Despite the attention placed on Congress and its apparent inability to work together or with the White House, more than a few people in the business world lose more sleep because of the work of agencies in our nation’s capital.

Two expected examples on the union organizing front (where Congress has at least stepped up to stop the so-called "card check" legislation):

• The National Labor Relations Board is looking to shorten union elections from approximately 40 days to as few as 10. The result would be employers having less time to make their case to employees against unionizing (in other words, counteract the pro-union efforts that have been going on prior to the scheduling of the election).
• The Labor Department is expected to require enhanced reporting of consulting arrangements by companies that use outside guidance to oppose union organizing efforts.

In Indiana, we make things. Engage in a discussion about that topic today, and it’s typically referred to as advanced manufacturing. No matter the name, it’s important.

On a national level, the State Science & Technology Institute summarizes a recent study by Booz & Co. and the University of Michigan’s Tauber Institute for Global Operations.

The authors point out three significant findings that emerged from the study. First, contrary to popular belief, U.S. manufacturing has been much more productive. Currently, U.S. companies produce about 75 percent of the products consumed by the nation. Second, manufacturing will remain largely regional. According to the authors, no single country will become "the factory of the world." Instead, manufacturers will increasingly locate factories close to major markets, including the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Third, labor costs and currency rates are playing a decreasing role in decisions by manufacturing executives. Instead, four other factors are driving manufacturers’ choices:

• The skill level and quality of factory employees, especially for high-tech facilities;

• The presence of high-impact clusters;

• Access to nearby countries with emerging consumer markets and lower-cost labor; and,

• A reasonably competitive regulatory and tax environment.

The authors contend that if U.S. business leaders, educators and policymakers make "a series of identifiable smart actions and choices" that a manufacturing-driven economy could produce up to 95 percent of all products consumed by the nation. According to the report, the series of actions and choices includes recommendations in four policy areas:

• Attract the best workers — currently, the U.S. faces a shortage of qualified manufacturing employees. To address this problem, policy makers must develop educational initiatives that promote engineering, relax federal immigration regulations for trained knowledge workers (e.g., H-1B visas) and establish state manufacturing education initiatives (e.g., scholarships and other programs). Manufacturing companies must also offer a more collaborative workplace experience, attract workers by attending campus recruitment events and industry job fairs, increase college internships, form partnerships with local colleges and universities and partner with other manufacturers to jointly support specialized training programs.

• Invest in high-impact clusters — In the context of manufacturing, clusters are essential to grow geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, suppliers, service providers and associated institutions. State and local governments can encourage clusters by investing in infrastructure—roads, ports, rail lines and communication links—for centers that have begun to form organically. However, studies have shown that governments should not seek to micromanage cluster creation.

• Build a future with Mexico — Mexico offers a cost-conscious and attractive alternative to China and other distant offshoring sites. By developing production facilities there, manufacturers can tap a relatively low-cost labor pool and maintain tight links with R&D talent and facilities in the United States.

• Simplify and streamline the tax and regulatory structure — Policymakers should reduce taxation levels and tax code complexity. In the Booz & Company survey, 61 percent of respondents cited government regulations and policies as having a negative impact on their companies’ U.S. manufacturing output.

Avoiding distractions at work has almost become a job unto itself. An online survey (wouldn’t this contribute to the lack of focus on the task at hand) of IT users at U.S. and global companies revealed the following:

• The majority (57%) of work interruptions now involve either using collaboration and social tools like e-mail, social networks, text messaging and IM, or switching windows among disparate standalone tools and applications. In fact, 45% of employees work only 15 minutes or less without getting interrupted, and 53% waste at least one hour a day due to all types of distractions.That hour per day translates into $10,375 of wasted productivity per person per year, assuming an average salary of $30/hour.
• That is more than the average U.S. driver will spend this year to own and maintain a car, according to the Automobile Association of America (AAA). That means that for businesses with 1,000 employees, the cost of employee interruptions exceeds $10 million per year.   The actual cost of distraction is even higher in terms of negative impacts on work output, work quality, and relationships with clients and co-workers.
• The increasingly common addiction to web-based activity – which psychologists call ‘online compulsive disorder’ – is pervasive in the workplace.  For example, two out of three people will tune out of face-to-face meetings to communicate digitally with someone else.  The addiction is also taking over people’s personal lives.  Case in point:  the majority of people under the age of 40 stay digitally connected in bed, and 44% of people under 30 stay connected during a night out at the movies.
• Two-thirds of companies and technology users are pursuing tools and strategies to minimize digital distractions, reflecting an understanding of the need to restore productivity that is being sapped by misuse of digital applications.

Dr. Charles Xavier must be really good at getting hired for employment, since he can read minds and everything. (That would be Professor X, from the X-Men comics, if you don’t recognize the name.)

He probably wouldn’t benefit from this latest advice from staffing service OfficeTeam. But, you might want to read further (unless you can also read minds, which I kind of doubt) about the five things that every job seeker should know about the interview from the employer’s point of view.

Coming to an interview prepared, having researched the company and being armed with a list of questions about the organization can be a big help. However, potential employees should also know these few things that employers aren’t saying out loud.

First, not all employers come as prepared to an interview as the interviewee. You should have a copy of your resume on hand in case the hiring manager doesn’t remember anything about you (especially if the person seems lost for questions to ask).

Another important thing to remember is that inauthentic responses to questions are a red flag. Take a cue from “The Office’s” Michael Scott: When asked his greatest strengths in an interview, he responds, “Why don’t I tell you what my greatest weaknesses are? I work too hard, I care too much and sometimes I can be too invested in my job.” The manager doesn’t even understand his response, as he asked for Scott’s greatest strengths. Scott had to explain that his greatest weaknesses are also his strengths. Funny, but not effective.

The interviewer also wants the chance to talk about themselves and the company. Remember that list of questions you’re armed with? Make sure to ask about the company, but also about the person hiring you and their experience with professional development and advancement within the company. Not only will you learn more about the organization, but it’ll help you get the conversation going.

Sometimes, interviewers will try to make you uncomfortable. They do this to see how you’ll handle pressure and because they know by allowing you to ramble on you’re bound to reveal more about who you are as a person. It’s also becoming a common practice to ask off-the-wall questions to see how you’ll react and evaluate your thought process. Keep your responses concise and to the point of the question; don’t feel the need to fill every empty pause and silence.

It’s also important to remember that the first person you’re likely to see upon arrival is the receptionist or an assistant. Be respectful of the person – more than likely the employer is planning to ask that person about your interaction. That person will potentially be your co-worker, so they’ll be honest of what they thought of you in their response to the manager.

Now you have a bit of insight into what hiring managers are thinking (and you don’t even have to read their minds). Keep these in mind next time you’re in the hot seat.
 

It’s not news that union relevance in the private sector has been on a decades-long decline. But here are a few numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, based on 2010 data:

• 6.9% of private sector workers were union members
• Overall, 11.9% of U.S. workers were union members, down from 12.3% in 2009
• About half of the 14.7 million union members lived in six states: California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey
• Top union membership rates by percentage: New York (24.2%), Alaska (22.9%), Hawaii (21.8%), Washington (19.4%), California (17.5%) and New Jersey (17.1%)
• Eight states had membership rates below 5%: North Carolina (3.2%), Arkansas and Georgia (4% each), Louisiana (4.3%), Mississippi (4.5%), South Carolina and Virginia (4.6% each) and Tennessee (4.7%)

The World at Work has an intriguing post about Americans getting back into the workforce. The good news is that 60% of those who were laid off last year have found jobs; the bad news is those who are still looking have more challenges to overcome than one might think.

While more laid off workers are getting back to work, those who are still unemployed are anxious about re-entering the workforce. 60% of workers who were laid off in the last year reported they landed new jobs, with 88% of these workers finding full-time positions. Of those workers who are still searching for new opportunities, 56% said they are nervous about returning to work after an extended period of unemployment. The survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive for CareerBuilder.com from May 19 to June 8, 2011, included more than 800 workers who were laid off from full-time jobs in the last year.

When asked why they felt anxious about re-entering the workforce, 50% of laid off, unemployed workers said it was the pressure to prove themselves while 40% pointed to fear of the unknown and 21% cited new technologies with which they may not be familiar.

Fear of the unknown especially comes into play as workers look to new industries and occupations after exhausting options in their own fields. More than half of workers (54%) who were laid off in the last year and found new jobs reported they found them in entirely different fields than where they previously worked.

"We need to do a better job as a nation to help workers identify jobs that are in-demand today and are projected to grow in the future," said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. "We have a growing skills gap and the need to get millions of Americans back to work. As the economy recovers, we need to focus on retraining and ‘re-skilling’ workers to help them move to new fields with a greater number of opportunities."

Relocating
Workers are not only changing industries, they’re changing residences. Of workers who were laid off and found new jobs, 36% reported they relocated to a new city or state. Of those who haven’t found new jobs yet, 38% said they would consider relocating for a position.

Pay Improving
The majority of laid off workers who found new jobs reported their pay is similar or higher than their previous position. 45% reported taking a pay cut, an improvement from 47% last year. 27% found jobs with higher pay, up from 22% last year.

Starting a Small Business
Some workers may replace their job search efforts with entrepreneurship. More than one-in-four (27%) who have not yet found work said they are considering starting their own business.
 

Serving your country is no easy task. It takes heart, dedication and a love for country over a love for self.

Leaving family, friends, and oftentimes their full or part time jobs behind, American men and women in the National Guard and Reserves spend their precious time keeping us safe. It’s a common thing for families and friends of Guard and Reserve members to show their support through cards and care packages. What’s less common is the employers getting in on the action and lending a hand to the families and soldiers themselves.

However, some employers are working very hard on behalf of their men and women in uniform. Those employers are honored with the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award, the highest honor given by the United States Government to employers for their support of employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve.

Just 145 companies have been given the award since it was established in 1996 with the backing of the National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR). Fifteen awards are given each year and we’re pleased that a company with an Indiana presence – Hanson Professional Services, Inc. (headquartered in Illinois with a branch in Indianapolis) – is a recent recipient of the Freedom Award.

Hanson, an engineering consulting firm, was nominated by an employee serving in the Army National Guard, who wrote that Hanson provided pro-bono engineering assistance to a military unit working on a bridge in Iraq. Also, while he was deployed, the family of Hanson’s CEO took the Guardsman’s wife and daughters on a shopping trip to pick out care package supplies using money collected by co-workers. He also cited receiving care packages, letters and other correspondence from the company.

Other past recipients with Indiana ties include Indianapolis-based Perpetual Technologies, Inc. in 2009, Con-Way Freight (with a branch in Plainfield) in 2007, as well as Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Group (Midwest Airlines) in 2000.

Companies are nominated by their Guard and Reserve personnel, as well as their families. A national selection board of senior Defense officials and business leaders select the award recipients. The 2011 honorees will be recognized in Washington, D.C. at a ceremony on September 22.

For a full list of current and past recipients, visit www.freedomaward.mil.