Vicki Anderson

I had a conversation with a colleague today about the future impact of the rising cost of gas on employment. We wondered whether there might be some shifts in employment as people are not able to afford the price of gas to get to work. The long commute may become a thing of the past as people seek work closer to home or move closer to their work. There may be turnover that will in essence be a shuffling of employees from one location to another. It is a given that there will probably be more telecommuting, as that is already happening. However, we wondered how long it will take for workers on the lower end of pay scales whose work is physically at the workplace to decide to look for work closer to home or not work at all. This may be a big struggle for employers who could lose valuable knowledge and skills from these employees. What accommodations might employers need to do to keep these valuable assets?

I am energized by working with people who have such good intentions in their leadership. It is so hard to be a leader today. The workforce is so much more diverse than at any other time and the demands on your time are more than ever before. Most management today is functional. The days of a manager with a clean desk waiting for people to come talk to him or her, or just wandering around looking over people’s shoulders are gone. Most managers I know are hard working and want to do the right thing by their people, just as they want their managers to do the right thing by them. Unfortunately, the front line and middle managers get caught in the squeeze of carrying out orders from the top to deliver results while trying to keep workers motivated to do it.

Often times it’s the little things managers can do to keep the machine rolling. Simple appreciation for work done by others and taking time to appreciate their own contribution can be hard to come by, but it is worth it in the long run. Encourage appreciation by peers to build teamwork as a stress reliever for all. And remember that a laugh a day can do wonders. Someone said after class today that they had gotten a few chuckles and they kind of needed it today. That felt like a standing ovation for me because it said what we did today was worthwhile.