ACA exchange enrollment leveled off at 11.1M, HHS says About 1.6 million of the 12.7 million US residents who had signed up for subsidized health insurance through an Affordable Care Act exchange this year had not paid their premiums and thus lost coverage by the end of March, according to a report by the Department of Health and Human Services. Some might have obtained coverage elsewhere, such as through an employer, the report says. WCBS-TV (New York)/The Associated Press (6/30),The Hill (6/30)
Amazon's 10-square-block urban campus under construction in Seattle has become a model for other companies looking to attract a millennial workforce that wants the amenities of city living. The 10 million-square-foot campus includes three towers, plus three large, tree-filled biospheres to help connect employees to nature. Bloomberg (6/29)
Leadership & Development
In praise of the 5-hour workday Transitioning to a five-hour workday is one path for companies looking to increase efficiency and productivity, writes author Stephan Aarstol. The constrained timeline helps focus employees on what really matters while acknowledging that mentally taxing work can only be done for so many hours a day. TheGrindstone.com (6/27)
Benefits & Compensation
Where the wage gap is widest The gap between men's and women's pay expands after age 32, according to research from Visier. A report by the Commerce Data Service says the gap tends to be wider among top earners. Fortune (6/22),Fast Company online (6/28)
The HR Leader
What is the difference between engagement and passion? Don't confuse engagement with passion, argues Naphtali Hoff; the former can be incentivized while the latter "expresses a long-term, intrinsic motivation to work at a high level." Hoff details the traits of passionate employees and offers six steps toward developing the trait in others. SmartBrief/Leadership (6/30),Forbes (6/29)
Workplace Chatter
Ancient tablet shows workers were paid in beer A 5,000-year-old tablet is proof that Mesopotamian workers in Uruk, which is in modern-day Iraq, were often paid in beer, a practice also common in ancient Egypt. Experts say beer was frequently given in place of food, with workers consuming about 5 quarts per day to stave off hunger. Ars Technica (6/28),New Scientist (subscription required) (6/22)
Editor's Note
SmartBrief will not publish Monday In observance of Independence Day in the US, SmartBrief will not publish Monday. Publication will resume Tuesday.
A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. ... When his work is done, his aims fulfilled, they will all say, 'We did this ourselves.'
