If you work in a small business with your family, you know how wonderful it can be. You share ideas and memories. Depending on your industry, you may also experience some interesting stuff together. However, this dynamic can also have a darker side, which brings us to working with family — when love and business collide. 

Here’s how to navigate this unique work environment as you focus on the pros and cons of working with family members. 

Work With Your Family? You’re Not Alone

If you have had ups and downs with your family at work, you may think no one understands. However, you’re not alone. 

When looking at the data, it’s clear that family-operated businesses are the backbone of America. As reported in 2023, nearly 62% of the American workforce is employed by a family-owned business. In a First Bank survey, it was found that among those working with family:

• 42% began working within the business to continue their family legacy 
• 22% were asked to join the family business
• 15% said they needed a job
• 11% needed to fill an available role 
• 10% said it was always the plan

It was reported that of the 73% that have (or plan to start) a succession plan, say there is a 50/50 split — balancing outside support and internal processes. 

Take Steps to Discuss Your Expectations

If you plan to take over a family-owned small business, it’s always best to have in-depth conversations about your expectations and goals. Don’t assume everyone feels like you do about how your family business is (or should) run. 

When looking at healthy relationships, strong, respectful communication is almost always one of the most important variables. A family business is no different. Speak your mind, be respectful, and when conflict does occur, try not to be overly reactive.

Now, let’s consider the primary pros and cons and some tips so that you can navigate the reality of working with family members. 

The Pros of Working with Family Members 

In honor of Valentine’s Day, consider working with your family like this: teamwork becomes a family affair when love is in the air. 

Here are some of the pros:

• Built-in trust: A natural trust and level of loyalty are major pluses, as family bonds help protect the best interests of a small business and one another. 
• Shared goals: There is an alignment of values and a shared vision for success.
• Teamwork comes naturally: Family dynamics can foster stronger collaboration and create a positive environment for the team and their customers/clients.

The Cons of Working with Family Members

On the other hand, sometimes, too much love can complicate the workplace equation.

Here are some potential cons to consider:

• Blurred boundaries: You may face the challenges of separating personal and professional relationships, which can create tension or result in poor decision-making.
• Conflict escalation: Disagreements at work can get personal and linger beyond work hours.
• Favoritism or resentment: Potential issues with the perception of bias, especially if you work with multiple family members. 

Navigating the Challenges of Working With Family

Some days, you may feel like the luckiest person to be able to work with your family members. On other days, you may wonder why you agreed to the idea. When hurdles and challenges present themselves, you must take the right steps. Doing so will help support a longer, healthier work dynamic for you and your loved ones. 

Consider the following:

• Set clear boundaries: It is important to define boundaries concerning work and personal spaces. If you find that hardships are being addressed with personal attacks, call a family meeting to discuss your concerns. 
• Establish roles and responsibilities: Avoid overlap to reduce conflict and confusion. Know what your role is and what tasks you’re responsible for. That way, you can ensure you contribute as intended and expected. 
• Communicate openly: Even in the workplace, communication is the love language that solves everything. Create a culture of constructive feedback and mutual respect.
• Bring in a third party: When necessary, involve external advisors or consultants for objectivity. With family, sometimes, you need an outsider to state an unbiased opinion, especially if you need to make a joint business decision. 

Do You Work With Family?

Do you run a small business with your mom, brother, or family member? 

If so, you know that it can be a blessing and a curse. Regardless of personal experiences and conflicts, you need to run a business. Learning how to navigate the complexities of this business-family dynamic will help you maintain a successful partnership and loving family. 

If you can relate to this scenario and want to share your experiences, opinions, or suggestions, please do so. Comment below to share, and if you want to follow along, MRINetwork offers plenty of expert advice and actionable guides. 

The post The Pros and Cons of Working With Family: Navigating Love in the Workplace appeared first on Highland Consulting Group.

Jul 1, 2024

Updated Jul 2, 2024 2:08am EDT

As the hybrid era ramped up after the pandemic, experts warned that proximity bias would be difficult to avoid. Now that employers are in the midst of their hybrid models — and some are even moving past them — new data suggests fears about proximity bias, or the tendency to gravitate toward employees who are physically present more often, were justified. That’s according to a survey of 626 managers by Resume Builder, which found managers are more invested in the growth of in-person workers rather than their mostly remote counterparts.

The survey found 56% of managers said they care more about the growth of in-person workers.

The survey also found one in four managers are more likely to fire remote employees than in-person workers, citing the need for more supervision among the top reasons for the increased likelihood of dismissing remote workers.

For employers, the consequences of proximity bias can be steep, including potential for higher turnover and negative impacts on morale, but there are some best practices for organizations to avoid proximity bias.

Stacie Haller, Resume Builder’s chief career adviser, said many traditional management techniques no longer apply in the hybrid era.

“This shift has revealed that many managers lack the training and experience necessary to manage and motivate their staff when they can’t physically see them working,” Haller said. “As a result, they tend to focus on managing those

they see, where they feel they have more control and influence, often viewing remote workers less favorably.”

Overall, the report highlighted managers believe in-person workers have better professional skills than remote employees:

· 76% of managers said in-person employees are more trainable

· 58% said in-person employees are better leaders

· 53% of managers said in-person direct reports are better communicators

How to avoid leaving remote employees behind

Anna Williams, human resources director at Digital Silk, said employers must adopt innovative strategies to foster professional growth in remote employees.

That will help bring balance to a hybrid workforce.

“Its not the location of the employees, but the quality of the interaction they have with their managers that counts,” Williams said. “Through transparent dialogue, constructive feedback, and tangible growth opportunities, managers can demonstrate their commitment towards the development of remote employees equally to in-person ones.”

There are also legal considerations to avoiding proximity bias.

Sarah Grimstead, a regional vice president with human resource and business performance solution provider Insperity Inc., previously told The Playbook companies should also be auditing their own workplace policies to avoid proximity bias. Performance evaluations and peer reviews could hold an implicit bias toward in-person workers and give then an unfair advantage.

“Performance reviews based on quantifiable objectives and goals rather than observations should be implemented in the hybrid workplace, leveling the playing field for promotions and reducing the risk of inadvertent favoritism,” Grimstead said. “For a hybrid work model to be successful, businesses must strive to be equitable for all.”

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It’s because of the legal risks, and many managers admit to putting their employers at risk by asking illegal questions. It’s a scenario made even more complicated by the intense hiring environment, remote work and the complex scenarios managers are facing in the post-pandemic world.

That’s according to a Resume Builder survey of 1,000 hiring managers, which found 32% admitted they knowingly ask illegal questions.

Some of the most problematic topics include questions around family status, pregnancy, age and prior salaries — areas that can potentially lead to employment lawsuits.

Julia Toothacre, resume and career strategist at Resume Builder, said there are a variety of reasons why hiring managers ask illegal questions. Sometimes, it’s not even intentional. For instance, companies must navigate a patchwork of varying and ever-changing state laws about what managers can ask a candidate about salary history. A question that may be legal in one state is illegal in another.

There are also reasons why candidates will answer them.

“Many job seekers are desperate for work and they believe that not answering a question might take them out of the running for a position, especially if it’s a question where the answer would work in their favor,” Toothacre said. “Many people also don’t know what is illegal to ask, so they answer questions openly, not thinking about the consequences or bias someone might have.”

The survey found hiring managers are likely to cross the line when it comes to questions around salaries, with 39% of hiring mangers saying they “always” asked about salary history despite it being illegal to do so in 30 states.

But those sorts of questions are also of limited use to employers, who often have preset salary levels based on location, industry and experience.

“A person’s previous salary doesn’t have any bearing on the future salary,” Toothacre said. “There are too many inconsistencies between location, industry, function, and size of the company to use a previous salary to inform a future salary.”

Consequences for illegal job interview questions

Renee Fellman, business improvement expert and interim CEO-for-hire, said companies should always follow the law during the hiring process. The issue is that interviewers want to find out whether the job applicant has the reliability, attendance and work ethic needed for the job.

But that’s where problems with interview questions come up. Fellman stressed that companies should use the applicant’s references to get a better handle on those issues. And while references aren’t always forthcoming, Fellman uses a release to help remove legal liability from the reference to get them to speak more freely.

Ultimately, illegal questions are very common, said employment attorney Chambered Benton-Hayes at Benton Employment Law.

“Unfortunately, illegal questions are asked during interviews more often than they should be. Hiring managers do not always follow the law, especially if the candidate is not likely to report the violation and the manager does not think there will be any ramifications,” Benton-Hayes said.

Applicants should not feel pressured to answer questions they believe are illegal, and should consult with an attorney if they believe they were asked illegal questions during the processes, Benton-Hayes stressed.

“Companies should train their managers not to ask illegal questions during interviews because it could open them up to legal liability. If they learn that a manager engages in improper behavior during an interview, they should consider corrective action against that manager,” Benton-Hayes said.

Commonly asked illegal job interview questions

Josh Millet, co-founder and CEO of pre-employment assessment and interview training firm Criteria said illegal questions — and even just objectionable ones — are often made during periods of “banter” or unplanned conversations because the hiring manager or interviewer doesn’t have an

objective way to interview and score potential applicants. That means bias and subjectivity bleed into the process.

In a U.S.-based webinar with managers, Millet asked for any inappropriate questions they were asked when interviewing for a job. The answers included “are you currently pregnant,” and “what if your husband got another job in a different state?” There was also, “what does your age and generation say about your work ethic.”

The survey found women are particularly targeted by illegal questions, with common questions asking about pregnancies or future family planning.

Companies that routinely have their managers ask illegal questions — or who have managers that do so without the company’s knowledge — risk legal problems if job applicants decide to take action.

“There is a lot of litigation around interviewing,” Millet said. “There are more lawsuits tied to interviews than anything else in the hiring process.”

He said that’s likely because applicants that simply turn in a resume and cover letter are not as invested in the process and thus, less likely to take action if they feel they have been wronged. But, by the time an applicant has gone through an interview, those who are asked illegal questions are far more likely to take action.

‘Another thing that structured interviewing can be is a system of record,” Millet said, adding it creates a record of how the interviewee was scored and graded across similar questions. “It gives you a level of legal defensibility because you are doing something in a structured way. “

But Millet stressed that it’s not just the clearly illegal questions that are problematic. He warned that extraneous or silly questions can also turn off applicants.

A survey of 2,516 job candidates by Criteria found the biggest mistake an employer can make when interviewing a job candidate is asking inappropriate or personal questions — with 64% of job candidates agreeing.

“People asking inappropriate questions is just a clear example that having an unstructured format that leads to problems,” Millet said.

What kind of structure works best?

Come up with a list of questions that are relevant to the job — not the person.

Ask the same set of core questions to the applicants and score each one on how they answered the questions. Millet stressed the core questions should not get in the way of good follow-up questions about specific experiences or resume items that might be relevant to that specific person.

Don’t discuss the scores or results within the group until each person has done their own scores.

Compare those scores among interviewees to see who scored best.

An over-reliance on grading for “culture” can also cause problems as groups of managers attempt to hire people that think or act like they do — which ends up ensuring they don’t end up hiring those who might be the best for the job, Millet said.

“We should be hiring people based on things we know make them good at their job,” he said. “Are they are hard working or are they smart. Whether I like them or not is less relevant.”

By Andy Medici – Senior Reporter, The Playbook, The Business Journals

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New data from Great Place To Work® reveals three experiences that are highly correlated with employees wanting to stay with their company long-term. In a survey of more than 1.3 million U.S. employees, workers were:

• 2.7x more likely to stay when they say their work is meaningful
• 2.2x more likely to stay when they report being proud of where they work
• 1.7x more likely to stay when they say their workplace is fun

These three experiences came out on top in Great Place To Work’s proprietary Trust Index™ survey where workers were asked to agree with 60 statements about their workplace.

Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, has released a seminal report titled “Unlocking the Secrets of Employee Retention: Transform Your Workplace with Proven Strategies and Practical Insights.” Authored by Claire Hastwell, content program manager at Great Place To Work, this extensive report offers valuable strategies and insights for companies aiming to improve employee retention.

“Although workplace culture that prioritizes meaningful work, pride in one’s job, and a fun working environment may seem like a “nice-to-have,” this report shows that all three priorities bolster a culture that aids retention and ultimately, the business,” says Seth Willis, implementation consultant at Great Place To Work. 
 
The report highlights and provides examples of the essential role leadership plays in nurturing these experiences.

What experiences predict whether your employees are going to quit or stay?

New data from Great Place To Work® reveals three experiences that are highly correlated with employees wanting to stay with their company long-term. In a survey of more than 1.3 million U.S. employees, workers were:

• 2.7x more likely to stay when they say their work is meaningful
• 2.2x more likely to stay when they report being proud of where they work
• 1.7x more likely to stay when they say their workplace is fun

These three experiences came out on top in Great Place To Work’s proprietary Trust Index™ survey where workers were asked to agree with 60 statements about their workplace.

Great Place To Work, the global authority on workplace culture, has released a seminal report titled “Unlocking the Secrets of Employee Retention: Transform Your Workplace with Proven Strategies and Practical Insights.” Authored by Claire Hastwell, content program manager at Great Place To Work, this extensive report offers valuable strategies and insights for companies aiming to improve employee retention.

“Although workplace culture that prioritizes meaningful work, pride in one’s job, and a fun working environment may seem like a “nice-to-have,” this report shows that all three priorities bolster a culture that aids retention and ultimately, the business,” says Seth Willis, implementation consultant at Great Place To Work. 
 
The report highlights and provides examples of the essential role leadership plays in nurturing these experiences.

Highlights from the report: 

Understanding the cost of employee turnover: The report delves into the significant financial implications of employee turnover, emphasizing the costs involved in recruitment and training, and highlighting the economic advantages of retaining employees.

Robust methodology: This comprehensive report is based on data from an impressive 1.3 million employees at Great Place To Work Certified™ companies in the U.S. The research spans a range of industries, job roles, and demographics, offering a diverse and inclusive analysis of the workforce.

Key drivers for employee retention: The study identifies “purpose,” “pride,” and “fun” as the primary elements influencing employee retention, challenging traditional beliefs about what makes a satisfying workplace and emphasizing the importance of meaningful and enjoyable work.

Leadership behaviors that impact retention: The research identifies specific leadership behaviors that are critical in retaining talent, including effective onboarding strategies and leadership that inspires and aligns with company values.

“Leadership is not just about guiding a team towards its goals; it’s about fostering an environment where every team member feels valued, heard, and motivated,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place To Work. “Our research highlights that effective leaders are selfless, modest, humble, and willful lifelong learners that are a critical component in retaining talent and building a workplace where employees thrive.” 

Company case studies: The report highlights the successful practices of companies like Altar’d State, Atlassian, and Nugget Markets, each exemplifying effective strategies related to key retention drivers.

Generational engagement and retention: Focusing on multigenerational workforce dynamics, the report offers insights into the motivations, values, and needs of Gen Z in the workplace. 
 
Role of work location flexibility in employee retention: The report provides a detailed examination of how flexibility in work location impacts employee commitment, comparing the relationship between employer mandates versus employee autonomy in work location decisions.

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I have a few theories about why we are having such a difficult time acquiring, and retaining, labor in the trades. 

The labor market is skewed heavily in the face of a turning point that we as a society are dreading. And if we aren’t, we should be. We are seeing older, more experienced people starting to retire, hanging up their hard hats.

These are guys and gals who have been in the trades for 20-plus years. These are people who are certified experts in their field. They’re hanging it up and letting their bodies rest, finally. 

At the same time, we are seeing a lack of involvement in the trades from the younger generations. Some do join a crew, but end up choosing not to stay. More avoid it altogether. 

Although it’s hard to pinpoint exact reasons as to why this is — as each person’s experience varies — I believe there are three key factors that all younger tradespeople experience. One or more of these factors often deter them from getting involved or cause them to give up soon after.

Impatience in training

Training new talent takes time. It’s hard to train people. Especially someone who has very little knowledge on the subject as a whole. I have an assistant who did not know what a “header” was when he was hired. That was over a year ago, and he is now solely responsible for managing the quality of doors installations and framing. 

It took time, patience and sacrifice on my part. But I was able to train him to where he is now. It’s all worth it, knowing I can delegate some of my responsibilities to him without concern.

People in the building industry often don’t want to take the time to train new people. They get frustrated when someone doesn’t know what they are doing. But if you set a training regimen in place and find someone who is good at dealing with others, training new hires can be something extremely beneficial to any contractor. 

Blue collar work is dirty and tiring

I have worked as a laborer on a framing crew, as a foreman on a concrete crew and as a maintenance crew leader in a water operations department. I have arrived at home covered in everything from mud to sawdust, concrete and chlorine. Blue collar work can be dirty. I often did not smell good. 

But when I saw my paycheck at the end of the week, it looked a lot better than my friends’ who had to wear slacks and a tie every day. And now, my favorite game to play while driving around with my wife is pointing out everything I had a hand in building. 

I take a lot of pride in my work. It’s good to see the fruits of my labor. Blue collar work is extremely rewarding.

Difficult managers

Everyone has a story of a terrible boss or coworker — that person that you had to work with everyday that you just could not get along with. It’s understandable that not everyone you work with is going to be your best bud. 

Now, imagine that terrible boss was actually five different people, and those people were responsible for managing whatever project you are working on. Sending nasty emails if you make a mistake. Threatening to charge your boss thousands of dollars if you can’t finish as fast as someone else promised you would. Getting yelled at for materials being late, when you didn’t even order them. 

These are all scenarios that play out daily on a construction site. Working for a bad boss can make anyone hate their job. If GCs can understand the overall need for younger — or newer — tradespeople in the industry, and help make it a more enjoyable environment, I guarantee we would see a lot more retainage and interest in the industry. 

Like I said, every person’s experience will vary, and these three factors are not a catch-all. But I would go as far as to say that they are, at the very least, a catch-most. 

To help fix the problem, let’s get excited about training new people, welcome them to the industry and show them how rewarding the trades can be.

The post 3 reasons why new tradespeople don’t stick around appeared first on Highland Consulting Group.

“I think we are going to see remote jobs flatten out and in-office jobs will continue to increase their share from the share of those hybrid companies that don’t really want their employees to work from home,” said John Mullinix, director of growth marketing at Ladders, adding companies have had plenty of time to choose an office strategy. “If you are a company not letting employees work remotely, that’s a conscious decision, not a technical limitation.”

While remote job postings dropped overall, the decrease was driven by the highest-paid jobs among the dataset, Mullinix said.

“Jobs that pay $200,000 or more really drove the increase for in-person roles,” he said. “Companies want their highest earners in the office for collaboration and leadership.”

Which industries still offer highly paid remote jobs?

Overall, 11.82% of jobs posted on Ladders were remote jobs, according to Mullinix — still far higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic.

And despite headlines about widespread layoffs at the largest tech companies, remote jobs were still most likely to be in the technology sector, followed by health care.

Mullinix said he believes at least part of that has to do with the rise of artificial-intelligence tools and platforms.

“AI is creating new opportunities and new ways to serve customers, which is creating more ways for health-care professionals to make money virtually,” he said. “Technologies like that — that were kind of, once upon a time, thought to be not likely — are becoming more prevalent because of AI, and that is increasing the amount of jobs.”

He also said smaller companies are seeing an opportunity to get better talent by going remote, giving them a competitive advantage over larger companies that might emphasize being in the office. An unrelated study by payroll and

benefits platform Gusto Inc. found that to be the case, too, as smaller and younger companies are more likely to recruit remote workers.

About 46% of six-figure remote jobs pay between $100,000 and $150,000, while the next largest chunk is the 25% that pay between $150,000 and $200,000.

The typical remote job pays between $140,000 and $160,000 per year in the technology or health-care sectors, with a range of five to seven years of experience, he added.

“It wasn’t the biggest companies that were paying the most — it was the mid-size companies,” Mullinix said. “They are trying to grow, rather than maintain, their market share.”

Remote work still in high demand Workers continue to seek remote work, with 51% of people favoring a fully remote job while an additional 46% saying they want to be in a hybrid environment, according to employment agency FlexJobs Corp.

Meanwhile, about 63% say having the ability to work remotely is most important to them in a job — a bigger share than those who chose salary, which came in at 61%. Overall, the picture of remote work and return-to-office interests is blurry, at best. The Bureau of Labor Statistics in October 2022 began tracking the number of workers who said they worked from home some or part of the time. That month, 17.9% of workers aged 16 years and older said they were working from home some or all of the time. By October 2023, that number had grown to 19.8%. Two months later, it was 21.9%, although that bump could be partly because of the December holiday season.

Those with more education are more likely to end up in remote jobs, according to the BLS. About 38% of employees with a degree higher than a bachelor’s degree reported working remotely at least part of the time, compared to 2.4% of employees with less than a high school diploma and 7.2% of workers with high school diplomas and no college degree. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau found 26% of households reported someone working remotely as of October 2023, the lowest level since the pandemic began and down from a 33% post-pandemic high.

Stanford University Economics Professor Nick Bloom on Nov. 28 took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to call remote-work numbers “flat as a pancake.” He noted the number of people working remotely had leveled off after falling from its pandemic peak while office occupancy flatlined.

“Return to the office is dead,” Bloom wrote.

Blog Written By: Andy Medici and Pgh Business times

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The findings, from a new Today at Work report by payroll provider ADP, stem from data on 25 million workers and a decade of structured surveys. The results paint a broad picture of employee commitment, including some surprising results.

About 29% of workers leave their employer within a month of their first promotion, according to the report. That’s more than the 18% of workers who would have left on their own, without a promotion. Bottom line: A promotion increases the risk an employee will leave by two-thirds.

That higher risk of a newly promoted worker leaving continues over a six-month span. After that, the rate of a promoted worker departing levels off with the departure rate for workers who hadn’t been promoted.

“One would think that promoting excellent workers would only increase their motivation and commitment — and reduce their risk of leaving,” said Ben Hanowell, director of people analytics research for the ADP Research Institute, in the report. “Think again.”

It’s worth noting that promotions are relatively rare. Only about 4.5% of workers are promoted within their first two years of being hired, according to ADP’s research. That limits the fallout from the workers leaving after their first promotion.

Why do promoted employees leave?

The ADP data highlights two scenarios at play when it comes to promoted workers leaving. Do employees quit because they are unsupported in their new position and lack the skills needed to thrive? Or, do these promotions make employees more marketable, and that allows them to leave for better positions at other companies?

ADP found that workers who were promoted while at jobs that required little to no training or education were nearly six times more likely to leave in the first month after a promotion than if they had not been promoted — and they were more than twice as likely to leave the company over the balance of a nine-month period.

“These findings reflect the economic conditions that followed the coronavirus pandemic,” the report said. “As the economy reopened in 2022, demand for services and goods skyrocketed, with workers in the lowest wage brackets benefiting most from the labor market boom.”

For jobs that required extensive preparation or had high requirements, such as graduate school or an advanced technical degree, a promotion made those workers 52% more likely to leave in the first month. But by the fifth month, they were less likely to leave than those who had not been promoted.

But what happens after a worker’s first promotion? According to the ADP findings, as workers rose through the ranks, managers were far more likely to leave after a promotion than “individual contributors,” who were far more likely to stay after being promoted.

Rising through the ranks also means an employee ultimately is likely to attract the interest of recruiters looking for C-suite talent.

So what should companies be doing? 

• Make sure to account for recently promoted worker turnover. That includes building in redundancies and having a plan in case an employee leaves.
• Ensure you are promoting the right people. Finding the right people and promoting them could boost their loyalty to the company, while promoting the wrong ones could lower the bar and undermine the motivation of others to work harder.
• Experiment with new ways to incentivize retention of recently promoted employees.

Companies need to recognize that there are valuable rewards for employees other than promotions, said ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson in the report, stressing that companies often confuse the need to reward good work with the need to promote.

“If a person is taking on work with increased responsibility and scope, by all means promote them. But if your outstanding employee is doing excellent work in their role, there are potentially more effective ways to reward that performance — think bonuses or merit pay increases, for example,” Richardson said. “Promote people, but make sure you’re promoting for the right reasons.”

Employers focus on retention

The ADP report comes at a time when companies also are shifting to retention strategies after years of frantic, competitive hiring during the pandemic. Companies are dropping signing bonuses from their job postings and shifting to an emphasis on benefits. 

The share of job postings on job-search website ZipRecruiter offering signing bonuses was growing substantially during the course of the pandemic, from 3.3% of all jobs offering such an incentive in 2019 to 6.7% in 2021. That number fell in 2022 to 5%, and, so far in 2023, it’s slid to 3.7%, nearly on par with before the pandemic.

Instead, employers have been adding other benefits, with the percentage of employers offering health insurance in job postings growing from 3.8% in 2019 to 6.7% in 2023, according to ZipRecruiter. The number of companies advertising retirement plans has grown from 10.3% in 2019 to 17.2% in 2023.

Employers also are overhauling salaries, with ZipRecruiter finding that the number of job titles with a pay increase over the course of 2023 has fallen — the opposite of last year. But worker expectations are still high. The annual expected salary of a job offer jumped to $67,416 in July, up from $60,310 in July 2022, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s SCE Labor Market Survey. The July 2023 figures is the highest mark the survey has recorded.

Companies additionally should be braced for a “forever” labor shortage, even amid a cooling job market, because fewer people will be working by the end of the decade.

Fresh projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics paint a stark picture, with the labor force participation rate expected to drop from 62.2% in 2022 to 60.4% in 2032. It was 63.3% before the Covid-19 pandemic and had generally been falling from a height of 67.4% in 2000. This is driven in large part by population shifts, as baby boomers retire and the number of Gen Z workers entering the labor force is smaller than previous generations, trend lines economists and demographic watchers have long viewed as a slow-burning structural problem exacerbated by the pandemic.

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That’s one of the big takeaways from Payscale Inc.’s first Retention Report, which analyzed crowdsourced data from thousands of workers across five years. It showed workers are more likely to leave jobs at companies with poor future prospects and for better or fairer pay.

The data suggests many companies need to step up their game to retain employees over the long term — especially as the labor market is expected to remain tight in the coming years due to demographic shifts and other factors.

To be clear, relationships with a manager are still very important. They just aren’t quite as important to turnover as other factors.

Lexi Clarke, chief people officer at Payscale, said even though employees are less likely to leave their jobs now than they were during the height of the Great Resignation, employees are still making demands that employers should be aware of.

Clarke said the report shows employees are most likely to put in notice when a company’s long-term viability is questionable or if they believe their pay is unfair.

“Publishing pay ranges to job ads alone does not communicate fairness and may not be enough to drive retention,” Clarke said.

Overall, workers who strongly agreed their company had a bright future were far less likely to seek out a new job. Fair pay wasn’t far behind.

However, while pay transparency overall reduced jobseeking, it actually increased it slightly among Gen Z workers, likely due to younger workers seeing the range of salaries in their industry and motivating them to maximize their salaries.

Ruth Thomas, pay equity strategist at Payscale, said companies need compensation strategies that make sense for the business, include internal and external pay equity analyses and meaningful communication.

“The objective should be for every employee to know their pay is fair and why it’s fair,” Thomas said. “Employers must go a step beyond posting salary ranges to really show they value their employees, while also proving that the company has a positive work culture and a bright future.” 

The report also found feelings of fair pay mattered most in white-collar industries, where workers were far less likely to search for a new job than in blue-collar jobs or the health-care industry. The report stressed this was likely due to the lack of salary information in white-collar jobs.

Job aggregator Jooble released a survey that also found that workers were far more likely to ask for a raise when they saw overall salaries going up in their own industry.

But about 49% were unhappy with their current salary level, and about 62% said they plan to ask their employer about a salary increase in the next quarter.

About 70% of the workers surveyed said they were ready to quit if their wages were not increased, and while most workers wanted an increase in salary of 10% or more, about 81% would also be satisfied with something else such as a paid vacation.

Overall, the push for pay transparency, especially in job postings, has led to more salary information online than ever. Data from Indeed’s HiringLab found about 45% of job postings in the United States included some salary information in April, more than double the 20% prior to the pandemic.

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada and Rhode Island all have pay transparency laws for nearly all employees on the books. New York’s law will go into effect later this year. Washington state requires all employers with 15 or more employees to disclose wages or salary ranges for potential jobs. Cities across the country, including New York City, have passed similar laws.

But new laws aren’t the only factor driving increased salary details in job listings. About 71% of workers surveyed said they would be less likely to apply for a job if the listing did not include a salary range, according to a recent survey by Skynova.

Pay transparency is not the only challenge business owners are facing. Legislation has ushered in new worker protections that go into effect soon, while the National Labor Relations Board has cracked down on key aspects of severance agreements.

Written by Andy Medici

The post Why do employees quit? It’s not always bad bosses. appeared first on Highland Consulting Group.

The ranking looks at three years of state standardized test scores and ranks 105 regional school districts from highest scoring to lowest based on a proprietary formula.

This is the second ranking we’ve done this ranking since testing was suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic, which resulted in no annual ranking in 2021. Testing resumed in spring 2021 and data from 2022, 2021 and 2019 is included in this year’s formula.

This year’s Honor Roll ranking of school districts is based on the past three years of available standardized test scores (2022, 2021, 2019 for grades 3-8 (PSSAs) and high school (Keystone Exams). Counties included: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Washington, Westmoreland.

The top two remained unchanged, with Fox Chapel Area School District in a strong second behind Upper St. Clair. Positions three through nine on the ranking were the same districts in a shuffled order, with Peters Township School District moving up two spots to rank No. 3. Penn-Trafford School District was the newcomer to the top 10.

Check back in this story later for links to more rankings, stories about the top districts and a look at the way high schools are preparing students to enter the workforce, as well as Q&As with administrators.

Methodology for 2023 Guide to Southwestern Pennsylvania Schools

All available Pennsylvania System of School Assessment scores for math, English and science and Keystones for literature, algebra and biology from the past three years are included in the formula. The exception is the 2021 and 2022 Keystones. Many districts had missing data for the 2022 biology test and the 2021 literature test, so those data points are excluded from this year’s Keystone ranks. All grades (three through eight and the Keystone exams for high school proficiency) receive math and reading scores; science scores also are included for fourth, eighth and the Keystones.

The rankings are based on a district’s percentage of students placing in the top two standardized test categories. That score is then compared to its departure from the average for the set. This is also known as a standard score, or “z-score,” a measurement of the number of standard deviations a district scored above or below the mean for the data set being examined. The z-scores for each component in a grade are summed to create a grade score. The sum of all the grade scores makes up a district’s overall score.

Written by Ethan Lott

The post 2023 School Guide rankings: Southwestern Pennsylvania’s top-scoring school districts appeared first on Highland Consulting Group.

That’s according to a survey of new college grads by online employment marketplace ZipRecruiter, which found the latest group of graduates is bullish about their job prospects, despite signs that employers are regaining leverage in the hiring market.

That being said, the survey suggests some graduates may be in for a rude awakening when it comes to pay and some of their other expectations.

ZipRecruiter’s survey found 85% of graduates say they have already been recruited, and 70% expect to land a full-time job in the coming year.

Ian Siegel, ZipRecruiter co-founder and CEO, said the optimism is well-founded, despite short-term economic uncertainty — at least when it comes to landing a job.

In this hiring market, Siegel said employers are putting a premium on trainability and soft skills. That is creating opportunities for new graduates.

“The way companies work is changing at a blistering pace,” Siegel said.

Graduates looking for flexibility:

About 44% of graduates want a hybrid work arrangement, while 33% want to be fully remote. Recruiters have told The Playbook that jobs offering fully remote work are getting tougher to come by, and many companies are pulling back on their hybrid models.

That suggests a rude awakening could be on the horizon. Only 23% of new graduates said they want to be in the office every day.

But a recent analysis of job postings by Lightcast found the percentage of postings advertising remote work is trending down — falling from 8.9% in October 2022 to 6.4% in March. The percentage remains above pre-pandemic levels but is another example of employers regaining leverage in the hiring market.

“We’re seeing the push-and-pull between remote work and back-to-the-office play out in job postings. Remote work is here to stay. But some companies want employees to resume working in person and are willing to pay to relocate talent to fill those in-person positions,” said Lightcast Senior Economist Layla O’Kane. 

What new graduates expect for starting salaries:

While flexibility remains important, it’s not one of the top three factors new grads are looking for. The top three are advancement opportunities, pay and job security.

The average pay expectation is $69,200 for women and $71,900 for men.

But the expectation drops among students who have already begun their search, with pay expectations among that group averaging $8,300 less — suggesting that many grads have unrealistic expectations about what they might get at a time when many employers are tweaking their pay strategies after two years of aggressive raises and signing bonuses.

In March, starting pay among newly hired workers at small and midsized businesses was 7.5% lower than pay for those hired last year, according to data from payroll and benefits provider Gusto Inc.

ZipRecruiter’s survey found inflation is weighing on the minds of new grads, with 90% of respondents expecting to offset rising costs by taking on a side hustle, moving to an economically friendly city, living with their families or finding a roommate.

They are also being more flexible with how they think about their careers.

“In an economy defined by a constant drumbeat of disruptive innovations, new graduates are less likely to have predictable and linear careers. Embracing change and remaining open to new opportunities is critical in the near-term labor market,” Siegel said.

The metros where Gen Z could be a particularly tough challenge:

A separate survey of 500 soon-to-be college grads conducted earlier this year on behalf of A. Team, a company that connects builders and firms, found 33% said the ability to work remote was the most important factor in their job search, followed by pay at 21%.

About 58% said they would look for a new job if their employer required them to be in the office five days a week.

Despite a tight labor market over the last few years, early retirements and other demographic changes, the job market is starting to show signs of weakening under the weight of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tamp down inflation with rising interest rates.

The number of job openings fell to 9.6 million on the last day in March, the lowest in nearly two years — although still higher than before the pandemic, according to the newest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, layoffs creeped up to 1.2% as many companies cut back. The quit rate ticked down to 2.5%, the lowest since the pandemic began, showing fewer workers willing to leave their job.

Despite high-profile layoffs at big tech and consulting companies and overall national economic growth slowing in the most recent quarter, small-business owners are optimistic about their fortunes — and they are hiring or at least trying to.

New graduates will be a critical component of that effort, as experts say retaining and recruiting Gen Z workers should be a top priority for businesses because the generation is smaller than prior generations — meaning employers are likely to face a tight talent market even if the economy struggles.

Written by Andy Medici

The post New college grads have high expectations. Here’s what they’re looking for! appeared first on Highland Consulting Group.