Twitter worker tweets Musk over employment status | How women and men talk about their work performance | Think of stress as friction to overcome challenges
Haraldur Thorleifsson, a senior director in product design for Twitter, resorted to tweeting CEO Elon Musk to ask whether or not he'd been fired after he was locked out of his work computer and HR had been unable to provide clarification of his employment status. Musk asked Thorleifsson what work he'd been doing and then simply replied to the employee's answer with two laughing emojis, and, following the exchange, Thorleifsson received confirmation from HR that he'd been fired. Full Story: BBC (3/6),Fortune (tiered subscription model) (3/7)
Helping workers who are also caregivers Employers, here's a way to show your support for workers who are also family caregivers. The on-demand Prepare to Care Workshop offers tips and resources and can make caring for a loved one more manageable. Ask your employees to register today.
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Recruiting & Retention
How women and men talk about their work performance Research suggests that women may not talk about their performance as confidently as their male colleagues do even when their work may be objectively as good or better. Employers should recognize this gender gap and account for it in their performance evaluations and promotions. Full Story: Knowledge@Wharton (3/6)
Leadership is a whole lot different now Today, the most successful leaders are those who embrace their imperfections, prioritize empathy, and show up as they are. In this candid conversation, executives from UKG and SHRM share how they're evolving as leaders and how anyone can have an impact on the workplace — leadership title or not. Register to watch.
Take workers to the metaverse to improve engagement The metaverse is gaining traction among employers who are using virtual reality to boost retention, engagement and the employee experience, Christoph Fleischmann writes. Fleischmann explains how VR can help collaboration between remote and in-office employees and deliver more interactive training and development experiences. Full Story: Training magazine (3/2)
Benefits & Compensation
Employers can help ease SUD impact on costs, workforce A CDC study published in JAMA Network Open indicates that worker substance use disorders carry a $35 billion annual cost for employers and health insurance plans, not including expenses related to attendance and retention or the impact of underreporting and inadequate treatment of the conditions. The study was among the largest of its kind to date, encompassing 162 million non-Medicare-eligible employees with workplace health insurance, 2.3 million of whom had been diagnosed with an SUD, and Dr. Yusuf Sherwani of Quit Genius offers measures that employers and organizations can follow to reduce the impact. Full Story: BenefitsPRO (free registration) (3/6)
Dealing with disruptive team members, whether it's a top performer, a boss or a peer, requires specific actions including addressing the behavior as a performance issue, setting boundaries and having clear expectations, writes Marlene Chism. "With the right support and tools, conflict offers an opportunity to increase communication, clarity and connection," Chism writes. Full Story: SmartBrief/Leadership (3/6)
SmartBreak: Question of the Day
About the Editor
Reflections
Kanoe Namahoe, editor
In 2018, I covered the National Association of Music Merchant’s annual conference, attending sessions related to workforce development. My favorite session featured a panel of four female entertainment production professionals -- in lighting design and audio engineering -- talking about their career trajectories. It was a fascinating discussion. I was intrigued by what the women said about pursuing jobs in the field. When it comes to applying for work, they noticed that women tend to be uneasy about saying they can perform tasks for which they have no prior professional or academic experience. Men have no such apprehensions, the panelists said. They are more confident about their ability to do work, regardless of experience. Research by Wharton professor Judd Kessler and Harvard Business School associate professor Christine Exley cited in our Recruitment & Retention story today seems to back up the NAMM speakers’ assertions. Men and women tend to perceive their skills and talents differently, according to findings. Men tend to demonstrate more self-confidence when describing their accomplishments. Women, however, tend to “rate themselves lower than men on work performance even when their work may be viewed objectively as being better.” What does this mean for closing workforce gender gaps? Should women promote themselves more to advance their careers? Kessler seems to discourage this. “[I]t’s possible that there will be backlash, and perhaps differential backlash for speaking too positively about their own ability and performance,” he says. The ones who can change this equation are employers, Kessler says. At the application, interview and performance review stages, employers should rely less on “subjective self-evaluations and more on objective measures to the extent that they exist in assessing ability and performance,” he says. I think this is a fair argument. I believe I am responsible for my career advancement but I can have blinders on when it comes to assessing my performance and accomplishments -- for better or for worse. I think objective measures help even the scales and give everyone an opportunity for accurate evaluation of work performance. What do you think? Does this ring true in your experience? Let me know! And if you enjoy this brief, tell others so they can benefit also.
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