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Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News |
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The Worker Development Puzzle... For Many |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
After many years of setting up and providing technical support for employer-based structured on the job training programs, I can say with confidence that most, if not all, employers have significant weaknesses in their worker development process. If pressed, I believe most employers are aware of it, but have become comfortable with the mistaken notion that “it is what it is.,” Some are unaware and frustrated at the lack of results when hiring new workers to maintain or build capacity; accountants show signs of concern when hiring adds labor costs and often results in lower production output. Others in management may be concerned with unsustainable poor output quality or an increase in product or service scrap or rework.
Hiring more workers is not always the answer to the apparent lack of capacity to take on new product lines and new projects. Many employers overlook the fact that there is a tremendous amount of untapped capacity among the existing workers who have never had a chance to be fully trained for the jobs for which they were hired. The reason: most companies have remained in the unstructured, informal, undocumented one-on-one task-based training mode - even though the tasks are often transforming and the skills required for jobs have continued to increase in complexity.
Understanding the “chemistry“ of worker development is key to maximizing the return on worker skills and efficiencies. If an enterprise is struggling to increase output given the current staffing levels, adding new workers to compensate may often yield even less output. The simple reason being that a new person with no demonstrated skills or relevant capabilities is paired with a higher paid subject matter expert who is to transfer their expertise in an unstructured, ad hoc and undocumented manner. For however long this unstructured experience takes, one person who used to be very productive is now training a worker who has little or no productivity, doubling the loss of capacity rather than increasing capacity to increase productive output. As production output falls, the subject matter expert trainer may feel compelled to take up the production slack – putting more distance between them and the trainee. During the probationary period, the new-hire doesn’t know what they don’t know and what is not being trained, so they may feel the only solution is to lay low.
This experience can take 2 to 3 times longer than necessary and the new worker may be trained to only 20% of the required tasks that management wants and expects. For however long this takes to transfer a full job set of expertise, two people (not one) are drawing pay and underproducing. Read More
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Retiring Workers and the Tragic Loss of Intellectual Property and Value |
by Stacey Lett, Regional Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
The warnings went out over two decades ago. Baby Boomers were soon to retire, taking their accumulated expertise – locked in their brains - with them. But very little was done to address this problem. Call it complacency, lack of awareness of the emerging problem, preoccupation with quarterly performance, disinterest or disbelief, very few companies took action and the Crash of 2008 disrupted any meager efforts that were underway.
According to Steve Minter in an IndustryWeek Magazine article on April 10, 2012, “Only 17% of organizations said they had developed processes to capture institutional memory/organizational knowledge from employees close to retirement.” Who is going to train their replacements once they are gone? Would the learning curve of replacement workers be as long and costly, repeating the same learning mistakes, as the retiree’s learning curve? Would operations be disrupted and, if so, to what level?
“In our new “outsourcing nation,” a widely held belief is that employees are simply costs to be cut and not assets to be valued.” ….
“Manufacturing faces a two-sided problem: it not only has thousands of people retiring, but it does not have the training programs to train skilled
workers to replace them.”
A Strategy to Capture Tribal Knowledge
IndustryWeek- Michael Collins 5-23-16
In the last few years, it seems an alternative to the concentration of expertise in a few subject matter experts has become to use lower-wage temporary or contract workers who specialize in smaller quantities of processes, and who can be “traded-out” with a minimum amount of disruption. History will tell us just how costly that approach was and if anything was learned.
Many in corporate America have come to view all labor as expendable; easy to swap with a cheaper alternative - disregarding the cumulative asset value of the investment made in each. In the June, 2016 Proactive Technologies Report, in an article entitled “ A Strategy to Capture Tribal Knowledge," author Michael Collins notes, “In our new “outsourcing nation,” a widely held belief is that employees are simply costs to be cut and not assets to be valued.” He goes on to say, “Manufacturing faces a two-sided problem: it not only has thousands of people retiring, but it does not have the training programs to train skilled workers to replace them.” Read More
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Proactive Technologies Announces Summer "Turnkey Project" Discount Offer is Back |
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. Staff
After a year-and-a-half long Covid-19 break, Proactive Technologies Inc. is once again extending to employers a generous discount offer of up to 30% from June 15 to August 15th, 2021!
This accelerated transfer of expertise™ approach is a tremendous offer without the discount, but with it can help any employer quickly and completely train the skilled workers they need AND realize an increase in worker capacity, work quantity/quality and compliance (ISO/TS/AS, engineering specifications and safety) while reducing the internal costs of training! New-hires and incumbent workers are driven to full job mastery and higher levels of return on worker investment (ROWI). The task-based, structured on-the-job training infrastructure is perfect for the apprenticeships; instead of marking the calendar for “time-in-job,” job-relevant tasks are mastered and documented.
Waiting on general classes or unstructured, ad hoc one-on-one training to improve performance and maximize the investment in each worker usually proves to be futile and disappointing. When a worker masters the work they were hired for, it can now be possible to explain, document, repeat and/or improve performance. When turnover occurs and puts you back to square one - wiping out any gains and wasting your investment - labor costs rise, quality and work consistency decreases and the "gap" skill remains. So why not treat workers as the investment it is and manage it for the outcome you need and expect? Read More
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A Training Approach That Should Make the Bean Counters Happy |
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Whether out of deference or lack of awareness, it is an unspoken truth that more and more employers have been neglecting their role in worker development lately. Investments in related technical instruction are being pushed to the back burner by ever growing emphasis on meeting quarterly numbers; the push for greater output and profits to meet shareholder expectations which seems to perpetually increase. Classes and online content have always been seen by accounting as costs that can be put-off for a later date that, now, never seems to come.
The more important on-the-job training (the informal transfer of task best practices and expertise) is squeezed in if and when time allows (which is in short supply) by whoever is available – this in an age of Lean and continuous improvement. If employers are waiting for someone else to train their workers to 100% mastery of their unique tasks, on their unique equipment for their unique processes, well that is just wishful thinking.
The contradictions are alarming, and many times middle managers and upper management of corporate-run or private equity managed enterprises are caught in the middle. They know the risks of neglecting training and they see the results first-hand, but have little say in the matter or are afraid of getting caught up in a “cost v. benefit” discussion with people that seem to live in a different world and have made up their mind before the discussion begins. When capacity deteriorates or the siren’s call of cheaper labor markets prevails, someone makes the decision to move the entire operation to a location where training is even more difficult but can be absorbed due to offsetting wage discounts – that is until wages rise and total cost of ownership is understood.
“The decision to not invest in driving each employee to full job mastery - making sure all company employees have mastered the best practice of every task for which they were hired - is akin to investing in a costly NC machine and using it to sharpen your pencils. The return on the investment is not realized, so it starts to look like pure cost. Magnify this by tens or hundreds of employees and there is no doubt of the folly.”
If employers do decide to host related technical instruction, they tend to gravitate toward classroom or online training solutions since they seem more familiar. They settle on local institutional instruction providers and private vendors by finding what they think is a close fit, yet they and the end-users are often underwhelmed by out-of-date or unrelated content that weakens their credibility and makes them reluctant to ask for permission to host another. It has always been difficult to show how related technical instruction and courses "du jour" translated into improvement in a worker’s performance - expressed by the attendees and those who sent them through the class. Read More
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IN THIS ISSUE:
Proactive Technologies, Inc. Worker Development News
Industry News
Financial News
International News
International Trade News
Education and Workforce Development News
Training and Organizational Development News
Quality News
Science
Cyber and IT News
Human Resources Management News
Environmental, Health & Safety News
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Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ -
capturing worker expertise to build and support job specific, task-based worker development programs (with metric-based solutions) since 1986.
Experience the power of the
Develop all the expert workers you need in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the investment! Increased worker capacity, work quality and quantity, and worker compliance (ISO9001:2015, AS9100D, TS16949, engineering and quality specifications, and safety requirements)."
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Free - Live Online Presentation Schedule
If interested in attending one of the presentations below, click on the title, then select a date/time and press "Send." An online presentation invitation and link will be sent to you. On the date and time of the event, just click on link in email invitation and it will connect you to the presentation. No special equipment required.
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
Gross Domestic Product, 1st Quarter 2021 (Second Estimate); Corporate Profits, 1st Quarter 2021 (Preliminary Estimate)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 6.4 percent in the first quarter of 2021, reflecting the continued economic recovery, reopening of establishments, and continued government response related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase was the same rate as the “advance” estimate released in April. In the first quarter, government assistance payments, such as direct economic impact payments, expanded unemployment benefits, and Paycheck Protection Program loans were distributed to households and businesses through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act. In the fourth quarter of 2020, real GDP increased 4.3 percent.
Profits decreased less than 0.1 percent in the first quarter after decreasing 1.4 percent at a quarterly rate in the fourth quarter. Corporate profits increased 12.7 percent in the first quarter from one year ago. Profits were impacted by provisions from the Paycheck Protection Program. Read Report
Personal Income and Outlays, April, 2021
Personal income decreased $3.21 trillion, or 13.1 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $80.3 billion, or 0.5 percent, in April. Economic impact payments established by the American Rescue Plan Act, declined sharply in April. Read Report
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Advanced Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured durable goods in April decreased $3.2 billion or 1.3 percent to $246.2 billion. April 2021: -1.3° % change; March 2021 (r): +1.3° % change. Read Report
Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories, and Orders
New orders for manufactured goods in March increased $5.8 billion or 1.1 percent to $512.9 billion.
March 2021: +1.1° % change; February 2021 (r): -0.5° % change. Read Report
Household Pulse Survey - April 28 - May 10, 2021
What is the Household Pulse Survey?
The tables below show data collected from April 28 through May 10, 2021. These tables are part of Phase 3.1 of the survey and continue the same biweekly collection and dissemination approach as Phase 2 (August 19 – October 26, 2020) and Phase 3 (October 28, 2020 – March 29, 2021) of the survey. Despite using a two-week collection period, the HPS continues to call these cycles “weeks” to maintain continuity with Phase 1 (April 23 – July 21, 2021). Read Data
Small Business Pulse Survey:
The Small Business Pulse Survey (Business Pulse) measures the effect of changing business conditions during the Coronavirus pandemic on our nation's small businesses. Business Pulse complements existing U.S. Census Bureau data collections by providing high-frequency, detailed information on the challenges small businesses are facing during the Coronavirus pandemic as well as their participation in federal programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program. Read Report
Monthly State Retail Sales
The Monthly State Retail Sales (MSRS) is the Census Bureau's new experimental data product featuring modeled state-level retail sales. This is a blended data product using Monthly Retail Trade Survey data, administrative data, and third-party data. Year-over-year percent changes are available for Total Retail Sales excluding Nonstore Retailers as well as 11 retail North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) retail subsectors. These data are provided by state and NAICS codes beginning with January 2019. The Census Bureau plans to continue to improve the methodology to be able to publish more data in the future. Access Tables
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U. S. Department of Labor Statistics |
Consumer Price Index
In April, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis; rising 4.2 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.9 percent in April (SA); up 3.0 percent over the year (NSA). Read Report
Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.6 percent in April, as prices for both final demand services and final demand goods also rose 0.6 percent. The final demand index advanced 6.2 percent for the 12 months ended in April. Read Report
Job Openings and Labor Turnover
Job openings reached a series high of 8.1 million on the last business day of March. Hires and total separations were little changed at 6.0 million and 5.3 million, respectively. Read Report
Unemployment Rate for States
Unemployment Rates for States, Seasonally Adjusted. Read Report
Job Creation - Employment Situation Summary
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 266,000 in April, and the unemployment rate was
little changed at 6.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Notable
job gains in leisure and hospitality, other services, and local government education were
partially offset by employment declines in temporary help services and in couriers and
Civilian Labor Participation Rate
For a 20 year chart of the U.S. Civilian Labor Participation Rate. Read Report
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Cornell Law School - U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index |
U.S. Private Sector Job Quality Index
The mean weekly wage income of all P&NS jobs as of the current reading (which reflects the level as of February 2021) rose to 863.55, a change of +0.92% from its revised level the month prior. The upward change in this series reflects a pause in the restoration of the low-wage/low-hours positions that had grown substantially in number over the course of the four years prior to the pandemic. The JQ-Instant™ preliminary read of the 266,000 gain in all private sector, non-farm payrolls for April 2021 shows that 46.79% of such gain in private sector jobs were in industry sectors offering P&NS jobs with an average weekly income below the mean weekly income of all P&NS jobs (i.e. Low Quality Jobs). Read Report
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U.S. Factory Orders Climb 0.5% in March |
CFO.com - Matthew Heller
New orders for U.S.-made goods increased in March as the manufacturing sector continued to recover from the coronavirus pandemic after a dip in durable goods orders the previous month.
The Commerce Department reported Monday that orders for manufactured goods rose 0.5% to $256.3 billion in March following a 0.9% decline in February.
The report also showed that orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans on equipment, increased 0.9% to $73.2 billion from a 0.8% decline in February that reflected bitterly cold temperatures in large parts of the country. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 1.5% jump in core capital goods orders. Read Article
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Intel Plans Sandoval County, New Mexico, Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Hub |
Area Development
Intel plans to invest $3.5 billion and hire more than 700 new workers to create a domestic hub for advanced semiconductor manufacturing at its fabrication facility in Sandoval County, New Mexico.
In what will be one of the largest capital investments in New Mexico, Intel plans to modernize facilities to accommodate its Foveros technology, a breakthrough innovation to meet increasing customer demand for stronger microprocessing performance.
According to company officials, Intel is expected to hire 1,000 construction workers starting this year and spend $550 million on construction and new infrastructure. Intel New Mexico employees' average total compensation, as of the end of 2020, was $145,000 per year including salary, benefits, and bonuses. Read Article
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U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Totaled $377.6M in February |
Quality Magazine - USMTO
U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders totaled $377.6 million in February 2021, a 17.8% increase from January 2021 and a 34.2% increase over February 2020, according to the latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders report published by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology. The year-to-date total was $698.2 million, representing a 22.4% increase over the first two months of 2020.
“February was the fourth-straight month of year-over-year gains in manufacturing technology orders, signaling the recent strength is likely the beginning of a sustained recovery following the 2020 recession,” said Douglas K. Woods, president of AMT. “There was a surprising uptick in February orders from the oil and gas industry despite the weather-related turmoil in the South-Central and Southeast regions, which typically drive the sector. Medical equipment manufacturers markedly increased orders in February, likely the result of increased hospital capacity allowing delayed elective procedures to be scheduled. Read Article
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Amazon Blocked 10 Billion Listings in Counterfeit Crackdown |
USA Today - The Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said Monday that it blocked more than 10 billion suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold.
The numbers were released in Amazon’s first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of blocked phony listings last year was up about 67% from the year before.
The Seattle-based e-commerce behemoth said the number of counterfeiters attempting to sell on the site rose as scammers tried to take advantage of shoppers who were buying more online during the pandemic. Read Article
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US Steel Cancels $1 Billion Mon Valley Works Project |
Industry Week - Jill Jusko
“This is not a decision we took lightly,” said CEO David Burritt.
U.S. Steel Corp. reported April 30 that it had cancelled a more than $1 billion capital investment project slated for its Mon Valley Works.
The announcement of the project’s end came during the manufacturer’s first-quarter 2021 earnings call. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker said the decision was based on the company’s expanded focus on sustainability, a commitment illustrated by its recent announcement to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, its membership in the not-for-profit forum ResponsibleSteel, and its purchase of the remaining equity in Big River Steel, cited as the only LEED-certified steel mill in the country. Read Article
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JC Ford Company Establishes Columbia, Tennessee, Production Center |
Area Development - News Desk
JC Ford Company, an automated equipment manufacturer, will invest $30 million to renovate two existing facilities and locate new manufacturing operations in Columbia, Tennessee. The company plans to create 210 new jobs in Maury County over the next five years. Read Article
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Toyota to Create 1,400 Assembly Jobs in Indiana |
Assembly Magazine
PRINCETON, IN—Toyota is investing $803 million to produce two new electric vehicle models at its assembly plant here. The project is expected to create approximately 1,400 new jobs by the end of 2023.
“Over the past 20 years, Toyota has led the way with more electrified vehicles on the road than all automakers combined,” says Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America. “This investment and new vehicle line-up will only allow us to continue our work with electrification, expand our portfolio to around 70 models globally by 2025, and meet the needs of our customers while allowing us to accelerate toward a net-zero carbon future.” Read Article
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U.S. Consumer Prices Surge 4.2% in April |
CFO.com - Matthew Heller
The largest gain in the CPI in nearly 12 years reflects in part the comparison to extremely weak inflation a year ago amid pandemic lockdowns.
U.S. consumer prices rose at the fastest rate in nearly 12 years in April but the surge may not be enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than expected.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index jumped 4.2% from a year earlier and 0.8% from the previous month. A Dow Jones survey had estimated gains of 3.6% and 0.2%, respectively.
Excluding food and energy prices, the core CPI increased 3% year over year compared to estimates of 2.3%. The increase in overall prices was the largest since September 2008 while the gain in core inflation was the largest since 1981. Read Article
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The New Normal in the Automotive Supply Chain |
Area Development - Daron Gifford, Management Consulting Partner, Plante Moran
While COVID-19 has disrupted the auto supply chain, it has created new opportunities to establish a stronger U.S. footprint, utilizing automation and other new technologies.
For immediate evidence of disruptions in the automotive supply chain, you need to look no further than your local dealer. Many lots are nearly empty of new vehicles, with average dealer inventories across the U.S. far below the normal 50–60 days’ supply. How did this happen?
Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is a major part of the problem. When automotive production was abruptly halted in March, there were not any new vehicles being produced until early May. Even then, production has been proceeding in fits and starts. At the same time, consumers have continued to purchase vehicles, keeping auto demand surprisingly strong in an uncertain economy. Read Article
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What’s Good for Multinationals Isn’t Good for Manufacturing or the Country |
IndustryWeek - Michael Collins
China doesn't have to list their companies on the U.S. stock exchange anymore to acquire venture capital—Wall Street is coming to them.
The years 1940 to 1980 were good times for American manufacturing. During this period, the U.S. experienced tremendous economic growth that built the middle class and launched the notion of the America Dream, where every generation expected to exceed their parents. But after 1980, the American economy began to change.
The economic changes began after the economist Milton Friedman said, “an entity’s greatest responsibility lies in the satisfaction of the shareholders.” The Business Roundtable translated his comment into shareholder value, or the idea that the point of a business enterprise is to generate economic returns to its owners, period. Read Article
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Chip Shortage Drives Hard Look at America’s Industrial Policy |
Area Development – Governing, Jake Blumgart
The U.S. was once king of semiconductor manufacturing. Today, not so much. In an interview, Skanda Amarnath discusses what went wrong with our chip-making prowess and if government intervention is needed.
As 2021 unfolds, a series of shortages have gripped the economy. Recent weeks have seen headlines about scarcities of gasoline, lumber, and chicken wings.
But nothing has grabbed the attention of policymakers and business leaders like the semiconductor shortage. Microchips are in everything from motor vehicles to gaming consoles to personal computers, and the surge in work-from-home activity has fueled unprecedented demand. The world’s largest semiconductor manufacturer is in Taiwan, and China has been heavily supporting its domestic companies as well. The U.S., meanwhile, has seen its share of global semiconductor manufacturing shrink from 37 percent in 1990 to 12 percent in 2021. This has led politicians of both parties to call for a re-shoring effort, with President Joe Biden convening lawmakers to discuss solutions. Read Article
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Personal View: It's Not a Labor Shortage; It's a Good Jobs Shortage |
Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program – Cranes Cleveland Business, Grace Heffernan and Maureen Conway
This time last year, delivery drivers were vital, grocery store workers were courageous, and restaurant workers were on their way to sainthood. It felt like we had come to an agreement that these occupations and the workers who filled them were the lifeblood of our society. Without them, we would not survive the pandemic.
Fast forward 12 months and we're singing a different tune. At the first whisper from business that they are having difficulties filling jobs, we fall back into familiar tropes. We demonize individual workers — they are greedy, they are lazy, they are selfish — instead of making good on our early pandemic promises to never again take them for granted. In the several weeks, 13 states, including Ohio, have decided to eliminate worker access to expanded federal unemployment benefits. Read Article
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Electric Truck Manufacturer to Open Illinois Assembly Plant |
Assembly Magazine
JOLIET, IL—Lion Electric, a Canadian manufacturer of electric trucks and buses, is investing $70 million to build a new assembly plant here that will be able to produce 20,000 vehicles annually.
The 900,000 square-foot factory is expected to begin production in the second half of 2022 and employ some 745 people.
“Lion is the leader in electric school buses and has always been dedicated to the U.S. market, and our commitment to be close to our customers is one of the core values,” says Marc Bedard, founder and CEO of Lion Electric. Read Article
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Classes alone will not close the "skills gap," but structured on-the-job training can...every time! |
Under-capacity of workers is an enormous source of untapped value and unrealized return on worker investment. In addition, standardizing expert task performance -between workers and shifts - can add to worker ROI through lower scrap and rework.
- Increased worker capacity, productivity, work quantity, work quality and compliance (specifications, ISO/AS/TS programs and safety mandates);
- Decreased internal costs of training
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Higher return on worker investment! You would be surprised how small of an investment is needed to unlock enormous returns.
If budgets are tight, Proactive Technologies can be an extension to your training department, with our technical implementation support - included with every project!
There's nothing to lose by taking a minute to contact us to learn more.
www.proactivetechnologiesinc.com
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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If your institution is interested in becoming a Proactive Technologies, Inc. project partner, contact a representative for more information. |
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The Hacker, the Tax Haven, and What $200 million in Offshore Deposits Can Tell Us About the Fight Against Illicit Wealth |
Brookings Institution - Matthew Collin, David M. Rubenstein Fellow - Global Economy and Development
The global financial system is infected with dirty money. Despite decades of progress in strengthening policies aimed at stamping out cross-border tax evasion and money laundering, many of those looking to stash their money overseas to avoid taxation or prosecution can still do so with relative impunity. As the FinCEN Files scandal last year revealed, banks—themselves the tip of the spear in the fight against financial crime—often fail to catch the worst offenders in a timely manner. Tax authorities and financial intelligence units also struggle to keep up, due to the basic fact that it becomes very difficult to track what happens to money the minute it leaves your economy and goes offshore.
A lot of hidden wealth either ends up in or transits through tax havens: jurisdictions that offer low tax rates and high degrees of financial secrecy, including legal systems and regulations that make it easier for people to keep their wealth hidden from the prying eyes of their governments back home. In the past decade many governments have made a lot of progress in getting archetypal havens to start sharing information on the owners of offshore wealth. But while these efforts have succeeded in sending a lot of tax haven clients scrambling for new places to hide their money, they have given policymakers and researchers only a glimpse into who uses and benefits from tax havens. Read Article
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Walmart Gives Suppliers Option for Early Payment to Help Increase Access to Capital |
CFO Dive - A.B. Brown, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Walmart and Sam's Club are offering faster payments and new financing opportunities to assist diverse suppliers in overcoming access-to-capital challenges, company leadership announced last week.
Through a partnership with the financial technology company C2FO, Walmart Inc. has expanded its early payment program using an interface where suppliers pick which of their invoices are to receive early payments, with aims to increase suppliers' "ability to gain access to working capital," according to the release. Walmart will first independently fund the program and plans to provide more funding options through collaborations with banks. Read Article
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Leveraging Cash Flow's Multiplier Effect on Valuation |
CFO Dive - Robert Freedman, Editor
Most finance tools are optimized for GAAP but they can be made more effective for increasing company value by enabling better cash management, finance leaders say.
How you manage your cash flow can have a big multiplier effect on your company valuation but most finance tools are not optimizing for that, Jeff Epstein, former CFO of software giant Oracle, said last week in a Tesorio webcast.
“If you can improve your cash flow by $1 million, fundamentally, it means you’re really saving at least $3 million and probably $10 million in terms of valuation of the company,” said Epstein, now operating partner with Bessemer Venture Partners. “Incredible leverage.”
Despite its importance, cash flow often gets short shrift in finance systems. Read Article
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Where Are Tesla’s Profits Coming From? |
CFO.com - Benzinga
The company's profits are more reliant on non-core activities than on selling cars. Tesla shares were trading lower Tuesday despite the electric vehicle manufacturer reporting better-than-expected results for its fiscal year 2021 first quarter.
The tepid investor reaction to the earnings report may have to do with the fact that the company’s profits are more reliant on non-core activities than on selling cars.
Tesla’s Regulatory Credit Boost: Excluding zero emission vehicle, or ZEV, credits, Tesla’s auto gross margin was 22%, well below the peak level of 25.5% in the third quarter of 2018, Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill pointed out. ZEV credits contributed $518 million in the first quarter. Read Article
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Designing a Public Option That Would Reduce Health Care Provider Prices |
Brookings - Matthew Fiedler
In the coming months, Congress may consider policy changes aimed at expanding coverage and reducing overall health care spending, perhaps as part of a broader reconciliation bill. That debate may include discussion of proposals to create a public option, a publicly operated health insurance plan that people who buy coverage on the individual market can purchase in lieu of a private plan.[1]
A common rationale for creating a public option is that a public option could pay health care providers less than existing private plans, just as the Medicare program pays providers less than commercial insurance plans.
Paying lower prices would, in turn, allow a public option to set lower premiums or impose less enrollee cost-sharing, which would directly reduce consumers’ costs and reduce the federal government’s cost of subsidizing premiums and cost-sharing (in some combination). Read Article
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[Sunk Costs] Truth or Fallacy - Depends on How you Look at It |
Quality Magazine - Darryl Seland, Editor
Consider this scenario. You are on your way to the store. Halfway there, you realize the store is closed.
A pretty common event. One that has most likely happened to us all at one time or another. It’s how we react that is interesting.
One of these reactions would be to abandon our trip the moment we realize the store is closed. Another is to soldier on, convincing ourselves that moving forward is the only way to justify the time and energy we used getting ourselves halfway there. Read Article
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The Profit Paradox - Why Soaring Stocks Could Be Bad News For The Economy |
NPR Planet Money - by Greg Rosalsky
While it’s had some ups and downs, the stock market has soared to historic heights in recent years. For many, that’s great news: it’s a sign that the economy and their retirement accounts are doing really well. For Jan Eeckhout, however, the booming stock market is a sign that there’s something deeply wrong with the economy.
Sure, the economist says, he has a retirement account with stocks, and he personally benefits from the ongoing bonanza on stock exchanges. But the rocket ride of the stock market is powered by the exploding profits of increasingly powerful corporations. Their increasingly ridiculous profits, he says, are eating the income of the vast bulk of workers and hurting the overall economy. That notion is the central thesis of his forthcoming book, The Profit Paradox: How Thriving Firms Threaten the Future of Work.
Lurking behind the soaring profits and stock prices of Corporate America is a powerful force. Eeckhout argues that force is one of the biggest reasons why the wages of the typical American worker have flatlined; why there’s been a significant decline in the percentage of people participating in the workforce; why the share of national income going to workers has been falling; and why startup growth has slowed in recent decades. That force, he says, is the startling growth of market power since 1980. Read Article
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Crypto Exchange Kraken Ordered to Provide User Records to IRS |
CFO.com - Benzinga
The U.S.-based crypto exchange Kraken will now be obliged to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with details about its users engaged in cryptocurrency transactions equivalent to $20,000.
What Happened: A court order ruled that the IRS was authorized to serve a John Doe Summons on Kraken, seeking information about users engaged in crypto transactions in any year between 2016 and 2020.
“Those who transact with cryptocurrency must meet their tax obligations like any other taxpayer,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division.
IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig also weighed in, saying, “There is no excuse for taxpayers continuing to fail to report the income earned and taxes due from virtual currency transactions.” Read Article
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GE Shareholders Reject Pay Plan for CEO Culp |
CFO.com – Matthew Heller
“We need GE to invest in America, not just one top executive. We are glad that shareholders are starting to see it the same way.”
Corporate governance groups won a rare victory over executive compensation as General Electric shareholders voted to reject the pay plans for top executives including CEO Larry Culp and CFO Carolina Dybeck Happe.
The vote at GE’s annual general meeting on Tuesday came out at nearly 58% against the 2020 executive compensation program, which includes a payout of as much as $230 million to Culp.
Dybeck Happe, who became GE’s CFO in March 2020, earned $2.55 million in salary and annual bonus last year and was awarded another $19.9 million in stock grants. Read Article
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Companies Ignoring ESG May Become 'Uninvestable,' Says Investment Bank Chief |
CFO Dive - Jim Tyson
Dive Brief:
Companies that fail to make progress on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals may end up excluded from consideration by many investors, Larry Wieseneck, Cowen co-president, told an online conference for CFOs sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs.
“If you’re not moving forward on things like the environment, you’ll be uninvestable in certain parts of the investor universe,” Wieseneck said, predicting that all Wall Street research within 12 months will include “an ESG score — it’s just becoming too important to investors.”
“We think ESG is bigger than anyone realizes,” he said, adding that during “the last few years it’s accelerated enormously quickly." Read Article
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How Much Does Your State Collect in Property Taxes Per Capita? |
The Tax Foundation – Janelle Cammenga
Property taxes are an important source of revenue for local and state governments, generating over 30 percent of total U.S. state and local tax collections and over 70 percent of local tax collections.
Local governments rely heavily on property taxes to fund schools, roads, police departments, and fire and emergency medical services, as well as other services associated with residency or property ownership.
The highest state and local property tax collections per capita are found in Washington, D.C., followed by New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. Meanwhile, the lowest collections per capita are found in Alabama, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and New Mexico. Read More
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SCOTUS Ruling Makes it Easier to Sue IRS |
CFO Dive – Robert Freedman
The court opens the door for companies to challenge the IRS without having to first pay a tax penalty that, ultimately, they might not owe.
Companies don’t have to pay a tax penalty before they can challenge an IRS rule, the United States Supreme Court said this week in a unanimous decision.
CIC Services sued the IRS when the agency issued a notice in 2016 requiring companies that set up a captive insurance operation to report the transaction or face a penalty. Read Article
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CFPB Must Fix Abusive Debt Collection Rules |
Better Markets
Better Markets filed a comment letter urging the CFPB to revisit two “heartless” and, frankly, despicable debt collection rules before they go into effect later this year.
Earlier this month, Better Markets responded to a request for comment on a proposal to delay the effective date of two debt collection rules for 60 days. We strongly supported the delay because the rules, as written, would expose vulnerable consumers to abusive debt collectors. Read Release
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CEO Pay Rises to $12.7M Even as Pandemic Ravages Economy |
CFO.com – Stand Choe
NEW YORK (AP) — As COVID-19 ravaged the world last year, CEOs’ big pay packages seemed to be under as much threat as everything else.
Fortunately for those CEOs, many had boards of directors willing to see the pandemic as an extraordinary event beyond their control. Across the country, boards made changes to the intricate formulas that determine their CEOs’ pay — and other moves — that helped make up for losses created by the crisis.
As a result, pay packages rose yet again last year for the CEOs of the biggest companies, even though the pandemic sent the economy to its worst quarter on record and slashed corporate profits around the world. Read Article
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OP-ED: Five Myths About Cryptocurrency |
Brookings Institute - Eswar Prasad, Senior Fellow - Global Economy and Development Editor’s Note: This op-ed was originally published by The Washington Post.
Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, was launched in 2009. Today, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies with a total value of about $2 trillion. The surge in their prices earlier this year minted tens of thousands of cryptocurrency millionaires—at least on paper. Cryptocurrencies might turn out to be a massive speculative bubble that ends up hurting many naive investors. Indeed, many cryptocurrency fortunes have already evaporated with the recent plunge in prices. But whatever their ultimate fate, the ingenious technological innovations underpinning them will transform the nature of money and finance.
MYTH NO. 1 A cryptocurrency is real money that can be used for payments.
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum were designed as a way to make payments without relying on traditional modes such as currency notes, debit cards, credit cards or checks. The bitcoin white paper, which set off the cryptocurrency revolution, envisions an electronic payment system that allows “any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party,” cutting governments and banks out of the financial loop. The website Pymnts claims, “Blockchain IS the future of the payments industry,” a reference to the computational technology that undergirds cryptocurrencies. Read Article
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Mexico, Latin America, South America and the Caribbean |
Eating Up the Rainforest: China’s Taste for Beef Drives Exports From Brazil
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - The Guardian, Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Michael Standaert in Shenzhen
Sales rose 76% last year and show no signs of slowing, fuelling environmental crisis in Amazon and Cerrado regions
Over dinner in a busy barbecue restaurant in Shenzhen, Lei Yong and Zhao Xu, two businessmen in their mid-40s, reflect on how meat consumption in China has dramatically changed in their lifetimes, particularly over the past 10 to 15 years.
“Maybe 20 years ago, people in villages and smaller cities didn’t eat much meat, but those in big cities did,” says Zhao, referring to the bustling megacity in which he and Lei are raising their families. “Now people in bigger cities are more health conscious and are eating more vegetables, but those in smaller cities have more money. Now they’re really eating a lot more meat. They think that being rich means eating more meat.” Read Article
Regional Foreign Ministers Meet to Coordinate CARICOM’s Foreign Policy Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
CARICOM Today – Kendol Morgan
CARICOM Foreign Ministers were reminded of the importance of regional foreign policy coordination in the current uncertain times, as they opened the 23rd Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) via video conference, Thursday.
CARICOM Secretariat’s Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Colin Granderson in reminding the meeting of the global health, social and economic crisis in the form of the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, noted that the unity of the Region is being put to the test in a very crucial way. The fast approaching 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season also looms large, he added. Read Article
CARICOM remembers late Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister
CARICOM Today - Staff Writer
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has remembered the late Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister Mr Franklyn Khan for his genuine interest in advancing the sector and the development of the Region.
CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque in a Message of Condolence to Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley on the recent passing of Minister Khan, said his dedicated service to the people of his country and commitment to their welfare make him fully deserving of the tributes bestowed on him.
Here is the Secretary-General’s full Message of Condolence: Read Article
Argentina Prepares for Strict Lockdown as COVID Cases Soar
DeutscheWelle
Argentina is going into a short, total lockdown to break its second coronavirus wave. The country hit record numbers of daily infections and deaths this week.
Starting on Saturday, most Argentines will be allowed out only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time, and they will have to stay close to their homes. Schools and non-essential businesses will be closed. Social, religious and sporting events will be banned.
With this circuit breaker lockdown, which will last until May 31, the Argentine government hopes to halt skyrocketing coronavirus infections. There will be another total lockdown on the weekend of June 5 and 6. Read Article
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Canada, Europe and Great Britain |
Hello, Berlin? Germany’s Future Raises Foreign Policy Concerns for Allies
Brookings - Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe Fritz Stern Chair on Germany and trans-Atlantic Relations
Editor's Note: The foreign policy views of all the parties competing in Germany's coming election are starting to worry its neighbors and allies; whether German voters notice remains to be seen, writes Constanze Stelzenmüller. This post originally appeared in the Financial Times.
President Joe Biden has made it clear that he really, really wants to work with Europe. After the four traumatic years of the Trump presidency, that seems an opportunity not to be missed. Also, Moscow and Beijing are undeterred by U.S. and EU sanctions over the jailing of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny and the mistreatment of Uyghurs in China.
They are dialing up the pressure on Europe with countersanctions, expulsions of diplomats, and thuggish-sounding threats. But in Brussels, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is fighting with European Council President Charles Michel over charges of sexism and a Turkish sofa, instead of getting a grip on a double-dip recession and the pandemic. Read Article
Eurobarometer: EU Citizens Strongly Support Cooperating with Partner Countries and Youth to Reduce Poverty
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - European Commission
The latest Eurobarometer survey on development cooperation shows that almost nine in ten EU citizens say it is important to partner with countries outside the EU to reduce poverty.
The global pandemic has not shaken citizens' support for the EU's work in international development and the results confirm a solid trend over recent years, meaning cooperation with partner countries remains one of the most positively perceived EU policies. Read Article
Italian Watchdog Fines Google in Antitrust Case
CFO.com - Matthew Heller
The Italian Competition Authority said Google abused its dominant market position by excluding a third-party app from Android Auto
Italy’s competition watchdog has fined Google 102 million euros ($123 million) for excluding a third-party app from its Android Auto in-car assistant. In announcing it had sanctioned Google for abuse of a dominant market position, the Italian Competition Authority (Autorita’ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato) faulted the tech giant for not allowing Enel X Italia to develop a version of its JuicePass app for Android Auto.
Like Google Maps, JuicePass enables drivers of electric vehicles to locate compatible charging stations. Read Article
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COVID-19 Comes to Cambodia
Brookings - Adrien Chorn, Senior Research Assistant - Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies; Jonathan Stromseth, Lee Kuan Yew Chair in Southeast Asian Studies; Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, John L. Thornton China Center
The escalation of COVID-19 in India, Thailand, and most recently Taiwan has attracted considerable international attention. Overlooked in this reporting are the rising cases and deaths in Cambodia, which appeared to have a strong track record on COVID-19 until recently.
As of January 2021, one year after reporting its first case, Cambodia had reported zero deaths and only 400 total cases, garnering varying degrees of praise. Its initial success has also come into question, however. Some experts suggest the country had been undercounting its COVID-19 cases. They also point to other factors that contributed to the country’s COVID-19 performance, such as the quick and effective measures put in place by its larger and wealthier neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, who had been two of the better performers against COVID-19 in the region. In addition, Cambodia’s performance benefited indirectly from its comparatively young population and the substantial international aid it has received. These factors gave Cambodia an edge against the coronavirus, raising doubts about whether its government had actually been responsible for this initial success. Read Article
Suez Accident: Japanese Shippers Look for New Ways to Europe
DeutscheWelle
Japanese shipping companies are looking to reduce their reliance on the Suez Canal. They are stepping up their search for an alternative route connecting East Asia to key markets in Europe.
Japanese transportation companies were already exploring alternative routes between East Asia and the critically important markets of Europe.
The ongoing problems following the grounding of a container ship, the Japanese-owned Ever Given, in the Suez Canal in March, has seen them step up their search. Read Article
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Asia, India and Australia |
UK Makes Free-trade Offer to Australia Despite Farmers' Fears
BBC
The UK has offered trade deal terms to Australia under which both countries would phase out taxes on imports over 15 years.
The cabinet was reportedly split on what terms to propose, amid concerns UK beef and lamb farmers could be undercut by larger Australian producers.
But the dispute was apparently resolved after Boris Johnson pushed for unity.
International Trade Secretary Liz Truss formally made the UK offer to her Australian counterpart on Friday. Read Article
Air India Reveals Passenger Data Stolen in Hack Attack
DeutscheWelle
The airline said that personal information from credit cards, passports, tickets and frequent flyer clubs were stolen by hackers.
India's flag carrier airline was apparently notified of the breach in February
Air India, India's national carrier, has revealed that the personal data of about 4.5 million people were leaked in an alleged cyberattack on the airline's passenger system operator, SITA.
The airline said credit card, passport, booking details and other personal data had been illegally accessed in the "highly sophisticated" attack. Read Article
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Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia |
Global Europe: Is the EU Serious about Engaging with Africa?
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - Euractiv
The EU and African Union seek to make up for the time lost in 2020 by accelerating talks on a new strategic partnership covering political and economic cooperation. But some are asking whether the EU’s plan to strike a strategic partnership with Africa has become a “victim” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the field of competitors for investing in Africa becomes more crowded, the EU will quickly have to improve its offer if it wants to succeed in maintaining its position as the “priority partner”. The Portuguese government, holders of the current six-month rotating EU presidency, is taking an active part in preparing the 6th EU-African Union Summit and is anxious to conclude a mutually fruitful partnership by the summer. Read Article
Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - International Monetary Fund
Despite turning out better than expected, growth in 2020 is estimated to be the worst on record, at –1.9 percent, leading to a large increase in poverty. In 2021, the region’s economy is expected to resume expansion at 3.4 percent, weaker than the 6 percent for the rest of the world, amid a continued lack of access to vaccines and limited policy space to support the crisis response and recovery. Macroeconomic policies will in many countries entail some difficult choices. Read Report
Lebanon in Free-fall: 'For Me, the Country Now is a Large Jail'
BBC
Lebanon is undergoing financial and economic collapse.
The country's currency has lost around 85% of its value and the majority of the population could soon face acute poverty.
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Proactive Technologies' Project Partners |
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Frank J. Gibson Consulting |
"One thing is certain... nothing is certain!"
The rate of change affecting work, the worker, management and the educational institutions that service all three has been accelerating - made worse by the unexpected Covid-19 pandemic. The economy, the consumer, supply chains and operational strategies have all been disrupted in the short-term, casting doubt on the long-term.
Rapid adaptation is the key to survivability, sustainability and growth. Sometimes an experienced outside advisor can help facilitate needed improvements to take the worry out of change and the fear out of growth. Frank J. Gibson Management and Workforce Excellence Advisor
- Business Development & Growth
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- Facilitated Problem Solving
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- Internship and Apprenticeship Projects
- Strategic Doing/Strategic Planning
Copyright © 2021 Frank J. Gibson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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PTI Systems
International, Inc.™
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- Affiliated with Proactive Technologies, Inc. for projects outside the United States;
- Workforce development partner for employers, and education/ training providers who support employers, to ensure every worker can be trained to full job mastery;
- Experienced with governmental, IDB, GIZ and economic development agency sponsored projects;
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- PTI Systems International sets-up complete worker development and performance management systems, and provides technical implementation support;
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Don't complain about a "skills gap," deliberately develop every worker to full job mastery!
© 2018-21 PTI Systems International, Inc.™
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“People with targets and jobs dependent upon meeting them will probably meet the targets - even if they have to destroy the enterprise to do it.”
American engineer, statistician,
professor, author, lecturer, and
management consultant
1900 - 1993
"The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones."
English economist, fundamentally
changed macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments
1883 - 1946
"No economy can continue to function when the vast middle class and everybody else don't have enough purchasing power to buy what the economy is capable of producing without going deeper and deeper into debt."
American economist, professor, author, and political commentator. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor
1946 –
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of Economic Analysis |
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, March, 2021
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in March 2021 according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Census Bureau. The deficit increased from $70.5 billion in February (revised) to $74.4 billion in March, as imports increased more than exports. The previously published February deficit was $71.1 billion. The goods deficit increased $3.6 billion in March to $91.6 billion. The services surplus decreased $0.3 billion in March to $17.1 billion. Read Report
U.S. International Transactions, Fourth Quarter and Year 2020
The U.S. current account deficit, which reflects the combined balances on trade in goods and services and income flows between U.S. residents and residents of other countries, widened by $7.6 billion, or 4.2 percent, to $188.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The revised third quarter deficit was $180.9 billion.
The fourth quarter deficit was 3.5 percent of current dollar gross domestic product (GDP), up from 3.4 percent in the third quarter.
The $7.6 billion widening of the current account deficit in the fourth quarter primarily reflected an expanded deficit on goods and a reduced surplus on services that were partly offset by a reduced deficit on secondary income. Read Report
New Foreign Direct Investment in the United States
The statistics on new foreign direct investment in the United States provide information on the acquisition, establishment, and expansion of U.S. business enterprises by foreign direct investors. Read Reports
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U.S. Department of Commerce - Bureau of the Census |
Monthly Wholesale Trade
March 2021 sales of merchant wholesalers were $567.9 billion, up 4.6 percent (+/- 0.7 percent) from last month. End-of-month inventories were $693.6 billion, up 1.3 percent (+/- 0.4 percent) from last month. March 2021: +1.3 % change in Inventories; February 2021 (r): +1.0 % change in Inventories. Read Report
Manufacturing and Trade Inventory and Sales – May, 2021
Sales: The combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers’ shipments for March, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, was estimated at $1,638.2 billion, up 5.7 percent (±0.2 percent) from February 2021 and was up 18.5 percent (±0.4 percent) from March 2020.
Inventories: Manufacturers’ and trade inventories for March, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $2,014.3 billion, up 0.3 percent (±0.1 percent) from February 2021, but were virtually unchanged (±0.5 percent)* from March 2020.
Inventories/Sales Ratio: The total business inventories/sales ratio based on seasonally adjusted data at the end of March was 1.23. The March 2020 ratio was 1.46. Read Report
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Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
U.S. Data versus the World
Find, compare and share the latest OECD data: charts, maps, tables and related publications. Access Data
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International Trade in Services
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Trade in goods and services is defined as the transactions in goods and services between residents and non-residents. It is measured in million USD, as percentage of GDP for net trade, and also in annual growth for exports and imports. All OECD countries compile their data according to the 2008 System of National Accounts (SNA). Read Report
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Five Trends for Trade and Development as We Emerge from Global Pandemic |
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH - International Institute for Sustainable Development, Matthew Wilson
The five trends as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic are: greater investment in healthcare systems in all countries; rebuilding the resilience of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises; a revised but different multilateralism; a quest for a greener future; and digital transformation and automation.
SDG 17 can support these five new trends through partnerships towards better health, effective multilateralism, and a greener future enabled by technology and improved resilience.
As the Caribbean writer V. S. Naipaul once said, “… the present, accurately seized, foretells the future.” It is imperative that the realities of today help us prepare for tomorrow.
We all know and feel the devastation of the pandemic. It has been a shared and visceral experience. By the end of 2020, COVID-19 had caused more than 1.5 million deaths and USD 28 trillion in economic losses. The most impacted have been the vulnerable: vulnerable countries, vulnerable populations, the most vulnerable within vulnerable communities.
Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres laid out his ten priorities for 2021. First on that list was to respond to COVID-19. Read Article
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Is This the End of Made In China? |
Industry Week - Paul Ericksen
Since the 1990s, theirs has not been a well-thought-out strategy.
In my April 29 column, I outlined my take on the federal’s government role in enabling the Chinese to become both our primary competitor in world trade and creating the overwhelmingly negative balance-of-trade the United States has with that country. In this column, I lay out how I see Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) having contributed to these same two results.
Corporations are driven by the financial performance expectations of Wall Street, which are typically reported quarterly. That’s a pretty short horizon for planning and driving financial results. (While the United States Supreme Court has classified corporations as “citizens,” I doubt whether many people focus their lives almost exclusively on increasing net income, as do corporations.) Read Article
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Senate Hearing on Medical Supplies: “US Companies No Longer Getting PPE Orders. It’s Mostly Going To China” |
Coalition for a Prosperous America – Kenneth Rapoza
At the beginning of the pandemic, March 2020, the Trump Administration phoned textile manufacturers and asked them to make masks and hospital gowns (PPE). They were desperate. With lockdowns imposed, demand for apparel textiles collapsed, so the industry was desperate for work. Textile companies made the investment and made the switch. A year later, China cranked up its volume on PPE. They’re now dumping it here, as is the China way. Now companies that spent money retooling to serve domestic demand for masks and gowns are – by and large — no longer getting orders. It’s all going to Asia, namely China.
“Over a period of time, the Chinese have invested significantly in fiber production, the essential raw materials that are used in PPE. They have continued to invest in this entire production chain actually, and it has been at our demise,” said Kimberly Glas, CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations and an appointed commissioner for U.S. China Economic Security Review Commission. Read Article
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Time to Transform: How WBCSD is Advocating for Reinventing Capitalism |
Inclusive Business - Alexandra Harris with Filippo Veglio, Managing Director, World Business Council for Sustainable Development
In collaboration with 40 companies, WBCSD recently launched Vision 2050, a framework including nine transformation pathways. Filippo Veglio of WBCSD explains why business action must be accelerated in a more systematic way to drive transformation. Read Article
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Joint United States – European Union Statement on Addressing Global Steel and Aluminum Excess Capacity |
U. S. Department of Commerce
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, and European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis today announced the start of discussions to address global steel and aluminum excess capacity. During a virtual meeting last week, the leaders acknowledged the need for effective solutions that preserve our critical industries, and agreed to chart a path that ends the WTO disputes following the U.S. application of tariffs on imports from the EU under section 232. Read Release
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A Global Minimum Tax: Is This the End of the Race to the Bottom? |
IndustryWeek - Shruti Gupta
Supply chain disruptions have led companies to rethink their global supply chain strategies and their global business models. International trade in goods has plateaued over the years and globalization is evolving to a “think global, make local” model—a shift from the current model of manufacturing items in low-cost countries and then shipping them elsewhere. At the same time, companies are also operating in an increasingly digitalized world—whether that manifests in their internal business processes or value provided to customers.
In step with these changes, the global tax framework is also undergoing a fundamental change from tax competition to tax cooperation. Read Article
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World Trade in Goods Rebounding Rapidly in 2021 |
IndustryWeek - Staff
Global trade in goods is already beating pre-pandemic levels, according to the UNCTD.
The global recession due to COVID-19 may be still with us, but trade is picking up quickly. That’s according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which released data May 19 on global trade, which it found has already returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The UNCTD report found that global trade increased by 10% on a year-over-year basis and 4% from the last quarter of 2020, mainly driven by exports from East Asian economies. Trade in goods has already surpassed pre-pandemic levels, though trade in services still has a ways to go to catch up. Read Article
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U.S. International Tax Reform |
Tax Foundation
The OECD hopes to reach an agreement on new cross-border tax rules among 140 countries by mid-2021, while President Biden and members of Congress debate doubling the GILTI tax. Learn more about the various proposals and how they could impact U.S. multinationals. See Guide
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Amazon and Other Retailers Oppose Measure to Require Country-of-Origin Labeling for Goods Sold Online |
Coalition for a Prosperous America - Jeanne Whalen and Abha Bhattarai
The proposal has bipartisan support in China-related legislation moving through the Senate.
Amazon and other retailers are opposing a bipartisan measure that would require online sellers to clearly state where their products are made, a rule proponents say could help consumers seeking U.S.-made goods.
The measure, backed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is part of a broad legislative package aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness versus China. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) is pushing to pass the package, called the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, as soon as this week, although Democrats and Republicans are still racing to make revisions. Read Article
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Education And Workforce Development News |
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Washington Watch: A New Round of Relief Funds, Plus Updated ED Guidance |
Community College Daily News – David Baime
The U.S. Education Department (ED) on Tuesday released most of the third installment of the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) provided through the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act.
Community colleges will receive more than one-third ($12.68 billion, or 34%) of the $36 billion in formula grants. The department will soon make available ARP funding for Title III and V institutions. Generally, colleges are to apply the new funds similarly to how they were used under the CRRSAA law, with a few significant changes. Read Article
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The U.S. Department of Energy Offers Internships to Community College Students |
Community College Daily News – US Department of Energy
The U.S. Department of Energy offers internships to community college students seeking to enter technical careers relevant to the department's mission. Selected applicants will receive technical training experience at one of 16 DOE labs. The deadline to apply for fall internships is May 27. Read Release
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Community College Daily News -Mathew Dembicki
A new report by the Strada Education Network shows that many adults who planned to further their education have changed or dropped those plans over the course of the pandemic.
To date, more than one-third of adults have had to change or cancel their education plans due to the pandemic, based on a survey Strada conducted from February to April. The changes are more pronounced among younger adult learners and people of color. Strada has run ongoing surveys of students and employers since the pandemic started in order to gauge trends during the period.
Among adults who said their education plans were altered because of Covid — dubbed “pandemic-disrupted learners” — two-fifths (41%) have canceled their plans altogether, 37% delayed enrollment and 27% reduced their course load or training. Read Article
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Washington Watch: Community Colleges Carry a Broad Legislative Agenda |
Community College Daily News – David Baime
With the release last week of most of the third and likely final round of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) allocations, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) is focusing on a variety of high-priority legislative items that will likely dominate the higher education agenda for the rest of the year.
Several AACC’s priorities reflect proposals advanced by the Biden administration, while others have been advanced for years. The likely vehicle to enact some of these initiatives is budget “reconciliation” legislation that Congress probably won’t finish until late this year — and, if it passes, it may well be with only Democratic votes.
In the meantime, a lot of legislative jockeying will take place, because no matter how large an ultimate reconciliation package, it is unlikely to contain all the items the Biden administration supports. Read Article
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Training And Organizational Development News |
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Skills Gap Threatens Health of Manufacturing Sector |
Industry Week - Adrienne Selko
By 2030, 2.1 million jobs will go unfilled and could cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion.
While everyone is quite happy about manufacturing performing strong, some even calling it a comeback, the talent shortage is a very serious threat to the health of this sector.
A new study launched on May 4 by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute (MI), the social impact arm of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), warned that if the skills gap persists, 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled in the U.S. by 2030. This could cost the U.S. economy as much as $1 trillion in 2030 alone. Read Article
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A Case Study in the Value of Powerful Questions |
IndustryWeek - Ken Vaughan
Empower your team members to make decisions, and you will be rewarded with better decisions.
Effective leaders spend much of their time coaching the people around them. They see the value that asking questions provides as they empower people and help in their development.
A friend recently told me about his experience as he began to use powerful questions in leadership. One of the people on his team had sent a message to the effect, “We need a decision on this.” As he related this to me, it seemed almost like an ultimatum and that she was clearly laying the responsibility on him. Since he and I had discussed The Power in Powerful Questions just days earlier, he opted out of his normal pattern of providing a quick decision. Read Article
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How Much Pull Does Your Organization Have? |
IndustryWeek - Terry L. Mathis
Managing successful change requires building and sustaining momentum.
Terminal velocity is the maximum speed gravity can pull an object toward Earth. Escape velocity is the speed necessary to break out of Earth’s gravitational pull. Which of these is most important depends on whether your organization is falling apart or shooting for the stars.
Over the decades, I have witnessed organizations striving to improve but being pulled back by their past strategies, practices and cultures. The ones that succeeded consistently built up the velocity of change till the new broke free of the old. Read Article
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Access Proactive Technologies' Recent "Proactive Technologies Workforce News" Article Quicklinks |
Located on the left panel below, this includes articles on structured worker development, achieving worker "full job mastery," engineering/quality/safety compliance, ISO/TS/AS quality program support and compliance, and many other contemporary worker development and management topics. |
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Recent Proactive Technologies News Article Quicklinks |
Recent Proactive Technologies News Article Quicklinks
MAY
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
APRIL
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of East Coast Operations – Proactive Technologies, Inc..
by Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Frank Gibson, Workforce Development Advisor, retired from The Ohio State University – Alber Enterprise Center
MARCH
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Director of Operations - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
By Frank Gibson, former Program Manager-The Ohio State University - Alber Enterprise Center, currently and Independent Workforce Development and Management Consultant
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
FEBRUARY
by Dean Prigelmeier,, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager – Eastern U.S. – Proactive Technologies, Inc.
By Randy Toscano, Jr., MSHRM, Executive Director of Human Resources, Paris, Texas Regional Medical Center
by Proactive Technologies, Inc. Staff
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
JANUARY, 2021
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
by Stacey Lett, Regional Manager - Eastern U.S. - Proactive Technologies, Inc.
Dr. Dave Just, formally Dean of Corporate and Continuing Education at Community Colleges in MA, OH, PA, SC. Currently President of K&D Consulting
by Dean Prigelmeier, President of Proactive Technologies, Inc.
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Proactive Technologies, Inc. Partners With Educational Institutions, Workforce/Economic
Development Groups, Government Agencies
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Structured on-the-job training attracts and engages employers in workforce development partnerships...some projects sustainable for more than 18 years!
This creates a steady need for your related technical instruction, services and a pathway for employment.
These partnerships:
- enhance your institution's opportunity to market your products and services to incumbent workers;
- allow your organization to include structured on-the-job training as a capstone to preemployment preparation;
- document a trainee-to worker's increasing value to the employer - the key to retention - rather than leaving it to chance;
- properly aligns workforce development resources and maximizes the impact and results; allows you to engage an employer's facility, equipment and staff in the training process;
- provides the best, sustainable infrastructure for apprenticeships and internships that last!
- is a win for the trainee, win for the worker, win for the employer, win for the institution and win for the community!
This approach has continued to prove itself since 1988, and does not compete with your school's or agency's products and services; it adds to your efforts the clear, tangible, measurable advantage that employers seek.
Copyright © 2021 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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To supplement onsite PROTECH™ system of managed human resource development classes, these regularly scheduled webinars are available to the registered staff of clients:
- Structured On-The-Job Training Instructor Certification
- Structured On-The Job Training Checklist Administrator Certification
- Management Structured On-The-Job Training Project Support Briefing
- Integrating Support for Plant-Wide ISO/AS/TS Quality and Safety Systems with PROTECH Workforce Development System
- Supporting "Pay-For-Value" Systems
- Promoting Continuous Process Improvement While Implementing the PROTECH System for the Accelerated Transfer of Expertise™
- PROTECH Onsite System Administrator Certification
Contact US to attend one of these seminars will send you an e-reservation. Include your client ID, name and user ID number and which webinar you would like to attend.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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GD&T’s New Rule and What it Means for Measurement |
Quality Magazine - Mark C. Malburg, AJ Mennuti and Mike Zecchino
In Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing (GD&T) there has been a long-standing conflict between the worlds of specification and measurement. The goal of specification is to ensure that components will function; the goal of measurement is to ensure that manufactured components meet those functional requirements. The conflict often arises when design specifications are not easily assessed by available measurement technologies and procedures.
Y14.5-2018 Section 4.1 (s) - Unless otherwise specified, elements of a surface include surface texture and flaws (e.g., burrs and scratches). All elements of a surface shall be within the applicable specified tolerance zone boundaries.
This conflict has been elevated with the release of ASME Y14.5-2018 and a new fundamental rule “s”:Rule “s” defines GD&T features in a way that makes them unmeasurable by commonly available metrology equipment—particularly in the case of large features. In this article we will explore the implications of rule “s” and the limits/requirements of today’s metrology as it is applied to these GD&T requirements. Read Article
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Boeing Must Inspect Older 737 Jets After Indonesia Crash: FAA |
IndustryWeek - Agence France-Presse
The U.S. aviation regulator is ordering Boeing to inspect older generation 737 jets, after the January crash of an aircraft off Indonesia that killed 62 people.
All Boeing 737-300, -400 and -500 planes will need to be examined, a total of 143 aircraft, according to a document from the Federal Aviation Administration seen by AFP on Saturday.
A failure of the "flap synchro wire" missed by the autothrottle computer -- which manages the plane's thrust -- "could result in loss of control of the airplane," the document said. Read Article
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Assessment of a Best Practice |
Quality Magazine - Yves Van Nuland and Grace Duffy
The goal is to achieve excellent results.
In management literature you will often encounter the concept of a best practice. However, until recently no method was available to assess a best practice.
Why do we need a method for a best practice assessment?
Proof of need: when you search for “best practice” in Google, you get more than 1.76 billion hits. If you analyze a small number (100), you will discover that only a very few are true best practices. Why is this? No best practice writer had a tool until now to assess whether they really had a best practice. They can now make an accurate assessment for the first time, using the BEST-tool. Read Article
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Metrics Work Best When Motivational, Relevant and Widely Shared |
IndustryWeek - Rick Bohan
The reluctance to be measured is rational, as many organizations have cultures where performance measures are used to punish.
Many years ago, I worked for a steel company that established quality circles of union employees. We did a lot of things right, so the quality circles initiative was generally effective; any number of ideas that improved productivity, safety, quality, and employee engagement were proposed by the teams and implemented by the company. One thing that we did not do was measure the impact of any of the implemented ideas. It was assumed that measurement served to inhibit ideas and participation on the team members.
Several years later, I was employed by a hotel company seeking to engage its employees in problem-solving. The company did a wonderful job of collecting and organizing customer satisfaction data derived from guest comment cards. Detailed monthly reports full of useful information about guest satisfaction were forwarded to individual hotels by the corporate office. Management of the particular hotel where I worked was reluctant to release the monthly report to the various departments. It was felt that, if the data showed a drop in guest satisfaction from one month to the next, employee morale would suffer. Read Article
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Where Does the Plastic in Our Oceans Come From? |
OurWorldData - Hannah Ritchie
80% of the world’s ocean plastics enter the ocean via rivers and coastlines. The other 20% come from marine sources such as fishing nets, ropes, and fleets. To tackle plastic pollution we need to know where these plastics are coming from. Previous studies suggested that a very small number of rivers were responsible for the vast majority of ocean plastics: 60% to 90% of plastics came from only ten rivers.
Higher-resolution mapping and consideration for factors such as climate, terrain, land use, and distance to the ocean suggests that many smaller rivers play a bigger role than we thought. It takes 1,600 of the biggest emitting rivers to account for 80% of plastic inputs to the ocean.
It is estimated that 81% of ocean plastics come from Asian rivers. The Philippines alone contribute around one-third of the global total. Since the number of contributing rivers is much higher than previously thought, we will need global efforts to improve waste management and plastic collection rather than targeting only a few of the largest rivers. Read Article
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DARPA Launches Program to Develop Manufacturing in Space and on the Moon |
Assembly Magazine
WASHINGTON—The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is launching the Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design program, or NOM4D—a program that could enable manufacturing in space and on the moon’s surface.
“NOM4D’s vision is to develop foundational materials, processes and designs needed to realize in-space manufacturing of large, precise and resilient Defense Department systems,” says Bill Carter, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.
DARPA is launching the program in response to the natural limitations of rocket launches in placing larger structures and systems in orbit, the agency said. Read Article
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Information Sheet: Pharmaceuticals in Drinking-Water |
World Health Organization
Background and Scope
Pharmaceuticals are synthetic or natural chemicals that can be found in prescription medicines, over-the-counter therapeutic drugs and veterinary drugs. Pharmaceuticals contain active ingredients that have been designed to have pharmacological effects and confer significant benefits to society. Pharmaceuticals can be introduced into water sources through sewage, which carries the excreta of individuals and patients who have used these chemicals, from uncontrolled drug disposal (e.g. discarding drugs into toilets) and from agricultural runoff comprising livestock manure. They have become chemicals of emerging concern to the public because of their potential to reach drinking-water. Read Fact Sheet
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Airbus Selected by European Commission to Study Spacecraft Manufacturing in Space |
Assembly Magazine
BREMEN, Germany—Airbus has been selected by the European Commission to study spacecraft manufacturing in space through the Horizon 2020 Programme. ThePERIOD (PERASPERA In-Orbit Demonstration) project focuses on satellite assembly and manufacturing in orbit. This A/B1 phase study contract, worth € 3 million, will last two years, with the objective to continue with a demonstrator in orbit.
The “orbital factory” envisioned by PERIOD will pioneer construction of major components such as antenna reflectors, assembly of spacecraft components and satellite payload replacements, directly in space. This is the precursor to future manufacturing of large structures in orbit. Read Article
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NOAA Predicts Another Active Atlantic Hurricane Season |
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center is predicting another above-normal Atlantic hurricane season. Forecasters predict a 60% chance of an above-normal season, a 30% chance of a near-normal season, and a 10% chance of a below-normal season. However, experts do not anticipate the historic level of storm activity seen in 2020.
For 2021, a likely range of 13 to 20 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which 6 to 10 could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including 3 to 5 major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5; with winds of 111 mph or higher) is expected. NOAA provides these ranges with a 70% confidence. The Atlantic hurricane season extends from June 1 through November 30. Read Article
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Cyber Security And IT News |
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The Computer Warriors
The blue screen of death is never a good sign. It will appear when a Windows operating system encounters a critical error that it cannot recover from. As a result, the computer will blue screen due to a software or hardware issue. Below is a list of common blue screen error codes and what they might result from.
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Verizon Sells Yahoo, AOL to Apollo for $5B |
CFO.com - Matthew Heller
The deal marks the end of Verizon's effort to provide a digital media alternative to tech behemoths Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
Verizon Communications said Monday it had agreed to sell Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management in a $5 billion deal, signaling the end of its troubled venture into online media.
The deal represents a loss for Verizon, which paid $4.4 billion for AOL in 2015 and then spent another $4.5 billion on Yahoo two years later, betting that the struggling digital pioneers could offer an alternative way for marketers to reach potential customers outside tech behemoths Google, Facebook, and Amazon.
Apollo will pay $4.25 billion in cash for a 90% share of Verizon Media, with Verizon keeping a 10% stake and $750 million of additional preferred stock in the new company, called Yahoo, that will be formed to operate the business. Read Article
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Eufy Security Camera Reportedly Broadcasting Users' Private Videos to Strangers |
CNET - Dale Smith
This morning, some Eufy security camera users are reporting access to strangers' Eufy accounts, including live and recorded video feeds.
Early Monday morning, Eufy security camera users began reporting an unusual phenomenon on Reddit: The Eufy app was granting them access to other users' accounts. Not only could these affected customers view strangers' live and recorded videos, they could control the other users' physical camera actions -- like pan and zoom.
The earliest reports came from Eufy customers in Australia and New Zealand, but before long, US users were complaining of similar problems. A staff writer at 9 to 5 Mac confirmed his Eufy account looked like he was logged in as someone else, with access to that person's user details, recordings and live feeds. The staffer reported that logging out then back in seems to have restored access to his own cameras. Read Article
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Striking a Deal to Strengthen Broadband Access for All |
Brookings - Tom Wheeler, Visiting Fellow - Governance Studies, Center for Technology Innovation
President Biden told the joint session of Congress he was asking Vice President Harris to take the lead on the broadband component of his infrastructure plan, “because I know it will get done.” The headlines emphasized the statement, “I am asking the vice president to lead this effort.” They called attention to how placing a high-profile figure such as the vice president in charge of closing the digital divide signals the issue’s high priority.
To the readers of political tea leaves, however, there are other signals in this announcement. Why, for instance, does the $100 billion broadband proposal require special effort when other large expenditures such as $174 billion for electric vehicles, or the $213 billion for affordable housing, or the $100 billion for clean energy do not need such a Sherpa? The answer is in the statement’s rationale: “I know it will get done.” Thus deputized, the vice president has an open door to make whatever changes might be necessary to the original proposal to produce results instead of rhetoric. Read Article
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Human Resource Management News |
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EEOC Issues Religious Guidance |
EHS Today - David Sparkman
New guidance deals with changes in religious discrimination and allowed accommodations.
Over the last several presidential administrations, the independent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has changed its enforcement priorities numerous times, most recently with a new guidance on religious discrimination and the accommodation of religious beliefs in the workplace.
Title VII of the1964 Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals because of their religion (or lack of religious belief) in hiring, firing, or any other terms and conditions of employment. The law also prohibits an employer from imposing religion on its employees, with the exception of religious institutions which are immune from federal employment-related civil rights statutes. Read Article
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US Department of Labor Issues Stronger Workplace Guidance on Coronavirus |
International Association of Workforce Professionals
The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued stronger worker safety guidance to help employers and workers implement a coronavirus prevention program and better identify risks which could lead to exposure and contraction. “Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace” provides updated guidance and recommendations, Read Article
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Op-ed: The Dangerous Mythology About the US Labor Shortage |
Area Development - Chicago Tribune, Karin M. Northington-Reaves
In explaining the unimpressive quarterly jobs data recently, there is a dangerous mythology surfacing, a common refrain among pundits, that people don’t want to work because of stimulus checks and extended unemployment benefits.
Some argue that unemployed low-wage workers make more from these benefits than from their previous employment. This may be true, but in my nearly 10-year tenure as CEO of what has become the nation’s largest publicly funded workforce development system, where we have facilitated training and employment of over 70,000 people, I have never once heard anyone say they didn’t want to work. Read Article
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Environmental, Health & Safety News |
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Employees Need Help with Mental Health |
EHS Today - Adrienne Selko
Almost half of American workers are suffering from mental health issues due to COVID-19.
I have never understood why it’s OK to go to a doctor if your back is hurting, but if your psyche is hurting people don’t seek medical treatment.
Even after so many years of public declarations by well-known people who have dealt with mental health issues, there is still a stigma associated with this range of diseases.
“The stigma of mental illness, therapy and mental health at work can keep many employees from using resources,” said Dr. George James, a licensed marriage and family therapist and member of the CNBC Financial Wellness Council. “So it has to be driven, encouraged and supported from the top down." Read Article
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Top 10 OSHA Violations of 2020 |
EHS Today - Dave Blanchard
A look at the biggest problem areas in workplaces as reflected in OSHA citations of standard violations. See Slideshow
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Companies Are Increasing Mental Health Benefits |
EHS Today - Adrienne Selko
When I was growing up, as GE went so did the nation.
Well, times have changed and now it’s as Walmart goes, so does the nation.
As one of the largest U.S. employers at 1.5 million, the company often sets the stage for policies, both in terms of business processes and workforce strategies. In the area of mental well-being, Walmart announced May 5 that it has expanded its mental health benefits by more than tripling (from three sessions per year to 10 sessions) the number of no-cost counseling sessions that will be available to U.S. associates and their families. Read Article
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Restaurants Are New OSHA Targets |
IndustryWeek - David Sparkman
Employers also contest COVID citations in record numbers.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wane, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has expanded its aggressive enforcement program to include restaurants.
Earlier this year, OSHA unleashed a National Emphasis Program (NEP) for stepped-up enforcement efforts nationwide, focusing especially on COVID-19 workplace practices. The agency is vigorously pursuing employers it believes have strayed from the agency’s illness guidance, particularly the 6,000-word guidance it issued Jan. 29 under an order issued by President Biden the day after his inauguration. Read Article
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Can You Require Your Employees to Get the COVID Vaccine? |
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IndustryWeek - Rachel Williamson
Manufacturers have faced a number of challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike those companies that were able to transition from in-office to a remote work environment, those in the manufacturing industry have a predominately onsite employee base and remote work is not a viable option.
As a result, you, as a manufacturer, may have experienced: Read Article
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Having trouble finding, selecting, training and keeping the skilled workers you need? Are your employee turnover costs a concern?
Let's start with what we already know:
- Classes alone will not train workers to perform your tasks...
- Quality Control policies and Process Documents are not a substitute for task training...
- Putting 2 people together and hoping for the best is not a training strategy...
- Wishing and hoping won't develop the skilled workers you need...
The cost of one worker malperformance or one worker's under-capacity or under-performance - due to lack of proper training - can more than justify the investment to train all your workers properly!
AND, unstructured, uncontrolled, undocumented task training is going on all day, every day. But if you cannot explain the process, you surely cannot measure and improve it.
Proactive Technologies's approach to structured on-the-job training takes place where, and while, the work is performed. You need no additional staff and structured on-the-job training does not interrupt your work schedule like unstructured, haphazard and ad hoc training or classroom learning does.
You probably have most of the pieces are already in place; they just need structure around them to make the training experience work for everyone through the accelerated transfer of expertise™.
As part of every project, Proactive Technologies provides the support to set-up, implement, manage, document and revise the worker development system so you can stay focused on business.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EMPLOYERS!
If your organization sees training as a cost, not as an investment, maybe you should consider another approach!
- Cuts the employer's internal costs of training;
- Lowers the costs associated with turnover;
- Drives new-hires and incumbent workers to "full job mastery;"
- Increases worker capacity, work quality, productivity and compliance (ISO/AS/TS training and records requirement, engineering specifications and safety mandates);
- Creates framework for cross-training, retraining and worker certification;
- Establishes the framework for employer specific/job-specific apprenticeships and internships - registered or not;
- Builds career development tracks and succession plans for hourly (and salary) workers;
- Ensures the increased and maintained "Return on Worker investment" through any type of change...
ALL OF THIS FROM ONE APPROACH!
This structured on-the-job training is performed where, and while, the work takes place!
You need no additional staff, and this will not disrupt your work schedule or burden your existing staff!
If your firm is partnered with local career and technical educational institutions, use of shared employer's equipment, facilities and paid wages of trainer(s) and trainee(s) are attractive match for potential grant assistance.
for more information.
Copyright © 2019-21 Proactive Technologies, Inc.™
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Copyright © 1988 - 2021 Proactive Technologies, Inc.TM
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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