An early October batch of links
Since the last batch of links went out, paying subscribers read a column about customer experience in a hybrid world, then received some Rosh Hashana thoughts, and most recently heard about why good workers seem to fade away. This coming weekend, they’ll get a column with my long reflections on the High Holy Days that have just passed.
Below, you’ll find a batch of links on the subjects that this newsletter covers regularly: professional development, community building, and self care.
Bank of America-Backed Scorecard Lets Companies Assess Workplace Mental Health. The part of this that makes sense to me is the focus on mental health of employees, which is a step forward. But pretty much everything else listed in this story sounds like a bunch of the same mumjo jumbo and the same people in charge saying, “This time, we’re going to get it right. We’ll call it a scorecard.”
Less Turnover, Smaller Raises: Hot Job Market May Be Losing Its Sizzle.
More broadly, many companies around the country say they are finding it less arduous to attract and retain employees — partly because many are paring their hiring plans, and partly because the pool of available workers has grown as more people come off the economy’s sidelines. The labor force grew by more than three-quarters of a million people in August, the biggest gain since the early months of the pandemic. Some executives expect hiring to keep getting easier as the economy slows and layoffs pick up.
What My Favorite Anti-Semite Taught Me About Forgiveness.
Why bosses can be too nice, and why it’s bad for business. “Employees should feel they can come to their manager with any concerns or suggestions. If a boss is closed off to feedback, he or she is likely to miss out on some great ideas. Employees who don’t feel like their voices are being heard are more likely to become disengaged and unproductive.” Most of this is correct. The “great ideas” thing is overstated and irrelevant here. But the rest holds.
An L.A. journalist’s death by suicide still confounds years later: “Can we even understand that?”
The High Cost of Living Your Life Online. “We are social creatures, and our brains evolved to form communities, communicate with each other, and work together. We have not evolved to expose ourselves to the judgment of the whole world on a daily basis.” I’ve been speaking about this topic a lot this season, how we’ve learned the wrong things from the first 20 years of the social web. The hope is to step away from it and to improve your life.
These Job-Training Programs Work, and May Show Others the Way.
These executives are asking their staff to work less for the same money. Will it pay off? This is not how I wish to work any day of the week: “In particular, Losey’s staff swears by a “traffic light” system to reduce distractions in the office. Colleagues have a light on their desk, and set it to green if they are happy to talk, amber if they are busy but available to speak, and red if they do not want to be interrupted.”
TikTok is credited with coining the term 'quiet quitting.' Now it's turned against it.
Managers confess their quiet firing tactics. The suggest of downloading and using a tool that keeps track of employee work anniversaries is an objectively weird solution to suggest to this problem. I’m unconvinced that the people who say they know a lot about how companies operate have ever worked at a company.
What the Money is For. I liked the monk story shared here. I’m guilty of rethinking to a fault what I should have done in moments defined by tension, without a clearcut answer to choose.
Are discriminatory questions finding their way into interviews?
Return-to-Office Push? These Staffers Like the Pull. It’s hard to believe that some staffers actually liking being in the office is worthy of highlighting, but here we are. I had some wonderful interactions last week while in the City on my limited days, and I returned home afterward feeling refreshed and recharged and restored.