CHANGING WORKPLACE, CHANGING NEEDS
Workforce demographics are changing rapidly. The
average employee continues to age as Baby Boomers
near retirement. The number of households headed by
women has risen by 25 percent in the past ten years,
and women are waiting longer to marry -- if they marry
at all. New moms are the fastest-growing segment of
the workforce, with 62 percent of women with children
under six now working. Gays and lesbians have brought
the notion of "domestic partners" to the table. And
tech-savvy GenX and GenY are questioning the need to
work regular hours, from a regular office.

What does this mean to your organization? It means that
needs have changed. It means that you'll have to change,
too, if you want to keep your best people.

Consider flexible work hours to allow more family time.
Young mothers and fathers will want childcare and
expanded health plans, but don't alienate your single
workers, who may prefer a cafeteria health plan and may
desire vacation time or tuition reimbursement over benefits
like childcare. You'll also want to look at telecommuting,
employee assistance programs (EAPs), and domestic
partner benefits, as well as changes to the rules and
atmosphere of your offices.

The trick is to communicate these changes without feeding
today's sense of information overload. Consider a
newsletter, or a custom-crafted organizational
communications program.

* Source: Mike Marino, "The Changing Demographic of
Today's Employees," Persuading, April 2004.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

INCREASE YOUR PROFITS BY INCREASING
YOUR COMMUNICATIONS
A new study by human capital consulting firm Watson
Wyatt shows that companies that communicate more
effectively with their employees increase more in market
share and total return to shareholders than employers with
less effective communications.

"The survey results clearly demonstrate that the better a
company has communicated with its workers, the better its
shareholder returns have been," says Kathryn Yates, global
practice director of communication consulting at Watson
Wyatt. "The bottom line is that employee communication
is no longer a 'soft' function but rather a business function
that drives performance and contributes to a company's
financial success."

Of the 267 companies in the survey, those with the most
effective employee communication programs provided a 26
percent total return to shareholders from 1998 to 2002. Less
effective firms returned -15 percent. Significant improvement
in communications was associated with an almost 30 percent
increase in market value and with about a two-thirds as much
turnover as those with less effective communications.

* Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide,
http://www.watsonwyatt.com

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SIX REASONS WHY EMPLOYEES RESIST CHANGE
In her newsletter "Creating a Winning Workplace," Leah
Reynolds offers six reasons why employees tend to resist
change in the workplace and what organizations can do to help
them accept it.

The reasons are:
1. Employees don't understand the reasons for the change.
2. The change appears inconsistent with previously stated goals.
3. Employees don't think that leaders understand or care about
their perspective and opinions.
4. The change is a perceived threat to employee advancement or
livelihood.
5. The change looks just like something that was tried (and
possibly failed) before.
6. Employees are already discouraged, overworked, and feeling
under-appreciated.

To effectively communicate change and increase the chances that
your employees will accept it, Reynolds suggests changing your
approach:

- Be honest. It's important to establish credibility. If the company
made a mistake or if there is bad news, own up to it.
- Treat everyone as a partner in the change. Show respect for
various opinions and address concerns that are raised during
pre-change discussions.
- Think of communication as an ongoing endeavor. Allow
information exchange to occur regularly, remembering that
change is not a one-time thing.

For the full text of this article, go to
http://leahreynoldsassociates.com/pdf/newsletter_02-02.pdf
or visit http://www.leahreynoldsassociates.com.