:24:47:23 - 00:24:51:19 In fact, very few of them are in the working age population. 00:24:52:12 - 00:24:56:13 More of them are going to be near the retirement age side of things. 00:24:56:13 - 00:24:57:02 And so 00:24:59:05 - 00:25:01:03 it could be worse. 00:25:01:08 - 00:25:03:18 But most of the states, especially when you go south 00:25:03:18 - 00:25:06:03 and when you go west, are having more growth. 00:25:06:03 - 00:25:08:23 And that most of it is around hotspots. 00:25:08:23 - 00:25:12:05 So when you see the Portland's in the Denver's in the Carolinas 00:25:12:05 - 00:25:15:18 and Austin, Texas, that's where people are going 00:25:16:12 - 00:25:20:06 and we don't necessarily have one of those in several states. 00:25:20:14 - 00:25:21:13 Minneapolis St. 00:25:21:13 - 00:25:23:16 Paul is a draw, it's a hub, 00:25:25:06 - 00:25:27:17 but that's really about the only one for Minnesota. 00:25:27:22 - 00:25:29:05 Milwaukee's trying hard. 00:25:29:05 - 00:25:31:02 Madison's doing a good job, 00:25:31:02 - 00:25:34:21 but they still don't compete with that sort of national buzz 00:25:35:04 - 00:25:38:21 about some of those other places where you might just say, 00:25:38:21 - 00:25:41:05 That looks like a cool place and that's where I'm going. 00:25:41:05 - 00:25:43:07 I'll find a job, I'll figure it out when I get there, 00:25:43:18 - 00:25:46:23 because you can do that because you know that there will be a job there right now. 00:25:47:10 - 00:25:49:18 Well, looking to the future a little bit, 00:25:49:18 - 00:25:53:07 can you give us a sneak peek on April's talent report? 00:25:53:13 - 00:25:55:23 Yeah, we're going to be looking at employee engagement, 00:25:56:09 - 00:25:58:19 and that's I know others have talked about here. 00:25:58:19 - 00:26:02:20 Last year was a really big let's go recruit, recruit recruiting fruit. 00:26:03:05 - 00:26:05:03 And I think people are going to keep doing that. 00:26:05:03 - 00:26:08:08 But in the process of doing that, you started realizing, well, 00:26:08:08 - 00:26:13:03 if I've got to recruit 20 and ten others leave, I'm only up ten. 00:26:13:03 - 00:26:14:21 And so I got to keep recruiting, recruiting. 00:26:14:21 - 00:26:19:01 So I think people are looking more at retention and we'll have Lisa Poulin, 00:26:19:09 - 00:26:20:09 who does a lot 00:26:20:09 - 00:26:24:18 of our organizational development work, talking about some of the assessments 00:26:24:18 - 00:26:27:09 you can use and trying to make sure that people are happy. 00:26:27:09 - 00:26:28:10 Employee engagement 00:26:28:10 - 00:26:32:20 surveys, finding out what's on their mind, and then trying to figure out, you know, 00:26:32:20 - 00:26:34:10 what are the benefits and what's the culture 00:26:34:10 - 00:26:36:16 and what's the structure we've got of the organization 00:26:37:01 - 00:26:39:11 that's going to have those people stay with us for the long term? 00:26:39:11 - 00:26:43:08 Because the longer that they're, the more they know and the more we need a great. 00:26:43:08 - 00:26:45:15 While looking forward to it. Yeah, I do. 00:26:45:15 - 00:26:50:05 Any other last pieces of advice or lasting comments on. 00:26:50:05 - 00:26:50:22 Sure. 00:26:51:00 - 00:26:54:08 I think people do that and just, you know, dig in and keep fighting. 00:26:55:06 - 00:26:57:05 I think the creativity is going to be key. 00:26:57:05 - 00:26:59:11 It's just, you know, it's the party. 00:26:59:11 - 00:27:03:07 It's figuring out what's the niche group that we want to go after. 00:27:03:07 - 00:27:05:23 It's finding a new place to go look for people. 00:27:06:20 - 00:27:07:22 It's not going to end. 00:27:07:22 - 00:27:10:01 And so people are going to have to just keep working at it. 00:27:10:01 - 00:27:11:11 And that's exhausting. 00:27:11:11 - 00:27:12:18 I'm sorry about that. 00:27:12:18 - 00:27:16:10 But the creative ones are winning and they're successful. 00:27:16:10 - 00:27:19:23 Yeah, well, I want to thank you for being on 30 minute Thrive today 00:27:19:23 - 00:27:22:22 and really sharing this month's talent report with us. 00:27:23:06 - 00:27:27:09 So if you liked our chat and topic today, make sure you share it with episode. 00:27:27:09 - 00:27:28:06 Leave a comment, 00:27:28:06 - 00:27:32:07 leave a review, Consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. 00:27:32:12 - 00:27:35:04 We have all the resources you need in the show Notes below, 00:27:35:13 - 00:27:38:18 including Jim's bio, his LinkedIn profile. 00:27:38:18 - 00:27:43:03 So if you want to get in touch with him, I'm sure he'll be happy to chat with you. 00:27:43:15 - 00:27:44:06 Otherwise. 00:27:44:06 - 00:27:47:18 Thank you for tuning in today and we will see you next week. 00:27:47:18 - 00:27:50:13 And that wraps up our content for this episode. 00:27:50:14 - 00:27:53:18 Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect. 00:27:53:18 - 00:27:55:09 For more podcast updates, 00:27:55:09 - 00:27:59:05 check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:27:59:05 - 00:28:04:04 And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes Thrive so you don't miss out. 00:28:04:04 - 00:28:05:06 Thanks for tuning in 00:28:05:06 - 00:28:08:18 and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.    

Description: Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies covers the February edition of MRA's Talent Report. If you aren't familiar with the monthly Talent Report, Jim Morgan gives an up-to-the-minute review of what is going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent, which is based on input from CEOs, CFOs, and HR leaders from MRA's 3,000+ member companies, 1,000 roundtable participants, and subject matter experts! Key Takeaways: To attract talent, more companies are investing in producing and publicizing videos on their websites to have in their career section As employers develop new and emerging leaders, they are focusing on emotional intelligence, the ability to set clear expectations, assigning responsibility, supervisory skills, and the ability to execute effective performance reviews. HR Departments are using more metrics to demonstrate the time, effort and cost that go into hiring a new employee.  Resources: Talent Report + Webinar Series   Talent Report + February 2023  MRA Membership  About MRA  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler 

Often we hear of mass shooters taking their lives in the wake of a rampage to avoid being killed by cops or going to jail. But far more often, instances of murder-suicide are intimate and personal. In this week's case, we discuss the murders of Mitra Mehrabadi, James 'JJ' Hurtado, and Lisa Stevie Haynes and the deaths of Jim Morgan, Kenneth Valdez, Jason Huston, and Terry Daniel. For photos and sources for today's episode, check out the Murder in the Rain Episode Blog. Episode Host: Josh McCulloughIf you'd like more episodes of Murder in the rain, Patreon members at the $5/mo+ level, gain access to exclusive episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus content, and more.Follow us on:Instagram https://www.instagram.com/murderintherain/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mintherain/Twitter https://twitter.com/murderintherainTikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@em_murderintherainWebsite https://www.murderintherain.com/Email murderintherain@gmail.comOur Sponsors:* Check out Factor 75 and use my code rain50 for a great deal: https://www.factor75.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/murder-in-the-rain/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Description: MRA's Talent Report is an up-to-the-minute review of what is going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent. This month, MRA's Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Strategies, and Alicia Kiser, VP of HR of member company M3 Insurance, cover recruiting & retention innovation, talent thinking, HR creativity, and more. Key Takeaways: Work/life balance: Are your people “blenders” – those preferring a work-life blend, or “splitters” – those who prefer work and life to be separated entirely? “Talent Mobility”: Enabling employees to move within the organization is becoming an area of emphasis for many employers With the varying generations in the workplace, HR professionals are spending more time helping with communications including coaching people to avoid statements like “all young people…” or “all old people…” Resources: Become an MRA Member! Talent Report + Webinar Series  Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Alicia Kiser Guest LinkedIn Profile - Alicia Kiser  Guest Bio - Jim Morgan  Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan  Host Bio - Sophie Boler  Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler    Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03 Intro Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now it's time to THRIVE.   00:00:23:14 - 00:00:50:16 Sophie Boler Hello everybody. Thanks for taking the time to spend part of your day with us. I'm excited to introduce our topic and our two guests for today. We're going to be covering how to leverage HR for critical business decisions. So we'll be talking about the current best practices for HR and building strategy. So good thing I have two experts here with me today to really debrief this topic.   00:00:50:23 - 00:01:19:06 Sophie Boler And that is Alicia Kiser, vice president of human resources at member company M3 Insurance, and MRA's Jim Morgan, vice president of workforce strategies. So Jim and Alicia really make a strong duo for today's episode, really based on their expertise and HR background. Alicia  started at M3 insurance as an HR business partner back in 2011 and has climbed the ladder to VP of HR, where she is now.   00:01:19:06 - 00:01:48:05 Sophie Boler And Jim Morgan has an extensive background in business development, HR strategic planning, and he's a keynote speaker on those topics, most recently being on his monthly Talent Report+ webinar. So he'll be sharing some ideas from that as well. So I'm excited to talk to you two today. Thanks for being on the show. I want to really kick off our conversation today with what's happening in the recruiting and retention world.   00:01:48:18 - 00:01:53:05 Sophie Boler So, Jim, do you want to start us off with what innovations you're seeing here?   00:01:53:18 - 00:02:20:14 Jim Morgan Sure. And I'll back it up just a little bit with the Talent Report, because this was something that we started putting together for our 3,000 member companies. One of the values of that and one of the things we can bring back to our members is having the chance to steal some best practices from different organizations. And M3 being one of those leaders who shares what they're doing and some of the ways they're getting around some things to be more effective than the ways they used to do it.   00:02:21:02 - 00:02:44:07 Jim Morgan So we really are, we put the Talent Report webinar together to talk about what's timely, what's happening now, what are the best practices. And so the thoughts and ideas that I'm going to share with you are, you know, this is what we're hearing right now, this is what some of the companies are doing. And Alicia will be able to dig into that a little bit deeper and talk specifically from a company's point of view, some of the things that that they're doing.   00:02:44:07 - 00:03:02:13 Jim Morgan So in the last month, here's a couple of things that we heard in the whole recruiting and retention area. One of the most fascinating things that I found was there was a survey done by Gallup and they were looking at how people manage work-life balance. And they found they really fell into two groups of people that they called splitters and blenders.   00:03:02:22 - 00:03:19:17 Jim Morgan And the splitters were the people that were able to just divide their world, like, “Look, I'm working from 8 until 5 and then I get home and that's it. Now I'm on life balance time,” and others that were more blenders that were like, look, I'm working and I'm, you know, and I'm doing my life at the same time.   00:03:20:03 - 00:03:47:09 Jim Morgan And what was interesting is some of it fell by industry and some of it fell by job type. But the one that was the most interesting to me is when you got into people that were managers of people, it was almost a 50/50 split between blenders and splitters, which I found interesting. But the point in the whole thing was you need to know whether your people are blenders or splitters when you're talking about benefits. You might be giving more hours and that's not what somebody wants.   00:03:47:09 – 00:04:13:06 Jim Morgan Or you might say, “You can leave a little bit early” and they're like, “I don't leave early. I never leave. I'm always working,” and truly understanding how your people are managing. That whole work-life balance really made a difference. The second one that we learned a little bit about was just everybody's focused on learning. And I know Alicia can talk about this and the learning development they do at M3, but companies are really now starting to say, Look, we have to have somebody in charge of this.   00:04:13:06 - 00:04:55:17 Jim Morgan We can't accidentally do our learning and development here. It's got to be more conscientious. It's got to be more specific, and especially with a lot of the younger workers, that career path and development is really a big deal for them. And the last one that we spent some time on was when I called “catch 'em young.” And I think manufacturers have done this for a long time, going back to when the skill sets of skilled technology people, skilled tradespeople, carpentry, masonry, IT, things like that, they weren't finding the people they needed, that they realized that they had to really go back, almost into the middle schools, and start saying, these are jobs that are available.   00:04:55:17 - 00:05:30:07 Jim Morgan So don't rule them out because people have said certain things. And then in high school, getting on the advisory councils for the tech department and making sure people know and at the tech colleges and universities and there we've seen just a huge growth in co-ops, youth apprenticeships and internships that companies are starting to realize that we gotta be the first ones to get in there and find these kids and university students and young adults, and not wait until they're 18, 22, 23, because by then everybody's looking for them.   00:05:30:15 - 00:05:42:10 Jim Morgan So just the strategies that companies are starting to put into place now that say this talent supply chain starts much earlier than the age of 20, and we've got to figure out how to get in there a little bit quicker.   00:05:42:10 - 00:05:58:23 Sophie Boler Absolutely. It's kind of crazy to think that companies are targeting as young as middle school. It just sounds crazy, but that's what's happening. Alicia, Jim mentioned about work-life balance, so I'm curious to know what M3 is doing around work-life balance for your employees.   00:06:00:08 - 00:06:22:07 Alicia Kiser Yeah, absolutely. But first of all, Jim, I need you to send me that report on blenders and splitters. That's fascinating. I'm definitely not a blender. I'm a splitter. If you're a  splitter and you have a team of blenders, I could certainly see how that would bring about some conflict. I think that's really fascinating and a great topic for us to plug into.   00:06:22:07 - 00:06:46:12 Alicia Kiser So kind of in that vein, you know, work-life balance—so we, M3 has chosen to have a hybrid approach to where people work. So what that means for us is that we, and we actually kind of branded this, right, so we could help people understand it with a nice flashy one-pager and did some all-company meetings about it.   00:06:46:12 - 00:07:17:03 Alicia Kiser But what that means to us, what hybrid means to us, is that the office is primary and from there we just ask M3ers to work with their team to figure out when and how often they're in the office versus not in the office. And to us not in the office could mean working from home, but for us, because we are, really revolve around our clients that could also be in the marketplace meeting with prospects and clients in the marketplace.   00:07:17:03 - 00:07:39:17 Alicia Kiser And so and for us, it's really not about butts in seats. I like to talk about that because I think there's a difference in an organization's posture, if you're talking about butts in seats versus being in the office for the right reasons. And we went so far as to define here are some specific instances where we feel like being in the office is a must.   00:07:39:22 - 00:08:15:18 Alicia Kiser So when you're onboarding a new person to your team, when you're having performance issues or communications within your team, you know, during, we are we're in the insurance industry. And so there are certain times of the year where being on the same page and collaborating and connecting is extremely important, maybe more than others. And there are many, many others, but we want to define what are those kind of moments that matter, where being together, physically together is super advantageous and really help   00:08:16:17 - 00:08:18:10 Alicia Kiser M3 stand apart from the rest.   00:08:18:18 - 00:08:36:02 Sophie Boler So I mean, you just mentioned being a hybrid workforce, which is great. So can you dive in a little bit deeper on how you're really handling that to ensure that all your employees, your customers, and M3's needs are being met?   00:08:36:02 - 00:09:10:06 Alicia Kiser Yeah. So: trust. We are not tracking fob swipes or we don't have someone walking around taking attendance every day. We work really hard in whatever we roll out not to manage to the exception. I think it's easy to think about, well, what about, you know, all these people that are going to take advantage of us and, you know, do 2-hour lunches in the middle of the day or do their laundry while they're working from home, and we try to really kind of center around let's not manage to the exception.   00:09:10:23 - 00:09:44:10 Alicia Kiser Let's focus on the majority and deal with the exception as it comes up. And so that's our philosophy around the hybrid work, the hybrid workforce, but just generally most things  at M3. And I think that that bodes well for us from a recruitment and retention perspective. The hybrid, as we've been recruiting, we've had a lot of success in bringing people onto our team whose companies have said, Hey, we aren't going to come into the office until we don't know when.   00:09:44:10 - 00:10:08:23 Alicia Kiser We've also had a lot of success in hiring and bringing people onto the team whose companies have said, like, Hey, we want you to be in the office, butts in seats, every day because of our approach. And I would say as the weeks and the months go on, I am seeing more and more people in the office because I think the kind of excitement or novelty around working from home is wearing off a little bit.   00:10:09:12 - 00:10:16:22 Alicia Kiser But just to have the option and feel like you have the freedom to make a choice, of course, in working with your team, I think goes a long way.   00:10:17:12 - 00:10:39:18 Sophie Boler Oh, absolutely. And I like how you brought up the whole trust aspect because that is so important. I mean, some employees, like we've seen, Jim, they like to work at 9:00, 10:00 at night, and you almost just have to put that trust into them, like they're getting their work done when they feel most productive. And that might mean working at different times depending on the employee.   00:10:40:04 - 00:10:41:12 Alicia Kiser So the blenders, right, Jim?   00:10:41:12 - 00:10:47:01 Jim Morgan Yeah, the I get at 3:00 in the morning are the ones I don't respond to.   00:10:47:12 - 00:10:50:08 Alicia Kiser Yeah. So you're, you're not a blender then.   00:10:50:08 - 00:10:53:06 Jim Morgan I think I am just not between 1 in the morning and 5.   00:10:55:01 – 00:10:55:22 Alicia Kiser There are boundaries.   00:10:56:08 – 00:11:09:18 Sophie Boler I would say I'm a blender, but. Well, moving on, another topic that I'd really like to discuss is what's going on in the talent world. So, Jim, do you want to talk a little bit about what you've been seeing here?   00:11:09:18 – 00:11:39:23 Jim Morgan Yeah, we had three things that we discussed in the Talent Report. The first one was the imposter syndrome, and that was the title that's been given to the 2 years of COVID for employees and college students. And really what it relates to is if you think about those students that lost their junior and senior year in college and what happened in those 2 years, or you think about the people who came out right before the pandemic and their first 2 years of work   00:11:40:09 – 00:11:58:03 Jim Morgan were right in the middle of COVID, that they missed out on a whole bunch of experiences. You know, for the kids in college, that's where you sometimes get your internships. You get to go work for people. You didn't have those opportunities. For those that had started work, you know, how do you figure out the culture? How do you figure out who your mentors are?   00:11:58:04 – 00:12:19:16 Jim Morgan Who do you get to go talk to when you've got questions? Those things got disrupted and companies are now starting to realize things got missed during those couple of years and we may have to back up a little bit and say, you know what, We didn't really get a chance to onboard them the way we like to onboard them or set things up the way we like to because we just couldn't because of the circumstances.   00:12:20:00 – 00:12:42:15 Jim Morgan And so that's been an emphasis for some companies now to say what got missed out on and what blanks do we have to fill in now. Somewhat related to that was one that I called “Got Onboarding?” kind of after the “Got Milk?” campaign. But the whole onboarding process as companies now are moving from the, just the endless search for new employees and recruiting—   00:12:42:16 - 00:13:05:10 Jim Morgan We got to find 10 more and then 10 more and then 10 more—stopping now and saying, well, that's part of it. But once we get 'em, we got to figure out how to keep 'em. And that first week, month, 6 months of the job is just so critical. And so just like in the learning and development area, companies are now looking at onboarding and saying, we really need somebody to look at this strategically.   00:13:05:10 - 00:13:26:12 Jim Morgan Not we got to check these seven boxes, but at the end of it, are people feeling welcome? Do they have a feel for the company and the culture? Is this a place they want to come back to? And I was in M3e just a week ago, and Sean LaBorde, the president, was saying, “You know, we're trying to be a magnet for people,” which I found really interesting, that we want to have spaces   00:13:26:12 - 00:13:56:03 Jim Morgan they want to come to and they want to have conversations they want to be a part of, and then they'll want to be here. And I think that's another part of this whole onboarding and building that culture is creating a spot that's inviting and that that's a place that I do want to be. And then lastly, a discussion on talent  mobility and again, trying to hang on to people and looking at it from, you know, some companies are very passive and they say, Wow, Sophie's a great employee.   00:13:56:09 - 00:14:12:11 Jim Morgan We should figure out how to make her happy and keep her. And they just look at Sophie and say, Wow, we can give her an opportunity here or have her do this and have her do that. And it's a great plan for you to hopefully help you understand your mobility within the organization and your chance to rise in it.   00:14:12:21 - 00:14:31:22 Jim Morgan But it's not really active for the organization. It's not the organization saying, well, not just Sophie, let's find all of our high performers. Let's find everybody and see how do we move them, how do we give them different opportunities, whether it's lateral or up and down. And so then we get into, okay, let's be more active about it.   00:14:31:22 - 00:14:53:14 Jim Morgan Let's put a plan in place that gives people opportunities to figure out what they want to do. And then leading up to ultimately, how do we make this strategic? How is this mobility part of our succession planning of making sure we've always got the next person up so they can get their job done? And talking with companies about where are you with that.   00:14:53:14 - 00:15:13:07 Jim Morgan Because traditionally or historically, I think it's been more of a, well we find a person, let's make sure we hang on to them versus an organization-wide opportunity to say strategically, we've got to look at people and figure out how can we keep moving them up in over 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and no longer have it be:   00:15:13:13 – 00:15:36:13 Jim Morgan “Well, Alicia, if you stay here for 27 years, here's the opportunity for you to maybe move up a little bit”. So a lot of work on talent, mobility and helping both the employee find their niche and what's going on and the employer making sure that they're not only have the butt in the seat, but that they've got the right people in the right seats so they can be as effective as they possibly can be.   00:15:37:11 – 00:15:48:11 Sophie Boler I love that example, Jim. And just talking about talent mobility, Alicia, is that really a thing at M3? And if it is, what have you really implemented around this?   00:15:49:19 - 00:16:16:01 Alicia Kiser Yeah, so I'm a huge fan of this topic. I actually started my career at a very, very large organization in a role, like a leadership development type program where every 18 months we rotated from one kind of department or discipline to the next, like think operations, HR,, logistics, customer service and while working for a very, very large organization wasn't my cup of tea— 00:16:16:07 - 00:16:51:00 Alicia Kiser I'm certainly happier at a midsized organization—I learned a lot. I would never take that experience back and, you know, the reason why is because I think that it really helps you understand, it helps you build your business acumen. It helps you learn about each of the functions of an organization in that particular industry and in that particular organization and the different levers that can be pulled to produce certain outcomes within that organization or that industry.   00:16:51:09 - 00:17:26:16 Alicia Kiser And without getting the perspective from lots of different disciplines, it's not as easy to do that. And I also think it helps you appreciate what your team, what your peers and coworkers are doing every day. And I think it allows you to have more empathy but just work better together on the softer side of things. And so specific to M3, I would say we are kind of in the early stages of this or working to find more opportunities to infuse talent, mobility, into our development efforts and into our roles.   00:17:27:00 - 00:18:07:17 Alicia Kiser Right now we are absolutely doing it with our internship program, kind of our sales accelerator and sales development program. And, you know, per the reasons that I cited and why I think it's so valuable, we're certainly seeing, you know, those, that work pay off in those particular roles. The other thing that we've done to your comment, Jim, about college students who have lost their junior and senior years potentially entering the workforce: So in our internship program, I mean, we rotate and give them exposure to the different parts of M3.   00:18:07:17 - 00:18:32:03 Alicia Kiser But we also started to partner with our insurance companies that we partner with. M3 is a broker. So we work with hundreds of different insurance companies and you know, those who have offices where we have offices, we've done intern swaps, and that is a fan favorite amongst our interns and interns from our carrier partners, because again, it gives you different perspective.   00:18:32:03 - 00:18:51:21 Alicia Kiser And I think our perspective and our career partners perspective has been, you know, because one could say, well, what if they like that internship program better than this one? It's like, well, we're you know, the rising tide floats all boats, right? We're gaining exposure and excitement and engagement throughout the industry. And, you know, we'll all win in that way.   00:18:51:21 - 00:18:55:14 Sophie Boler Mm. I love that example of intern swapping.   00:18:56:13 - 00:19:02:17 Alicia Kiser It was it's fun. And we're just because it is such a fan favorite looking for more opportunities to do things like that.   00:19:03:04 - 00:19:20:23 Sophie Boler Oh yeah. And even when I was younger or in college, job shadowing companies in their different departments was something I loved to do, to just get exposure of what each department is doing. And then I could find what I like doing and carry on from there.   00:19:20:23 - 00:19:38:08 Alicia Kiser Yeah, as a young person, you kind of know what you want to do, but until you gain those experiences, I don't think you really know and you're secretly building up this business acumen that will for sure to your advantage in the future that you're not even aware of at that time for sure.   00:19:38:11 - 00:19:55:05 Sophie Boler Absolutely. Well, you know, more than ever, we've seen businesses needing to pull together some creative plans when it comes to some of the topics that we've discussed today. So, Jim, I'm curious to know some of the top creative HR strategies that you've been seeing.   00:19:56:08 - 00:20:04:06 Jim Morgan Well, first I have to react to when the host of the show who I think is, you know, in her mid- to early 20 says, “When I was young ...”   00:20:06:05 - 00:20:07:05 Sophie Boler I knew you would say something!   00:20:10:17 - 00:20:36:07 Jim Morgan In the creativity area, a couple of things are happening. We have a lot of companies, especially manufacturers, that English is not the first language for a lot of their workers. And so companies have been spending a lot of time on helping those employees learn English as a second language. But now we're seeing it work the other way, too, and expectations of supervisors and managers to learn the language of the people who are working for them.   00:20:36:07 - 00:20:57:09 Jim Morgan And they're sort of looking at this as if we come at it from both sides, we're going to improve the communications one way or another. And so we've got a lot of people becoming bilingual, both as the worker and as the supervisor, as they try to figure out ways to make sure everybody is communicating as accurately and easily as possible.   00:20:57:09 - 00:21:18:10 Jim Morgan I had an interesting experience in a manufacturing facility where they're always trying to motivate the people that are running their machines, helping them know that, you know, the value they bring to the organization, which is fantastic. And also trying to subtly remind them occasionally that this is a $27 million machine you're running here. So let's make sure, you know, we're taking good care of it.   00:21:19:00 - 00:21:39:02 Jim Morgan And they had actually put the price tag of each machine right on the machine, saying that this lathe is worth this much money or this manufacturing piece is worth this many million dollars. And they said they do it as a way of saying to the people who are operating them, we've put this much trust in you, that we think that this is fantastic.   00:21:39:02 - 00:22:12:02 Jim Morgan You're a skilled operator and that's wonderful. At the same time, you know, saying let's not get sloppy here because there's a lot at stake. And sometimes people sort of take that for granted. Now that I just made fun of you as a young person, generational diversity is one that we're seeing, you know, popping up more in everyone's diversity, equity and inclusion, especially as we have a whole bunch of younger people coming in and a pretty big generation of people still there but on their way out and the HR   00:22:12:02 - 00:22:31:22 Jim Morgan people really having to spend more time with people helping them understand that sentences start with, “Well, you've been here so long, you probably don't know that” or “You just got here. You'll eventually figure it out.” That you know, the harm that's done in a lot of these assumptions of saying, “Well, you've only been here for 2 years, what could you possibly know?”   00:22:32:08 - 00:22:59:21 Jim Morgan And one example here where someone said, Yeah, somebody just said to me, “Well once you've been here longer you'll figure it out.” And your reaction to that is, “Why would you have me figure it out over the next 5 years and keep making the same mistakes? Why don't you just tell me what you know and we can both learn, you know, together,” that there's a lot of things that are kind of taken for granted in the age compartment that, “Oh, that's just a joke” or this “Everybody understands that, you know,”—not so much.   00:23:00:05 - 00:23:25:03 Jim Morgan And so as the generations have very different communication styles, very different ways of communicating, very different life experiences, more time being spent on helping, you know, millennials and Zers understand boomers and Xers and everything in between that we've all done different things. We all bring great assets to the organization. And some of the stereotypes are in the way of that.   00:23:25:03 - 00:23:54:04 Jim Morgan So spending a little bit more time on generational diversity. And then one last one that we had is people have been churning folks like crazy. And an HR department was having a hard time explaining to people that when we get these people in and they stay for 3 weeks and they walk out the door, that's a lot of time and effort wasted, and trying to develop a corporate strategy that says this is HR and the recruiters and the hiring managers and the other people that they work with.   00:23:54:04 - 00:24:14:07 Jim Morgan All of them have to do this together in order for us to hang on to these people. And so they decided to use an all-staff meeting as an example. And they had churned about 30 percent of their people in the past year. So they had talked to 30 people in advance and they got up and said, We're trying to visualize here how much work we're doing, trying to hang on to people.   00:24:14:15 - 00:24:43:17 Jim Morgan And so we're going to give you an example right now of this is how many people walked out the door in the last year and 30 percent of the audience, which was about 100 people, got up and walked out of the all-staff meeting to try to help visualize for people: Do you see how much work this is? And so that was their creative way of saying it is kind of everybody's job and we would really like your help because otherwise we have to go fill those hundred jobs who just walked out the door in the last 35 seconds.   00:24:44:00 - 00:24:48:11 Jim Morgan So I thought that one was a pretty creative way for people to try to get everybody on board.   00:24:48:20 - 00:25:06:07 Sophie Boler Yeah, that is a creative way to show the impact. So Jim talked about generational diversity here. Alicia, how is M3 really handling diversity, equity and inclusions in general and how are you dealing with the whole generational diversity specifically?   00:25:08:01 - 00:25:44:03 Alicia Kiser Yeah, it's certainly ongoing. And I will say we are definitely not an expert in the space, but man, are we grinding. And so I actually co-lead, we have a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, which is a cross-functional group of some leaders, some individual contributors from across the organization, from all of our offices. I work with our CEO to put a strategic plan, if you will, together around diversity, equity, inclusion.   00:25:45:05 - 00:26:38:21 Alicia Kiser And our committee is charged with education and awareness. But we really look for our leadership team to be accountable for and live out within their respective areas, helping M3 move the needle on all things diversity, equity and inclusion. And it's been fun to see how, as we kind of, I recently saw a continuum of an organization's DEI efforts from compliance to committee to leadership owned and then being a truly inclusive organization. I would say we're moving into that leader owned phase of DEI and it's been fun to see our leadership team find their own ways to lean into DEI work.   00:26:38:21 - 00:27:08:15 Alicia Kiser And it's been very different, but it allows them to own it and feel comfortable in leading on it with their respective teams. And so that's been, that's probably been the most notable and most fun thing for me to see. One of the things we moved away from when we were in that committee phase putting the organization's DEI efforts on a committee, a cross-functional committee is a lot and that's a heavy load to carry.   00:27:08:22 - 00:27:36:18 Alicia Kiser And it's tough too because this is this is like not a project, not an initiative. It's a long game, it's a marathon. And it can become discouraging when you're not seeing maybe the immediate results that you want to see. And so when we made that, when we kind of articulated flipping the switch from, Hey, hey, committee, you're actually not, this is, the responsibility for this work isn't on your shoulders, but we'd like you to lead on education and awareness.   00:27:37:01 - 00:28:04:22 Alicia Kiser This, the responsibility and accountability is on the leadership team. That was a big game changer, I think a big moment for us in moving our efforts forward. So maybe that's that's what I would say from a DEI perspective. There's certainly other things. I mean, one thing we're really proud of and I've had an opportunity to talk about with MRA in lots of different forums is our Women's Business Resource Group.   00:28:04:22 - 00:28:30:14 Alicia Kiser So it's essentially an affinity group. We have over half, over 60 percent of our overall population is female. And so that was kind of a natural place for us to start is with women at M3, and especially with all the stats that you've seen kind of within COVID and post-COVID about women exiting the workplace, our focus is keeping M3 women in the workplace.   00:28:31:00 - 00:29:02:03 Alicia Kiser And we started that group in 2018 and just have had a lot of great evolution in terms of providing development opportunities for women at M3 up to giving them opportunities to lead in ways or have more global involvement in work at M3 outside of like the key area that they're focused in from a day-to-day basis, which allows them to get exposure amongst leadership and other people throughout the organization.   00:29:02:18 - 00:29:43:08 Alicia Kiser But it is also a professional development opportunity as well. So those are just a couple of things maybe I would mention. And then as it relates to generational diversity, we're hearing more and more about this in terms of M3's interest in learning about how to navigate through generational diversity—certainly a hot topic. One of the things I'll talk about that we've had a lot of success with and are trying to do more of is finding more natural ways to get different generations to collaborate and build relationships and respect for each other.   00:29:43:17 - 00:30:43:09 Alicia Kiser And so, for example, we've got an overall mentorship program throughout the organization, but we also have mentorship in different pockets. Like, for example, we have a shareholder development program and are really intentional about how we match people up. I think that's one way that we've supported generational diversity, but also going back to your comments, Jim, about onboarding and our development efforts, career planning, career mapping, we as much as possible with so much institutional knowledge with some of the folks that are nearing retirement, we try to lean on those individuals to facilitate our development sessions, training sessions, you know, use their expertise to educate other M3ers and obviously they're not   00:30:44:01 - 00:31:07:09 Alicia Kiser professional speakers or facilitators, or and they don't have that expertise. But our talent development team works to provide the framework for them to share their knowledge, whether that be in-person or on demand, using our learning management system. So really like organize that and deliver it in a way that can be impactful for M3ers of all generations.   00:31:07:09 - 00:31:16:03 Alicia Kiser And so that's maybe a little bit more indirect way of navigating that generational diversity topic.   00:31:17:00 - 00:31:28:06 Sophie Boler I like that, and I like how you brought up mentors. I think mentors are, can, I don't know, lead to huge impacts on the organization and the employee too. But as we really wrap, oops sorry go ahead.   00:31:28:13 - 00:31:52:14 Alicia Kiser Oh no, sorry. I was just going to say I was just on a call this morning with our CEO and he said, “You can't rush wisdom.” And so I think that's very true. And the more that we can get these folks working with each other, I think, you can't rush wisdom. But the more we can help infuse and ensure that that moves from one generation to the next.   00:31:53:04 - 00:32:15:05 Sophie Boler And like you said in a natural way. I like that. But as we do wrap up here, Alicia, Jim has mentioned to me your role at M3 and not only in HR leadership, but just as a leader at the company overall. So what advice would you give to HR professionals trying to move from a tactical position to more of a strategic one?   00:32:15:05 - 00:32:21:06 Sophie Boler And Jim, feel free to offer your thoughts and advice as well.   00:32:21:06 - 00:33:17:18 Alicia Kiser Yeah. So thanks for asking this. I would actually go back to my comments earlier about business acumen. I think, ,and I recently was reflecting on this with my coworker, my colleague, our HR director, and we both agreed that the, our early exposure to an ability to build business acumen was one of the key things that I think helps make that jump from I call it like taking off my department hat on and putting my M3 hat on and I think what that has allowed me to do is, of course, truly understand the business and the different levers that make the business work, but also helps me to be viewed as a more valuable partner   00:33:17:18 - 00:33:45:16 Alicia Kiser to the other leaders throughout the organization, and helps have my opinions and perspectives validated because I'm not necessarily just approaching it through my department's lens, but trying to frame it in a way that considers all lenses. And I certainly so. so I just I would go back to that business acumen. I think that's a really big one.   00:33:47:04 - 00:33:54:10 Sophie Boler Jim, anything to add?    00:33:54:10 - 00:34:13:12 Jim Morgan I would say that's the biggest one. And I think the advantage right now is with the talent issue being what it is, you all of a sudden are one of the most important people in the decision-making process because they can find land, they can find a building, they can get a loan. But at the end of the day, somebody has to say, well, where are we going to find people to do it?   00:34:13:12 - 00:34:36:06 Jim Morgan And that is the HR person. And the second one is with all of the HRISs out there and all the data that's being collected in the HR department now, you also become a data analyst, and you can provide information on an awful lot of things that's very business related. So I think both of those go right back to what Alicia said is that you're not making HR decisions.   00:34:36:06 - 00:34:42:20 Jim Morgan You're making business, strategic business decisions, and that immediately elevate you to a different level.   00:34:42:20 - 00:35:14:06 Alicia Kiser And if I could if I could summarize, I would say I always view myself—and I think this can apply to any department, whether you're marketing, finance, HR, customer service—I consider myself a business person first, and HR just as the discipline or the way that I choose to channel my business skills, and I think if we think more like that, making that jump from tactical to strategic becomes, it becomes easier and fun.   00:35:14:16 - 00:35:37:09 Sophie Boler And that's some good advice. Yeah. Well, I want to thank both of you for being on the 30 minute THRIVE podcast today and sharing your knowledge on the latest of using HR as a strategic partner. So if you liked our chat and topic today, I want to encourage listeners to share this episode, leave a comment or review, and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already.   00:35:37:14 - 00:36:00:15 Sophie Boler We've got all the resources you need in the show notes below, so take a look at those and we have linked Jim and Alicia's email and LinkedIn profile in the show notes below. So if you'd like to get in touch with them or just chat about whatever, they're available for you. Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today and thank you both for the great info and we will see you next week.   00:36:01:01 - 00:36:02:00 Alicia Kiser Thanks for having me.   00:36:02:13 - 00:36:03:07 Jim Morgan Thank you, Sophie.   00:36:04:01 - 00:36:26:08 Outro And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.'''  

Description: The most multi-generational workforce in history currently exists. Five generations are working together today. Pretty eye-opening, right? Jim Morgan, Vice President of Workforce Strategies at MRA, is here to discuss how, contrary to what some believe, the presence of five generations in the workforce is not a problem; it is an opportunity.   Key Takeaways: One size does not fit all across generations or within generations! And that becomes a big headache for employers because it's a lot easier to say, “Everybody comes in at 8 and leaves at 5."  It really is a matter of being intentional with people and adjusting according to each employee's needs.    Resources: Generations of Stereotypes   Let's Connect: Bio - Jim Morgan Jim's LinkedIn Profile   Transcript:  00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03 Intro Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now it's time to THRIVE.   00:00:23:13 - 00:00:32:21 Sophie Boler And I'm joined with Jim Morgan, our vice president of Workforce Strategies here at MRA. It's good to have you back, Jim.   00:00:33:03 - 00:00:33:15 Jim Morgan Good to be back.   00:00:34:01 - 00:01:00:15 Sophie Boler Well, we talked last episode with Jim on the demographic problem or “the Great Sansdemic.” But today we're here to really continue that conversation and talk about generational differences in the workplace. So a few podcasts ago, we actually talked about the candidate experience and you touched on how generational differences really plays into that experience. In fact, I recall that you grilled me on a few questions …   00:01:01:00 - 00:01:01:23 Jim Morgan “Grill” is kind of a harsh word.   00:01:03:02 - 00:01:28:00 Sophie Boler … On how I would approach a job search based on my interests and my generation. So we've brought you back today so I can grill you on this topic. But it is a good one and I have seen reports that talk about the fact that there are now five generations in the workforce. So potentially today's workers could be working with a range from 20-year-olds to 70-year-olds.   00:01:28:00 - 00:01:48:04 Sophie Boler So there's a big gap there, but that has potential to have a huge impact in the workforce. So how can we make it all work? How can an employer expect us to work all together? Well, Jim is here to share some insights with us today. So let's just mention the fact that between you and me, there are four generations.   00:01:48:04 - 00:01:51:23 Jim Morgan Ouch! Well, welcome to you too!   00:01:54:01 - 00:02:11:18 Sophie Boler We're really looking at five different generations in the workforce, which include traditionalists, baby boomers, Generation X, Generation Y or millennials, and Generation Z. So, Jim, what does the generational makeup look like in the workforce right now?   00:02:12:08 - 00:02:39:20 Jim Morgan Right now, the millennials are taking over. They're at about 35 percent of the workplace. The Gen Xers are at about 30 percent. My group, the baby boomers, are slowly going out the other side, so we're down to about 23 percent. And the young kids coming up, the Gen Z's—your group—is making up about 12 percent. And there's still a little sliver of that traditionalist, probably less than about 1 percent right now.   00:02:40:01 - 00:02:59:16 Sophie Boler Okay. And I know you've been tracking this topic for most of your professional life. And we're really here to hear about a number of stories on how employers are managing these generational differences. So what leads to generational stereotypes or how do we come up with these generalized opinions of each other?   00:03:00:05 - 00:03:24:16 Jim Morgan You know, I think people first have to understand that every single generation has been stereotyped. I joke I'm part of the ponytailed, no-good, anti-war generation of never going to amount to anything. And now we own everything, so good for us! And it doesn't really matter who you are, it's just a matter of, you know, everybody thinks the next generation is basically going to be the end of the world as we know it.   00:03:25:07 - 00:03:48:17 Jim Morgan So far, that hasn't been true. So we're all just trying to figure this out as we go along. But the stereotypes usually come along because either there is some consistency in pattern and behavior based on what's going on in the world. And sometimes it's, you know, okay, we're going to make fun of each other. And I'll give you an example from my generation, the “hey boomer,” you know, everybody saying, you know, what's wrong with that?   00:03:49:19 - 00:04:10:07 Jim Morgan But, you know, they ask questions like, you know, how come you're walking around with cash and 10 credit cards? Why do you always shout every time you're on Skype or on your cell phone? Why do you print out emails? My gosh, it's right there in front of you. Why can't you figure out for yourself how to take a Word document, make it into a PDF?   00:04:11:00 - 00:04:31:02 Jim Morgan You know, and I could say, Oh my gosh, that's not me, what are you talking about? But I also am smart enough to watch other people my age walk around and do exactly those things. So I think it just becomes a matter of some repetitive behaviors by some folks which are judged by different generations as, you know, what are you doing?   00:04:31:02 - 00:04:37:16 Jim Morgan So those are some of the things that people say about the boomers. So I'm sure you heard some things. What are the ones that bother you a little bit?   00:04:38:13 - 00:04:59:03 Sophie Boler I think we always get related back to technology, always, no matter if it's in the workplace or outside of it. And it's always just kind of like consumes our generation and also about the short attention span, I feel like you can't keep us, I don't know, engaged for more than 5 minutes. It's got to be fun. It's got to be,   00:04:59:10 - 00:05:00:16 Sophie Boler Why is it worth my time?   00:05:01:01 - 00:05:02:13 Jim Morgan You're the goldfish generation.   00:05:02:13 - 00:05:03:11 Sophie Boler Absolutely.   00:05:04:02 - 00:05:12:03 Jim Morgan Anyone who's ever had a goldfish, if you tap on the side of the bowl, you can hold their attention for 7 or 8 seconds. So that's your, that's your stereotype.   00:05:12:08 - 00:05:23:04 Sophie Boler Well, let's actually talk about the different values of each generation and how that affects each different generation as an employee. So I'm sure you have lots of stories to tell with each of those.   00:05:23:08 - 00:05:43:01 Jim Morgan Yeah. And this gets to your stereotypes because even the one that we just talked about, you know, we're saying, oh, you have no attention span or that's what people say to you. It's not an attention span thing. It's this is how fast the world moves now. And there's a reason that Twitter has 240 characters and TikToks can't be more than a minute or two long.   00:05:43:01 - 00:06:01:21 Jim Morgan And it's just the way that that things go so that that happens. So I think you got to look at, you know, as a couple of different examples. I mean, anyone who, probably in your case has a grandparent or maybe a great-grandparent, who might still be around that lived through the Depression. Well, that has serious impact on folks in terms of I'm going to hang on to every dime I've got.   00:06:02:02 - 00:06:21:23 Jim Morgan I don't trust credit cards because the bank failed me. I'm just going to have cash and that's that's how I'm going to do business. So little things matter. So if you look at, for example, the family and what did the family look like 50 years ago? And it was Mom staying home, Dad going to work, you know, 3.7 children and a dog.   00:06:21:23 - 00:06:58:13 Jim Morgan And that's what a family was. And over time, that's changed as a result of divorces, merged families, of same-sex families. I'm not saying anything is right, wrong or indifferent, but the definition of family has changed over the course of the of the generations. So that has an impact on people. The issue of education, which was out of reach for people for a long time, for my generation, it was like an expectation that we get to go to college, to people starting to question the value of college and now people are saying, “Hey, it's going to be free.”   00:06:58:21 - 00:07:18:16 Jim Morgan You know, and again, I'm not judging that saying right or wrong or indifferent, but when things like that happen, it has an impact. And so whether, you know, for my generation it was civil rights issues. For current generations, it might be school shootings. You had 9/11 in there to affect the generation we have. Now we've had a pandemic.   00:07:19:01 - 00:07:29:13 Jim Morgan All of those things shape people in terms of who they are and how they function, and that sort of leads to, okay, there are differences among the generations because their experiences have been so different.   00:07:30:09 - 00:07:46:12 Sophie Boler And now that we know what to expect from an employee side, let's take it a step further and really examine how leaders interpret the generational differences in the workplace. So can you talk about the different leadership styles of each generation?   00:07:46:12 - 00:08:05:16 Jim Morgan Yeah, you know, I don't know so much that it's the leadership style. I think it's just the way that the world has changed that you've got to understand the people that are working for you. And in our case, one of the cases you're in our internship program and we asked all of you, you know, what's one of the biggest things that you want from your boss?   00:08:05:16 - 00:08:21:04 Jim Morgan And it was “I want their cell phone number so I can text them.” Okay. Well, that's your preferred method of communication. And I can guarantee you those Gen X and boomer bosses probably are like, “There is no way in the world I'm giving you my cell phone number so you can text me all day long.”   00:08:21:04 - 00:08:21:20 Sophie Boler Right?   00:08:22:09 - 00:08:42:05 Jim Morgan That's not you being nosy or you wanting personal information—it's your preferred method of communication. So, you know, how do we figure that out? So it goes back to when we talked about the candidate experience and what you're expecting differently. So as a leader, I need to understand how you want to function and how you want to do get things done.   00:08:42:10 - 00:08:59:11 Jim Morgan So that's a little bit on me as a leader. As a leader, I need to be looking out for what are the benefits that are of interest to you. You may say, “Hey, I came out of college with $20,000 in student loan debt. That means more to me than anything,” whereas someone else might be saying, “I want to a 401(k).”   00:08:59:11 - 00:09:23:05 Jim Morgan Someone else might want health care. But if I'm listening to what the needs of the people are that that work for me, I'll begin to understand some of those things. If I know how you want to work—remote, in person, you like being with people, do you not like not like being with people. It's not so much, I would say in that case, the generational we all are different in every generation and these generations have 80 million people in them.   00:09:23:05 - 00:09:45:08 Jim Morgan So it's not like everybody's the same. But your expectation of you're not going to be faxing anything, I can pretty much bet on that. You don't want paragraphs of information, you want bullet points. So I've just got to understand how you function and what's the right way for you. I learned that by doing performance reviews because, I mean, you've worked with me.   00:09:45:12 - 00:10:02:13 Jim Morgan I'm not a real detail-oriented person. I'm not about, what are your five things? What are you going to do? What are you going to measure? I'm more about asking you, So what do you think's important? And we'll write them down and say, Okay, that sounds good, let's go do that. That doesn't work for some people. They want to know, “What are the three things I'm supposed to do?   00:10:02:13 - 00:10:23:16 Jim Morgan How are you going to measure them?” And so you have to even look at the performance reviews and saying, “Okay, what are Sophie's expectations?” And those might be different than someone else and someone else. So I'd say for the most part, it's really getting to know the people that you're working with and personalizing things to the extent where maybe you can understand where they're coming from.   00:10:23:16 - 00:10:48:15 Sophie Boler Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree with that. And I think you mentioned about the flexibility, the flexibility to like, for example, I think a lot of people in my generation, if let's say you had a meeting at 8:00, they might show up at 8:01 or 8:02. So maybe just, you know, changing how you approach those meetings to fit each generation and maybe it's a Zoom call or something like that.   00:10:49:19 - 00:10:57:15 Sophie Boler But can you share any insights on how the different generations might respond to these different leadership styles or even different generations?   00:10:58:00 - 00:11:16:12 Jim Morgan Well, I mean, you just mentioned a couple of them. So I think people misinterpret, “Okay, we're going to have a meeting at 4:00 on Friday afternoon” and an old-school person might be like, “yeah, that's my way of making sure everybody's still here at 4:00 because we work from 8 until 5. And I want to make sure that you're there.”   00:11:17:00 – 00:11:34:07 Jim Morgan Well, I've had people who work for me that are texting me at 3:00 in the morning, you know, saying, “Hey, I finished the project.” And that's great. I'm not reading it at 3:00 in the morning, but they're working at 3. They might work on weekends, they might work at night. You know, they're getting the work done. So part of it becomes, are they getting done what you want to get done?   00:11:34:15 - 00:11:51:20 Jim Morgan It's not really so much my interest as to when you get it done or how you get it done. I just want the product. So we've got to figure those things out. We also have to look, I think at, you know, what are the goals of the different generations because that's changed so much in terms of what their career might look like.   00:11:51:20 - 00:12:07:21 Jim Morgan Historically, you know, your career defined who you were like that was your life, and that began to change. And people thought, you know, no, I'm not going to let it define who I am, and I'm not just going to have one career for 30 years, and I am going to move around a little bit. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.   00:12:08:12 - 00:12:22:19 Jim Morgan 50 years ago, if you lost your job, it was like, oh you're a failure, what did you do?  Now it's almost a badge of honor. Like, yeah, no, I quit that job. I wanted to go do a different job and I'm going to switch jobs every couple of years because that's how I think I'm going to build up more information.   00:12:23:03 - 00:12:35:22 Jim Morgan Whereas my generation was afraid to leave their job because I thought, well, that would be a step backwards. I'm climbing the ladder here. If I step out, I'm going to have to go down a couple of rungs. You look at it more like the more ladders I can be on, the better off that I'm going to be.   00:12:36:07 - 00:12:52:20 Jim Morgan So again, know those are just examples of how different generations are going to look at leadership and say, don't give me a 12-year plan because I may not be here for 12 years. I want a plan, but I'd like it to be 2 years or 3 years. And then we can we can update it.   00:12:53:18 - 00:13:10:12 Jim Morgan But I'm going to keep moving. I'm going to keep my eyes open, not because I'm disloyal and not because I don't necessarily like the organization, but it's just the way that I function my whole life. I don't stick with things for 30 years. I kind of look at that as being crazy and I look at switching a job every 2 years like you're the one who's crazy.   00:13:10:12 - 00:13:16:09 Jim Morgan Well, maybe we both are, or maybe neither one of us. I don't know. But, you know, people just approach things very differently.   00:13:16:14 - 00:13:37:09 Sophie Boler Yeah. And speaking to my experience, I definitely like to know, like, what's my plan for the next couple of months? Like, what are my growth opportunities? Can I explore this area? Like, I like to know that I have a variety of different things coming my way, but I also want to make sure those are in place. And someone has a plan for my development basically.   00:13:37:14 - 00:13:56:03 Jim Morgan And that I will say that's one of the things that we've seen with the last two generations, more than anything else, is what's my career path look like and what's my learning and development program? So I want to know what is it going to take for me to get to the next level? How are you going to help me get to the next level and what does that next level look like?   00:13:56:13 - 00:14:12:11 Jim Morgan And again, if you tell me that plan is, it'll be 5 years before you truly understand, I'm going to look at you like, you know, no, it's not. Either I'm going to figure it out in 2, or I'm not going to be here anymore. And so I think we've had to do a lot of adjustments there as well.   00:14:12:15 - 00:14:33:14 Sophie Boler Exactly. But we also want to talk about how generational differences in the workplace can be a good thing. I feel like we've talked a lot about the challenges, but I'm sure you have a few stories around this, and what are some of the opportunities and other challenges that you've seen when there are multiple generations in the workplace at the same time?   00:14:33:21 - 00:14:54:02 Jim Morgan Yeah, that's a, and there are a lot of positives to it. Everybody always picks on the stereotypes and things, but I think there are a lot of positives. And one of the things I get to do at MRA is run roundtables and one of them is for CEOs. And I threw basically that topic on the table to say, okay, let's talk about the emerging leaders and the next generations coming up.   00:14:54:10 - 00:15:16:04 Jim Morgan And it was really fascinating because a couple of the I'd say more progressive companies, the more progressive CEOs that were in the group were talking about everything that your generation and maybe in the one before you brings to the workplace. And I had sort of introduced the discussion saying, you know, when I started working, I brought nothing.   00:15:16:04 - 00:15:55:03 Jim Morgan I don't mean it like I was an incompetent buffoon, but everybody who came before me could do the things that I could do. Your generations—and I don't want to stereotype you with the technology—but you've learned so many things that you walk into the workplace with more knowledge than a couple of the generations above you. And so the CEOs picked up on that and said, you know, we've been spending time trying to figure out what is it that the people under 35 know that we could use to our advantage, and few of them across the list were, you know, the communication skills, your ability to communicate across a multiple platform, whether that's social media,   00:15:55:09 - 00:16:15:17 Jim Morgan whether that, you know, verbally, whatever it might be that you you've got a skill set there. You've also got a level of confidence because basically you've been on film since you were born, you know, and you're not uncomfortable sitting in front of a camera. And, you know, I mean, you're 22 years old and you're running a podcast and there's a camera running.   00:16:15:17 - 00:16:35:10 Jim Morgan Yeah. Good for you. You know, but I know a lot of people that are my age are just sitting down with the camera would be enough to freak them out and it would take us 50 takes before we got through the introduction. So you're comfortable with all those things. You can adapt to new challenges. People can throw you a curveball because your whole life has been sort of a series of curveballs.   00:16:36:00 - 00:17:02:01 Jim Morgan You understand social media better than anyone over the age of 40. And I've got lots of stories there that I could tell, but you understand it and you understand how the platform works and you understand how people utilize it and where someone my age might be freaking out because something got posted, you'd understand that that's going to be buried in about 2 seconds and this is going to be gone and no one's going to see it again or this is where you stop the conversation.   00:17:02:08 - 00:17:26:09 Jim Morgan Don't try to entertain someone on social media. You know, it's not going to be a logical conversation. So all of those things that we're talking about saying, this is what these folks are bringing. So maybe rather than looking at a 25-year-old saying, oh, we can't put them out on the road as the face of the organization to say maybe they should be the face of the organization because they understand the technology that comes with presenting.   00:17:26:14 - 00:17:46:12 Jim Morgan They're comfortable in front of people. They don't mind having cameras in front of them. So maybe age isn't the defining factor in what that should be. On the flip side, I would argue, you know, people that are my age are, we do have some experiences and yes, you'll get some stick in the mud that'll be like, wow, we tried that and it didn't work.   00:17:46:22 - 00:18:04:21 Jim Morgan And now we're trying it differently. But we've seen a lot of things. And one of the issues we have right now with a lot of our member companies as emerging leaders in that, I got to watch other people make a whole bunch of screwups because I wasn't going to be taking over anything till I was 40 or 45.   00:18:05:05 - 00:18:25:09 Jim Morgan Now you're taking it over at 25, 30, 35. So you've got to be prepared to do those things. You've got to be ready for those things. So that's where I think, you know, maybe some of the baby boomers may be able to help you with experiences that you haven't had the opportunity to see yet. So every generation brings its strengths and weaknesses.   00:18:25:09 - 00:18:41:22 Jim Morgan And again, I think it's, you know, who can do this and who can do that. And again, you can't stereotype 80 million people, but there are tendencies within groups. And I think I can pretty safely say that, you know a lot more about technology than I do because you've just had to do it for 25 years.   00:18:42:01 - 00:18:44:19 Sophie Boler But, you know, a lot of things that I don't know.   00:18:44:23 - 00:18:59:02 Jim Morgan Yeah, I've got to figure out which ones are valuable so I can share them with you. But so yeah, there's a everybody brings something to the table. I think it's a matter of finding that out, whether it's by their, their just their personality type, it's by their generational experience or what it might be.   00:18:59:13 - 00:19:15:23 Sophie Boler And I think we can definitely learn from each other too, based on other generations' strengths. But do you have any departing words of wisdom for for listeners today or employers for what we like to call the now and the experienced worker?   00:19:16:16 - 00:19:22:06 Jim Morgan That whole question sounds like, all right, old person, can you tell me what it is you've got to offer to the young people here?   00:19:22:08 - 00:19:22:23 Sophie Boler I didn't mean it like that.   00:19:24:16 - 00:19:47:06 Jim Morgan You know, I think as much as we get into these generational differences and I think that they matter because they matter if your generation wants to text their boss, that matters. Because if that's your preferred method of communication, I'm not saying it's going to be right or wrong, but you and your boss have to both understand, is that the way we're going to do it or not? Because someone's going to have to make an adjustment.   00:19:47:16 - 00:20:06:15 Jim Morgan And people have to understand that while you might work differently, it doesn't mean you're not working as hard. And so, again, a lot of people who look like me will be, well if you're not in the office, I don't know what you're doing. I can make it pretty good argument that I've seen people in the office and I'm not sure what they're doing, so I'm not sure that that's the measure.   00:20:07:00 - 00:20:27:17 Jim Morgan But it's more are we clear on what the goals and objectives are? Because whether you get it done on the road, at your apartment, in your house or wherever you might be, it doesn't really matter so much. Now, if there's a customer portion of it where you've got to be somewhere—completely understood. But that pandemic changed everybody's paradigm.   00:20:27:17 - 00:20:52:04 Jim Morgan And so it was, you know, we had companies who, for years were trying to go remote and couldn't do it. All of a sudden they did it in 2 weeks because they had to. So all of those things are starting to change. So we're all different. We've all had different experiences. I think it's really the employer's job to figure out what motivates whatever the person might be, how do we engage them in the organization?   00:20:52:04 - 00:21:14:08 Jim Morgan Because if they're engaged and they're motivated, they're going to do more for us. And one size does not fit all across generations or within generations. And that becomes a big headache for employers because it's a lot easier to say “Everybody comes in at 8 and leaves at 5. That's the rule. We're done.” But if half the people are unmotivated by that rule, then you're not getting the most that you can out of.   00:21:14:08 - 00:21:33:12 Jim Morgan So now we've got to figure out how do we set up policies and procedures that let people do things the way that that they need to do it. So I guess I would just say that it really is a matter of being intentional with people. It's trying to figure out what does Sophie need and how is that different than what Jim needs and how can we all sort of live in harmony here?   00:21:33:21 - 00:21:57:10 Jim Morgan Even if you're never here and I am here or I'm never here in your area, you are here that we both understand that we're getting our stuff done. We're just doing it in a very different way. But the company benefits if we're doing it in the way that we can do it the best. So it's hard. It's not simple rules anymore, but I think if we're for taking the individual into consideration, that's sort of where you have success.   00:21:57:20 - 00:22:18:19 Sophie Boler I was going to say it seems like a very individualized process.But that takes up just about the time we have for today. So thank you for joining us today and continuing that conversation. And it looks like we can learn a lot from each other on how to really close the generational differences gap. So we have added Jim's LinkedIn profile.   00:22:18:19 - 00:22:38:23 Sophie Boler You've probably seen it a couple of times by now in the show notes, but if you haven't yet, make sure to connect with him and if you have any questions on today's episode or really just want to chat with Jim and follow up on his expertise. I'm sure he'd love to have a conversation with you.   00:22:38:23 - 00:22:41:06 Sophie Boler But otherwise we will see you our next episode. And Jim, thank you for joining us again.   00:22:41:09 - 00:22:45:06 Jim Morgan My pleasure. It's always great to be with MRA Nation.   Sophie Boler: Always.   00:22:45:23 - 00:23:08:05 Outro And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.    

Description: If you didn't know we are in a labor shortage, now you do! In this episode, MRA's Vice President of Workforce Strategies, Jim Morgan stresses the extent employers must go to to get talent nowadays, and that you've got to start finding people before they're even looking. Employees, not employers, are the ones calling the shots. Key Takeaways: Welcome to the “Great Sansdemic”. Sans means “without” and demic means “people.” So, this really is “without people”. Shortages in the workforce in the past have been caused by more economical factors; We didn't have the right mix of people. This time around it's demographic--there's just not enough people, flat-out. When you don't have people and that's what's controlling your growth because you can't add a third shift or you can't build another plant, you're going to have to get pretty creative in what it is that you're going to do. Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. INTRO | 00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03 Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now it's time to THRIVE. Sophie Boler | 00:00:23:13 - 00:00:55:08 Hello, everybody. I'm All over the Midwest, employers and human resource professionals are really grappling with attracting, developing, and retaining talent. And Jim has been working on that issue for 30 years. He helps employers understand the demographics that are driving their troubles and provides solutions for talent acquisitions based on best practices. Sophie Boler | 00:00:55:18 - 00:00:58:18 So thanks for joining me today on the show, Jim. I'm excited to talk to you. Jim Morgan | 00:00:59:01 - 00:01:01:17 It's my pleasure to be back with the MRA Nation. Sophie Boler | 00:01:01:19 - 00:01:08:04 Oh, of course. But as we dive in, is this really something new? What is this problem? Jim Morgan | 00:01:08:11 - 00:01:30:02 It is different because I think people who have been around for a while have seen shortages in the workforce before. They've had a difficult time hiring people. But I would argue in the past those have been more economically challenging times. We didn't have the right mix of people. This time around it's demographic, and by that I mean there's just not enough people, flat-out. Jim Morgan | 00:01:30:02 - 00:01:47:21 And as we go through the next 20 minutes or so, I'll sort of lay out what happened there. But this one is different. And I think employers maybe didn't see it coming or they knew it was coming, but didn't really think about what the ramifications of it would be. And now it's here and they're pretty severe. Sophie Boler | 00:01:48:10 - 00:01:51:04 And what caused this situation? Jim Morgan | 00:01:51:20 - 00:02:16:11 There's a lot of things at play and the upper Midwest is different. Most of our members are in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, and Iowa. The upper Midwest is actually a lot like the Northeast, and we're the ones that have a lot of things working against us. First of all, we're aging out relatively quickly, meaning we've got a lot of old people in our four states and they're sticking around. Jim Morgan | 00:02:16:11 - 00:02:37:19 And just as one example, in Wisconsin between 2010 and 2040, so that's just a 30-year period, we're going to more than double the amount of people over the age of 65, going from about a little over a million to over 2 million. And you think, okay, well, is that a big deal? Well, yeah, that's a big deal because that's a lot of people to take care of. Jim Morgan | 00:02:38:11 - 00:02:59:08 That's a lot of health care. We have to figure out a lot of things and those are a lot of people on fixed income. So those folks are pretty much out of the out of the workforce now. We have decreasing fertility rates. And, you know, not to get personal with everybody, but quite frankly, you need about 2.1 children for every female in order just to hang even. Jim Morgan | 00:02:59:17 - 00:03:19:03 And the United States hasn't hit that number in 49 of the last 50 years. So basically we've got more people dying than we do kids being born. And so as a result, we're losing there. So now we're getting older, we're not having enough children. Then you look at, okay, well what about migration? Where can we get people from? Jim Morgan | 00:03:19:12 - 00:03:46:19 And we have a little bit of international migration, but not nearly enough. And domestic migration really is winners and losers, that people are moving out of the Midwest and to the Southwest or to the Southeast. And we're not winning in that battle either. Then you look at, okay, well, what's causing some of that? And this is all a very long answer to your question, but it's really trying to help people understand what just happened. Jim Morgan | 00:03:46:19 - 00:04:19:01 So if you look at the upper Midwest, this is not a destination for people. You know, kids in South Carolina or Texas aren't thinking, “Boy, I want to move to Minnesota, I want to move to Wisconsin,” because their perception of that is, one, it snows 11 months out of the year. You know, it's somewhere near Canada. And I joke about Wisconsin because every single time that there's a football game in January, some guy who weighs 400 pounds takes his shirt off, puts a cheese wedge on his head and, you know, people look at that and say, “Yeah, that's where I want to go.” Jim Morgan | 00:04:19:12 - 00:04:44:18 So we've got all of these things working against us. And then lastly, there's a diversity question because the upper Midwest is not a real diverse area. You know, Wisconsin is close to 80-some percent Caucasian. It's similar in Minnesota. It's even more so in Iowa. And one of the maps I have when I'm doing this presentation is to say, in what year did that state match the United States in terms of diversity? Jim Morgan | 00:04:45:02 - 00:05:09:01 What does that mean? Well, Wisconsin looks like the U.S. did in 1974. Iowa looks like the U.S. in 1930. So if I'm a person of color and I'm trying to decide where I want to go, I'm not real sure that going to 1930 would probably be my destination. So all of these things are in play in a way that they've never really been before, and that's what gets us to okay, what caused it? Jim Morgan | 00:05:09:10 - 00:05:18:15 We have about six or seven things working against us, especially in the upper Midwest and the Northeast. And so that's what's gotten us into what we've got right now. Sophie Boler | 00:05:19:09 - 00:05:31:19 And I know when you give these presentations, you usually have slides that come with maps and it's easier to look at visually. But can you try to describe what the movement in the U.S. looks like? Jim Morgan | 00:05:32:02 - 00:05:50:03 Okay, I'll try to do this one simpler because I don't have pictures. And that's a good point because like I said, when you can see six or seven maps and say, “Okay, wow, this is all coming together, I see what's happening,” the migration is actually a little bit easier. You could basically take an arrow in Maine and draw it down to the lower part of California. Jim Morgan | 00:05:50:03 – 00:06:13:17 That's basically the movement, that people are leaving the Northeast in the north and they're moving to the South and the Southwest. And that's sort of that's the migration pattern. And then you also have the immigration issue that you've got more people coming in from the South. Obviously, if we had a great invasion from Canada, that would certainly help us in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Jim Morgan | 00:06:13:17 - 00:06:38:22 But that's not happening right now. And one of the things that we still haven't figured out in the United States is a common-sense immigration policy that says, we need people so how do we figure out a logical way to bring them in? And I'm not sure we're going to figure that out in my lifetime, but we're going to have to pretty soon because we're just not going to have the folks so it's really a, it's basically a Northeast, the Southwest with a little bit of band on either side of that arrow. Sophie Boler | 00:06:39:13 - 00:06:43:11 So when you say that, who is really winning and who's losing? Jim Morgan | 00:06:43:11 - 00:07:04:21 The big winners right now are Texas. They were net about plus 310,000 in 2021, and that's you know, they've got Austin and they've got Dallas and they've got Houston. And those are popular places, especially for younger folks. And if you want to know where a 25-year-old wants to go, it's where the other 25-year-olds are. Jim Morgan | 00:07:05:05 - 00:07:34:14 And so Texas has picked up big there. Florida has had a lot of growth. And so they've also picked up. Now some of that is a little bit older. But there a net 200,000 people up, and Arizona and North Carolina are both about 100,000 people. Arizona is becoming very popular. Year-round weather, yeah it gets hot, but people seem to tolerate hot a lot better than cold. And North Carolina is kind of becoming a cool place for people to be. Jim Morgan | 00:07:34:14 - 00:07:59:20 It's got a good climate, it's got a lot of universities, there's a lot of energy around it. So they're pretty popular as well. Georgia, South Carolina, Utah are a couple of others. The big losers in the game are New York, which is down about 320,000 people. I think a lot of that has to do with New York City perhaps itself and crime and people wanting out and it's an expensive place to live. Jim Morgan | 00:08:00:16 - 00:08:26:06 California is No. 2, losing about 260,000. Same thing there. It's a very expensive place to live. And I think the pandemic for a lot of people gave folks in New York and California some flexibility to say, “I can still do this job and maybe even keep this level of pay, but I can move someplace else.” And especially with California, you can see the growth in the states that are around it, Jim Morgan | 00:08:26:06 - 00:08:49:09 and that was a little bit of a migration out. And then in third place is Illinois, losing about 100,000 people. And I think Illinois just has a lot of it, has a lot of policy problems. It has a lot of fiscal problems. Chicago is getting its share of bad news. So the bigger cities in those three states I think of have been a result of them losing some people. Jim Morgan | 00:08:49:09 - 00:09:04:00 But again, the movement of the younger folks, they're willing to go anywhere. And with a pandemic, I can work from anywhere. So I'm probably looking for what's a low tax state, what's a good climate, what's a fun place to be? And those are the type of places that people are going to. Sophie Boler | 00:09:04:04 - 00:09:13:05 Absolutely. And we're calling this “the Great Sansdemic,” which sounds like it would last for a long time. But how long do you think it's going to last? Jim Morgan | 00:09:13:09 - 00:09:33:12 Yeah, a good altar boy had to learn Latin. So sans demic, for those who didn't have the pleasure of learning Latin, sans means “without” and demic means “people.” So this really is “without people.” And I think the problem that we're seeing with employers, again, especially in the upper Midwest, is they think, “Well, if I just duck and cover, this thing will go away.” Jim Morgan | 00:09:33:21 - 00:09:52:22 And in the presentation that I make, one of the maps that I've got, or the graphs, is really it's from the United Nations. And they did 60 different samples and they tried to predict out, all right, what what does it look like? And so they looked at the working age population, which is 15- to 64-year-olds, the folks that are doing the work. Jim Morgan | 00:09:53:10 - 00:10:19:09 And that peaked in about 2007 with about 66 percent of the population. So two-thirds of the population was in that working age number. And for the next about 50 to 60 years, that number just goes down. And out of 60 samples, they all go down and they took it all the way out through 2090 and it drops down to about 58 percent. Jim Morgan | 00:10:19:09 - 00:10:42:08 And you might say, all right, well, 66 to 58, that's no big deal. But each percentage point is about 2 million working-aged people. So you're talking about losing, you know, in 8 years, 16 million possible workers. And this is at a time where we're starting from a shortage. So this one isn't going away. And then people start to say, well, how in the world can you predict out to 2090? Jim Morgan | 00:10:42:17 - 00:11:12:04 And, you know, I'd say part of it is just looking at your generation and the decisions that you make. People aren't getting married until they're 30, 32, 34 years old. So they're not having five kids. They're having two kids. And those who aren't having kids are having dogs, you know, and that's all going to sort of take effect here, that if we go from averaging three or four kids  a family to two kids a family or no kids a family, they can look at those trends and say, you know, this is going to be with us for a while. Jim Morgan | 00:11:12:12 - 00:11:18:16 So this is not a duck and cover for people. This is really going to be we're in it for the long run. We got to figure out some different things to do. Sophie Boler | 00:11:19:06 - 00:11:30:07 And as people take everything you've said into consideration and kind of process it and think about what they can start doing, I think the big question is what can employers start doing? Jim Morgan | 00:11:30:19 - 00:11:50:06 Yeah, and this is admittedly where it gets pretty tough. One, you can become the employer of choice in your own area. And what do I mean by that? You're the place that people want to go work, whether that's because of your culture or your pay or your benefits. But you know, especially in a smaller town, there's usually this is where you want to get to, Jim Morgan | 00:11:50:06 - 00:12:09:10 this is where you want to work. The problem with that is that's a net sum game that if people are moving from company A to company B, that means company A now doesn't have enough people and pretty soon there's nowhere left to grab from. So, you know, one is it doesn't solve the bigger problem by you just saying, “I'm going to be the place that people want to work.” Jim Morgan | 00:12:09:20 - 00:12:27:12 After that, you really have, you know, three choices. One, you're seeing a lot more automation. You're seeing, you know, maybe machines that can do the work of three or four people. And at one point that was looked at as a bad thing, like, oh, you're taking away jobs. That's not even the case anymore because there's no one to fill the job. Jim Morgan | 00:12:28:04 - 00:12:47:18 And now you need a higher-level employee to work with that technology. So you can you can automate. I think we've seen companies get smarter. They've figured out how do we work more efficiently with the people that we've got, whether that's just looking at lean processes or quality control, how do we just get better at what we do? Jim Morgan | 00:12:48:07 - 00:13:05:13 Or the third one is you simply go to where the people are, and that could either be within the United States or someplace else. And I think this is where people have to figure out if we don't figure out a way to get more people into the United States, folks are going to have to go someplace else. So those are tough decisions for employers. Jim Morgan | 00:13:06:02 - 00:13:18:20 But really, you know, when you don't have people and that's what's controlling your growth because you can't add a third shift or you can't build another plant, you're going to have to get pretty creative in what it is that you're going to do. Sophie Boler | 00:13:18:21 - 00:13:30:06 And I think you've wrapped up a pretty big problem in a short amount of time, which is impressive. But do you have any last thoughts or pieces of advice you can give to our listeners today? Jim Morgan | 00:13:30:14 - 00:13:57:18 You know, I usually leave folks when I do have the slides and it's even more impressive. Yeah, but you know, to say there are short-term and long-term things that people can start doing right now., You know, short term, they get all of their employees helping them look for folks. They're paying spot bonuses. They're trying to become that employer of choice, they're trying to do all those things that, I got to grab all of the people that I can possibly get. The longer term one Jim Morgan | 00:13:58:00 - 00:14:23:06 and I think the companies that are doing quite well right now are the ones who figured this out early and said, we're going to start having internships, we're going to start doing co-op programs, we're going to start doing youth apprenticeships. And I know you and Courtney talked a little bit about the internship program. That's part of what folks are doing now, that the sooner that I can get my hands on someone before everybody else sees them, then I've got a better chance of hanging on to them. Jim Morgan | 00:14:23:06 - 00:14:44:19 And so the long-term strategy is get into the high schools, get into even the middle schools to explain what some careers are. And certainly the technical colleges, the community colleges, the universities. Using you as an example: I mean, you come here, you do an internship before your senior year. You like us, we like you. We figure out how to take care of you in the next 9 months, Jim Morgan | 00:14:44:21 - 00:14:59:16 stay in touch with you. And if you're going into your senior year and you already know, “Hey, I've got a job,” that takes a lot of pressure off your senior year. It prevents you from looking other places. And then we end up with a really good employee because we have the chance to see you work for 3 months and bring you back. Jim Morgan | 00:14:59:23 - 00:15:13:17 So I think that's what a lot of employers now are trying to figure out: What's the long game? How do I get in there? Because I've got to have that steady talent supply chain working for me as I as I go forward. So I think that's the biggest strategy is you got to be the first one to the people. Sophie Boler | 00:15:14:06 - 00:15:27:18 And then to your point for me, knowing that I had a job before senior year and then I could kind of tell my friends like, “Hey, I already have a full-time role,” like that, and that makes them kind of interested. And you know, the process just goes on and on. Jim Morgan | 00:15:28:08 - 00:15:43:17 Yeah, and it makes a difference. And you can see the companies that are doing a lot of that, you know, where if they have 30 or 35 or 40 interns and all those people are going back, you know, those are usually companies that have 50, 75, 100 openings. So they're like, “Oh, you know, and hey, here's the person that you talked to. Jim Morgan | 00:15:43:17 - 00:15:53:08 Tell them, you know me, I worked there this summer.” Those are all ways for employers to just sort of get the word out there for free and let younger people know about what they've got to offer. Sophie Boler | 00:15:53:18 – 00:16:19:02 Exactly. Well, Jim, thank you so much for joining us today and really making “the Great Sansdemic” apparent to employers and advice on how to help with this issue. But we've added Jim's LinkedIn profile to the show notes below, so make sure to connect with him and send him a message if you'd like to continue this conversation. Otherwise, we'll be continuing this conversation next episode, Sophie Boler | 00:16:19:02 - 00:16:24:12 when we dive into generational differences with Jim. So thank you again for joining us. Jim Morgan | 00:16:24:15 - 00:16:25:03 My pleasure. Sophie Boler | 00:16:25:09 - 00:16:27:00 And we'll see you next episode. Jim Morgan | 00:16:27:01 - 00:16:27:21 All right. I'll be there. OUTRO | 00:16:28:18 - 00:16:51:00 And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.  

Description: This week, we've got an energizing conversation with Kate Walker, Vice President of Learning and Development at MRA, as she shares her expertise on how to train an emerging leader - including mentor programs, leadership styles, team building, assessments, professional development opportunities, retaining talent, and more!    Key Takeaways: When you promote a new leader, you want to make sure you're over-communicating with them. Pair up or connect with a mentor and a coach if you can!  Training and professional development is a great way to retain your employees!  Let's Connect: kate.walker@mranet.org  Kate's LinkedIn Profile    Resources:  Learning and Development Opportunities    Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word.   INTRO | 00:00:00:02 - 00:00:23:03 Hello hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now it's time to THRIVE.   Sophie Boler | 00:00:23:13 - 00:00:52:07 In this podcast series, we've been talking a lot about the talent shortage, the demographic changes, and generational differences just in all. And we've heard that with one rather large generation, now, in many leadership positions, leaving the workforce at a fast rate, there simply aren't enough in the next generation to fill those roles. So we're looking at an even younger generation to fill that leadership gap.   Sophie Boler | 00:00:52:20 - 00:01:10:10 So today we're here with Kate Walker to talk more about how we can really help to train the next level of leaders. And she's our vice president of Learning & Development here at MRA, so she comes with a lot of knowledge and expertise here today. So I'm excited to talk to you, Kate, and welcome to the show.   Kate Walker | 00:01:10:10 - 00:01:10:23 Thank you.   Sophie Boler | 00:01:11:01 - 00:01:28:10 Absolutely. We can get started right away. And really, the first question I have for you is that we have companies needing to fill the leadership roles, and sometimes that may mean promoting managers to leadership roles. So what is the best way to help with the rapid development of new leaders?   Kate Walker | 00:01:29:02 - 00:01:51:13 That's a great question, Sophie, and we're seeing it a lot from our member companies that they have this influx of new talent that's been promoted quickly and they need support. I think, number one, when you promote a new leader, you want to make sure you're overcommunicating with them. The worst thing that could happen is for them to be stressed out or have a situation arise that they don't know the solution and they end up getting frustrated—they leave.   Kate Walker | 00:01:51:13 - 00:02:10:18 We don't want that, right?   Sophie Boler Right. Absolutely.   Kate Walker We want to just make sure that they're very supported. But, you know, by communicating, I don't mean you check on them once a week. You might want to make your calendar open to them so that they can access it if they have questions and just make sure that you're really ready to support them in being effective in that role.   Sophie Boler | 00:02:10:18 - 00:02:17:22 Absolutely. I don't think anyone's ever complained that they've been talked to too much. It's always like I haven't heard enough.   Kate Walker | 00:02:17:22 - 00:02:24:01 Right. And if you don't have the capacity yourself, you want to make sure that you have somebody here for them.   Sophie Boler | 00:02:24:01 - 00:02:32:09 Absolutely. And what are some of the core business and leadership skills that you think emerging leaders need to have nowadays?   Kate Walker | 00:02:32:18 - 00:02:54:15 Yeah, this comes up quite often, Sophie. And I would say it doesn't really matter what industry you're in—if you have problem-solving skills and the ability to show up on time, have a friendly attitude and disposition, you can go really far in this world. And it sounds simple, but problem solving can also be how do you make sure that the coffee's ready when we open up in the morning?   Kate Walker | 00:02:54:15 - 00:03:16:12 Right. And you'll see that people that just have that intuition and ability to think through those problems, known or unknown, those are just such great skills to have. And if that's something that doesn't come natural to you, look for different ways to develop those skills. You know, if you're a sudoku fan and, you know, do some puzzles that get your mind kind of thinking about problem solving can be a real asset for you in the work world.   Sophie Boler | 00:03:16:20 - 00:03:39:03 Absolutely. I think one of the skills or characteristics that I really admire, like an emerging leader, is just being driven too and just like saying “yes” to everything because at that point in time, maybe they don't know what exactly they want to do. So it's like just saying “yes” to every opportunity and maybe it'll lead them down the right path eventually.   Kate Walker | 00:03:39:06 - 00:04:03:02 That positive attitude is so valuable, and when you see someone kind of dig their heels in and you know, you might hear, “That's not in my job description” or “That's not my responsibility,” you just kind of go, Whoa, that, that doesn't set them up for future leadership. And you've probably seen that already in your career, right, Sophie, people that do that? They kind of stand out and you know who they are and oftentimes are the ones that get passed over for promotion opportunities.   Sophie Boler | 00:04:04:13 - 00:04:26:13 Right. And you mentioned just other ways on expanding the skills. And I know for me personally, we have a lot of resources here at MRA to expand those skills like our training and development classes. But also just like LinkedIn Learning, this is so easy just to do a 30-minute video to expand your skills and leadership.   Kate Walker | 00:04:26:15 - 00:04:27:14 That's a great idea.   Sophie Boler | 00:04:28:14 - 00:04:35:11 But moving on, how can an emerging leader really better understand their own leadership style?   Kate Walker | 00:04:36:14 - 00:04:40:12 That's a great question, I think … Are you familiar with assessments, Sophie?   Sophie Boler | 00:04:40:12 - 00:04:42:18 I am. I've taken a few.   Kate Walker | 00:04:43:06 - 00:05:05:17 And we offer them here at MRA. And there are plenty other vendors that offer them as well. But some of the most common assessments you'll see are DiSC, which is really a behavioral assessment. There's Myers-Briggs, which is somewhat similar. They're all kind of based on the same science. And then there's also StrengthsFinder. I just think these are great tools to really understand your personal leadership style.   Kate Walker | 00:05:05:17 - 00:05:23:15 Like you can see, Am I a D or am I an I or an S? But it also helps you relate to your own leaders and peers because you can kind of figure out where do they fall? And in some organizations you have the opportunity to take those assessments as a team.   Sophie Boler Yes.   Kate Walker And kind of learn how to communicate within that structure.   Kate Walker | 00:05:23:15 - 00:05:28:17 And it's just super valuable to understand and it's kind of fun too. I'm kind of an assessment nerd.   Sophie Boler | 00:05:28:19 - 00:06:02:14 Yes, me too. I was a communications major in college, so assessments and communication styles were like our thing. But I just recently took MRA's project management class and we had to take a communication assessment there. And it was just like it was fun to see my strengths and weaknesses and how I can improve or how I could talk to someone else who's a different leadership style and I know I talked to even Sara about like her leadership style and how we differentiate ourselves and stuff like that.   Kate Walker | 00:06:02:19 - 00:06:07:07 Did you have any surprises when you took the assessment or was it pretty spot-on for you?   Sophie Boler | 00:06:07:07 - 00:06:22:22 It was pretty spot-on. I feel like I could have kind of went between two different leadership styles, but it was just kind of like funny to see how someone could be completely opposite of you. And it's like, how do we match and how do we blend together then?   Kate Walker | 00:06:23:01 - 00:06:32:03 Yeah, it's so helpful because to understand yourself is great, but then to know what someone else's inclinations are and how they need to be communicated with can be very helpful.   Sophie Boler | 00:06:32:08 - 00:06:32:13 For sure.   Kate Walker | 00:06:32:13 - 00:06:34:05 And help you on your leadership journey.   Sophie Boler | 00:06:34:05 - 00:06:45:13 Yeah, that's some great advice, but we know that not every great worker makes a great manager, which is okay. But how would you help to develop those management skills?   Kate Walker | 00:06:46:05 - 00:07:10:20 Yes, thinking of that classic salesperson, Michael Scott, as you will—great salesperson from “The Office.” Questionable management skills maybe, right? Fun to watch. So we've all probably experienced someone like that in our career. They got promoted because they were really good at that job, so they were a really good individual contributor, but they might not have had the background to be a manager.   Kate Walker | 00:07:10:20 - 00:07:29:20 So to get somebody prepared to be a manager, there's a lot of different resources. We have a lot of different classes that are available and training available here at MRA too. But really they need to know what they need to do to be successful. They need to look at other managers that have been successful in their roles. They need to be paired with a potential mentor or coach.   Kate Walker | 00:07:29:20 - 00:07:42:10 Coaching can be a really great way to help somebody learn how to improve their skills and also become more self-aware if they have hiccups or roadblocks to what they're doing. Are you familiar with coaching?   Sophie Boler | 00:07:42:10 - 00:07:44:22 I am. I am a little bit, yeah.   Kate Walker | 00:07:44:22 - 00:07:48:06 Yeah. Have you had the opportunity to have a coach yet in your career?   Sophie Boler | 00:07:48:06 - 00:08:12:11 I've had some mentors, which I would say probably could be recognized as a coach, and I think it's been really helpful just as an emerging leader and as a younger professional, it's nice to have someone there who kind of can know your strengths and kind of push you to keep going forward and where I don't know just what paths to take and stuff like that.   Kate Walker | 00:08:12:17 - 00:08:34:19 Yeah, a coach can really provide those services for an individual and you can develop an action plan and work together. So for that manager that might not have that baseline, you know, if they're struggling with employee communication, that coach can talk to them about it, they can role-play in a safe environment and they can really improve those skills so that when they're in their real work experience, they can feel comfortable.   Kate Walker | 00:08:34:19 - 00:08:40:04 So there's a lot of great ways to help support that new manager and just hope that they take advantage of it.   Sophie Boler | 00:08:40:08 - 00:08:55:17 Absolutely. In going along with what you just said, another consideration is the fact that a manager is really the key to a successful team. So how can you not only develop the manager skills but also team building from a manager standpoint?   Kate Walker | 00:08:56:09 - 00:09:18:11 Yeah, I think team building is one of those skill sets that you have to be very intentional about. And if you just think, “Oh, we're going to do something quarterly and it's going to be a potluck lunch, we're going to be good and have relationships here”—it's not really like that anymore. And particularly with hybrid and remote work environments, you have to be even more intentional about creating a team environment.   Kate Walker | 00:09:20:03 - 00:09:37:19 One thing I can say for our Learning & Development team, every team meeting we have, we incorporate some team-building activities and we do meet as a team virtually. And you would think, oh this team that teaches and does all these different things, how do they team build in a virtual environment? We use our chat quite a bit.   Kate Walker | 00:09:38:21 - 00:09:50:17 There are a lot of different activities that we can facilitate. It's really fun and you get to know your team better and you feel closer to them and just those relationships flourish. Have you experienced any good team building?   Sophie Boler | 00:09:50:20 - 00:10:10:18 I have. It's funny that you mention that because right before we were recording this, I was talking with Sara, our producer, and I was like, “We should do something after work today. Like we could go get dinner or a happy hour or something.” Just to … I mean, it was her 8-year anniversary and I was like, let's just go do something to celebrate, something as a team.   Sophie Boler | 00:10:10:18 - 00:10:16:14 And we're actually going out to lunch today as a team too.   Kate Walker Oh, that's good.   Sophie Boler Just fun, fun team building.   Kate Walker | 00:10:16:15 - 00:10:36:20 Yeah. I feel like that stuff is so important and I've heard some really great practices around hybrid and virtual. Some companies I am familiar with that are completely virtual. They actually signed on to Zoom together as a team during the day and like work together. So if somebody has questions, they can just pop on and ask and they feel more connected that way.   Kate Walker | 00:10:36:20 - 00:10:52:01 So that's something I've seen. Another activity hybrid organizations and remote organizations have been doing is have a team member kind of share like a passion or a hobby virtually, which is kind of neat. They can do that and get to know their team members better.   Sophie Boler | 00:10:52:01 - 00:11:08:04 Yeah, absolutely. We at MRA have our Intern Leadership Program and that's kind of mostly virtual, but kind of a hybrid format, too. But we had to do a lot of team-building activities virtually, which may seem harder, but there's so many options you can do.   Kate Walker | 00:11:08:04 - 00:11:08:21 And oh yeah.   Sophie Boler | 00:11:09:02 - 00:11:19:09 We did a Jeopardy one time online and it was just fun to, I don't know, just see everybody and we could all play at the same time. So there's definitely a lot of options.   Kate Walker | 00:11:19:12 - 00:11:35:07 Yeah. One thing for our Learning & Development team for our holiday party last year we had a virtual holiday party and everybody had to go and find a crazy Christmas ornament within their house.   Sophie Boler Oh, that's funny.   Kate Walker And then show it. We had a contest, so that was really fun.   Sophie Boler | 00:11:35:07 - 00:11:36:15 That's fun. There's so many things.   Kate Walker | 00:11:36:15 - 00:11:45:17 Yeah, there's so many. And I think like the virtual environment kind of opens you up too, because you kind of get to see people in their own space, which is interesting, as we all know.   Sophie Boler | 00:11:46:03 - 00:12:00:16 Well, we hear that professional development also contributes to employee retention. So let's talk a bit more about that. What can you share to encourage organizations to consider learning plans and professional development to encourage retention?   Kate Walker | 00:12:01:17 - 00:12:22:10 I get very passionate about this topic, Sophie, because I think, you know, a lot of employers have known that training and professional development is a great way to retain people and develop them. They kind of had their noses down and focused on a lot of different things. And I think just the talent environment the last several years have made it front and center.   Kate Walker | 00:12:23:07 - 00:12:34:22 We've definitely seen an uptick in training requests and it's just it's such a good practice to work with your employees. It's so much easier to keep and retain somebody that's already within your organization than to bring someone new.   Sophie Boler | 00:12:35:03 - 00:12:35:20 Absolutely.   Katie Walker | 00:12:35:20 - 00:12:59:03 Into the world, so just very passionate about it. And I think there's so many great ways to train them, whether you do in-house training, whether you use LinkedIn Learning, whether you use MRA to train your employees, whether you have mentor programs, community leadership programs. A lot of our communities have leadership programs that, you know, get your organization's name out there, but get your employees familiar with the community.   Kate Walker | 00:12:59:03 – 00:13:22:22 So that's another facet. You can get them ingrained within your organization, but also help them establish groups with where they live.   Sophie Boler Absolutely.   Kate Walker Great ways to retain people and, you know, just take advantage of it. You know, the cost can be a little jarring sometimes when you're looking at budgets and it's budget cycle, but really that retention and you know, it pays itself forward over time because you have people that are very committed to your organization.   Sophie Boler | 00:13:23:08 - 00:13:47:02 And I think today especially, we've seen employers get very creative on how they are retaining their employees. I know we talked with Kathy Seidel, our manager of Recruiting Services, and she just explained how companies are offering a lot of incentives to get these people to stay, like pet insurance and stuff like that.   Kate Walker | 00:13:47:21 - 00:14:05:18 I think and sometimes employers think, are they looking to go back to school or is it a different baccalaureate program or a master's program? It's not always that. It's professional development. They might want to go take an Excel class and become better at Excel, and that can have immediate impact to the work environment as well.   Sophie Boler | 00:14:06:02 - 00:14:15:15 Totally. Well, taking a little step back here, who would you say are the best candidates to consider for professional development? And this can really be anyone.   Kate Walker | 00:14:16:05 - 00:14:40:17 I think that's a great question, Sophie. And I think people tend to focus on leaders, you know, getting them more skills. But that new employee who's eager to learn more and might put their hand up, I think them putting their hand up is just great, a reason that you'd want to invest in them. But sometimes you're surprised that you're more seasoned employees could benefit from professional development or want to take it.   Kate Walker | 00:14:40:17 - 00:14:57:06 We had a situation on our team where someone had been with us a very long time, had asked about a certification, and I was just so excited about that because I thought she's been in her role for a long time. This is really stretching herself. And the fact that she asked, I just thought that was super exciting.   Kate Walker | 00:14:57:06 - 00:15:08:03 So, it's great—you want to see your new leaders and your new employees take advantage of professional development, but sometimes you'll have some surprises along the way and you don't want to ignore those requests either or opportunities.   Sophie Boler | 00:15:08:04 - 00:15:20:10 Yeah, and it's nice to just encourage your employees, like take any opportunity you can when it comes to professional development. And you know it's not going to hurt you, it's only going to better you, you know?   Kate Walker | 00:15:20:18 - 00:15:33:15 That's the right attitude to have when it comes to it, you know, I think if you have that attitude about lifelong learning and professional development, that will only help you and you'll be seen as somebody that should be invested in within your organization.   Sophie Boler | 00:15:34:08 - 00:15:49:18 Well, you talked about this a little bit earlier, but there's been a lot of talk about mentoring and coaching emerging leaders. And I know I mentioned that I had a couple of mentors here, but how does coaching differ from mentoring and how does that differ from training?   Kate Walker | 00:15:50:08 - 00:16:13:13 Yeah, mentoring I think can fall into different buckets. It can be informal. So you might have somebody who mentors you, gives you advice, and it's not like a formal relationship, but organizations can assign a mentor. So if you're new and part of your onboarding, you might have somebody assigned your mentor just to be a safe person, ask questions and just to learn a little bit more about the culture.   Kate Walker | 00:16:13:16 - 00:16:36:10 So those are two ways mentoring kind of is facilitated. Coaching is a little bit different because it's typically a three-pronged approach. There's typically a sponsor for the coaching process, be it the manager or direct supervisor; a coachee, you know, somebody who's going to benefit from the coaching; and then also the coach themselves. So that's kind of how that's structured.   Kate Walker | 00:16:36:10 - 00:17:06:10 And the sponsor usually has some reason for wanting the coaching. Could it be performance, help that person be a little more effective with what they're doing, but also could be developmental or it could be a response to a situation that happens, so you want to make sure that they're equipped to handle situations in the future. So most times you would follow that structure and they would establish kind of guidelines and goals and objectives for the coaching arrangement, and it can go anywhere from 6 months to a year.   Kate Walker | 00:17:06:21 - 00:17:29:01 You know, they meet those milestones across that timeline and stay in contact and the coachee and the coach will have confidential conversations, which really can help them feel comfortable with the direction of what they're talking about. And then, you know, usually they would the coach would go back to the manager or supervisor to see, are you seeing changes here?   Kate Walker | 00:17:29:01 - 00:17:47:06 You know, have you noticed anything? Sort of kind of reiterate the feedback that's going on to help them be supported and be effective in their role. It's a really neat process. If you ever have the opportunity to be coached, I would always say go for it. That will only help you develop and further your skill set. Sometimes it can be a little scary.   Kate Walker | 00:17:47:06 - 00:18:05:22 “Oh, my manager wants me to have a coach.” I think it's great. I've had a couple opportunities to have coaches throughout my career and I've found that they would ask questions that my boss would not have asked me at that time. They would challenge me in ways that I wouldn't challenge myself, and I just got a lot of great insight from that third party.   Kate Walker | 00:18:05:22 - 00:18:09:07 I think third-party perspective can be really valuable.   Kate Walker | 00:18:10:18 - 00:18:15:10 So don't be afraid, Sophie, if  someone ever offers you coaching. I highly encourage you to take it.   Sophie Boler | 00:18:15:23 - 00:18:24:12 I will. Do you recommend that an emerging leader would have a coach and a mentor at the same time? Or what are your thoughts on that?   Kate Walker | 00:18:24:21 - 00:18:40:06 If they could, that would be great. It'd be even more feedback. It could be time consuming would be my only hesitation there. But yeah, definitely. And depending on the relationship of the mentor, if it's a little more informal, they definitely would have time for that.   Sophie Boler | 00:18:40:17 - 00:18:51:12 For sure. So what are your thoughts on reverse mentoring? I know we talked about just regular mentoring, but we often see that with emerging leaders, there's reverse mentoring. So what can you say about that?   Kate Walker | 00:18:51:21 - 00:19:16:16 I'm so glad you asked this question because I don't think many people understand the concept. For me, I've actually had a couple throughout my career. I went to a convention and they were talking about this and like that is really interesting. And really what it is, is taking two individuals with different backgrounds and experiences and typically one is maybe a little more senior in their development.   Kate Walker | 00:19:16:16 - 00:19:39:01 And then one is maybe newly out of college or new to the workforce. That's how it worked for me. I had a younger gentleman that I worked with that was right out of college, very insightful, had a lot of technology background, a lot of sales background, and just had a really fresh perspective. And I found it really interesting to spend time with him and kind of see the world through his eyes.   Kate Walker | 00:19:39:01 - 00:20:02:00 So we would get together about two or three times a year and just kind of check in and see what he was seeing in his career and what I was seeing in mine. And I always felt like I walked away with more than he probably even did. It's really great if you can figure that out and you're kind of putting yourself out there as well as someone who's looking for a reverse mentor just to benefit from that perspective—it's exciting.   Sophie Boler | 00:20:02:00 - 00:20:24:03 I definitely think that's a great concept and it's usually you hear that you learn from the senior leaders and you don't often hear that like the senior leaders hear from somebody that's way younger, maybe there's not much experience with that person, but feel like you can always take something away from learning from each other.   Kate Walker | 00:20:24:03 - 00:20:30:22 Something tells me you're going to be a mentor for a lot of people in your career, Sophie. So if you're not doing it already, I'd be surprised.   Sophie Boler | 00:20:31:09 - 00:20:43:23 Well thank you, Kate! I would love to be a mentor, but it seems like we're wrapping up the time here. So do you have any departing tips for emerging leaders or for our listeners today?   Kate Walker | 00:20:44:13 - 00:21:04:03 Yeah. One big thing I have for you is to always advocate for yourself as an emerging leader. If you're not getting what you need from your supervisor, if you're not getting that level of communication, tell somebody. Make sure that you overcommunicate too what your needs are. You know, I mentioned earlier that managers and leaders should overcommunicate with you, but you should too. Don't be afraid to speak up.   Kate Walker | 00:21:04:04 - 00:21:19:12 Let your manager know your preferred speaking style. Do you prefer to be called? Do you prefer text? I think having some baseline ground rules really help you too. And just, yeah, when in doubt, ask questions, be curious and always be learning.   Sophie Boler | 00:21:19:15 - 00:21:49:05 Absolutely. That's some great advice. I think it was a great conversation today. So thanks for joining us and sharing your knowledge and expertise. I think a lot of people learned a lot today, but we have linked Kate's LinkedIn profile on the show notes. So if you'd like to connect with her or ask her any follow-up questions about this topic or really any topic or how to get involved in MRA's learning and development opportunities, be sure to contact Kate.   Sophie Boler | 00:21:49:05 - 00:21:57:02 Otherwise, we will see you next week when we're talking about “The Great Sansdemic” with Jim Morgan. So I look forward to that. But thank you again, Kate.   Kate Walker | 00:21:57:06 - 00:21:58:01 Thanks, Sophie. It was fun. I appreciate it.   OUTRO | 00:21:58:01 - 00:22:30:03 For sure. Thank you. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.    

We can't help but cringe when a finance leader tells us that they don't want to be known as “the CFO of ‘No'”—that shopworn characterization of CFOs who seem to enjoy giving thumbs down verdicts.    So, we were pleased when CFO Jim Morgan of CallRail steered clear of the trite trope when he recently joined us as a return guest. Nonetheless, we were still curious as to what has replaced the iconic “thumbs down” when it comes to finance leaders projecting their diligence onto the monitoring of risk and governance practices. “I probably have it a little bit easier than most CFOs because one of our five culture statements is Mind the business—which is music to a CFO's ears,” comments Morgan, who adds that the simple phrase is best voiced in a question. “'Are we minding the business?' is what I ask our team every day,” reports Morgan, as if prescribing for the CallRail corporate culture a regimen of essential vitamins and minerals. Notes Morgan: “It's naturally easy for me to be the culture carrier of this because I am able to leverage that business mentality as we focus on being a business partner to all of our different departments.”   Also, the question's emphasis on the “we” helps to amplify a business's shared mission and achieve “buy in” when it comes to some prickly decisions.   “It's a nice sort of framework for using to sort of step back with folks and say, ‘Are we minding the business?'—as opposed to, say, just stating ‘I don't think that's a wise spend of dollars' or ‘That doesn't really follow our talent mandate,'” remarks Morgan, who again emphasizes that within CallRail, Mind the business is not just a popular phrase but also one that the company has codified. Says Morgan: “Mind the business is how we ultimately achieve trade-offs and prioritizations across the business—it's what we call a culture statement.” –Jack Sweeney 

Description: The employee experience is a never-ending process. What are you doing to ensure your employees are happy and engaged every single day? MRA's Senior Recruiting and Retention Business Partner, Kristin Noack, sits down with us to explain how to get the most out of your employee experience, while setting you up as an employer of choice. Listen to Discover: Employee engagement is actually the destination, and the employee experience is the roadmap. It's important to understand, both at a macro level and micro level, what your employees are saying. Do this through engagement surveys, one-on-one meetings, etc. A happy employee is an engaged employee, and a smooth and rewarding employee experience gives time back to managers! Let's Connect: Kristin (Smith) Noack LinkedIn profile Transcript: This is a computer-generated transcript--as accurate as possible. Sophie Boler | 00;00;00;03 - 00;00;23;05 Hello hello, everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go-to podcast for anything and everything H.R., powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of H.R.? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Sophie Boler | 00;00;23;17 - 00;00;53;04 Now it's time to thrive. Hello, everybody. I am joined with Kirsten Noack today. She's our senior recruiting and retention business partner here at MRA and comes with over 15 years of experience. So she knows a lot. But she's hired, onboarded, trained and supported hundreds of employees throughout her career and is really here today to share that knowledge with all of you as we focus on employee experience as our main topic for today. Sophie Boler | 00;00;53;13 - 00;00;57;18 So welcome to the show, Kristin. I'm excited to talk to you today. Kristin Noack | 00;00;57;23 - 00;01;02;01 Thank you, Sophie. And so glad to be here to talk about a topic that I know well. Sophie Boler | 00;01;02;10 - 00;01;13;11 Absolutely. Well, let's dive right into the first question. We're going to start a little broad. So could you tell me what the employee experience really means in your eyes? Kristin Noack |;01;13;23 - 00;01;38;03 Absolutely. The employee experience to me really is the experience the employee encounters when they're engaged with your organization. Sounds pretty simplistic. Actually, a colleague of mine says it even in a more defined way that I like to talk about, and that is that the employee engagement is actually the destination, and the employee experience is the roadmap. Sophie Boler | 00;01;38;19 - 00;01;57;18 I love that. Thanks. Well, in the previous two podcasts, we really went into the first steps of the employee experience, which talked about attracting talent and onboarding and all that fun stuff. So what are the next steps to creating a good employee experience? Kristin Noack | 00;01;58;11 - 00;02;14;11 I'm glad you asked that. But Sophie we're going to take a step back because I know you recently talked to Jim Morgan about the candidate experience. And for those of you out there who have not been able to hear that podcast yet, I highly encourage it. There's a lot of similarities here between the candidate experience and the employee experience. Kristin Noack | 00;02;15;02 - 00;02;39;28 And so I would say if you think back to what Jim was speaking with you about being a candidate, you really turn some tables. So he asked you a couple of questions about your candidate experience. And so if I remember correctly, I'm paraphrasing and recapping here, you talked quite a bit about when you were looking for employment, you looked at the culture of the organization, most likely by the Internet. Kristin Noack | 00;02;39;28 - 00;03;05;25 You go to you trying to find articles, whatever that case may be. You thought about the culture. Would that be potentially of interest to you? Could that fit with who you are and what you were looking for? And then you had those discussions and you probably dug a little bit deeper. But those are the same things we actually talk about with an employee experience, because if you think about it, that candidate becomes the employee. Kristin Noack | 00;03;05;25 - 00;03;34;05 So as in yourself, you became an employee thinking about those same things as well. But what happens next? Because that employee becomes part of the fabric of your organization. So you have to think of the other things. And that includes engaging in an employee, investing in an employee and communicating with an employee. If you think about the simple things you originally thought about when you did your candidate experience as part of the culture, what is the leadership saying? Kristin Noack | 00;03;34;10 - 00;03;52;13 What about technologies in your workspace? It's the same thing you're thinking about as you become the employee. And I think that's important to understand. These are our next steps. Those don't change. You didn't walk into your job and say, Well, that's what I want yesterday. Today I want something else. So that part of you and that's part of an employee experience. Sophie Boler | 00;03;53;00 - 00;04;09;09 Absolutely. And as you know, it's essential to keep staying up to date on these trends and changes like Jim discussed. So that being said, what are some of the new tools that you've seen to improve the employee experience these days? Kristin Noack | 00;04;09;09 - 00;04;29;08 Glad you asked, because there's a couple of different ways you can look at tools that everybody thinks about making tools tangible is there technology? Is there something in that capacity? Sure, there are human resource technologies, the candidate size, those are the applicant tracking systems. It's the HRIS systems that become part of the organization once you're hired. And those are really important. Kristin Noack | 00;04;29;08 - 00;04;55;08 And I think it's been mentioned in past podcasts about these up to date as possible. And those tools, an HRIS system can give employees a very great experience from being more adept at getting information, policy updates, communication. Let's face it, most of our employees in some cases now are not back in the workforce as they were before. We need to reach them from afar and as quickly as possible. Kristin Noack | 00;04;55;08 - 00;05;18;11 But that's not the only way to communicate. Those are the only current tools that I think are really important for the employee experience. I think the tools that you've created now having to be forced into technology in Zoom meetings or team meetings are really important to communicate. Water Cooler discussions, just having a general discussion at a level between supervisors and employees is wonderful. Kristin Noack | 00;05;18;21 - 00;05;29;01 What about town halls? I think those are really important too. We might have done them to some capacity before, but they've really risen to the challenge of what we do each day for employee experience. Sophie Boler | 00;05;29;15 - 00;05;42;10 Right. And we know it's important to pay attention to what matters to every single employee at work. And this might be challenging. But how do you listen to each individual employee and their wants and needs? Kristin Noack | 00;05;43;03 - 00;06;05;15 Very good question. Because, again, let's think back to that. You're a candidate. You've become an employee with your organization. Those wants and needs you just talked about, they're still part of you, whether you're sitting in the outside meetings and that you're internally as an employee. What can you do? So I think it's important to look at it in a capacity of surveys in this state. Kristin Noack | 00;06;05;28 - 00;06;40;09 I think it's important to understand, both at a macro level and micro level, what your employees are saying. So how can you do that? One of the ways is, for instance, MRA does an engagement survey in a great department that works quite extensively on all this information that an organization is looking at about their entire employee base. And those engagement surveys are wonderful to help us look within those quantitative and qualitative factors, what the trends are, what are the satisfaction points for your employees? Kristin Noack | 00;06;40;20 - 00;06;59;10 And I think if you're looking for a way really to listen to listen on a big scope with those engagement surveys is important. After that, sometimes we need something different than that. Oh, my gosh. Sometimes we need to look at a smaller group. We need to maybe focus on our sales team or something of that nature and how can we do it on a smaller scope? Kristin Noack | 00;06;59;21 - 00;07;27;24 Those one-on-one discussions, those stay interviews are incredibly important and those should be at a frequency that gives you good information without waiting too long, which happens often. So you can get that information to your leadership, to your organization, and that communication to the employees. Stay interviews is another thing MRA does with intention. They're able to help organizations in numbers to focus on those smaller scope areas that they want to look at. Kristin Noack | 00;07;27;28 - 00;07;32;18 That satisfaction, that quantitative and qualitative aspect, right? Sophie Boler | 00;07;32;19 - 00;08;00;21 I think gathering all that feedback from employees is super important, whether that's in the conversation or, like you said, engagement survey, I mean, anything really helps, but the employee experience really helps to also improve employee retention. So what are your top three must-have strategies that an employee should really have to create a good employee experience that will lead to employee retention? Kristin Noack | 00;08;00;26 - 00;08;28;18 Well, I think it's a great question. I think there's probably more than three strategies for that. So let's talk about some that we could focus in on. One thing that is really important to understand for an employee is how are they received their messages and how are things perceived? Take a step back on that. The candidate experience, when you were looking at the organizations you were actually looking at online, right now you are focusing on what is the organization looks like. Kristin Noack | 00;08;28;26 - 00;08;49;14 That's the branding. And I think sometimes leaders don't know what their brand is. And I think if we can understand how an employee gets engaged, you need to understand how you can communicate with your employees, whether they be that candidate, that employee now or that exiting employee. What did you? What is your brand? How are you communicating? What messages are you sending? Kristin Noack | 00;08;49;19 - 00;09;08;25 So I think my strategy one is to know who you are. You go back out and try and become that candidate again and see what your organization is like going through the process or potentially just talking to your leaders and talking to your employees. Again, those town halls, things of that nature, how are they understanding  your organization? Is it as you expect it? Kristin Noack | 00;09;09;03 - 00;09;33;02 Do you need to make adjustments? Another strategy is really to consider the experience. There are those four key areas we talk about the lifestyles and those are the employee journey, which is that culture. Are you staying true to your culture strategy? Look at what your culture is. Identify your culture. Ask questions about your culture. Is it matching what you think it is leadership? Kristin Noack | 00;09;33;02 - 00;09;58;19 Is leadership being communicated? Are they being supportive? Is a collaborative focusing on that technology? Do you have up to date technology as you can have for your employees, or is there something more you could do? Many organizations will do surveys or other types of conversations and come up with a list of points of things that are really important in technology rises to the top. Kristin Noack | 00;09;58;19 - 00;10;20;11 Maybe that's something that is a strategy that can work with moving forward and present to their play base. And then there's the workspace, the workplace. Work life balance. You said it yourself in conversations previously and you probably agreed today. What is there for flexibility or benefits? Again, these things are not just for a candidate. They're for an employee. Kristin Noack | 00;10;20;18 - 00;10;22;09 They're throughout the whole lifecycle. Sophie Boler | 00;10;22;15 - 00;10;39;24 Right. And we have to bring a budget at some point. Right. So what happens if an employer doesn't feel like they have a big enough budget to really support a good employee experience? What are some practical but inexpensive, inexpensive options for them? Kristin Noack | 00;10;40;02 - 00;11;13;11 Good question. Making things happen doesn't have to be expensive. That's the really good news. So one of the tools I often refer to as something that MRA has in our toolkit, if you're a member and the website, it's called the Employee Experience Assessment Tool. It is a fantastic way to take a quick look at the comprehensive checklist in the state of your organization and talk about that journey that's a candidate to be engaging with the employee, the best in the employee, growing even to the exit. Kristin Noack | 00;11;13;17 - 00;11;29;05 It actually touches on this tool kind upon all those areas. Yes. No capacity to saying, how are we doing? It's a quick meter. It's a thought process and the journey, are we missing any meeting points that are really important to our organization and there's no cost. Sophie Boler | 00;11;30;20 - 00;11;45;12 So, well, you just touched on the exiting of an employee and unfortunately this does come with the employee experience as well in an employee leaves the company. And so this should also be a positive experience right? Kristin Noack | 00;11;46;10 - 00;12;09;07 It should be a positive experience. But let's be honest, it tends to be emotional right out of the gate whether or not it's your top performer or someone you might have been expecting could potentially be exiting the organization. It's emotional but that isn't the time to get emotional. Now is the time to investigate and that's something I'm really passionate about with organizations, especially in this market. Kristin Noack | 00;12;09;21 - 00;12;34;20 And that recruiting side is the other half of my career in recruiting and retention. We get calls all the time. I need to find people. So why are you losing people? Have you investigated? Have you done discussions? If there's an organization out there that hasn't done it yet, have those conversations and you've had the time when someone leaves we want to catch them before they leave with good, deep conversations as best as you can. Kristin Noack | 00;12;34;28 - 00;12;58;13 That's the exit interview situation. Sometimes I'm hearing it's really hard for organization to do that on their own. They feel that it's either not the right time you place or are engaging as much, and sometimes it just as training for leadership in how to conduct an exit discussion. That's where MRA can come in. Our exit interview team is great at doing that. Kristin Noack | 00;12;58;13 - 00;13;30;17 We hear those discussions, we're considered a neutral third party, so that works out fantastic. But it's important to figure out what happened in that employee journey by going through and investigating at this exit stage. And then what you do with that, I think is very important. This is what I feel is that positive Sophie I think what you need to do at that point is understand can we make adjustments within your organization, are you finding with someone that it is an onboarding situation, is it something we could have done more from the frontend--just simple better messaging. Kristin Noack | 00;13;30;27 - 00;13;52;05 Is it a leadership or supervisory situation? DO you need more supervisory training or is it a circumstance that you really can't manage at this time? Because maybe it's not a possibility of the individual being able to experience what they're looking for, your organization, and then you have to take them forward from there. But positively, you should get some good results from discussion. Sophie Boler | 0;13;52;12 - 00;14;04;12 Absolutely. And just talking about this whole process, this smooth and rewarding employee experience process really gives back time to managers. So how is that true? Kristin Noack | 00;14;05;16 - 00;14;25;19 Well, it's true because if you can do this journey well, you can manage to touch all those points in employee's engagement with you and your culture and your communication, your technology and the work life balance. You're going to be in position actively to recruit less and retain more. Sophie Boler | 00;14;27;03 - 00;14;36;17 Good answer. But because a good employee experience can really differ for each employee, how do you address all the other needs? Kristin Noack | 00;14;37;07 - 00;15;05;04 You have to do it in pieces. You have to look at where the important things are and really understand what to start with. And maybe that requires the chat with MRA to see where you're at and what to focus in on. But at least start with communication. You don't know if you don't ask. And having those potential one on ones with your employees at your supervisory level and lower level and then communicating that up and broadcasting and out to your town halls. Kristin Noack | 00;15;05;26 - 00;15;25;19 See, that's really crux of moving forward and doing that and has to reach your employee base right now and probably could be Zoom meetings. It could be regular email communications. But just because there's a difference in where your employees are, don't shy away from communicating with them. Sophie Boler | 00;15;25;26 - 00;15;32;20 Right. Exactly. And how does senior leadership play a role in the whole employee experience process? Kristin Noack | 00;15;33;07 - 00;16;03;03 I think senior leadership needs to be the one in the forefront of that brand and need to be the one in the forefront of the communication of the organizations through certain type of things we've done here that have shown that individuals will move an organization because of it's leadership. So is your senior leadership with you? Are they understanding what the voices are of the employee and do they understanding the employee experience, having them do a little bit of that work to their viewpoint? Sophie Boler | 00;16;03;29 - 00;16;11;14 Absolutely. Well, we're running out of time, but do you have any last thoughts that you can give our followers today? Kristin Noack | 00;16;12;23 - 00;16;28;11 I think the biggest that I would leave you with is the journey. It's truly about the employee's journey, whether it be the candidate, the employee, the access. You need to know what your journey is providing and it just in order to retain. Sophie Boler | 00;16;29;21 - 00;16;58;02 Absolutely. And like Jim mentioned, the employee experience never ends. It's an ongoing thing. And it will never end. But like I said, that takes up all of our time for the day, unfortunately. But Kristen, thank you so much for joining us today. And listeners, I hope you enjoyed talking to Kristen, too, but we have added Kristen's LinkedIn profile to the show notes as well as a couple great resources that she's given us. Sophie Boler | 00;16;58;11 - 00;17;16;27 So make sure to check those out and make sure to connect with her, too. Shoot her a message. She'd love to chat, I'm sure. Absolutely. All right. We will be continuing the conversation next week. But thank you again, Kristen. I had fun talking to you and we will see you again soon. Kristin Noack | 00;17;17;03 - 00;17;17;17 Thank you. Sophie Boler | 00;17;18;06 - 00;17;40;13 And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform and as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute Thrive so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.

In this episode with James McDevitt, Vice President of Human Resources at MRA, we talk pre-boarding, onboarding, and orientation best practices! James shares real-life stories and advice from his 25+ year HR experience and proves his belief that a company's most valuable assets are its people! Listen to Discover: According to the most recent Gallup Poll, about 1/3 of U.S. employees are engaged in their work and workplace. How can you increase this number?  Effective onboarding does not end on day 3 or day four. It's a continuous process. And this is where companies who succeed build cultures where personal development and continuous improvement is part of the culture.  The pre-boarding, onboarding, and orientation processes need to be individualized to the new hire, their role, their interests, and goals.  Let's Connect: James' LinkedIn Profile   Transcript: INTRO | 00;00;00;03 - 00;00;23;05 Hello, hello, everybody and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now, it's time to THRIVE!   Sophie Boler | 00;00;23;17 - 00;00;49;16 Well, with all the conversation around employee engagement and retention, we thought it would be a great idea to really tackle that topic today on our podcast and follow up to Jim Morgan's episode last week on candidate experience. So according to the most recent Gallup Poll, about one-third of U.S. employees are engaged in their work at their workplace.   Sophie Boler | 00;00;49;16 - 00;01;17;01 And we're talking a pretty low percentage. So one way that we can increase employee engagement from the very start is by really focusing on the employee experience with a strong onboarding program. And in fact, according to another study from TalentWise, 91 percent of employees stick around for at least a year when organizations have an efficient onboarding process, which is a pretty large percentage.   Sophie Boler | 00;01;17;14 - 00;01;49;29 So today I'm joined with James McDevitt. He's our vice president of human resources here at MRA, and is an absolute pleasure to work with. But James comes with a ton of experience, having worked in HR for more than 25 years and really has a lot of operations experience working for both large and small companies. But while James has transformed human resource organizations into a strategic vehicle for growth, he really holds the belief that a company's most valuable asset are their people.   Sophie Boler | 00;01;50;24 - 00;01;54;09 So welcome, James. Let's talk onboarding process.   James McDevitt | 00;01;54;09 - 00;01;55;22 Thank you. Thank you for having me.   Sophie Boler | 00;01;56;00 - 00;02;07;24 Absolutely. But before we get to the actual onboarding talk, we should first talk about the preboarding stage. So do you have any suggestions for preboarding a brand-new employee?   James McDevitt | 00;02;07;25 - 00;02;32;15 Absolutely. And as you said, employees are the most valuable assets of any organization. Without the people, there is no product, no services, no nothing. So it's really important that employers do everything they can to engage, to motivate, retain, and develop their employees. And as you suggested, that really starts even before they start. Pre-boarding is an important part of the process.   James McDevitt | 00;02;32;15 - 00;02;50;27 It's often overlooked. And sometimes not a lot of thought goes into what happens before they start. But a lot of it happens after they start. So what tends to happen? People are not sure when they're supposed to start. They're not sure what the dress code is. They're not sure of where they're supposed to be. They turn up at the wrong location.   James McDevitt | 00;02;51;07 - 00;03;12;28 They turn up at the wrong time, and suddenly you're off to a bad start. You really are. So I think it's really important to put a process in place where you recognize the importance of pre-boarding. So for example, make sure you call and speak to the candidate now that you hire before they start. Make sure they know where they're going.   James McDevitt | 00;03;12;29 - 00;03;30;08 Make sure they know what time they're supposed to be there. Make sure they know what the dress code is, but also plan ahead. Have a backup. What happens if the person is supposed to call, who would ideally be the hiring manager as a really important step in building that relationship? But what if the hiring manager gets sick?   James McDevitt | 00;03;31;20 - 00;03;51;00 Is there someone else there that can make the call? Likewise, on day one, even before the orientation starts, they're supposed to arrive and meet somebody. What if that person got stuck in traffic? You should have a backup plan to make sure that whatever happens, that the new hire, the new employee is clearly communicated with.   Sophie Boler | 00;03;51;09 - 00;04;11;04 Right. And I think just speaking to my experience for the pre-boarding process, I really like that my team really provided a good idea of what my first week would look like before I even started. So it made me more comfortable to know, “Hey, on Monday, I'm going to do this, on Tuesday, I'm going to do this. This is what I should wear.   Sophie Boler | 00;04;11;12 - 00;04;21;12 This is what time I should show up.” And also just getting welcomed by other people not even on your team. It was really comforting.   James McDevitt | 00;04;21;13 - 00;04;33;08 Absolutely. And another good practice is sometimes companies will have like a “swag bag” of stuff on day one. That's pretty cool. How cool would it be to get that before you even start?   Sophie Boler | 00;04;33;11 - 00;04;35;00 Get you a little energized before.   James McDevitt | 00;04;35;18 - 00;04;40;28 Get excited, get the swag to them before they even start. They're going to be excited to be there.   Sophie Boler | 00;04;41;06 - 00;04;59;12 And then they can bring their swag onto their desk too. But let's go into more of the onboarding part. And this is the time to really make a good first impression. So, onboarding is way more than just the workspace that they're at. So, tell us what's on your onboarding checklist?   James McDevitt | 00;04;59;28 - 00;05;18;22 So I think the first and most important thing is to make the employee welcome, to make them feel welcome. To make them feel like they've made the right decision and made the right choice. The reality is that employees today can choose to go, frankly, almost anywhere they want to go. So you have to convince them they've make the right choice.   James McDevitt | 00;05;18;22 - 00;05;42;12 It's really important you make that impression on the first day. As I said earlier, make sure someone is there to greet them. Someone's expecting them. You don't want to turn up and there's somebody in reception. “Hi, I'm James McDevitt.” So make sure that we're expecting them. Make sure there's a backup in case the person expecting them is not there. One thing I remember when I came over to the States a few years ago now,   James McDevitt | 00;05;42;12 - 00;05;59;18 that has stuck with me ever since, on the first day the CEO of the company, who's also a co-founder of the company, I am very confident saying would have been a very busy man, took the time out on his first day to come and meet all the new hires and speak to us for at least 30 minutes   James McDevitt | 00;06;00;02 - 00;06;27;09 about the history of the company, why the company was founded, and the culture of the company. That happened over 20 years ago, and I still remember that conversation. So not just the hiring manager, the hiring manager's key, if possible, if the hiring manager's in the same location, they should be there. But get senior leadership, get the CEO if possible. If the CEO is not available, some other senior leader that can talk about the company, they can talk about the history of the company and where this person fits in.   James McDevitt | 00;06;28;11 - 00;06;40;03   As I said, you really want to make this feel welcome, this person feel welcome. You want to get them pumped that they made the right decision. And they're excited and looking forward, not just to day one, but to day two, day three, and day four.   Sophie Boler | 00;06;40;12 - 00;06;52;28 Absolutely. And you kind of gave us a little overview on your checklist, but do you have any examples of a really bad onboarding experience that companies can kind of listen to, to stray away from?   James McDevitt | 00;06;53;00 - 00;07;14;26 Sure. There's unfortunately, there's more than one I can think of. I think a lot of companies fall into this trap as well, where day one tends to be the “HR day” and you stick them in a room with very competent HR professionals. But they're going through a relatively dry topic in terms of benefits of accidental death and dismemberment insurance and making sure you fill out the forms.   Sophie Boler | 00;07;14;26 - 00;07;15;06 All the fun stuff.   James McDevitt | 00;07;15;06 - 00;07;36;13 All the fun stuff. And if you're in an environment, like in a manufacturing environment, you maybe have to go sit through a safety presentation and you can see that the new hires and the new employees are literally switching off and thinking, “Why am I here?” So sometimes you have to do that. You have to go through benefits, you have to go through safety, but make it fun, make it exciting.   James McDevitt | 00;07;36;26 - 00;08;01;01 Another example from the same company when I came to the U.S., the other example from the orientation I remember the payroll manager came and was explaining how you get paid and that's obviously a good thing. But again, some of that is a little bit of a detail in terms of timesheets and things like that. But she made it fun and exciting and as a payroll manager, she had a little PayDay candy bars and she would ask questions.   James McDevitt | 00;08;01;12 - 00;08;04;29 And if you got a question right, she threw a PayDay candy bar at you.   Sophie Boler | 00;08;05;10 - 00;08;07;11 That's an incentive.   James McDevitt | 00;08;07;11 - 00;08;32;12 So make it fun. Make it exciting. Don't make it boring. You got to fill out the I-9. You got to fill out benefits, paperwork, but make it fun. Make it interesting. And another example of where it didn't really work was someone I know traveled a long way, actually relocated to the position. And on the first day, this person was an attorney and she was all dressed up, all smart, as you would expect an attorney to dress.   James McDevitt | 00;08;33;01 - 00;08;52;23 And she showed up to her office. And that's a good start. Her manager wasn't there and she wasn't quite sure and her laptop didn't work, and she ended up having to scramble around under the table in her best clothes, trying to figure out how to plug her laptop in and thinking, “Why am I here?” So those are simple things that can be avoided.   Sophie Boler | 00;08;53;08 - 00;09;06;24 Absolutely. And I mean, nowadays we see a lot more remote employees. So what about the remote employees? How do you apply that same process that you just talked about if a new employee is remote?   James McDevitt | 00;09;06;24 - 00;09;30;18 It's the same principles. It's harder. It's easier if you're all in the same place. And it's obviously harder if you're not, but it's basically the same principle: Get them pumped up, get them excited, make them feel like they've made the right decision. If it's possible to get them into another company location near where they live, try to do your best to do that and have somebody greet them and have lunch with them and all the rest of it.   James McDevitt | 00;09;31;05 - 00;09;56;21 If that's not feasible, can you get their technology to them before their first day? Can you get a laptop to them, for example? Give them instructions on how to log in, work with the IT team to get their email on, all the connections set up so that if you are doing orientation sessions on day one, Zoom is a wonderful technology at times, but Zoom can be our friend on orientation day with remote workers.   James McDevitt | 00;09;56;21 - 00;10;23;03 Get them involved, make sure the hiring manager, again with the pre-boarding, the hiring manager's spoken to them already. They're building that relationship. Get them to speak with their teams. Even though they may be sitting in their living room or wherever they're sitting, make them included, make them feel included. One good practice that a lot of companies do is have lunch with the new hire on day one and wherever possible, maybe get the team involved.   James McDevitt | 00;10;23;03 - 00;10;42;25 Again, if you're all in the same location, that's not too difficult. If you're in different locations, that's hard. So think ahead. Maybe send them a food delivery voucher, coupon, gift card in advance so they can order lunch so they can be having lunch on the company while at the same time everybody else is having lunch. Again, it's the same thing.   James McDevitt | 00;10;42;25 - 00;10;48;16 Make them feel they belong, make them feel part of the culture. Make them feel like they've made the right decision.   Sophie Boler | 00;10;48;21 - 00;11;02;24 Right. And I mean, we've covered a couple of different terms so far—pre-boarding, onboarding—and now we're going to go a little bit into orientation. So could you talk a little bit about the difference between onboarding and orientation?   James McDevitt | 00;11;02;24 - 00;11;26;19 Sure.  Now those two phrases can be a little interchangeable sometimes, but technically orientation is really about the initial welcome on the first day or the first couple of days that you have the new hire becoming the new employee and becoming the regular employee, so to speak. So it's really the initial welcome. And the goal there, as I said, is to make them think they've made the right decision by choosing you.   James McDevitt | 00;11;27;03 - 00;11;42;29 Onboarding is more of a longer term process where you're really helping them learn how to do their job, how to be effective in their job, how to build relationships, cross-functionally on project teams, etc., etc. So onboarding is a longer, broader process. Orientation is the first impressions.   Sophie Boler | 00;11;43;05 - 00;11;59;15 Okay, thank you. And what is the best way to really help a new hire integrate into the organization? How do you teach them about your company's core values and mission and history without plopping down a bunch of papers and saying, “Read”?   James McDevitt | 00;11;59;19 - 00;12;18;02 Yeah, absolutely. And that you just highlighted the one thing I don't think you should do, although these days, people don't necessarily give you a file and a bunch of papers. They say, “There's a website, go read” or “Go watch that online video and I'll come back at lunchtime again.” Again, how exciting is that for the new hire?   James McDevitt | 00;12;18;02 - 00;12;43;18 Are they are they pumped to be here? Because I spent 2 hours watching online videos or reading forms online? No, talk to them. You should have a plan. You should have a “who does that person need to know” to be successful in their role? What relationships do they need to start working on? Those are all important. So have a plan, but make sure the plan is flexible enough so that it's individualized by the person or the role.   James McDevitt | 00;12;43;18 - 00;13;03;01 In some organizations, it's important that you know this person and other organizations, it's important you know that person. Don't just have people meet everybody for the sake of meeting everybody. So have a plan. When you talk about the culture of the organization and the values of the organization, make sure you yourself are demonstrating those values so they can actually see them in action.   James McDevitt | 00;13;03;01 - 00;13;31;22 If you're in an environment where it's very customer, very member focused, you show them how that works in reality. Give them examples, talk to members of the team, demonstrate those values in action. As I said, meet the team, meet the key stakeholders. Appreciate some of the generational differences that exist out there, but really be inclusive, be positive, and again, get them jazzed to be there as part of the team.   Sophie Boler | 00;13;31;22 - 00;13;39;18 Great. And I mean, this might differ depending on what company you're at, but how long should a typical onboarding process take?   James McDevitt | 00;13;40;00 - 00;14;02;16 So I think that's a trick question because the answer is, I don't think it ever ends. Again, orientation is you're setting yourself up for success within the organization. Onboarding, you're now going to take that to the next level on how to do your job. But your job evolves. You evolve as a person. You develop, you're continually, hopefully continually, learning, doing new things.   James McDevitt | 00;14;02;25 - 00;14;09;10 You're being trained on how to do new things. You're learning how to do new things. Effectively, onboarding goes on continually ...   Sophie Boler | 00;14;10;04 - 00;14;11;04 Forever.   James McDevitt | 00;14;11;24 - 00;14;37;17 It frankly does. Yes. I mean, what we're effectively doing, if you think about it, and if you do it properly, you spend all that time and effort hiring somebody, you spend all that time and effort getting them on board. You find, you spend all that time and effort training them how to do a job. And then if you stop, if you just stop, that person will become disengaged.   James McDevitt | 00;14;37;17 - 00;15;00;12 They will become ineffective. They will leave the organization. And you have to do all of it again. You are effectively, good practice is to effectively continually to re-recruit your new hire as if you're trying to get them pumped up, as if you're trying to get them to do their job well and trying to get them engaged and want to be there and want to get out of bed in the morning and come to work, so it doesn't end. If the employee doesn't feel the love, then you know what?   James McDevitt | 00;15;00;12 - 00;15;01;26 Someone else will get them to feel the love.   Sophie Boler | 00;15;02;20 - 00;15;15;19 And you mentioned generational differences quickly in your last statement, and there's been a lot of talk about generational differences. So how does this really come into play in the onboarding process?   James McDevitt | 00;15;15;27 - 00;15;46;18 Sure. So, as you said, generational differences, perhaps for the first time, significant generational differences in place across society with the boomers and the Gen Xers and the millennials, sometimes it's hard to keep up with them. I think the important thing to remember, though, is, is that people are different, people are individual and whatever strategy you have, it should be individualized to the person. As I mentioned before, have a plan, have a structure, but make sure it's individualized to that person.   James McDevitt | 00;15;46;26 - 00;16;12;12 I think some of the key elements are a strong communications plan, making sure that you communicate clearly with the new hire, the employee so that they understand, give them the opportunity to ask questions. Don't just tell them; communication is two-way. Have an inclusive culture, so they feel part of the team. And I think, something I haven't really mentioned before, but I think the role of the hiring manager is really key and I think lots of studies out there show that the relationship between the hiring manager and employee is crucial.   James McDevitt | 00;16;12;26 - 00;16;28;18 The hiring manager needs to be part of the pre-boarding, needs to be part of the onboarding, needs to be part of the orientation. And they really need to build that relationship with the new hire. And if that is successful, regardless of the generation, I think I think it will be a successful experience.   Sophie Boler | 00;16;29;15 - 00;16;42;00 So what are your thoughts on having a new hire get involved in a big project right away? Does that give them a sense of responsibility right off the bat or should you steer away from that? What are your thoughts on that?   James McDevitt | 00;16;42;05 - 00;17;02;27 I think I'll go back to the individual role of the individual again. I think it has to be individualized. There will be some cases where you have someone who has got the skills, got the experience, got the knowledge and can jump straight, in and you have other people that may not be there yet and that's okay. And you will know that when you hire them through the process, and people get hired to do different things.   James McDevitt | 00;17;03;12 - 00;17;20;00 So I would say it needs to be down to the individual and I would say the key is to set the new hire up to succeed. Do not set them up to fail. So if they don't have the skills and the capabilities and experience to take on the big project, take it slow.   Sophie Boler | 00;17;20;15 - 00;17;39;18 Okay, good advice. So here at MRA, we assign mentors to all of our new hires and they're really there to just kind of be a leader and for the new hires to go to if they have questions and be a role model. So what are some suggestions you have for mentors of new hires?   James McDevitt | 00;17;40;01 - 00;18;02;06 Sure. So I think when we talk about mentors, there's really two roles that can really help a new hire come on board and be effective quickly. There's the mentor and there's the buddy. The buddy is a more informal process. Someone that can help answer all the silly questions like, “Where's the bathrooms and what time do, you know,…”   James McDevitt | 00;18;02;06 - 00;18;10;02 “My boss said this. What did he or she really mean to say?” Particularly someone with local accents and variations. “What did he say? I don't quite understand what he said!”   James McDevitt | 00;18;12;13 - 00;18;36;15 All those silly questions that you may not want to ask your manager. And that's, you know, that's fine. So someone that goes to lunch with you, someone that explains, “Oh, this is what we did and this is how we do it,” someone that you can bounce thoughts off, that's really important. The role of a buddy has been proved to show a real success in terms of transitioning somebody in the workplace, talk about being inclusive, talk about being part of a team, a buddy can really help that process go through.   James McDevitt | 00;18;36;15 - 00;19;05;16 A mentor is probably more of a formal process and traditionally tends to be someone maybe a bit more senior, is more structured, someone that maybe has more experience in the role, that can coach and guide maybe someone with less experience, and help them with career advice and suggestions on the role. And a buddy isn't necessarily someone you would go and ask, “Well I tried to do the job this way and it didn't work. What do you think? How could it be done differently?”   James McDevitt | 00;19;05;16 - 00;19;21;27 Whereas a mentor could play that role. “So I have this idea. We did it in my last company and it really worked really well there. I don't want to go to my manager and say this right now because I don't know if it's worked and failed or if it's been done here before or not.”   James McDevitt | 00;19;22;08 - 00;19;44;10 A mentor can help be a guide with some of those questions. So I think both have a have a role to play. And previous organizations, we've certainly invested a lot of time in the buddy system, for example, and we hand-selected individuals and even trained them in some ways on how to be a buddy and what to look for and understand adult learning and how do people learn.   James McDevitt | 00;19;44;10 - 00;19;51;14 And some people are very visual, some people are not. And that's all important to be a successful buddy.   Sophie Boler | 00;19;52;02 - 00;20;06;06 And I think the buddy system and mentor system has really helped me personally too, as a newer employee. But what are some ways that a company can provide this continuous onboarding support that you mentioned?   James McDevitt | 00;20;06;07 - 00;20;31;06 So as I said, onboarding doesn't end on day three or day four. It's really continuous. And this is where companies who succeed build cultures where personal development and continuous improvement is part of the culture, where the manager sits down with the employee on a regular basis and not just once a year because it's annual review time, because someone in HR sent them a form and said, “We have to fill this form out.”   James McDevitt | 00;20;31;20 - 00;20;51;25 No, it's a real dynamic process where we sit down as a team, as teams, sit down with individuals to say, “Okay, how's it going? Was it working? Last time we met, we were going to do this. Did it work? Did it not work? What did you learn? How would you do it differently?” Asking the questions, “What help do you need? What do you want to do?”   James McDevitt | 00;20;52;04 - 00;21;17;06 Really important questions. In my role in the past, managers have come to me and said, “Well, I think so-and-so would be a really good person for this role.” And I said, “Well, have you talked to them about it?” No, that's crazy talk. Why would I do that?” But in a culture of personal development and continuous improvement, people would know what does Sophie want to do in the next couple of years.   James McDevitt | 00;21;17;06 - 00;21;37;05 Where do her interests lie? Is she looking to build on the creative side, is she looking to go into management roles? Is she looking to change functions? I think that's all really important and I think successful personal development, continuous improvement programs are again, it's not just about going on a formal training class.   James McDevitt | 00;21;37;15 - 00;21;42;16 I'm going to send somebody who wants to be a manager, I'm going to send them to a manager class. Yeah. It doesn't quite work like that.   James McDevitt | 00;21;43;06 - 00;22;07;21 Much, much more than that. So, so talk about on-the-job learning. Talk about skills and experience that you can pick up on the job. If you're looking to go into management or supervision, maybe you can take a leadership role in a project, cross-functional project. What we're going to ask you to take a leadership role here where you're working a cross-function maybe it's in a matrix environment where no one person can say yes, but five people can say no.   James McDevitt | 00;22;08;10 - 00;22;31;12 Work on those skills—meetings, working, pulling meetings together, agendas together, keeping meetings on time. Those are all important skills that you need to learn once you're in management. So broaden the mind, broaden your experience. In some organizations, they're set up in such a way that you can actually move between functions quite easily.   James McDevitt | 00;22;31;12 – 00;22;53;09 And MRA, for example, is one of those as an HR organization, we have a lot of HR professionals and we have a lot of people in blended roles. They might do some compensation, they might do some recruitment, they might do some learning and development, and a lot of those roles are built on the fact that we've had conversations with those members of the team who've expressed an interest—   James McDevitt | 00;22;53;09 - 00;23;09;22 “I'm interested in doing this”—and we figure out, does that work? Does that person have the right skill set, and if so, with a bit of coaching and mentoring, to your point, we can make it happen. So I think the key is regular one-on-ones, proactive discussions on what it is you want to do, what help you need to get there.   Sophie Boler | 00;23;10;20 - 00;23;29;26 And everybody wants to be an employer of choice. And I think a good onboarding and orientation process is one way to be that employer of choice. So you really want a new hire to go home after their first day of work and share their day with their family, their friends, and be like, “Wow, this is awesome. I had a great first day.”   Sophie Boler | 00;23;30;02 - 00;23;55;04 And that will encourage other future candidates hopefully to join the company as well. But on the opposite side, if they go home and complain, nobody's going to want to join that company. They're not going to want to come back. So like you said, these processes are key and it's all about leaving a good first impression. So do you have any last impressions that you want to leave our listeners with today?   James McDevitt | 00;23;55;05 - 00;24;13;29 Absolutely. And you made the point that a bad orientation or a bad onboarding, certainly these days, employees will not stick around. They don't stick around. The studies are out there. The statistics are out there. The results are in. People don't stick around. So what can you do to make them stick around? And we've talked about some of the ideas.   James McDevitt | 00;24;13;29 - 00;24;27;25 I think at the end of the day, it's a bit of an old cliche with an employer of choice, but especially these days, I think it's absolutely true. Employees have a choice. When they get out of bed in the morning, they have a choice. They can come to work for you or frankly, they can go and work for somebody else.   James McDevitt | 00;24;28;03 - 00;24;46;18 Our role is to get them to make the choice to come and work for us on day one and on day two and on day three and in year four, and in year five. That's why it's a continual process, it's a continual recruitment. We want them engaged. We want them to feel part of the team.   James McDevitt | 00;24;46;18 - 00;24;48;08 We want them to come into work in the morning.   Sophie Boler | 00;24;48;17 - 00;25;10;17 Absolutely. Well, thank you for all of your advice today. I mean, it was great. And thank you for being on the show, too, and really continuing the candidate experience talk and onboarding process. It's something that's never going away, like you said, but something organizations really need to stay on top of. So we will be continuing this conversation next week.   Sophie Boler | 00;25;11;13 - 00;25;34;15 But if you have any further questions or just want to get connected with James, we have linked his LinkedIn profile in the show notes below along with some other resources that you can take a look at. But James, thank you again. I had fun. It was good talking to you. But other than that, we will see you next week!   OUTRO | 00;25;35;01 - 00;25;54;06 And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes, where you can sign up to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.  

In this episode with MRA Vice President of Workforce Strategies, Jim Morgan, we begin the employee experience conversation by talking about how the candidate experience has changed, and how organizations need to adapt to that change! We cover the initial candidate contact point, interview best practices, and individualizing your candidate process.  Listen to Discover: Leading up to the pandemic, we were starting to see the labor shortage. And now coming out of it, it is here in full force.  It's a shift in mindset: As much as organizations might want to say, "Oh, you're lucky to have a job with us", the truth is that's been turned around. And so it's "We'd be lucky to have you." Have someone go through your candidate experience, whether that's you, your kid or just an employee. Know what the process looks like. Bios: Jim Morgan, Vice President, Workforce Strategies  Let's Connect: Jim's LinkedIn Profile  Transcript: INTRO | 00;00;00;03 - 00;00;23;04 Hello, hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE, your go-to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever-changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now, it's time to thrive. Sophie Boler | 00;00;23;18 - 00;00;46;27 Hello, everybody. I am here with Jim Morgan. He's our Workforce Strategies Vice President here at MRA. And a lot of you are probably familiar with Jim already, as he does a lot of traveling on the key points of the talent shortage issue. And he's really been working on this issue for the last 30 years, which is pretty impressive. Sophie Boler | 00;00;47;22 - 00;01;02;12 But Jim really makes organizations take a step back and think about their candidate experience plans and how they should be adapting to the current times. So thanks for joining me on the show today, Jim. I'm really excited to talk about this issue. Jim Morgan | 00;01;02;21 - 00;01;04;24 It's my pleasure to be in front of MRA Nation. Sophie Boler | 00;01;04;28 - 00;01;18;16 Oh, of course. But I think we'll just dive into the first question and really talk about the candidate experience as a whole. So could you just tell me what candidate experience means and what it all includes? Jim Morgan | 00;01;18;20 - 00;01;40;13 Sure. You know, really, as you're trying to find talent, that begins with the first contact that you have with whomever your candidate might be. And so companies are spending a lot more time now from that first contact until the moment that they offer them a job and they hire them. Everything that happens between that first contact and the first day of work is really the candidate experience. Jim Morgan | 00;01;40;26 - 00;02;04;01 And we haven't had to really think about that in the past because if we had 200 people applying for a job, we just zipped them through and we took the best one possible. But now when you can't find anyone and you're in this competitive marketplace, that candidate experience really becomes a big deal. So if I'm trying to hire you, I want to make sure that from the moment we meet right up to when you start that you're thinking "this is a cool place to work. Jim Morgan | 00;02;04;01 - 00;02;22;06 And they seem like good people to work with. This is the kind of place I could see myself at." So it's become a new, new thing really for employers. I'd say, you know, leading up to the pandemic, we were starting to see the labor shortage. And now coming out of it, it is here in full force. So that's become kind of a big deal for us. Sophie Boler | 00;02;22;12 - 00;02;30;11 Absolutely. And I mean, well, it seems to me that there have been candidates for as long as there have been jobs. So can you tell us what's really different? Jim Morgan | 00;02;30;11 - 00;02;45;06 Yeah, and that's a really good point. People like well, you know, we've always been able to give candidates and give people a start. But I think the world has changed a little bit. So I'm going to stump the host here and turn some of these questions back on you a little bit. But okay, so you're looking for your first job. Where are you looking? How are you finding out, "hey, where do I want to go next?" Sophie Boler | 00;02;50;16 - 00;03;02;27 My first instinct would be to go on Google and search up the company I'm looking for, kind of take a look at their website, learn a little bit more on the company through their social media and website. Jim Morgan | 00;03;03;08 - 00;03;11;14 And what what would you be looking for that you'd think, "wow, that's that looks pretty cool. Yeah, I think I want to go there." What would strike you and leave an impression on you? Sophie Boler | 00;03;12;12 - 00;03;28;15 You know, I'd look at their mission from their website and I would just kind of look at their company culture as a whole, which I would probably get from social media and see if I would kind of fit in with that culture and see what professional opportunities they have for me there. Jim Morgan | 00;03;28;15 - 00;03;34;09 So are there certain types of pictures or videos or something that you would look at that you would say, Yeah, that's what I'm looking for? Sophie Boler | 00;03;35;09 - 00;03;53;20 I mean, I'm a big-picture person and video person myself. So I would say if it's a fun culture and I see that they do a lot of good work inside and outside of the company and they post about it frequently or, you know, feature things on their website that would have a good look for me. Yeah. Jim Morgan | 00;03;53;25 - 00;04;06;09 So now you've decided, "hey, this looks pretty good; I'm going to go find their careers page." So now I get to their careers page. I'm looking for a job that's of interest to me. What are you looking for in that in that job description or whatever they might have on? Sophie Boler | 00;04;06;09 - 00;04;28;11 I would be looking for probably at this point in time some flexibility. I mean, now we're kind of in a remote environment, hybrid situation. So I'd be looking for benefits that are for people more my age and things that I see as a benefit, not necessarily for everybody else, but. Yeah. Jim Morgan | 00;04;28;28 - 00;04;29;02 Okay. Jim Morgan | 00;04;30;09 - 00;04;40;16 All right. Yeah. So you found us. You found the job you're looking for. You make contact with us. How long do you think you should have to wait for me to get back to you? Sophie Boler | 00;04;41;04 - 00;04;58;27 Oh, gosh, well, I'm a little picky, so I would say a couple days at the most. I mean, anything after a couple of days, it makes me feel like, "oh, maybe they didn't look at my resume or maybe they're not interested. Why aren't they getting back to me?" You know, I think we expect more fast responses. Jim Morgan | 00;04;59;15 - 00;05;14;06 And just couple more and then I'm almost done with you. Okay, so now we said, okay, come on in. How long would you be willing to wait between first contact and starting the job? What's your expectation of how fast a company would move? Sophie Boler | 00;05;14;06 - 00;05;20;15 I would say a week would be a good time from first contact to being hired.  Jim Morgan | 00;05;20;28 - 00;05;27;06 And in that week, would you stop looking or are you are you still sort of searching around the world? Sophie Boler | 00;05;27;13 - 00;05;44;01 No, I would definitely keep searching. I mean, I wouldn't want to limit myself and put all my eggs in one basket. But yeah, definitely be searching for other opportunities. You never know what's going to come up. I mean, maybe the day before they want to hire me, I find another company, so. Jim Morgan | 00;05;44;15 - 00;05;46;04 Okay, well, that's helpful. Sophie Boler | 00;05;46;05 - 00;05;46;13 Did I pass? Jim Morgan | 00;05;46;13 - 00;06;09;00 You did pass. And you just freaked out every hiring manager that's probably listening today because they're thinking "A week? Why is she nuts? You know, we can't get that done that quickly." This is sort of the seismic shift in power that's taking place now that you really, you know, you hold all the cards, you can pretty much decide how fast you want it, whether you're going to keep looking, what else is going on out there. Jim Morgan | 00;06;09;00 - 00;06;25;28 And as a result, that's really what's causing a lot of the consternation for the employers is because you've grown up in a time where, you know, I don't know that much about your family, but I'll bet you've been in charge of your family just about since the day you were born. You decide when we go on vacation, you decide where we go on vacation. Jim Morgan | 00;06;26;09 - 00;06;53;09 And everybody is, you know, sort of complaining about all these kids, these kids, all these young kids. And I would say, well, these parents, you know, I mean, we're the ones that the baby boomers raised our kids saying, "you make all the decisions." And so you're you're used to being sort of in charge of everything. You've also walked into an Amazon world where you can order a pair of sunglasses and watch it go from the manufacturing line into the box end of the truck to the distribution center. Jim Morgan | 00;06;53;16 - 00;07;09;28 And you know exactly when it's going to show up. And that becomes the expectation of a candidate to say, "I want to know when I'm being interviewed. I want to know when you're going to hire. I want to know how quickly this whole thing is going to move." So in terms of candidate experience, those are all things that employers have not had to worry about in the past. Jim Morgan | 00;07;10;07 - 00;07;21;11 And your expectations, the speed at which especially younger generations move is a whole new dynamic for for companies. So as a result, this candidate experience has become a bigger deal. Sophie Boler | 00;07;21;11 - 00;07;31;14 Mhm absolutely. And I agree with everything you said, and it's a little scary, but this all seems like a newer phenomenon. So what can you tell us why that is? Jim Morgan | 00;07;31;24 - 00;07;54;06 You know, it's really a simple numbers game and it doesn't get much more complicated than that. We've got companies in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin's 3000 employers. And I spend most of my time going around talking them about talent attraction, talent retention, how do you go and find people. And at the end of the day, in the upper Midwest and actually in the Northeast, people are not moving here. Jim Morgan | 00;07;54;06 - 00;08;18;21 This is not a destination for most folks. It's more west and it's more south. We're not having a lot of kids. And so you don't have a natural growth of people. We're not an international destination place. We have a lot of 25-year-olds that are deciding to go somewhere else. One thing we've learned in this whole thing is if you're a 25-year-old, where do you want to go where the other 25-year-olds are? Jim Morgan | 00;08;18;22 - 00;08;38;08 It's pretty simple. And we're not really a destination like Austin or the Carolinas or Portland. So all of those things are working against us. And so as a result, that's where we get to the point that we don't have very many bodies. And so now companies are having to adjust everything that they do in order to attract you. Jim Morgan | 00;08;38;08 - 00;08;50;29 And so they want you to stay here, they want you to work here, but they've got to compete for you now because you have everything at your fingertips. You can go wherever you want to go. So now we've got to work a little bit harder. And that's what's driven this, I think, to the to the forefront. Sophie Boler | 00;08;51;06 - 00;09;09;18 Right. So now moving into more of your employer recommendations and advice for how they can handle this kind of situation, what are you exactly telling employers to consider to make the candidate experience a positive one, make sure they're adapting to these times? Jim Morgan | 00;09;09;20 - 00;09;27;14 Yeah. I basically tell them to go back and listen to what you said in the first 3 minutes of the show, because those are really the answers. The first stop is going to be technologic. They're going to go to your website and they're probably going to do it from there forward. So one your website look online. How quickly can they navigate it? Jim Morgan | 00;09;28;08 - 00;09;45;27 You know, we joke that, oh, you know, if on your front page you have this 15-minute video of where the company started 120 years ago, nobody cares. And I don't mean that to sound rough. The companies that are very proud of their tradition. But there's one thing, especially about the younger generations, they're not going to watch a 50-minute video and there's a reason. Jim Morgan | 00;09;45;27 - 00;10;05;21 TikTok, as you know is 2 minutes, one minute, and there's a reason. Twitter is 240 characters or whatever it is, that it's got to be fast. They're also going to see how quickly they can navigate through your website because that's sort of the first indication of whether or not this is a company that gets it because, you know, you don't want to show up and you won't even know what this is. Jim Morgan | 00;10;05;21 - 00;10;27;27 But you show up and there's a Commodore 64 computer from RadioShack on your desk, that said, you know, you're out of there. So it's got to be quick. It's got to be personalized, it's got to be easy. And I think that's another one that a lot of HR people don't understand is, you know, there are software packages now that if you've got your resume on your laptop, you hit the easy button and it uploads your resume. Jim Morgan | 00;10;27;27 - 00;10;51;14 It puts the answers into the right questions. You know, it does everything. So if they're asking you to fill out a PDF and print it out and fax it in, that's a pretty good indication of that's not, you know, probably where you're going to end up. So that easiness, that quickness, all of that matters. And the last thing I think that they have to do is keep in mind that they're trying to wow you there, they're selling you, they need you to come work for them. Jim Morgan | 00;10;51;26 - 00;11;07;16 And so as much as they might want to say, "oh, you're lucky to have a job with us," the truth is that's been turned out. And so it's "we'd be lucky to have you." And that's a mindset that I'm not sure everybody's gotten yet. But it's is there a wow factor in this so that when you leave, you're like, that's the place that I want to go? Sophie Boler | 00;11;07;27 - 00;11;27;29 Mhm. I was just on LinkedIn earlier this morning, and I saw all of the easy job applicants you can do where you literally press the button and it uploads your resume. And that can be a little scary because then how many people are actually changing their resume in their cover letters for different jobs? Jim Morgan | 00;11;27;29 - 00;11;46;14 And I would say that's a good warning for people looking to that. Yeah, that's convenient as heck. But if you're not even taking the 2 minutes to say, does my resume even match what the job expectations are or do I have them in the right order? So at least what's most important to the company I put first right. Jim Morgan | 00;11;46;14 - 00;11;47;24 You can get pretty lazy with it. Sophie Boler | 00;11;48;02 - 00;11;54;12 Right? So how about the people doing the interviewing? I mean, how do they fit into this whole experience? Jim Morgan | 00;11;55;06 - 00;12;14;20 They've got to understand, especially, you know, I don't want to spend all the time on the younger generation of folks, but those are probably most of the people that are being interviewed. And they've got to understand your expectations. And again, it becomes this generational clash that, oh, you know, they want to work when they want, where they want, how they want and all of that. Jim Morgan | 00;12;15;01 - 00;12;35;00 And it's true. And people look at that as, oh, lack of work ethic or they're lazy and that's not got anything to do with it. It's been in your DNA. It's the way you've grown up. And so some of that has to come across. You said you're interested in flexibility and, you know, in a lot of places now if you walk in and, you know, you say, hey, I'd like to be able to work from home two days a week. Jim Morgan | 00;12;35;07 - 00;12;52;09 But companies certainly have the right to just say, no, you can't. But then they also need to know if there's going to be a certain part of the population that they're going to lose. So I think you've got to start those interviews armed with what do we have that's going to be attractive to this person so we can be selling while they're in here. Jim Morgan | 00;12;52;29 - 00;13;10;24 The second part of it is, I think you've got to be ready for the questions that you are going to ask. You know, you were looking, you wanted pictures, you wanted to see different things. What's the diversity of the company? Diversity in all different you know, whether that's age or ideas or color or sexuality, whatever it might be. Jim Morgan | 00;13;11;00 - 00;13;27;17 I want to go to a place where there's a lot of people, not everybody who looks just like me. Are we ready for that? What's the culture in this company? And if the people that are sitting there interviewing you are looking at each other like, geez, culture, I don't know quite how I describe it. Well, now you're in a little bit of trouble. Jim Morgan | 00;13;27;17 - 00;13;44;08 Again, younger people especially want to know what's my learning and development plan? Because if I start here, my expectation is in six months I'm going to be somewhere else and six months later I'll be somewhere. I'm not here for 30 years. You'll have me for 3 to 5. And I want to know what that looks like. How are you going to train me? Jim Morgan | 00;13;44;08 - 00;13;59;27 What is it that I need to get done? You know, what's my growth strategy here? Because you might be hiring me as a marketing assistant, but I want to be the marketing director and then the vice president of marketing. What is it going to take for me to get there? Lastly, I would say they got to be selling. Jim Morgan | 00;14;00;04 - 00;14;22;28 I mean, they really need to be selling that. They want you and they think you're important. They can always turn you down later. But for the purpose of the interview and bringing you in, they should have their A-game that says, we're trying to get as many people into this pipeline as we possibly can. So I think there's got to be that excitement, there's got to be the interest, and they got to be looking at it from the interviewee's point of view. Sophie Boler | 00;14;23;11 - 00;14;36;06 And you just talked about this, but are there any other differences that you can point out and what younger workers are really interested in or looking for that companies should be implementing in their candidate process? Jim Morgan | 00;14;36;12 - 00;14;54;03 I think, you know, the what you mentioned is a lot of it, the flexibility is a big one. You know, and I think what people have sort of lost in all of this is, you know, especially if you're 23, four or five years older, you've never worked in an office in a lot of cases. And now they're saying, come back to the office. Jim Morgan | 00;14;54;04 - 00;15;09;19 I like, I want to go to the office. Here's what I've been, you know, for three years. I think you have to prove yourself. I think, you know, that all goes with it. But if there isn't a reason to be there and it's something that people want, how do we begin to, you know, allowing that flexibility to take place? Jim Morgan | 00;15;10;06 - 00;15;36;24 I would look at the benefits that you're offering and what is it that a 25-year-old wants versus a 45-year-old versus a 65-year-old? And those are very different things. And we've been talking to companies quite a bit about if I've got $40,000 in student loans, that means more to me. If you would match that and help me pay for it, I want that more than I want a 401k; if I've got a couple of kids, for heaven's sakes, give me health care. Jim Morgan | 00;15;37;07 - 00;16;11;27 Right? I got kids and they get hurt. And I, you know, I got to have a place to go. And so those matter. And so you're even seeing companies now get to the point where they're using their benefits to differentiate themselves. So if I'm going after you and I'm looking at a younger workforce, I'm thinking about student loans, flexibility, the types of jobs that we have here, and then the opportunities that may not just be traditional learning and development, but it might be, hey, so if you want to sit in on our executive team meeting and learn more about, hey, there's this project that we want to get done, can you help us with it? We want you to serve on some volunteer boards and we'll that can be on company time. Go do that. Find the things that matter to people. Sophie Boler | 00;16;21;06 - 00;16;36;04 You know, I mean, Debbie, in her last episode, she talked about companies now offering pet insurance, which is just funny to me. But a lot of people really care about that. So you can see how employers are getting really creative with their benefits. Jim Morgan | 00;16;36;04 - 00;16;53;00 Yeah, and we've had lots of discussions about it; we had one guy the other day said, you know, we offer Netflix subscriptions to our employees and they value it more than their health care insurance. Yeah, but I mean, every time someone turns on their television and oh, my gosh, there's Netflix, it's like, oh, I can thank the ABC company for that. Jim Morgan | 00;16;53;00 - 00;17;10;23 So things like that, that mean a lot to people. Reward programs mean a lot to people. On the pet insurance, you mentioned cybersecurity and you know, all the different blocks and your own data and things like that. Again, they're trying to listen to their employees and say, you know, we'll offer A for one and we'll offer health insurance. Jim Morgan | 00;17;10;23 - 00;17;24;24 And that's kind of an expectation. But if we can start throwing in some of these things that really aren't even necessarily that expensive, but someone's thinking, well, that's pretty cool. I just got my subscription paid for. Yeah. So, you know, I think there's a lot of  that's going on as well. Sophie Boler | 00;17;24;24 - 00;17;35;15 Yeah. And we'll be discussing this employee experience topic the next couple of episodes, but do you have any last thoughts you can share with our MRA nation. Jim Morgan | 00;17;36;14 - 00;18;03;23 Our you know, I guess I would go with probably three things. One, I think we're still having a hard time in a lot of cases. And again, it's a lot of people who look like me. And for those of you on the radio, you know, 62 years old, not getting this yet and not accepting the fact that it's a it's a different world and different things are happening and people want to rush to judgment that, oh, it's a generational thing, or it's this or that or this will pass. Jim Morgan | 00;18;04;09 - 00;18;20;13 And, you know, I can pretty much tell you demographically, it's not going to pass. And generationally I don't I don't think it's going to pass. So we've got to we got to figure out some new strategies in terms of of how we're doing things. The second thing is, is, you know, you can say, well, I don't think we need to do this or whatever. Jim Morgan | 00;18;20;13 - 00;18;46;07 And that's true. You know, as an employer, you can decide to do whatever you want. But I would encourage you to look at what everybody around you is doing, what's your industry doing? What are the people in the industrial park that you're in doing? Because, you know, we're seeing just a ton of well, if you're offering $15 a week or $15 an hour here and they're offering 16 there and 17 there and 18 there, that person's just going to bump, you know, to wherever they're going. Jim Morgan | 00;18;46;08 - 00;19;06;16 So it becomes a matter of in this interview, what are we offering to you that you say, yeah, you know, it might be a dollar less an hour, but, boy, that flexibility are Friday, you know, dress down or cook out every Tuesday. All kinds of things might be, you know, what, someone was looking for. And they're they're willing to accept. Jim Morgan | 00;19;06;16 - 00;19;28;27 And I think the third one that I would say is, you know, candidates talk to each other. And if somebody has a bad experience at a company going through the interview process or they never called them back or they never heard from them again or whatever it might be, they talk to each other. And so if you're not providing a positive experience, it's not only that one person that you've talked to. Jim Morgan | 00;19;28;27 - 00;19;47;05 It's going to be several others. So at the end of the day, I guess if I could give one piece of advice, I would say, have someone go through your candidate experience, whether that's you, your kid or you just get an employee. Maybe that's new and say, we're going to go through this again, take notes. We want to know what this process looks like. Jim Morgan | 00;19;47;29 - 00;20;03;05 Have a hiring manager go through it and see what it is that you're doing because those people will be really honest with you and say, you know, first of all, I can't believe this happened. And second of all, I can't believe it took three weeks for this to happen. And third, I can't believe no one was here when I showed up for the interview. Jim Morgan | 00;20;03;18 - 00;20;21;20 Those are the kinds of things that are in this market that you can't have that type of misstep or you're going to be in trouble because now they're going to go someplace else. As you said at the beginning, even when you've maybe got a job interview or you've got a job offer, you're still looking. So, you know this game isn't over until we get there. Jim Morgan | 00;20;21;26 - 00;20;51;04 So the candidate experience and what you're going to talk about next week with the employee experience, I think they're really starting to almost meld into each other because I'll I'll leave you with two to examples of that. One, we were doing some recruiting for nurses, and the demand for nurses is very high right now. And as people were being interviewed and they would leave, we were texting them before they got to their car to say, congratulations, you got the job, come on back in. Jim Morgan | 00;20;51;04 - 00;21;21;20 We want to wrap this thing up because they didn't want to give them the opportunity to go out, see more people. So the candidate experience became the employee experience almost instantaneously. The other one similar to that was a manufacturing facility and they're hiring some CMC operators and what they did was they interviewed them, they took them out onto the floor, they were showing them everything that was going on and while they were getting the tour of the facility, the hiring team was deciding whether they wanted to keep them or whether they did well and they were keeping the offer letter on the table when they got back from the tour and they just said, congratulations, we'd like you to start, you know, on Monday, here's the offer letter and, you know, encourage them to say yes right there, because again, they're going to go home and there could be a message. It could be something else. So we got to move quickly. Jim Morgan | 00;21;38;17 - 00;21;41;00 And you told everybody at the beginning, you're giving them a week. There's the challenge right there. Sophie Boler | 00;21;44;01 - 00;22;06;11 Right. Well, Jim, you gave us a lot of great pieces of advice that I hope organizations really take into account. But that just about wraps up the time we have for today, unfortunately. But Jim, thank you so much for joining us today and really making it apparent to employers that they can't be doing the same thing that they've been doing for the past 20 years, ten years, even five years. Sophie Boler | 00;22;07;07 - 00;22;18;26 But we've added Jim's LinkedIn profile to the show notes. So if you'd like to connect with him and talk to him a little bit more about his knowledge, I'm sure he'd be happy to chat and connect with you. Jim Morgan | 00;22;18;26 - 00;22;31;12 More than happy to. And it's a lot of fun right now because, as I said, we're helping people understand the shortage. We're helping them with the recruitment, the employee experience. So any of those things, give me a call and conversation about it. Sophie Boler | 00;22;31;18 - 00;22;52;29 Absolutely. So make sure to connect with him there. But otherwise, we will be continuing the conversation next week when our VP of HR at MRA, James McDevitt, joins us to talk about the onboarding experience. So you won't want to miss that, but thank you again, Jim. I had a lot of fun and we talked about a lot of great stuff. Sophie Boler | 00;22;52;29 - 00;22;55;03 So hope to see you again soon. Jim Morgan | 00;22;55;04 - 00;22;56;08 Alright. Anytime. OUTRO | 00;22;57;05 - 00;23;19;13 And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign up to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other episodes on your favorite podcast platform and as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.  

Description: In this episode with HR Content Manager, Debbie Morgan, we wrap up the compensation conversation by giving you answers to YOUR questions! Debbie shares practical ideas business leaders can use today when it comes to compensation planning, including pay compression, employee attraction and retention, inflation, competitive pay strategies, and more. Listen to Discover: Pay is not based on inflation! Salary is a cost of doing business, and inflation is tied to the economy and the cost of purchasing goods. Inflation is tied to the cost of living, while salary budgets are tied to the cost of labor. Organizations that have already made market adjustments and are confident in market positioning are planning merit budgets of around 4 percent. Seventy percent of employers are planning benefit enhancements for 2023. Competitive health plans, generous vacation/sick/PTO, parental leave programs, remote work, and flexible schedules are differentiators.  Bios: Debbie Morgan, Manager, HR Content  Let's Connect: Debbie's LinkedIn Profile  Resources: Are you an MRA member that participated in this year's Compensation Trends Survey? The report can be viewed on the MRA Website through the user dashboard. If you participated in the report, simply log in to the website, head over to your user dashboard, and locate surveys on the grey bar! From there you will see your report under “View Survey Reports”. Are you an MRA member but did not have a chance to participate in this year's Compensation Trends Survey? The full report can be purchased for $545, with applicable sales tax. To do so, login to the website, head on over to your dashboard and locate surveys on the grey bar. Click on it and it will take you to the survey page, scroll down to Purchase Survey Results and follow the steps on screen for the report you wish to purchase. Not a MRA member yet? Access our executive summary This is a small portion of the survey that includes key information from MRA's Compensation Trends Survey. Transcript: INTRO | 00;00;00;03 - 00;00;23;05 Hello, hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 minute THRIVE - your go- to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA - The Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever- changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. Now, it's time to THRIVE. Sophie Boler | 00;00;23;18 - 00;00;51;25 Well, hello, everybody. I am joined with Debbie Morgan today. She's our HR Content Manager here at MRA. She's been here for two years, but has really been in the business for 20 years now with HR experience and is really passionate about what she does. And I can say she's a pleasure to work with. But Debbie, I'm really excited to talk to you today to wrap up the 2022 CompTrends event and CompTrends survey. Sophie Boler | 00;00;52;15 - 00;01;15;06 We talked to Mike and Brittany about this and they had great things to say. So we had over 1400 people register for the event, so we know it's a huge topic of interest to all of our listeners and our HR colleagues out there. But today, like I said, we're really here to just wrap it all up and we had a number of questions come in through our chat function. Sophie Boler | 00;01;15;17 - 00;01;36;08 So we're going to take a look at some of the questions our members submitted. So the first question we really hear a lot when it comes to strategic compensation planning. So the data from the conference survey is collected months prior, but how can employers know what is happening in the current market to really plan for the coming year? Debbie Morgan | 00;01;36;18 - 00;02;15;11 Yeah, that's a great question, Sophie. And I guess before we get too far into this, thank you for that great introduction. Yeah, I have over 20 years of crazy comp and benefits experience in what we're in right now, is definitely a unique market. So for companies that want to stay on top of it and really be up to date with those increases because they've been so turbulent and just so frequent last year, you're going to look at how, well, employers are going to have to do the math here. Debbie Morgan | 00;02;16;08 - 00;02;47;21 So using those math skills, most people are going to start with the last increase that they gave people or the pay rate that people were at. Usually it's going to be starting January. That's the most common date to use. And you look at those on an annual basis and let's say the recommended increase is 4%, you're going to take the last pay increase and increase that by 1.04. Debbie Morgan | 00;02;48;01 - 00;03;02;12 Now the "one" is "one" for one year later and then the .04 is the 4% that's trending and that'll get you where you should be for the following January if you originally started with January. Sophie Boler | 00;03;02;18 - 00;03;10;25 Okay. Good to know. And then when we talk about crowdsourced compensation, is that a reliable source? Debbie Morgan | 00;03;11;12 - 00;03;49;19 Yeah. Be careful when looking at crowdsourced data. I know if regular survey data is lacking or if you feel that it isn't keeping up with what you're hearing on the market, it's very tempting to give increases based on what your employees tell you or what you're hearing on the streets that other companies are offering. But, you know, a great example of that is when you see those giant billboards saying "now hiring up to $30 per hour" focus on that "up too", because you don't know what position that is referencing. Debbie Morgan | 00;03;49;27 - 00;04;02;12 You don't know, you know, how much experience they're requiring to enter at that pay rate. So, you know, just be very cautious with that. Your most accurate data is going to come from surveys. Sophie Boler | 00;04;02;15 - 00;04;12;22 Okay. So going along with that, can you tell us any other reliable sources that employers should use to do their market research on compensation? Debbie Morgan | 00;04;12;22 - 00;04;47;25 Surveys are really going to be the best the best resource for you. Know the type of position that you're trying to cost out for. So if it's something that you're struggling with locally and you're recruiting locally for, try to use local data. If this is a position you're going to be recruiting from nationally, look at larger surveys that, you know, span a larger area: chambers of commerce, sometimes can be useful for that. ONET is a free resource. Debbie Morgan | 00;04;48;11 - 00;05;16;16 It's put out by the Department of Labor. It's ONETonline.org. If you haven't used that before, you can make it very specific to the position, put in different specifics about it. Levels of education, levels of experience, things such as that, and also find that information based on your zip code, which is really great. Of course, MRA has awesome surveys for either local or national survey data. Sophie Boler | 00;05;16;24 - 00;05;31;24 Okay, thanks, Debbie. Those are some great resources to take advantage of. So I have another big picture question for you. We're hearing that business is going to decline the rest of the year. How does business plan in such uncertain times? Debbie Morgan | 00;05;31;24 - 00;06;00;09 Right now, it's so tricky. And the best recommendation is with cautious optimism, which I know sounds very vague and maybe a little frustrating for some people. But there are signs that show it could be related to industry. It's really too soon to tell, but really just take a look at what's happening in the environment and keep an eye on that and have your game plan ready if things start to fluctuate. Sophie Boler | 00;06;00;17 - 00;06;18;08 Okay. And we talked a little bit about attraction and retention of employees the past couple of episodes. So we want to talk about that a little bit more with you today. So when posting a job, should the pay range really reflect the actual range or the budgeted range for a role? Debbie Morgan | 00;06;18;18 - 00;06;58;14 That's going to depend on your company's strategy. Best practice is to use your current ranges because that's what's going to be communicated to employees. That's what managers are familiar with. And that way everyone is on the same page. If you are looking at hiring in the future, let's say six months down the road and you're putting, you know, your plan into place for that and you know you're going to be shifting your salary ranges, then you may consider doing that, but make sure before you begin promoting those different wages that managers, supervisors and everybody involved in the process is on the same page. Sophie Boler | 00;06;58;25 - 00;07;11;28 Okay. And also related to attracting and retaining current employees, is there any guidance you have for what to provide current employees when offering a sign on bonus to any new hires? Debbie Morgan | 00;07;12;16 - 00;07;50;07 This is something that we've heard employers are struggling with right now, that, you know, current employees who've been there maybe five, ten years are wondering, "okay, everybody that's coming in is now earning what I am." So what some employers have been doing is offering them different types of incentives or different things that they will find value in, such as paid time off, maybe the opportunity to flex the schedule if there are new job postings, give them the first option at either signing for them. Debbie Morgan | 00;07;50;07 - 00;08;01;17 If you're a union organization or just letting them know first that there's going to be an opening and give them the option to kind of apply for that. Sophie Boler | 00;08;02;08 - 00;08;16;00 But because of these bonuses and increases, we're also hearing concerns about pay compression. So can you review any best practices to address pay compression and any suggestions you have for an employer? Debbie Morgan | 00;08;16;09 - 00;08;20;14 Yeah, pay compression is like the newest buzz word. Sophie Boler | 00;08;20;14 - 00;08;21;01 Hot topic! Debbie Morgan | 00;08;21;14 - 00;08;42;07 The news, hot topic and you know, not in such a great way. But again, it's going to be look at your salary structure and make sure that it's set and that it's sound and that you're following it. If you have designated pay ranges for certain positions, make sure you aren't red lining those and you're not going too far outside of those. Debbie Morgan | 00;08;42;18 - 00;09;08;06 If you're going to start hiring new employees more towards the middle of those pay ranges, how does that look for the employees that are already in those jobs? If they've been there for several years and their first reaching the middle of those ranges, you're hiring new people there. What do you need to do to make that more equitable for the employees that have some tenure with you? Sophie Boler | 00;09;08;06 - 00;09;18;12 And what would you say is the best way to solve pay compression for entry level positions because of the recently increased starting pay rate? Debbie Morgan | 00;09;18;12 - 00;09;41;26 Sometimes that's an indication that you're going to want to look at where your pay ranges are right now. Again, if you're bringing on new people and you're consistently hiring them closer to the middle of your range, do you maybe need to shift that range? So they're now starting towards the bottom and then adjust the employees that are already there as well. Debbie Morgan | 00;09;42;04 - 00;09;51;27 So if there's say, a three year employee that's closer to the middle, when you shift that new range, what's it going to take to keep them in the middle of that new range as well? Sophie Boler | 00;09;52;03 - 00;10;10;06 Okay. And what is the best way to address a situation where you have an employee that's hired and they're earning a salary that's higher than someone in the same role with a good performance history and who has been with the company for several years. Advice on what to do for that situation? Debbie Morgan | 00;10;10;06 - 00;10;40;15 Yeah, look at the new hire and really key aspects of the job. Is their level of knowledge about the same as the person who's already in the position is there? How many years of experience do they have in that type of role? What other things are they bringing to the job that may be compensable? And how does that compare to the person who's already in the job? Debbie Morgan | 00;10;40;24 - 00;10;48;06 If it's very much the same, take a look at the people who are already in that role and even the playing ground level off. Sophie Boler | 00;10;48;17 - 00;11;15;01 Gotcha. And then inflation was also a key topic in this year's Compensation Trend Survey, and we had a number of questions relating to this topic. But during the event, we actually had a member comment that during the last period of high inflation, which was in the seventies and eighties, a period I don't remember, it was really common to tie in the cost of living allowances to the Consumer Price Index. Sophie Boler | 00;11;15;01 - 00;11;20;14 So is there any indication that companies will begin implementing COLA adjustments again? Debbie Morgan | 00;11;21;03 - 00;11;53;17 Some companies have, and that's not always best practice because inflation is a very different concept than wages and you're paying somebody for labor. Inflation is based on the you know, what it costs to live and wages are based on the value of a job, how in-demand a position is. So while they still relate to business, they're two different directions of that. Debbie Morgan | 00;11;53;25 - 00;12;11;18 So they shouldn't be based off of each other. When inflation increases, that doesn't necessarily mean wages should increase, just like when inflation comes down, you're not going to lower what you're paying everybody either. I don't think you'd get a favorable response for your employees. Sophie Boler | 00;12;11;21 - 00;12;22;12 Right. And you kind of covered this in your last response. But how do organizations really combat expectations that salary increases will match the inflation rates? Debbie Morgan | 00;12;24;00 - 00;12;49;22 That's a great question. And I know a lot of people, a lot of companies are asking that same question because employees do come to that. My children asked me about this when they got their pay increases this year and why aren't they keeping in line with inflation? And they're really two different concepts. Inflation is related to what it costs to live and what it costs to purchase goods. Debbie Morgan | 00;12;49;22 - 00;13;19;28 And basically, you know, your groceries and things such as that where, you know, businesses look at the value of a job and what the market is driving for that job. It's more based on, you know, is the job high in high demand? And you know, what is it going to take to keep that employee in that market versus having them go to one of your competitors? Sophie Boler | 00;13;20;13 - 00;13;34;26 Okay. I gotcha. And we've also heard that employers are really being more creative with their pay strategies. And you've covered a little bit about this, too, but what are some effective hourly incentive compensation strategies that you've seen? Debbie Morgan | 00;13;35;06 - 00;14;02;15 A lot more employers are looking at that as well, because even though your neighbor down the road might be increasing wages, that doesn't necessarily mean that your budget has room for that. So employers are looking at things that are either more cost effective or no cost at all, such as flexible work schedules. Some companies are that we're going to bring employees back into the office are continuing to offer the option of working from home things, other little benefits like pet insurance or child care. You know, additional paid time off really speaks to some people as well. One of the biggest suggestions is to listen to your employees and find out what they value and see if you can do something related to that. Sophie Boler | 00;14;32;26 - 00;14;40;06 And what recommendations do you have for companies to manage the frequency of salary reviews in these changing times? Debbie Morgan | 00;14;41;16 - 00;15;06;22 Well, you know, again, if you look at your salary structure and if you have one in place and you feel that it's very solid, stick with that. And if it seems to make sense that your annual reviews are keeping pace with the market, then it may not be necessary to do anything. If you haven't done a salary review, this could be a really good opportunity to do that and kind of tighten things up. Debbie Morgan | 00;15;07;14 - 00;15;15;12 Take a look at what the market is and how that's pacing and try to develop your your process around that. Sophie Boler | 00;15;15;28 - 00;15;28;15 So what if a company has already made several wage adjustments to remain competitive regarding merit? What percentage increase should employers use to stay competitive? Debbie Morgan | 00;15;28;29 - 00;15;54;17 Well, the predictions for the upcoming year, so for 2023, are around 4%. That's what we've been seeing from a lot of the most popular resources, including MRA's, our CompTrends. So, you know, take a look at that. Even though you've made adjustments in the past, that was pretty much to get in line with what everybody was doing at that time. Debbie Morgan | 00;15;55;23 - 00;16;02;14 Companies are still forecasting for next year. So stick with that. And, you know, look at doing market increases. Debbie Morgan | 00;16;03;24 - 00;16;05;01 Keep doing what you're doing.  Sophie Boler | 00;16;05;20 - 00;16;27;01 And in addition to being creative with pay increases, employers are also being creative with their total rewards. So at MRA, we often say it's not a benefit if the employee doesn't see it as a benefit. So what are some of the most creative benefits that you've been seeing and the most impactful ones for employee retention? Debbie Morgan | 00;16;28;07 - 00;17;10;21 Again, it's going to be tied to what your employees want. One of the most popular benefits we've been seeing is tied to time off or additional vacation days, maybe adding another holiday, maybe providing the option to flex time or work from home or other things have started to creep in. Everybody knows about the COVID pets and you know, now that people are heading back into the office or maybe they're moving to a four day workweek, so those days are longer, you know, pet insurance or helping with like doggy day care or child care have become popular benefits as well. Sophie Boler | 00;17;10;28 - 00;17;21;18 And you mentioned PTO in your last statement. So is two weeks of vacation for new hires still competitive or do you have other recommendations for that? Debbie Morgan | 00;17;21;18 - 00;17;45;20 Yeah, I'm going to give you the it depends answer. Entry level positions, some manufacturing positions, things such as that may still do two weeks, but most other professional positions or when you're hiring people with experience, even a couple of years of experience, two weeks is not going to be competitive. It typically will start at at least three weeks. Sophie Boler | 00;17;45;29 - 00;17;59;27 Gotcha. Okay. Well, I have so many more questions, but it looks like we might be out of time, unfortunately. But can you tell the listeners where to go to get any more information on their compensation questions? Debbie Morgan | 00;17;59;27 - 00;18;34;12 Absolutely. Our survey team is an incredible resource as everyone listening to this probably knows. CompTrends was one of our most popular surveys. I think to date, as you mentioned, 1400 viewers or participants. So it's definitely what people want to know. And they work with us, do that every day. Our compensation team as well is incredible and they've been working with our members to find really creative solutions to some of the things that are going on. Debbie Morgan | 00;18;35;08 - 00;18;56;02 Inflationary responses when companies are concerned about that. But just taking a look at their pay structure too, our hotline is an amazing resource also. They're, you know, answering questions all day, every day. So if you have a quick ask or are looking just for a resource, give our hotline a call too. Sophie Boler | 00;18;56;22 - 00;19;24;11 And thank you too for all of your hard work, and for the listeners, you can definitely connect with Debbie on LinkedIn and she's there to answer your questions. So we have links to some of these resources in the show notes below and have put Debbie's LinkedIn profile in there too. But otherwise, we will see you next week when we're joined with Jim Morgan to talk more about talent attraction, candidate experience, the onboarding experience, all that fun stuff. Sophie Boler | 00;19;25;05 - 00;19;49;26 But thank you again, Debbie. This was awesome. A lot of great information, and we will see you guys next week. OUTRO | 00;19;50;13 - 00;19;56;25 And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign up to connect for more podcast updates. Check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform, and as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.

Plugged In's Adam Holz talks about how the media we choose to consume shapes our hearts and shares reviews for the latest film releases. Jim Morgan of Meet the Need unpacks why America has a real evangelism problem and what part we each play in the current on-going battle for our nation's future Click here for today's show notes

Jim Morgan demystifies the process of Evangelism, and issues a challenge to us all.

Leading the financial aspects of high-growth businesses is definitely challenging. That's a job for top CFOs with years of experience. Luckily, we invited that kind of expert and business leader. Jim Morgan, Chief Financial Officer at CallRail, is a financial executive with experience in financial planning and analysis, M&A, SaaS and software business models, fundraising, board and investor relations, and human resources/capital management. He spent most of his career working with companies in the growth phase and trying to reach scale. Today, Jim talks about how CFOs can manage challenges at high-growth companies and the role of data analytics in helping the organization grow faster and more efficiently. In this episode, we discuss: How can CFOs leverage data analytics? Attracting and retaining talent Challenges CFOs face at high-growth companies For more interviews from the CFO Weekly podcast, check us out on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast player! Presented by Personiv https://insights.personiv.com/cfo-weekly

This is a "Throwback" to one year ago when I interviewed Dr. Jeff Liker about The Toyota Way 2nd Edition. This episode is in the top 5 of most listened to episodes since we launched this podcast. What You Will Learn: We discuss his newly published second edition of The Toyota Way. Dr. Liker and I talk about sustainment of continuous improvement initiatives, specifically, CONTROL vs. LEARNING environments. We also discuss how Dr. Liker is using virtual reality to teach The Toyota Way. About the Guest: Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker is Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan and a professional speaker and advisor through his company Liker Lean Advisors, LLC, a network of associates to teach and consult in the Toyota Way. He is author of the new second edition of the international best-seller, The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer, McGraw Hill, 2004 and the companion (with David Meier) Toyota Way Fieldbook, Mcgraw Hill, 2005. His book with Jim Morgan, The Toyota Product Development System, Productivity Press, 2006, was the first that details the product development side of Toyota. In 2018, Morgan and Liker published Designing the Future: How Ford, Toyota, and Other World-Class Organizations Use Lean Product Development to Drive Innovation and Transform Their Business. Authored 3 books focused on the people side of lean: (with David Meier), Toyota Talent: Developing exceptional people the Toyota Way (May, 2007) (with Michael Hoseus) Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way (January, 2008) and The Toyota Way to Lean Leadership (with former Toyota managing officer Gary Convis). 2 additional books in 2011 are The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement (with Jim Franz) and the first inside account of the recall crisis--Toyota under Fire (with Tim Ogden). And in 2016 (with Karyn Ross): The Toyota Way to Service Excellence. Articles and books have won thirteen Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence and The Toyota Way also won the 2005 Institute of Industrial Engineers Book of the Year Award and 2007 Sloan Industry Studies Book of the Year. In 2012, Dr. Liker was inducted into the Association of Manufacturing Excellence Hall of Fame and in 2016 inducted into the Shingo Academy. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/leansolutions/support

Scott Rider and Jim Morgan are embarking upon a cross country, motor coach adventure in an effort to provide the world an educational yet private look into what life is like with Parkinson's.Scott and Jim are collaborating with Barry Blaustein, an American comedy writer best known for his writing on Saturday Night Live and the screenplays for Coming to America and The Nutty Professor. Leveraging upon Barry's expertise and creative talents, Scott and Jim plan to produce a video documentary about the trip that they will use as a fundraising tool to benefit the Parkinson's Foundation.. They will meet with care partners, physicians, exercise experts, and nutritionists who strive to make life better for people living with PD. They will also visit with top clinical researchers and innovative entrepreneurs who are working diligently to help find a cure.

Watch on Youtube.The pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine have left all of us in the design and construction industry short of supplies and lack of clarity.  Add to that the labour shortages that are evident in construction and we have a difficult time responding to a very hot construction market.  Dick Bayer talks with Tom Soles, Jim Morgan and Guy Gast about how the mechanical trades are responding to these challenges.  Tom Soles was Executive Director of Member Services for SMACNA until his retirement in 2020. He continues his service to the industry as Executive Director of SMACNA's New Horizons Foundation.  Jim Morgan is the President/Owner of Worcester Air Conditioning, LLC, a straight-line sheet metal contractor just west of Boston. Guy is the recently retired President of the Iowa Division of The Waldinger Corporation, which employs nearly 2000 construction professionals in the Midwest. From 2015-2016, he served as the National President of SMACNA. He continues today as the chair of the New Horizons Foundation.

On this episode of the Podcast the Geeks celebrate their 1 Year Geek-Aversary! Tune in as we talk with the Sambassador himself and Jim Kuhlman from Shedsforsale.com. We also get Matt Black on the phone from My Shed Solutions and bring in the guys from JMAG, Joe Kuhlman and Jim Morgan! Its a great tribute to the people in the industry that helped us along the way! We also talk with Norman Eicher from Mountain View Buildings in Belvidere, TN and Ervin Stutzman from Summit Portable Buildings in Farmington, MO. You don't want to miss this episode, we have a lot of fun!High Barn: My Shed SolutionsMini Barn: JMAG LLCMini Barn:  Shedsforsale.com

Show Notes Enter our contest to win a $250 coupon for the World Series of Board Gaming by leaving a review for us on iTunes by November 10th! Then, e-mail your review to us at rollforcrit@gmail.com with the subject line "WSBG Contest". Check http://rollforcrit.com/contest for full details. News Roundup - Ransomware Attack on Alliance Distribution (7:49), Familiar Tales (19:39), Stella - Dixit Universe (23:56), Portal Games Teases (25:30), Unlock! Game Adventures (27:42) Kickstarter Pickstarter - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (30:15), Marvel Dice Throne (40:24), Wild Realms (49:42), Megapulse (52:30), Devil Bunny (52:57), For Glory (53:53), Valdar's Guide to Unusual Familiars (56:38) Table Talk - Dungeon Mayhem (58:15), Legends of Runeterra (1:03:29), Marvel Legendary + DC Deck-Building Game (1:09:10), Splinterlands (1:10:53), The Rocketeer: Fate of the Future (1:29:40), Dinosaur Island Rawr 'n Write (1:35:26), Mario Party Superstars (1:40:29) Meeple Gallery - Combining Game Sets (1:43:56) Follow Dan + Jim - http://hobbiesnhappiness.com, hobbies + happiness on Facebook, hobbies + happiness on YouTube, Hobbies + Happiness Podcast E-mail us: meeplegallery@gmail.com, Support us on Patreon: http://patreon.com/rollforcrit, Theme by John Fio