Our SVP Rich Spriggle is exhibiting at this year's Michigan SHRM conference in Detroit! Join him October 12-14 to learn about Challenger's services, as well as discuss the latest HR trends and issues. We hope to see you there!
Register Here
More Info on 2016 MISHRM
Our executives David Pinette and VP Heather Dolan hosted an HR Leadership Dinner at NYY Steakhouse in New York City. They welcomed special guest Nora Simpson of Simpson Strategic Solutions to talk about the neuroscience of employee engagement. Thanks to all who attended this great event!
Our SVPs Pete and Jess had a wonderful time at the Peer 150 human resources conference in San Francisco this past week. Included in the conference were tours of Tesla, Yelp, and Glassdoor. We were able to squeeze in a little fun.
Last night, our SVP David Pinette, along with founder Scott Rosen and partner John Forde, hosted the the 19th annual Delaware Valley HR Department of the Year Awards dinner at the Crystal Tea Room in Philadelphia. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all who participated!
Check out more pictures from Matthew Wright's Fig Tree Photography
EVP Rick Cobb sits down with Jeanne Mason, the corporate vice president of human resources for health care giant Baxter. She discusses her early education and career with military services and General Electric, what made her choose human resources, and her first big jump into a global position. We'll have more with Jeanne in future episodes, including discussions on how she handled her global position and other insights from her career.
Subscribe on iTunes or find The Challenger Podcast: HR Passport on your favorite podcast app!
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This week, SuncoastHR, a human resources professional association in the Tampa region, appointed our VP Darren Veneri as President-Elect of the Board of Directors. As Director, Human Resources for Norwood & BIC Graphics in Tampa, having oversaw the entire HR function for North America, his background is perfect for the role. Congrats to all new board members!
About SuncoastHR
Suncoast Human Resource Management Association (SuncoastHR) provides a forum for professional development opportunities, to support human resource professionals, and reinforce and endorse the values of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) at the local level.
Most of the 110 million Americans expected to watch this Sunday’s Super Bowl match-up between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots will do so out of pure enjoyment of the game…and to catch the latest crop of Super Bowl ads, of course.
However, one workplace authority suggests that the nation’s business leaders watch the game with a more critical eye, focusing primarily on the teams’ respective coaches, both of whom can offer valuable lessons on workforce management and leadership.
“There is a reason that these are currently the two best teams in the National Football League. Both coaches have found success due in large part to their respective approaches to managing their teams,” noted John Challenger, CEO of global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
In Dan Quinn’s first season as defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks, the team led the league in fewest points allowed, fewest yards allowed, and most takeaways. This year, in just his second year as head coach with the Atlanta Falcons, the team fought its way into the Super Bowl.
“One of Dan Quinn’s first actions as the head coach of the Falcons was to install a basketball hoop in the meeting room to foster competitiveness and a desire to perform at peak ability within his organization. This week, he brought in three ping pong tables to help players bond. Forward-thinking companies offer similar non-work activities and distractions as a way to get the most of their workforces,” said Challenger.
Meanwhile, Bill Belichick has led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl appearances prior to this year with a 4-2 record, 13 American Football League Conference East titles and 6 AFC titles. He famously calls each member of his team a “shareholder.”
Belichick also uses a comprehensive screening to filter talent that will work best within his system, something the human resources community strives to do with every resume and interview.
“Like many successful companies, Belichick understands the importance of corporate culture. The best talent flock to organizations that develop a sense of purpose, achieve success, and recognize individual contribution,” said Challenger.
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VP Lisa Turesky hosted the winter "Challenger Boston Leadership Dinner Series." Special guest speakers, David Thompson, Chief Learning Officer at Community Solutions, and Spencer Harrison, Professor of Management at Boston College, led a fascinating round table on how partnering with academics and science can provide deep insight into helping organizations. Guests included Boston's best and brightest leaders from an array of industries, including health care, pharmaceuticals, energy, and manufacturing.
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Our VP Darren Veneri hosted a Senior Level HR Executive Dinner at Flemings Restaurant in Tampa with more than twenty HR leaders present, as well as our EVP International Rick Cobb. The theme of the night was to recognize a large number of recent promotions among the group to the highest level in HR locally, regionally, or company-wide. Congrats to all on their successes and thanks for attending!
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Heather Dolan and Mariann Van Buren, Sutherland Global Services
David shared his knowledge of PI and how it can be used to predict the performance of employees. Guests were treated to a presentation on how to take the guesswork out of hiring and managing talent using science-based objective data.
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Ed Mangis, Publicis Groupe, and Heather Dolan
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Dave Nast and Susan Yun, JDRF International
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Ed Mangis and Andrew Adams, Publicis Health
Thanks to all who attended!
The Chicago Challenger Executive HR Networking Group held their May meeting at alumni member, Rae Ali’s new company Blue Plate and their new offices. HR Members not only got to hear and be inspired by her job search journey, but also got a tour of one of Chicago’s fastest growing companies! A huge thank you to Rae Ali for hosting, tours of your gorgeous event venues and for all the DELICIOUS food!
Our own VP for the Boston/New England Office, Lisa Turesky hosted the Challenger Spring Dinner Series featuring Confidence Scientist and Author Alyssa Dver with some of the brightest HR leaders from TJ Maxx; Eversource; Vertex; Radius: Analog Devices; USI; Forrester Research and Cambridge Health Alliance at Davio's Boston for a fabulous dinner and interesting round table network event. Thank you to Sr. VP of our Philadelphia office David Pinette for making a guest star appearance!
Philadelphia's Comcast Center hosted our SVP David Pinette, his colleagues and co-authors, and 100 guests for the launch of their new book and HR tool A Powerful Team.
The book illustrates how CEOs and their HR leaders work together to have a transformational impact on company results. Using practical, real life examples given in interviews with CEO/HR leaders from 13 well known organizations including Johnson Controls, Hewlett-Packard, and Virtua, A Powerful Team is a great addition to the business library of any leader looking to enhance company results by better leveraging their human capital.
Thanks to all who attended!
U.S.-based employers announced plans to cut payrolls by 28,307 jobs in July, the lowest monthly total since November 2016. Meanwhile, over 88,000 hiring announcements were recorded last month, the third-highest hiring month of the year and highest July total on record, according to a report released Thursday by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
The July job-cut total is 9 percent lower than the 31,105 cuts recorded in June, and 37.6 percent lower than the same month last year, when 45,346 cuts were recorded. Last month’s job cuts were the lowest monthly total since November 2016, when 26,936 cuts were announced.
So far this year, employers announced 255,307 planned job cuts, down 28.9 percent from the 359,100 cuts announced through the first seven months of 2016.
“Job cuts have slowed significantly as we reach mid-year. This month’s total was the lowest July total since 23,238 cuts were recorded in July 1995,” said John Challenger, Chief Executive Officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
In fact, monthly job cut totals have fallen under 30,000 only three times in the last ten years, all of which occurred in the last three years.
“While we have yet to see the large-scale layoffs of previous years, especially as oil and tech rebound, the specter of a downturn is on the horizon and could spell massive cuts as we head into the fourth quarter and into next year,” said Challenger.
Retail continues to lead all sectors this year with 63,989 announced cuts, 3,862 in July. Retail job cuts are 46.7 percent higher this year than through the same point last year, when 43,618 retail cuts were announced.
Health care products and services announced the second-highest number of job cuts in July, with 3,634, bringing that sector’s year-to-date total to 21,554. Companies in the services sector cut 2,607 jobs in July for a seven-month total of 18,022. Aerospace/defense companies announced 2,295 cuts in July, bringing that sector’s total through July to 11,092.
“While retailers are cutting the most jobs this year, those companies are also announcing the most hiring. These jobs are not the typical retail job, as consumers increasingly turn to online shopping. New retail jobs could be going to places like fulfillment and distribution centers, which increasingly need talent, as well as to workers with the tech skills necessary to interact with and manage the automation that’s revolutionizing the industry,” said Challenger.
Retailers have announced 245,616 of the 556,493 new jobs that have been announced so far this year, according to Challenger tracking. The seven-month hiring total is 500 percent higher than the 92,802 new jobs announced through July 2016. Computer firms have announced the second most new jobs this year 126,121, and the technology sector – Computer, Telecommunications, and Electronics combined – has announced 157,052 new hires.
“We typically see the most hiring announcements in September and October, as companies prepare for the holiday rush. It will be interesting to see whether there are such large gains again this year, or if the staffing that is currently occurring will keep those gains at bay,” said Challenger.
From left: Heather Dolan, David Pinette, Marnie Joyce
On August 2nd, our own David Pinette and Heather Dolan hosted a Challenger Executive HR (NYC) Group Alumni Social and Landing Celebration at the Ainsworth in New York City. There were over 35 group members who attended the cocktail event. Alumni came from New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut to celebrate many landings and reconnect with friends and colleagues.
From left:Jeremy Kimler, Head of Total Rewards for Constellium, VP Heather Dolan, Tammy Sala, Chief People Officer at EOS
From left: VP Heather Dolan, Jan Schreur Vice President Global Human Resources at Wolters Kluwer, SVP David Pinette
From left: Sarah Beane-Ricca from Morgan Stanley, Tevis Trower from Balance Integration, Patrick Jephson, Heather Dolan, Gina Gabriele from Trion, William Beaman, Marjorie Spitz from Balance Integration
On August 16th our Heather Dolan co-hosted an Executive Women’s Business-to-Business Networking Breakfast at Morgan Stanley. Over 125 executive women attended the event in New York City, listening to speakers Patrick Jephson, Princess Diana's former chief of staff and author and William Beaman, prominent communication consultant and journalist. The attendees took part in interactive conversations discussing women's views on male psychology, personal professional branding and other professional topics.
From left: speakers William Beaman and Patrick Jephson
VP Lisa Turesky welcomes current Boston-area senior HR executives to this great event to benefit Dress For Success Boston! Click the image below to register!
Challenger VPs Tracey Kearney and Gerry Sargent hosted a Chief HR Executive event today in Houston with special guest speaker Dr. Pete Hammett, Managing Director of Human Resources, Oklahoma Gas & Energy Corp. Dr. Hammett spoke on the factors that make a workplace jerk and how to effectively deal with one. Thanks to all who attended this great event!
The protests of NFL players over the unequal treatment of people of color, which began in August of 2016 with Colin Kaepernick, have drawn the ire of many, including league owners and the President. Recently, major advertiser Papa John’s told investors that NFL leadership regarding the protests is hurting them financially. While freedom of speech does not extend into the workplace, owners would be wise to remain as neutral as possible, according to one workplace authority.
“It is surprising to many, but the first amendment does not extend to workers in private companies. The league does have the right to establish rules with consequences,” said Andrew Challenger, Vice President of global outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
“Companies sometimes get dragged into political conflicts against their will. They should try to remain neutral and broker a win-win for both sides,” added Challenger.
In fact, a recent Challenger survey found that 94 percent of respondents have witnessed political discussions in the workplace, with 18.2 percent reporting that those discussions happen often.
“The NFL protests are effective because the players are on a national stage with an audience of millions. Attempting to halt the pre-game protests with a rule would likely escalate the situation,” said Challenger.
President Trump’s tweets calling for protesting players to be fired drew powerful attention, and many of the 32 teams in the NFL released statements from owners – only one of which mentioned “injustice that has plagued people of color” in the United States (Seahawks). During Week 3, several teams linked arms during the national anthem, while other teams – the Steelers, Titans, and Seahawks – stayed in the locker room.
When NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL leadership met in New York City on October 17th to discuss the national anthem protests and vote on a rule requiring players to stand, a vote did not occur and no such rule was passed. While Goodell said the NFL believes everyone should stand for the national anthem, he would not commit to a rule change, as players were “not doing this in any way to be disrespectful to the flag.”
With no rule in place to force players to stand, there will be no official league punishment for players who protest. However, many teams may have their own guidelines in place to discourage protests. Players such as Eric Reid and Michael Bennett confirmed they will continue to protest.
“Suppressing demonstrating employees by brute force tends to further politicize the situation. It’s better to remain apolitical and try to deescalate the political tension by having private conversations within the organization,” said Challenger.
“In today’s climate, employers recognize political discourse is unavoidable at work. However, employers must be careful that these discussions do not violate anti-discrimination or harassment laws,” added Challenger.
Management should refrain from political discussions or imposing their own viewpoints on their subordinates. Above all else, respect and professionalism must prevail in the workplace to ensure success and growth. The consistent and uniform administration of policies and procedures is the best way to ensure a positive working environment, regardless of the profession.
While employees have a constitutional right to freedom of speech and assembly, these rights are in place to protect individuals against government interference rather than political expression in a private workplace. Therefore, unless an individual works in government at the federal or state level, there is no constitutionally protected right to free speech or assembly at work.
It was a year full of surprises and upsets. Congrats to this year's winners of the Challenger NCAA March Madness Pool! From left: John Wirkes, Don Cannon, and John Challenger!
