A significant challenge faced by human resources departments lies in understanding employee sentiments and pain points. Yet, the methods used by modern human resources professionals are severely outdated. Collecting continuous employee feedback is the future of workforce measurement; executives and workers alike benefit from its implementation. No one likes performance reviews. Most American workers dread the annual or quarterly “performance review.” Managers loathe the process of evaluating their employees in an often uncomfortable interview format. The roots of the performance …
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2019 will be a strong year for the minimum wage in America. Minimum wage policy—which requires employers to pay all workers at or above a particular threshold—is closely linked to discussions about the health of the United States frontline workforce. A few weeks ago, Maryland approved a gradual increase in its state minimum wage from $10.10 to $15 per hour. Michigan recently affirmed a twenty-cent increase in its minimum wage, bumping the rate from $9.25 to $9.45 per hour. In …
In the United States, much attention is devoted to white-collar workers employed in vocations such as law, business, engineering, and medicine. However, blue-collar workers in frontline sectors still compose the backbone of the American economy. Furthermore, their work is no less important than their white-collar counterparts. Managers must understand how blue-collar human resources strategies are different from those relevant to knowledge workers. Office workers and frontline workers are psychologically distinct. Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs—a well-known psychological theory—serves as an …
Professor Peter Cappelli is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he directs the Wharton Center for Human Resources. Professor Cappelli was named one of the top five most influential thinkers in management by HR Magazine. He earned his D. Phil. in Labor Economics from Oxford University. Professor Cappelli’s research deals largely with adapting human resources to a changing labor economy. Among the many articles and books published throughout his career is …
Citizens of industrialized countries often hear a monolithic, dismal story about the future of global manufacturing. This narrative unfolds as follows: robots will replace hourly workers, mass unemployment will ensue, and poverty will spread like wildfire. According to countless studies and analyses, this tale is not so simple. Around the world, the future of global manufacturing and frontline labor is robust. The United States: strong growth and labor shortages. Demand for jobs, wage hikes, and labor shortages will define the …
Companies in frontline industries suffer from high employee turnover rates. Good employee turnover is often an elusive goal for frontline businesses. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released in 2017, certain industries experience much more churn than others. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities: 41.0% Manufacturing: 30.4% Accommodation and food services: 72.5% Retail: 53.0% Construction: 60.1% Industry-specific reports reveal even higher turnover rates. For example, the American Trucking Association found that annual churn in the 3PL industry was nearly …
Jirs Meuris is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business. He researches primarily within the fields of behavioral science and human research management, especially with respect to workers’ personal finances. Professor Meuris earned his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. In April of 2018, Professor Meuris’s research revealed that “people who are worried about their financial situation have less cognitive capacity available to them, which subsequently spills over into their work performance.” He recently answered some of Qlicket’s …
Frontline workers deserve full stakeholder status. Management, suppliers, stockholders, customers, and employees all succeed when they fully understand their role in actualizing their company’s mission. Likewise, frontline workers benefit their organizations most when employers treat them as full employee stakeholders. Stakeholder theory—a management philosophy popularized by R. Edward Freeman in his 1984 book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach—suggests that effective companies align the interests of all associated parties to the largest extent possible. Under the stakeholder framework, the role of executives is …
Companies must determine their levels of employee turnover as a starting point for listening to their employees, meeting their needs, understanding their motivations, and striving to improve their workplaces. Using the employee turnover rate over a given period of time, companies can determine the savings that can result from reducing turnover. How is employee turnover calculated? We present two methods. Simple Formula This formula offers a typical method used by companies to determine employee turnover. Suppose that ABC Manufacturing maintained …
As economic analysts and government agencies look ahead to 2019, data suggest three undeniable trends in frontline industries: job growth, wage hikes, and labor shortages. Since workers will become more expensive and less plentiful, American companies associated with these industries will develop strategies adapted to employee retention in order to remain competitive. 2018 was a historically strong year for frontline industries. In sectors such as mining, construction, and manufacturing, American firms created an unexpectedly high quantity of new jobs in …