This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert October 28, 2009 Differences in Work Attitudes---and what they really mean The findings of a recently released large-scale study of workplace and development attitudes reveals that contrary to what many believe, minority employees are just as engaged (or disengaged) at work as their white colleagues. Specialist in attitude research, Sirota Survey Intelligence reviewed over 800,000 employee responses in 40 companies over the last five years. Specifically, white employees in management were 80 percent "favorable on [employee] engagement", while minorities were at 81 percent. Non-management workers had similar results with whites scoring 76 percent "favorable on engagement" and minorities scoring at 79 percent. Bottom line, minorities were actually slightly more engaged than whites. However, at the same time, African-Americans perceived less fairness in their workplace and development opportunities than all other ethnic groups surveyed. Among management employees, African-Americans polled at 61percent "favorable on fairness" versus whites at 75 percent, Hispanics at 74 percent, and Asians at 68 percent. Not surprisingly, among non-management employees African-Americans polled even lower. African-Americans were only 59 percent "favorable on fairness" versus whites at 66percent, Hispanics at 67percent, and Asians at 64 percent. Again, regarding "development opportunities", among managers, African-Americans perceived the least, although they recognized the same "advancement opportunities". On development opportunities, the discrepancy between African-Americans and other groups was five to six points, while on "advancement opportunities", all of the groups were almost at the same level of favorability. Other highlights include the fact that Hispanic employees (both management and non-management at 83 and 89 percent respectively) were the most engaged group, while non-management Hispanic employees are also most favorable regarding their advancement opportunity. "This is great news for Corporate America as Hispanics represent the fastest growing minority at work," said Douglas Klein, President of Sirota. It is important to include Hispanics in training opportunities. Otherwise, "the pride and optimism felt today could wane", continued Klein. So what do these findings mean for employers in the future? These data reflect that African-Americans and other minorities perceive a lack of fairness in their workplace. As more minorities rise into positions of power, we expect that the fairness numbers will level out or perhaps even tip in the opposite direction. People want to do business with and promote others who are like themselves. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. The Herman Trend Alert is received by over 30,000 subscribers in 78 countries, in addition to other websites and printed magazines. Do you enjoy receiving this weekly e-mail update? Contact us about our co-branded Trend Alert service. Click here to sign up for the Herman Trend Alert. Subscribe or Unsubscribe to weekly Herman Trend Alert View this week's Herman Trend Alert Archived Weekly Herman Trend Alerts

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