Workplace trends
Summer strikes are bleeding into fall
More than 75,000 workers at healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente walked off the job this week after they failed to reach a deal on a new contract – increasing the number of Americans on the picket line to at least 250,000 workers. SAG-AFTRA, which represents 150,000 actors, is nearing its third month of a strike that continues to cripple Hollywood, and the United Automobile Workers has more than 25,000 members on picket lines against the Big Three Detroit automakers. 300,000 UPS workers nearly walked off the job this summer, but the company managed to reach a new labor contract agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in August, narrowly avoiding a strike. And on a more positive front, about 11,500 screenwriters went back to work last week after leaders of the Writers Guild of America won a high number of concessions and voted to end their 148-day picketing of major Hollywood studios. Experts remain unsure of what all these strikes will mean for the economy.
In 10 major U.S. cities, only 50.4% of workers have returned to office
Office attendance in big U.S. cities is still barely half of what it was pre-pandemic, even as companies are increasingly pushing for workers to return to the office. While Meta, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and many others have been enacting tougher attendance policies, the majority of companies remain content to allow employees to work at least part-time remotely. This is especially tough for commercial office landlords who are struggling with vacancy rates near record highs. In fact, the national office average vacancy rose to 19.2% last quarter, which is just below the historical peak of 19.3% in 1991, according to Moody’s Analytics. Business leaders and city officials say that between Covid-19 cases on the rise and increased homelessness and crime in major cities, there may be more forces at work that could slow the return to office than those that might accelerate it.
The AI corner
Can AI be more empathetic than humans?
AI-driven large language models are becoming smart enough to detect and mimic emotions like empathy, which many companies believe could transform the way we work. In customer service, for example, experts say that bots trained to provide emotionally thoughtful suggestions could instantly elevate consumer interactions, thereby boosting sales and customer satisfaction. Additionally, AI tools that score empathy in a given conversation are becoming more common in performance reviews and recruiting. In fact, at one large tech company, after recruiters received feedback from AI conversation analytics that they lacked empathy and active listening when interviewing women, rates of job acceptance by women increased by 8%. That said, these advancements are raising ethical questions about whether machines, which lack human remorse, should be allowed to evaluate people’s emotions.
AI is changing the future of IT work
While companies aren’t currently making “wholesale replacements” with AI, experts say that many have slowed hiring for entry-level roles, such as telecommunications and customer support, compared with senior-level IT positions. That being said, the technology is also already creating new roles for IT workers, such as AI “reskillers” – a new type of teacher that can help people stay one step ahead of the machines – and “prompt engineers” – a class of jobs that’s nestled somewhere between programming and management. Jobs in emerging technologies made up 26.5% of all tech job postings in September, and of those postings, 36% were associated with AI. Most technology leaders thus don’t believe generative AI will replace tech workers, but rather will shift areas of demand.
Helping your team navigate personal challenges
By monday.com
Despite our attempts to keep our work and home lives separate, as a manager, there will inevitably be times that individuals on your team will go through difficulties in their personal lives that may affect their ability to be fully present at work. Whether it’s something health-related, the loss of a loved one, a scary accident, something affecting their larger community, or a whole host of other issues that can come up, it’s important to know how to provide effective support to your team members while still taking care of business needs.
How do you balance staying compassionate and productive? How do you check in without overstepping? How often should you be checking in? What should you say – or not say?
According to recent Gallup data, employees are three times more likely to be engaged at work and five times more likely to advocate for their company as a place to work when they feel their organization values their wellbeing. And as a manager, when you make it clear that you truly care about the wellbeing of your employees, they can feel it.
So, here are some ways to support your team members through difficult times:
Adjust expectations
First and foremost, don’t expect the same behavior, energy levels, and work product as you would under normal circumstances. When your team members are going through something, they may not be able to produce at their same capacity, and it’s important to acknowledge this. Check in with them about what kind of work they feel they can handle at that moment and do your best to help lighten some of the load.
Identify team members who can support
A great way to help relieve some work-related stress for team members dealing with personal challenges while ensuring key work is still moving forward is to try and reallocate some of their workloads. Check in with the employee to find out what information they’re comfortable with you sharing with the rest of the team. Then, reach out on an individual basis to other team members to find out how they are feeling about their workloads and if any of them have capacity to take on an extra task or project for their teammate. When dividing up the work, don’t just split it up evenly – try to allocate it according to skills and expertise.
Create space for open conversation
Before immediately delving into work-related issues in one-on-one meetings, acknowledge the situation and let your struggling team member know that they can talk to you about what’s going on. If the employee chooses to share some details about their experience, make sure to really listen and follow up with relevant questions to better understand the situation. Sometimes, there won’t be a right way to respond, and in those cases, simply validate what they’re feeling and let them know that you’re there to support them in any way you can.
Don’t push for information
While it’s important to let your employees know you’re there for them, recognize that they may not feel comfortable discussing what’s going on with you. And that’s okay. Be there as a resource, but remember that they don’t owe you an explanation. Also, if applicable, recommend other available support systems within your organization that may be able to help them.
Encourage taking time off
Over 60% of employees suffer from stress related to juggling work and family, according to studies from Benenden Health. So, when your employees are going through something personal, encourage them to take time for themselves and prioritize their well-being to help relieve some of that stress. Let them know that you believe it’s better to disconnect for a bit than struggle to perform and risk burnout.
Ask questions
Remember that not everyone copes with challenges the same way. Ask your employees what would be helpful from you as their manager and how you can make them feel most supported. Maybe they need some extra guidance on how to reduce distractions or some more flexibility with their schedules. Perhaps they simply need you to check in. Whatever it is, let them voice how they feel you can help.
Emphasize self-compassion
Some of your team members may feel alone or even resentful that they’re going through something while others seem to just be carrying on with their lives. If this is the case, encourage these employees to have self-compassion and to recognize that everyone experiences difficult periods in different ways and at different times. Make it clear that you believe that what they are feeling is valid and that their priority should be focusing on taking care of themselves.
Water cooler chatter
A 104-year-old Chicago woman just went skydiving. Having completed her first skydive when she was 100, Dorothy Hoffner took to the skies once more, looking to beat the Guinness World Record for the oldest skydiver set last May by 103-year-old Linnea Ingegard Larsson from Sweden.
Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum broke the men’s marathon world record, becoming the first person to record a time faster than 2:01:00. Running just the third competitive marathon of his career, the 23-year-old crossed the line in two hours and 35 seconds.
Question of the week
Last week’s answer: The Netherlands
This week’s question: Which country has the highest minimum wage?
Just for laughs
