PPB February 2016

cent of current Millennial leaders surveyed

“felt unprepared when entering their leader-

ship role.” Lack of training and mentorship

are the key reasons cited for this finding.

Our recommendation:

Now is the time to

review your succession plan and to ensure that

your new and future leaders have the formal

and informal training necessary for the posi-

tions they may be taking on in the near future.

2. Tight Labor Market Continues

Anyone who tried to hire experienced

talent in 2015 already knows that the labor

market for skilled workers is very tight. The

national unemployment rate has sunk to five

percent below pre-recession levels, and the

unemployment rate for skilled labor is even

lower. This trend is likely to continue this

year. Companies, in an attempt to attract new

talent, are increasingly offering significant

sign-on bonuses and elevated pay rates. And,

all too frequently, employees who may be

tempted to accept a better job offer are

receiving sizeable pay increases to remain in

their current positions, thereby driving up pay

and keeping the labor market tight. Also

driving up pay is demand for recent college

graduates. Starting salaries for those without

experience but with college degrees are up 5.2

percent in just the past year, to $50,651,

according to a survey from the National

Association of Colleges and Employers.

Our recommendation:

Focus on

employee engagement as a means of keeping

your current talent and be prepared to act

quickly to offer the higher wages/bonuses

that new talent will likely demand in 2016.

3. Boomerangs, Retirees And

Generation Z

Given the difficulty of finding and retain-

ing skilled talent, many companies are elimi-

nating their boomerang policies, which prohib-

it the rehiring of employees who leave for

another job and reapply at a later date. As a

result of the frequency with which employees

change jobs these days, and the benefit to hir-

ing someone who already has the skills and

training needed for the job, many employers

are making it a policy to re-recruit their ex-

employees and to stay in close contact with

them through social media and other measures.

This need for skilled workers is also driv-

ing the trend of “consulting” employment for

Baby Boomers, who are staying connected

with their former employers and are continu-

ing to work well past retirement age, typically

in some form of part-time, freelance or con-

sulting arrangement.

The coming year will also welcome the

first of the Generation Z employees to the

workforce, those high-school graduates who

also may have some college hours. The good

news is that it is anticipated that Generation

Z workers are likely to be private, multi-task-

ing, cynical, entrepreneurial, loyal, hyper-aware

of cultural events and technology driven.

Our recommendation:

With all these

generations in the workplace, invest some

time in building relationships, mentorships,

reverse mentorships and other programs to

ease the tensions and miscommunications

that will likely crop up.

4. The Continued March Toward A

Freelance Economy

The number of workers turning to free-

lance work has increased by approximately

one million per year over the past two years.

Current trends indicate that by 2020, 40 per-

cent of the workforce, or 60 million workers,

will be independent workers, defined as free-

lancers, independent contractors or temporary

workers. This is fueled largely through tech-

nology platforms that enable job and project

sharing, a desire for increased independence

among highly skilled workers and an effort by

businesses to reduce overhead and labor costs.

In response to this, the Obama

Administration is pushing to tighten the rules

on who can be considered an independent

contractor. It is motivated to do so because

freelance and independent workers lose certain

workplace benefits based on their non-

employee status (workers’ compensation, unem-

ployment and benefit deductions, for example).

Our recommendation:

Be sure your

freelance and temporary workers are appro-

priately classified based on new federal stan-

dards released in 2015.

5. Increasing Federal Regulations

In addition to introducing new independ-

ent contractor standards in 2015, the Obama

Administration also released a new minimum

salary threshold for who could be exempt

from overtime. In late 2016, the

Administration is expected to implement

64 •

PPB

• FEBRUARY 2016

THINK

“Writing someone up” is

typically the second step in a

progressive discipline process.

After you have verbally

warned someone about a

behavior or policy violation, it

is a good practice to provide a

written warning after the next

infraction before a more seri-

ous discipline is necessary

(such as suspension or termina-

tion). In your written warning,

it is best to: 1. Describe the

behavior or policy violation

that has occurred (including

details such as date and time);

2. Restate the policy that

applies (in this case the process

and timing required for “call-

ing-in”); 3. Explain what will

likely happen if the behavior is

repeated in the future.

Have the employee sign

the document—remember, this

doesn’t mean she agrees with

your write-up. It just means

that she has read and under-

stood the warning. If she

won’t sign, having someone

sign that they witnessed her

reading the warning is a suffi-

cient substitute.

My customer service repre-

sentative checks her work email

and often wraps up loose ends

from home. She hasn’t asked,

but should I be paying her for

that time?

In a word, yes. Presuming

she is non-exempt, as most

CSRs are, she is entitled to pay

for every hour worked,

whether from home or else-

where. Moreover, if this work

totals more than 40 hours in a

work week, she is entitled to

overtime pay as well. She may

not be asking for pay, but

legally, you are required to pay

her. Given the difficulties of

tracking off-premises work,

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