Getting ready for 2010

It has been a long year for most of us.  The overwhelming majority of us have had a challenging year balancing the dynamics shifts of the workplace and the marketplace. In just about all conversations that I have had with folks from all over the world, there quite possibly has not been a more anticipated year end like 2009 – we all seem to be ready for 2010.  This optimism (an emotional state) is quite different than what most of us felt just 12 months ago when we had no idea how bad things were going to get with the incessant bad news that greeted us each day. The next few weeks, I will be discussing some trends that I am hearing across the board for 2010. 

Thanksgiving

Next week is Thanksgiving … and of all the holidays, this is by far my favorite. I am originally not from the US, and never had experienced Thanksgiving until coming over here 20 years ago.  I marveled at how families, no matter how geographically dispersed they were in this vast and wonderful country, always traveled to be with each other. There were no gifts to buy, or fireworks to explode, or religious ceremonies to attend (not that there is anything wrong this these), but you just had to show up around people that you loved and loved you, and eat and talk.

Victim vs. Victimized

This past weekend I spoke at an event. Fellow people of color were in the audience. That got me thinking… many of us were at some point or another victimized by others because of the color of our skin. Some of us in the room were the first people to endure such prejudice decades ago. What prejudicial actions other people chose or choose to do to us, whether you’re a person of color, a minority, or just a human being with some different outward characteristic, is what I call victimization — and we truly have no control over it. Not any more than having control over the weather.

High Potentials

I saw the following from Human Resources Executive Online:

“High performers have been disproportionately affected by organizations’ responses to the recession. The 2009–2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey by Watson Wyatt and WorldatWork found that employee engagement levels for all workers at the surveyed companies have dropped 9% since last year — but the number was nearly 25% for top performers. The number of people who said they would recommend that others accept jobs at their companies declined by nearly 20%.”