Inside Human Resources Blog

69 Percent of employees believe office meetings ineffective.

Ineffective meetings and unclear business objectives and priorities account for two full days of wasted work per week, according to the Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge (2005).  The survey also reported that:

• Employees spend 5.6 hours in meetings each week.
• Employees spend 17 unproductive hours in an average 45-hour work week.
• Sixty-six percent of employees deny having a work/life balance.
• Sixty-nine percent of employees believe office meetings are ineffective.

Companies say over 2/3 of managers do bad job handling poor performance

A survey of 129 major U.S. companies shows that although they rely heavily on performance plans to determine employee pay increases (66 percent) and bonuses (47 percent), few organizations measure whether these performance plans are positively impacting their business. Instead, many organizations simply measure their success by tracking whether paperwork is submitted on time (44 percent) or if their employees are satisfied with the program (36 percent). Meanwhile, nearly a third (30 percent) don’t measure the success of these programs at all.

The study by Hewitt, a global human resources services firm, shows that as many as 84 percent of companies don’t believe their employee goals are fully aligned with their business goals. Organizations say improved managerial competency is critical in enhancing this connection. In fact, nearly three-fourths of companies believe their managers’ ability to coach employees toward goals requires the greatest improvement (73 percent), followed by their ability to have effective performance-based discussions and make related decisions (72 percent). Moreover, 67 percent of companies say their managers do a bad job handling poor performance, and another 73 percent believe their managers are not skilled at building high-performing teams.

Making Performance Management Work”, the Hewitt Study, is based on 129 U.S. companies with median revenues of $2.5 billion.

HR Spending $2,436 per full-time employee

Most Fortune 500 companies don't realize how much time and money they're spending on human resources, according to Hewitt Associates, a global human resources services firm.

A new report from Hewitt shows that HR costs have grown an average of 6 percent a year for the last five years, and are currently $2,436 per full-time employee. This amounts to more than $100 million a year in HR expenses for an average Fortune 500 company. In addition, HR is now spending nearly half of its time (43 percent) on administration and service.

For more workforce trends see Perfect Labor Storm

Dull Jobs May Be Dangerous to Your Health

Bored at work?  It is already known that people in low-paying jobs and with lower educational achievements have a higher risk of heart disease.

Now a team of British scientists have linked dull, steady work with a faster and less variable heart rate, which, in turn, is linked to heart disease.  A low-grade job was defined as one where the worker has little control over daily tasks.

Dr Harry Hemingway, the lead scientists, said it might be possible to help prevent heart disease by changing workplace conditions.

Heart rate variability (HRV) is a measure of the heart's ability to adapt to current circumstances. For instance, during exercise the heart needs to beat faster to pump more oxygen to the muscles, while during sleep a fast heart rate is unnecessary.

A decreased HRV therefore means that the heart is less able to adapt. It also increase the risk of developing an irregular heart beat - known as an arrhythmia - which in extreme circumstances can trigger sudden death.

Top 10 Career Choices of Teens

Teachers, nurses and military personnel are among the top 10 career choices of today's teenagers, according to the Gallup Youth Survey.

8 % want to becomed teachers or doctors, 7 % want to become lawyers followed by fields in sports, science, biology, architecture, business, military, engineer and nursing. 

11-fold increase in number of older workers

Again, statistics illuminate the problem. Since 1900, the number of older adults has increased eleven-fold, from 3.1 million in 1900 to 35 million in 2000. Four of every 10 people in the work force will be older than 45 in two years. By 2010, one of every five employees will be aged 55 or older. By the middle 21st century, there will be more seniors than children. That statistical milestone is less than 50 years away.

For more workforce facts, go to the Perfect Labor Storm.