monday insights — June 27th

Workplace trends

Flexibility

Tech leaders have changed their minds about remote work

While tech companies had led the way in embracing remote work early in the pandemic, many are now eagerly trying to bring their workers back to the office. In fact, a number of tech giants like Google, Lyft, and Meta have walked back their remote-work policies or gotten much more serious about enforcing in-office attendance policies in an effort to drive productivity through face-to-face collaboration. Some companies like Salesforce are now offering incentives for in-office attendance, but many more are simply demanding workers return – and adding punitive measures when workers don’t show up. While research and surveys continue to show that workers want flexibility, economic pressures have translated to job prospects simply not looking the same as they once did, placing more leverage in the hands of employers and emboldening them to really press for face time.

Employment

This summer, lifeguards have better job prospects than interns

With Americans spending freely on summer travel, dining out, and summer camp, teens looking to be waiters, ice cream scoopers, and camp counselors seem to have an abundance of better-paying summer job prospects in a surprisingly robust U.S. labor market. Wages are quickly rising for summer positions in lower-paying fields, especially in roles lacking sufficient workers such as lifeguards. Meanwhile, for workers in search of corporate internships, on the other hand, it’s not so easy. Job postings for summer internships were down ~15% in May from a year earlier, according to Indeed.com, as hiring has slowed in tech, finance, and other business-related jobs.

The AI corner

Service

AI might be taking your next order

In an effort to free up often-scarce workers to do other jobs and promote efficiency, a number of food and beverage chains like White Castle, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Dunkin’ have been testing out AI-driven chatbots in their drive-throughs. These robots, which employ conversational-style AI algorithms, can take orders, make substitutions, and even encourage customers to binge on an extra burger or dessert without any remorse. Employers of these bots appreciate that unlike humans, the AI workers are never shy about upselling, nor do they require breaks or get distracted. How do customers and employees feel about the shift? The jury is still out – many are relieved about no longer needing to struggle to speak with tired people through muffled speakers, but others are uncomfortable with the lack of human interaction.

Regulation

The EU is leading the way in AI regulation

A draft law known as the A.I. Act in the European Parliament has become the world’s most far-reaching attempt to address the potential harm of artificial intelligence. With hundreds of top AI scientists and researchers warning that generative AI technology poses an existential risk to humanity, and several prominent leaders calling for greater regulation, the European Union has taken a major step in proposing a concrete response to navigating the risks of AI. Once approved, which experts say is going to take time, the Act will set significant restrictions for anyone developing and deploying AI systems in the EU. While experts believe this is a huge step in the right direction, some doubt the potential effectiveness of any regulation of A.I. given that the technology’s new capabilities are emerging faster than lawmakers can address them.

The benefits of internal mobility By staging-mondaycomblog.kinsta.cloud

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report, more than half of currently employed workers have expressed a desire to leave their jobs. And unfortunately, more often than not, when an employee decides they are ready for a change, they skip over the idea of seeking new opportunities within their current organization. This is a real shame, because internal mobility can prove extremely beneficial to both employees and employers.

For employees, moving roles within their same organization can mean a much easier transition because they are already familiar with the company culture, software, product(s), and organizational quirks, so they require less hand-holding in onboarding and training in order to get up to speed quickly and feel settled. They also already have familiar faces and likely some friends at the company so they don’t encounter the same social stress that comes from starting from scratch.

For employers, hiring internally can greatly shorten the process and lower the costs of bringing in a needed team member. Between job board listings, sorting through candidates, interview processes, background checks, competitive salaries, training, and additional benefits, significant time and money are required to hire an external candidate. In contrast, internal candidates are much quicker to find because they’re already part of the organization, so you can easily get feedback from their managers, analyze their performance, and assess their cultural fit. And according to recent research from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, internal hires not only tend to be high performers, they are also more likely to stay with the organization over time. In fact, the research revealed that the highest performing internal hires are likely to stay the longest, while the highest performing external hires are actually more likely to leave.

So, especially at a time when your company is likely trying to reduce expenses and do more with less, placing greater emphasis on internal shifts can prove really effective – both to retain star employees within your larger organization and to inspire other managers to refer their talent to your team when relevant opportunities arise.

So, as a manager, how can you effectively support internal mobility on your team?

Understand desired development paths

First and foremost, it’s important to sit down with each of your team members early on in your working relationship to understand their individual career goals. Ask them what they believe their strengths and weaknesses are and which elements of work they find to be most fulfilling. The same study from Cornell University shows that many employees are often not seeking promotions, but rather just desire a new opportunity and challenge, so with the information your team members share, you’ll be able to effectively recognize exciting opportunities for them to learn, develop, and advance based on their individual interests, experience levels, and needs.

Speak openly about internal opportunities

While saying goodbye to a star employee is never easy, it’s always better when you know their expertise and value are staying within the company. Sometimes a team member may have reached their ceiling within your team, but they still have plenty of room to grow and contribute to other areas of the business. That’s why you should always help your employees understand the opportunities that exist in other parts of the organization in order to increase the likelihood of them sticking around. Encourage team members looking for growth opportunities to check the company job listings and if you yourself hear of openings that could be relevant, let them know. That way, the business can continue to benefit from your team members’ talent and they can still serve as resources to your remaining team members going forward.

Take action

In order to effectively retain high performing employees at your company, it’s wise to be proactive. That means when a team member shares that they are interested in making a move, you should make introductions, speak with relevant managers, and let HR know that there’s interest. This shows your employees that you’d go to bat for them in order to support their growth and development at the company, which can really influence their decision to move internally versus seeking employment elsewhere.

Share success stories

When someone in the company has had a positive experience moving teams internally, be sure to mention it in growth-related conversations. Employees today are eager to see opportunities for learning, development, and advancement in their workplace, so sharing successful internal moves gives other employees the sense that they too have a future in the organization, making it more likely that they will look internally when considering their next career move.

Be transparent

When an employee expresses interest in moving teams, help them understand how the process would work. Share typical timelines, outline who would be involved, and summarize general logistics to really set the right expectations. It’s important to also be very clear that they likely won’t be the only applicant for an open position, which could mean that they ultimately may not be chosen. Let them know that you will do everything on your end to advocate for them, but that just like with any job, it takes time to find a new role that’s the right fit. Being transparent about this is important in order to avoid frustration and resentment.

Make it clear that it’s not personal

Employees are often afraid of letting their managers know they’re interested in a change because they don’t want to risk offending them. That’s why, as a manager, it’s so important to make it clear that you don’t take it personally. Emphasize that you want what’s best for your team members and that if they believe making a change is the best move for their careers, you see it as them being loyal to themselves, not disloyal to you.

As long as you are bringing your best self to your job, being a supportive leader, and helping your team members grow, you can feel assured that you’re doing everything in your power to keep your employees around for as long as it’s really right.

Water cooler chatter

Paul McCartney says A.I. helped complete one last Beatles song more than 50 years after the band broke up. McCartney shared that the song was made using a demo with John Lennon’s voice, according to an interview with BBC Radio 4, but did not give any other details about the song or lyrics.

Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital currency, hit its highest level in a year. Many market players attribute the jump to the news that U.S. asset management giant BlackRock filed for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking the market price of the underlying asset.

Question of the week

Last week’s answer: $30 billion

This week’s question: Which five countries have invested the most in artificial intelligence?

Just for laughs