“Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”
Aaron Levenstein
 
Another edition of leadership and talent management “facts” from all over the world. Some intuitive and some not….what do you think?
1. Hooray for U.S. work ethics! According to he Center for American progress in 2010, 86 percent of men and 67 percent of women work more than 40 hours per week. The International Labour Organization has reported that American workers spend 260 more hours at the office than those in the UK and 499 more hours than the French.
2. Hooray for workaholics! Mika Kivmaki and colleagues (University of London) examined the relationship between work hours and its ability to predict cardiovascular illness and death in 7,095 adults aged 39-62 working full-time and free from CHD at the beginning of the study. Those employees working 11 hours or more per day had a 1.67 fold increase in heart disease compared to those working 7-8 hours during the 12-year follow up period. So, if you want to increase your chances of dying prematurely by about 67%, just keep returning those emails at all hours of the night.
3. Hooray for being healthy!  It apparently pays to be well–particularly for employers. A study by the non-profit National Business Group on Health found that incentives for wellness provided by employers averaged $430 per employee in 2010 (65% increase from $260 in 2009). These incentives included gift cards, cash and contributions to the employee’s health savings account. Punitive efforts such as reducing employer contributions to these same health plans were increasing for those not motivated to participate in wellness programs.
4. Hooray for retirement parties! The American Institute of certified Accountants survey in January of 2011 wasn’t great news for those planning on retiring. Because of the economic downturn, Baby boomers planning on retiring now plan to wait an average of four years longer than their target dates.
5. Hooray for salary increases! A recent survey by Towers Watson of 381 large and mid-size employers in diverse industries found that corporate leaders were budgeting merit increases of 3% for 2011 compared to 2.7% overall in 2010. Before the recent economic downturn the average merit increase was 3.5% to 4%. Better not spend your increase just yet as inflation (e.g., gas prices, electric, health insurance) seems to be increasing at a faster rate.
6. Hooray for work spouses! Nearly two-thirds of 640 adults surveyed in July 2011 by Captive Network reported to have had or currently have a “work spouse” (they could be single, married, have a significant other or be of the same sex). So, what’s a “work spouse?” Captive Network defined it as a relationship were you can be brutally blunt about appearance/hygiene, you know what the other individual eats for meals, you share inside jokes, you know as much about the person as their “real” partner and you can finish each other’s sentences. No information was reported on whether any of these “work spouses” also had sex with each other.
7. Hooray for creativity! A 2010 survey by IBM’s Institute for Business Value of 1,541 chief executive officers cited creativity as the most important trait for successful leadership (but see below!).
8. Hooray for quirky! A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology by Jack Goncalo and colleagues of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor relations. They asked 55 employees at a multinational refinery to rate 291 colleagues (all working in a creative division) for their ability to come up with ideas and leadership potential. The results showed a strong correlation between being creative and been seen as poor management potential.Â
9. Hooray for job seekers! A 2011 survey by Addeco (“Workplace Outlook Study”) found that the most important thing to job seekers now are: job security (21%), health benefits (20%), salary/compensation (14%), work/life balance(14%), retirement benefits (11%), vacation/days off (5%), company culture (4%) and company perks (1%). The largest fraction of Americans looking for jobs consisted of 18-34 year-olds. And 28% of Americans are starting a new job in 2011 compared to only 14% in 2010.
10. Hooray for Social Media Recruiting! The 2010 Jobvite survey(“Social Recruiting Survey”) revealed that the most popular social media used for corporate recruiting included: LinkedIn (78.3%), Facebook (54.6%), Twitter (44.8%), Blogs (18.7%), YouTube (137%), My Space (5.4%) and None (14.4%).
11. Hooray for critical organizational needs!  According to a recently released Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) report called the “Critical Human Capital Issues of 2011“, the top issues identified by organizations as “most critical” included: Succession planning, coping with change, knowledge retention, talent management/coaching, leadership development, performance management, innovation/creativity, engagement, measuring human capital and managing a global workforce. Since last year, measuring/rewarding results and workforce planning dropped of this annual survey (they have done it for 30 years) and innovation/creativity and coaching became part of the top 10 this year.
12. Hooray for believing in organizational change efforts! According to a survey by PeopleNRG Inc. talent in the U.S and abroad are skeptical of change efforts by organizations and don’t easily buy in (78% were skeptical in the United States and 77% in other countries). Leaders seem to communicate the benefits of change (61% in the US and 50% in other countries agreed that this is true) but only 26% of U.S. companies involve talent in change effort planning (23% in other countries).
Back to research some new talent development facts….Be well….
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)
