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| WORKLIFE NEWS ALERT : November 2008 | |
| Career development and management news from Worklife International | |
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In this issue:
Latest HR stats In the past year, 200,000 jobs were lost in the financial services sector, according to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quote of the month "The only thing constant within organisations is the continual change of these organisations." Anon
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A word from the MD, Peter Tobin Welcome to the November issue of our monthly newsletter, Worklife News Alert. Since last month we have seen continued uncertainty of world economies and further indications that this will start to result in job losses in Australia. After several years of economic prosperity and candidate shortages, the coming months will see a change in focus within organisations from how to get and retain key talent to instead looking at how to structure workforces with ever tightening budgets. In this issue of Worklife News Alert we're taking a look at the value of internal communication during unstable times - communication with employees, shareholders, and also with the public - to ensure that everyone is as informed as possible. I hope you enjoy this issue and if you have any comments or suggestions please let us know, we'd love to hear from you. Click here if you have any comments or suggestions you'd like to forward to us now. Dear WorklifeEach month Worklife answers your career development questions. To ask us a career development question, simply click here now. This month's Q&A looks at the value of workforce communication during difficult economic times. Last month, we identified three lessons learned during ‘tough’ economic periods in the 80’s and 90’s. Those lessons included: 1. Identification and retention of key contributors; This month we look at the second of these elements – organisational communication - as we address a question from one of our readers: Q: Our organisation has been heavily exposed to the global financial crisis and we are now undergoing an organisational restructuring process which will involve fairly extensive changes to team structures and some job losses. How can we communicate these changes as effectively as possible to all stakeholders to minimise any confusion and, most importantly, maintain productivity? A: Within any organisation that is undergoing restructuring, or change of any kind for that matter, the biggest issue is that of employee uncertainty. Questions like "Will I lose my job?", "Am I going to have to take on a bigger workload because of a reduced workforce?", or "Will I be reporting to a different manager?" are the types of concerns which go through employees' minds during restructuring and these concerns can all result in loss of motivation, productivity and, worst of all, loss of your top talent as they jump ship looking for a more stable work environment. For organisations to reduce the fallout of restructuring, the most important consideration is communication - it's never too early to start communicating upcoming changes and there's no such thing as 'over-communication'. The more up front, simple, concise and straight-forward the communication, the more effective it will be. The other key to effective communication is consistency - the messages you communicate will set employees' expectations, so it's important that these messages remain consistent throughout the entire process. This is also important for your external communications - any feelings of uncertainty internally will invariably filter to your external stakeholders including shareholders and clients, so be sure to keep your external communications flowing throughout the process as well. Feature article: Managing people in a changing world: Key trends in human capital, a global perspective - 2008 Maximising the value of organisational resources has never been more challenging. Now, more than ever is the time for innovation and creativity. Keeping a watchful eye on the turbulent world economy and responding effectively is critical to sustainable business success. This report, compiled by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, raises a range of issues, key messages and implications for all those responsible for human capital management in the immediate future, covering five key areas including human capital impact; human capital drivers; human capital foundations; human capital futures; and the human resource function. To download a copy of this report click here now.
Ever wondered what employee turnover is costing your organisation? BLR.com is offering free downloads of its employee turnover cost calculator which takes into account over 20 separate factors including interviewing costs, advertising expense, pre-employment testing, reference checks, training, etc. Results are broken out by HR, Department, and Total Company. To download BLR's calculator click here now. What's happening at Worklife this month? This month at Worklife we are busy with our final presentation of Career Coach Certification Program (CCCP) for 2008 and 2009 preparation. We conduct our final 2008 CCCP workshop in Melbourne next week. We have had great success with this workshop in 2008, and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the development of career coaches, Worklife will continue to run programs in 2009 for the special price of $1,500 plus GST. Stay tuned for upcoming CCCP dates in our December News Alert. Our 2009 workshop calendar will be finalised before Christmas and featured on the Worklife website and in our next issue of Worklife News Alert. We have some exciting additions to our schedule for the New Year. We are also finalising new resources for existing and new career coaches. Available from January 2009, these resource kits provide career coaches with everything necessary to fully engage with their clients. Keep an eye out for these resources – coming soon!
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Level 22, 201 Miller Street, North Sydney NSW Australia 2060
Telephone: (02) 8968 9368 or Email: info@worklifeint.com
