Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.Â
Aaron Levenstein
Another addition of leadership and talent management “facts” from all over the world. Some intuitive and some not….what do you think?
1. A recent study by Hay group investigated the most admired companies (fortune.com/mostadmired) and found that they were much less likely to have laid off any people in the last two years (only 10% did vs. 23% for the less admired peers). By even greater margins they were more likely to freeze hiring and more likely to have invested the money and offer to brand themselves as employers not just as marketers to customers.
2. A recent survey of 20,000 leaders by Kenexa Reserach Institute has calculated a leadership effectiveness index by country. The individual countries with the highest senior leadership effectiveness ratings are India (69%), Brazil (59%), United States (54%), China (53%) and Canada (52%). The lowest rating was in Japan at 31%. Employee evaluations were based on the extent to which leaders maintain confidence through their communication and actions, keep everyone informed, and whether they possess the ability to deal with challenges the company faces.
3. If you are user of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) you can see the most updated research supplement published by Consulting Psychologists Press for free at www.cpp.com/MBTIvalidity). It contains correlations with other personality inventories and other psychometric details.
4. A survey by Office Team asked 464 workers employed in an office environment “if you were unemployed for more than 6 months, what do you think your greatest challenge when re-entering the workforce would be?” The results found that 32% reported becoming “acclimated to a new workplace or co-workers“, 23% said “learning new technologies or protocols” and 22% said “adopting to a new routine or schedule.” This finding suggests that onboarding and orientation should begin immediately when new hires begin on the job.
5. A recent survey by Catalyst of professionals who graduated from 26 leading MBA schools in Asia, Canada, Europe and the Us from 1996 to 2007 (4,143 respondents) found that even after taking account experience, industry and region that women started at lower levels then men and made an average of $4,600 less in their first jobs. The survey concluded that women lagged behind men in both job level (men were twice as likely to hold senior level positions) and salary and never caught up.
6. No one likes to lose a job but in Norway where unemployment is 3.3% laid-off workers receive 72 percent of their annual salary versus 28 percent in the US (69% in Spain, 67% in France, 64% in Germany, 52% in Canada, and 45% in Japan).
7. It is estimated that only 20.6% of Americans smoke (down 3.5% in a decade with 14% being white-collared versus 28% being blue-collared) and 81.9% of U.S. office buildings with white-collar workers ban smoking.
8. In the 2010 Global Workforce study released from Towers Watson, nearly 1,100 U.S. employees reported that job security is crucial and 40% said working for two or three organizations throughout their careers was the most appealing career model. Interestingly, 39% would prefer to be employed at one organization their entire work lives.
9. An online survey by Careerbuilders of over 5,231 full time employees and 2,270 full-time hiring managers found that the percentage of workers struggling to get to work on time dropped from 12% in 2008 to 8% in 2009. At least one survey participant reported that they “dreamt I was already at work” as one of the excuses they collected.
10. The August 2009 Gallup Employee Engagement Index based on over 42,000 randomly selected adults reported that only 33% of talent are engaged in their jobs, 49% are not engaged and 18% are actively disengaged. In September 2009, Towers Watson studied 50 multinational companies and demonstrated that companies with high levels of engagement outperformanced those with low levels in operating income (19.2% versus -32.7%), net income growth (13.7% versus -3.8%) and earning per share growth rate (27.8% versus -11.2%).
11. What engages workers? Professor Teresa Amabile from Harvard Business School asked 600 managers to rank workplace engagement factors and No. 1 on her list was “making headway” or “receiving support to overcome obstacles in their jobs.”  It seems that reporting progress at work is a key to staying engaged and being satisfied.
Back to research some new talent development facts….Be well….
[tags]talent management, succession planning, leadership development, succession planning, micromanage, performance review, engagement performance appraisal, overweight, obesity, wellness, coaching, executive coaching, executive development, surveys, kenneth nowack, Envisia, Envisia Learning, leadership development, ken nowack, Nowack [/tags]
Ken Nowack
Kenneth Nowack, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist (PSY13758) and President & Chief Research Officer/Co-Founder of Envisia Learning, is a member of the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations. Ken also serves as the Associate Editor of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. His recent book Clueless: Coaching People Who Just Don’t Get It is available for free for a limited time by signing up for free blog updates (Learn more at our website)
