Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Workforce Development

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside of the day-to-day job. Read this category specifically for Workforce Development.

  • Alabama’s Best Kept Secret

    Alabama’s Best Kept Secret

    This week we have a very special guest blogger, Cassie Shropshire, with the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS)!

    This year made the 33rd anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The act is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday life activities. The ADA guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to enjoy employment opportunities, purchase goods and services, and participate in state and local government programs. Just four years after the ADA was signed into law, the Alabama Legislature created a state agency that would be committed to serve Alabamians with disabilities throughout their lifespan. That state agency is known as the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS). ADRS has a “continuum of care approach, meaning that there is help at every stage of a person’s life. Their mission is to enable children and adults with disabilities to achieve their maximum potential. 

    ADRS has four different programs to support their continuum of care approach with their Vocational Rehabilitation Service (VRS) program being its largest program. VRS provides specialized employment and education related services and training to youth and adults with disabilities, helping them attain their employment goals. These employment services and trainings are available throughout the entire state. Each year VRS helps thousands of individuals with disabilities across the state of Alabama with college sponsorship, training program, and obtain employment. This also includes insuring that these individuals receive employment and educational accommodations needed to guarantee success in the classroom and on the job. Not only does VRS provides services to individuals with disabilities, but the program has a special team of Business Relations Consultants that work directly with employers with recruitment, cost-saving incentives including tax credits, employment retention/disability, no-cost disability related trainings, technical assistance, and help with accommodations and accessibility guidance on the Americans with disabilities Act and other legislation.

    I know you’re thinking WOW, what an amazing agency! These programs sound great!  Why haven’t I heard about this organization before? I always tell people that we are the best kept secret in the state of Alabama and that our services are underutilized. I have worked with ADRS for 9 ½ years, currently working as a Business Relations Consultant. I will admit that being in this role has been one of the most fulfilling, yet challenging roles that I’ve ever been in. I’ve been able to see so many people have access to employment and accommodations, but I’ve also experienced closed minds and doors to potential job candidates because they weren’t considered ideal. However, as a Business Relations Consultant, our team works daily to show how hiring people with disabilities is the best choice a business can make.  My favorite success story that I like to share with people when they ask me about some of the harder cases I’ve worked, is the story of a brilliant autistic young man who was told he would never work because he was nonverbal. After working to determine his needs and partnering with a company that was open to hiring people with disabilities despite their challenges, that young man is now gainfully employed fulltime with benefits. I’ve been afforded the opportunity to train businesses on disability etiquette, hiring dos and don’ts for people with disabilities, and the current hot topic of how to hire and support Neurodiversity in the workplace. Thankfully in the Huntsville area and more areas across the state, we are beginning to see a shift in thinking and more people with disabilities are going to work.

    Are you a business wanting to hire more people with disabilities, or make your workplace more diverse, equitable, and inclusive? Then you should tap into the no cost resources available to you through the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services. We are eager to partner with you and fulfill your labor needs. 

    Cassie Shropshire, MS, CRC, LPC
    Business Relations Consultant
    Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services
    cassie.shropshire@rehab.alabama.gov

  • The Economics of Union Activity

    The Economics of Union Activity

    Supply and Demand. The first lesson of Economics, or at least I remember it that way. The most important lesson of economics as I remember it. 

    Maybe I’m remembering it wrong, but I think the issues of the supply and demand of labor need to be reinforced when we think about anything and everything that is going on in our world. And one of those things is union activity. 

    The issues at Starbuck, Amazon, UPS… the list goes on and on about union organization and in the media seems on the surface to be about wages, benefits, and the overall treatment of workers. As Jillian pointed out in our last post,  People want to be valued and listened to.  They need to feel like they have some sense of control over their lives, and that includes at work.  Many employers don’t offer that.  When people don’t have this at work, they aren’t happy. 

    But none of that matters from a union sense if only one person feels that way. Many people have to feel that way. And when many people feel that way and there aren’t enough people to go around to fill the demand for labor, they have power.  Or in union terms, they have “collective bargaining” power. 

    And right now, there aren’t enough people to go around to fill jobs in many industries both in terms of the actual number of human beings available and or in terms of a desire to work in certain jobs or industries. And it is only going to get worse. 

    Typically, this issue of supply and demand for labor is measured by the number of job openings compared to the number of available workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there have been more job openings compared to unemployed people since May 2021.  In January 2023, there were almost twice as many job openings as there were unemployed people in the United States according to this BLS data. 

    This challenge is not unique to the United States. Boston Consulting Group’s The Global Workforce Crisis- $10 Trillion at Risk  highlights the differences in labor supply and demand by country (both Germany and Japan are experiencing particularly acute issues with labor supply).  Whereas some countries are currently experiencing a higher level of supply than demand, the piece emphasizes that by 2030 most countries will experience labor shortages.  BCG postulates that this issue could result in $10 Trillion in GDP not created. 

    So, when there is more of a demand for labor than there is supply, employers better pay attention. We would hope they don’t have to pay attention because they are treating people like people. But when they aren’t, the most important law of economics will bite you.  Workers will all leave and go someplace else, because someone else needs them, because there are more jobs than people available to fill them. 

    We can be distracted by the media saying artificial intelligence (AI) is going to take over all our jobs, but the data doesn’t show this. We may need to retool ourselves for the jobs of the future, and that may be where employers need to be focused to not only help with labor supply issues but also to employee engagement issues. Both impact union activity. 

    What are you doing to impact labor supply and union activity? 

  • Benefits Benchmarks: North Central Alabama

    Benefits Benchmarks: North Central Alabama

    A few weeks ago, I asked the question “Are Employees Utilizing Those New Perks?” and highlighted benchmarking as a critical activity for evaluating workplace benefits. Now, we have the published results from the 2022 North Central Alabama Wage & Benefit Survey!

    First up, Average Benefit-Cost Per Employee (Annual) increased 25% over 2021. Employers reported an average of $16,608 spent annually per employee in benefits, compared to $12,459 one year ago. Some hot categories for increased benefits spending are Child Care Support, Adoption Support, Pet Insurance, and Elder Care Support. These types of benefits are increasingly attractive, and the Huntsville/Madison County Chamber Foundation is now providing the Best Place for Working Parents® program in recognition of companies that are focusing on family care.  

    Next up, 72% of companies are now offering a PTO (Paid Time Off) structure in place of set hours/days for Sick Leave, Vacation, etc. Last year, only 58% were using a PTO structure. This shift aligns with increases in Flex Time and Remote/Telework benefits as options to give some autonomy back to employees. If you’re thinking about shifting your Leave and/or PTO policies, look for a blog post coming soon from Mary Ila Ward on Flexibility and Unlimited PTO. 

    Paid Family/Parental Leave is more available, with a 17% increase in the number of employers offering any amount of leave designated specifically for family/parental leave. The median leave times in weeks jumped from 2 weeks to 4 weeks.  

    If you are in the North Central Alabama Region, how do your benefit offerings stack up against these benchmarks? 

    If you are outside of this region, where can you find local data? Check with your local Economic Development Agency and/or Chamber of Commerce to find out if local data is available. 

    Benchmark, benchmark, benchmark! 

    This wage survey covers Cullman, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, and Morgan Counties in Alabama and represents 132 company respondents in 2022. Learn more here. 

     

  • SAC Preview: Workforce Challenges and Solutions

    SAC Preview: Workforce Challenges and Solutions

    This morning I read about 3 economists who’ve been awarded the Nobel Prize for their research and impact on critical workforce issues including minimum wage, immigration, and education. Their research on minimum wage in the 1990s found that raising the minimum wage had no effect on the number of employees, showing that companies could effectively raise the minimum wage, retain top talent, and increase the number of applicants in the labor pool. That was 30 years ago. 

    We’ve come a long way, but as we find ourselves in 2021, employers struggle to find and retain talent – particularly in retail and hospitality. So, we’re changing things up. Hourly wages are increasing in our local area and throughout the US. Read these highlights from writer Gene Marks in The Guardian this week: 

    “According to data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly earnings of all employees in the US working for private companies rose to $30.85 in September, following large increases in the prior five months…The National Association of Manufacturers says that its members plan to increase wages 3.5% over the next year…Those businesses that accept this reality will adapt and continue to profit. They will hire good people and succeed. Those business owners that refuse to understand this simple concept simply won’t.”

    Bank of America, Walmart, Amazon, Costco, and more are raising wages for the lowest-paid workers. By raising wages, big business and small business alike are seeing benefits such as higher employee engagement, improved customer satisfaction, and better public perception. 

    As one restaurant owner said, “We put the focus on ‘staff comes first and everything else comes second’…I can’t succeed without a staff.” 

    We can make a shift together. As employers, as community leaders, we can move the needle forward and create workplaces that put People First. 

    My team’s wonderful leader, Mary Ila Ward, is speaking in-depth about Workforce Challenges and Solutions at the Southern Automotive Conference this week. I hope you’ll join us to hear her insight on the future of work.

    Learn more about SAC2021 and other upcoming events at linktr.ee/horizonpointconsulting. 

  • Your Local Wage Survey is a Gold Mine

    Your Local Wage Survey is a Gold Mine

    Does your area have a local wage and/or benefit survey? Do you participate? You should! Here’s why and how. 

    National wage reports are helpful to study the big picture of economic growth, but these reports might not (probably don’t) reflect the small picture of your business in your community. Further, a 2021 study found that U.S. workers may get 19% less than federal estimates:

    Some tools, like CompAnalyst and SHRM, offer comprehensive data (for a hefty fee) that can be helpful in determining pay ranges and comparing company wage data to industry benchmarks. We use resources like these for some larger compensation analysis projects. Even still, we use data from the local wage survey to further validate and strengthen our recommendations. 

    Community-based benchmarks are critical for organizations to attract and retain talent. Our area is heavy in aerospace and defense contractors, and the competition for talent is fierce. Many of these organizations rely almost entirely on the local wage and benefits survey to drive compensation decisions year-to-year. This year especially, organizations are looking for real-time information about how the wage and benefits landscape has changed in the last 6-12 months. 

    Now, I’ll drop a note here to acknowledge that companies with multiple locations throughout the U.S. and/or multinational operations might have more limited local decision-making power. We work with many multinational organizations in our community, and the local wage and benefits survey is the most impactful resource for local leaders to demonstrate the need for changes to their top leadership. It might take longer to move the needle, but starting with meaningful, local data goes a long way. 

    In support of my argument that local wage and benefit data is invaluable, we regularly receive questions from businesses, chambers of commerce, economic development agencies, local governments, etc., about wage trends in our area. This data is not just for wage decisions in individual companies; this data is used in city and county economic and workforce development decisions. 

    Below is a snapshot from a report we recently provided for the local chamber. They wanted to know if there had been an increase in median hourly wages, particularly in manufacturing.

    The wage and benefits survey we administer annually collects aggregate data for Production, Maintenance, and Warehouse positions. Comparing the local wage data as of 01/01/2020 with local wage data as of 01/01/2021, we were able to discern if and how much hourly wages grew for these job categories. This information helps business and community leaders make informed decisions to attract and retain people and their families. 

    So here’s my point: local wage surveys benefit you personally

    …as an employee who wants to be paid fairly 

    …as an employer who wants to attract and retain talent 

    …as a citizen who wants to live in a thriving community 

    If you hold a role at your organization with influence over internal compensation decisions, or even if you don’t, I encourage you to participate in local wage surveys on behalf of your organization. When more businesses participate, the data is more robust and meaningful for individuals, organizations, and communities. 

    If you aren’t sure if your local community offers a wage/benefit survey, a good place to start is your local economic development agency (EDA) or chamber of commerce. For our readers in North Alabama, you can learn about our work with local wage and benefit surveys here.