Talent Management Facts #46

“42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.”

Steven Wright

Another addition of leadership and talent management “facts” from all over the world.

Some intuitive and some not….what do you think?

1. According to a new survey by Business Insider and News To Live By, a Gen Y Millennials continue to struggle to secure good-paying full-time jobs in line with their education levels.

The survey of 548 Millennials in the U.S., conducted by SurveyMonkey Audience, finds that 16% of Millennials remained unemployed after six months in the job market.

2. According to a 2014 CareerBuilder survey, 24 percent of workers admit they spend at least one hour each day on personal calls, emails or textswith gossip, 42%, and internet use, 39%, also accounting for lost productivity.

3. A survey of over 32,000 employees from 26 markets around the world by Towers Watson in 2014 revealed that only 57% of managers clearly communicate goals and assignments (61% of company leaders overall are perceived to communicate a clear and compelling future vision to employees) to their direct reports and only 54% are perceived to remove obstacles to performance.

4. A 2014 survey by Roboforce explored the relationship between friendships at work and employee’s engagement and commitment to the organization.  89% of employees said that work relationships improved their quality of life and 48% of employees with work friends reported being highly engaged vs. 28% who have no work friends and report being engaged

5. The Society for Human Resource Management did a survey in 2013 on company end-of-the year holiday activities and found that 66% of companies actually had holiday parties and 42% held them during business hours.

6. 10,000 respondents from China, India, Germany, the UK and the US took part on the future of work’s survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).  The top  factors which will transform work over the next five to 10 years include:

• Technology breakthroughs 53%
• Resource scarcity 39%
• Shifts in global economic power 36%
• Demographic shifts 26%
• None of these 4%
• Don’t know 13%

7. Americans work longer hours, have fewer vacation days and leisure hours, and spend as much or more time cooking, cleaning and caring for family as their international counterparts. Compared with 36 other nations, the United States is the only country that does not have a national paid leave policy for mothers and fathers after a baby is born. The United States’ ranking is 14 out of 36 on the index list of countries whose people have the highest “general satisfaction with life.” Americans, on average, said they would rate their overall satisfaction as 7, on a scale of 0 to 10. The index average was 6.6.

8. Current research by Gallup suggests that 70 percent of the variance in employee engagement scores are related directly to leadership practices and behavior (In 2012, Gallup released two studies showing that only 30 percent of U.S. workers are engaged at work).  Additionally, their research suggests that only 10 percent of employees really possess the right skills and abilities to be a good manager.

9. Experiencing a variety of emotions appears to be beneficial for health according to new research (i.e., employees experiencing a variety of both positive and negative emotions may be good for our mental and physical health).

For this new study, the researchers surveyed participants’ tendency for positive emotions (like amusement, awe, and gratitude) and negative ones (like anger, anxiety, and sadness). In particular, they measured the variety and abundance of these emotions—a new concept they call “emodiversity.”

10. New research suggests that workers whose companies allow them to help decide when, where, and how they work were more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, performed better, and viewed their company as more innovative than competitors that didn’t offer such choices.

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)