Friday, December 27, 2019

Household Income and Spending Volatility

Household Income and Spending VolatilityHousehold Income and Spending VolatilityThe Problem of Household Income and Spending VolatilityA growing number of studies indicate that significant numbers of American households face wide swings in income from month to month, and insufficient savings or financial assets to cope with it. This is particularly true of people who juggle multiple jobs with highly variable work hours. A similar problem is faced by freelancers and independent contractorswith uneven work who are paid by the project, by sales commission, on some other sort of piece-rate basis, and/or who have long and variable delays in collecting payment for their services. Indeed, approximately 7.1 million Americans, or about 5% of the labor force, split their time among multiple jobs as of April 2015. Abedrngnisher 6.6 million people had settled for part-time jobs after being unable to find suitable full-time employment. Meanwhile, many of these jobs promise little or no wage growt h. Research conducted by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that average household income rose by 22% from 1979 to 1999, but only by 2% from 1999 to 2009, and has not budged since then for the majority of working people. A 2012 economic research paper found that an increasing proportion of households can expect to experience an income decline of 50% or more during any given 2-year period. In the early 1970s, the figure was 7%. By the early 2000s, this number had grown to 12%. On the eve of the 2008 financial crisis, it had declined slightly, to 10%. A study by the Federal Reserve Boardindicated that 18% of respondents in 2013 reported incomes below their usual levels. This was down from 25% in 2010, but still higher than the pre-crisis level of 14% in 2007. The JPMorgan Chase StudyAccording to a comprehensive study of 100,000 retail banking clients(a sample drawn from its base of 2.5 million account holders) conducted byJPMorgan Chase, at least 80% of them do not have adequate savings to ride out significant monthly variations in income or expenses. Among these clients, who are diverse demographically and mainly in the middle-income brackets, 40% experience month-to-month income decreases or increases of 30% or more. Compounding the problem, 60% of these 100,000 clients in the analytic sample face monthly variations in spending that equal or exceed 30%. Given that the typical middle-income household in the study (defined here as having between $40,501 and $63,100 in annual income) has a mere $3,000 in savings, the margin of safety for most is very low. The JPMorgan Chase report estimates that at least $4,800 is needed to offer an adequate financial cushion in the event of unpaid job leave coupled with a large medical or tuition bill. However, given the huge bills presented by hospitals for minimal care, even this figure seems much too low. Even higher income households in the study have relatively meager savings Median savings of under $7,000 for households in th e $63,101 to $104,500 income bracketMedian savings of about $13,500 for households in the $104,501 to $154,600 income bracket, the highest in the study Only those in the highest income bracket are judged by analysts in the new JPMorgan Chase Institute, which conducted the study, to have sufficient savings to weather a monthly income or expense shock. Still, this median savings number is rather low, especially compared to income. It indicates an undue propensity to spend among these people. A key caveat with the JPMorgan Chase study is that it derives its conclusions from client account data, which may not be indicative of clients total financial pictures, given that many of them are bound to have accounts at, and relationships with, multiple financial institutions. It also is bound to be influenced by imperfections in the aggregation of client accounts into household groupings. Class MobilityAn interesting sidebar to the JPMorgan Chase study is its analysis of changes in household s pending and income from 2013 to 2014. The 5 annual income brackets used in the study are $0 to $23,300$23,301 to $40,500$40,501 to $63,100$63,101 to $104,500$104,501 to $154,600 Regarding income 15% of those in the lowest 2013 bracket moved up a bracket, and another 7% went up by at least 2 brackets16% of those in the second 2013 bracket went up one notch, and another 5% by 2 or more. Meanwhile, 11% fell into the lowest bracket.17% in the third 2013 bracket went up, and 15% down.12% in the fourth 2013 bracket went up, and 21% down.18% in the top 2013 bracket went down. Concerning spending 23% in the bottom 2013 income bracket went into a higher spending bracket.27% in the second 2103 income bracket spent more, and 19% less.25% in the third 2013 income bracket spent more, and 24% less.17% in the fourth 2013 income bracket spent more, and 26% less.21% in the top 2013 income bracket spent less. As might be expected, the shifts in spending from 2013 to 2014 largely reflect changes in in come over the same period. Source Cash Crunch Is, for Many, a Monthly Problem,The Wall Street Journal,May 20, 2015.

Sunday, December 22, 2019

20 Hot Jobs to Apply to Today!

20 Hot Jobs to Apply to Today20 Hot Jobs to Apply to Today If you can believe it, were almost through a quarter of 2018 Time flies doesnt it?However, the minutes and hours only drag slowly when youre in a job that doesnt quite fit your dreams or your lifestyle. Quit wasting your energy in a job that doesnt satisfy you or at a company that doesnt challenge you. With millions of jobs on Glassdoor, theres no excuse notlage to find the next big thing.Here are 20 of the coolest jobs on Glassdoor. Check them out and consider making 2018 the year you kick things up a notchWhere Hiring Boston, MA Santa Barbara, CA Fairfax, VA Raleigh, NC Tempe AZJob Details The Enterprise Account Executive will be responsible for applying a thorough understanding of LogMeIn collaboration products, sales methodology, and processes, prospecting techniques and will focus on selling into enterprise companies. As a part of the Enterprise Sales team, the Enterprise Account Executive will have a te rritory of accounts from which to maximize sales from existing customer relationships, as well as prospect and close new business.What Employees Say Instead of managing, I like to say I report to 14 Account Services reps. My job is to ensure my team has the erleichterung, tools and knowledge to be successful as they support our customers contractual needs post-sale, oftentimes while simultaneously engaging our internal partners such as Renewals, Sales, Tech Support, Customer Success. - Current EmployeeJob Details We need educators who are compassionate and articulate and who can convert the Outward Bound experience into a life lesson. Previous experience in facilitating group dynamics is desired, especially experience working with adolescents. Communication skills including active listening, giving and receiving feedback and clearly conveying expectations are important skills for instructors. Passion, confidence and humor are vital to the success of our staff.What Employees Say Great wonderful place to work where everyone has similar values of what they want to get out and put into the experience. - Former Instructo rWhere Hiring Odesa, Ukraine London, England Montreal, Quebec Bordeaux, France & moreJob Details As a Game Designer, you will collaborate with different leads from other studios to deliver the best user experience, following the games creative vision. You will be also responsible for the development, controls and interfaces in order to bring the vision of the Producer into a playable experience.What Employees Say Great work environment. People are good at their jobs. Lots of benefits (insurances, events, free games, pension fund). Job security because of the many projects at once. - Current Game DesignerWhere Hiring New York, NY Princeton, NJJob Details You will be helping us implement better developer testing practices across the department, so youll have the opportunity to spend time with a variety of teams and learn about all our diff erent product offerings. Youll spend your days in the trenches, building a culture of quality and taking a hands-on approach to developing tools and practices that will improve productivity and quality across the department.What Employees Say Youll succeed at Bloomberg if you work hard, pay attention, have high ethical standards. Editorial is fun as youre working with some of the best talent around and you get to try new things. The perks and benefits are amazing not just the famously free food, but the annual summer parties, insurance plans, retirement match, museum memberships. - Former EmployeeJob Details Looking for your next challenge? How about helping us disrupt a $90B+ talent acquisition market? At Glassdoor, our mission is to help people everywhere find a job and company they love. We are disrupting an industry by changing how people search for jobs and how companies recruit for top talent. We are seeking a Director of Revenue to contribute to a world-class finance organ ization in a high-growth, pre-IPO environment.What Employees Say Glassdoor is at that sweet spot where we weve matured out of the crazy start-up phase and have the right leaders and plans in place to ensure stability, but were still growing rapidly enough that theres a ton of opportunity to make a difference and advance quickly within the company if you prove yourself. Its great to see transparency and other company values embodied from the CEO on down. - Current EmployeeJob Details You are a dedicated scientist/engineer interested in helping us sort, analyze and deliver relevant information from terabytes of unstructured data in the social media space. You are interested in strong abstractions that allow for nahe daran sein iteration, easy integration and short development cycles, allowing us to constantly learn from our data and empowering our clients to apply these insights toward product enhancements.What Employees Say Free catered lunches (and tons of free snacks) Cold brew coffee and Kombucha on tap Everyone is excited about Dataminrs product and the company A brand new 2017 MacBook Pro 13 (because technology that works great = more productive employees). Hiring like crazy - Current IT Helpdesk EngineerWhere Hiring Portland, OR Montgomery, AL White River Junction, VT Ann Arbor, MI Seattle, WA Lebanon, PA Murfreesboro, TN Fargo, ND & more.Job Description The employee is a licensed physical therapist who performance at the full performance level. Uses standard and non-standard methods for evaluating complex cases to identify problems and baseline levels of function. Develops appropriate treatment plans and goals performs complex treatment Procedures modifying the treatment according to the patients changing medical condition or because of a variety of severe physical disabilities.What Employees Say Excellent patient population, great benefits, generally happy coworkers. Work environment is relaxed, assignments are reasonable. Ive worked there 6 yea rs and I intend on retiring from the VA in 24 more. - Current Registered NurseWhere Hiring Boston, MA Portland, OR Dallas, TX Shanghai, China New Orleans, LA Fort Lauderdale, FL & more.Job Description Directs and organizes the activities of the Food & Beverage departments to maintain the high standards of food and beverage quality, tafelgeschirr and marketing to maximize profits through outstanding customer service. Plans and directs the functions of administration and planning of the Food & Beverage department to meet the daily needs of the operation. Implements effective controls of food, beverage and labor costs.What Employees Say Hilton was family. The benefits were amazing and the people were even more amazing-er The learning and advancement opportunities were plentiful As a manager, it was required to have so many hours of classes per year and the class calendar was always posted at the beginning of every year They were extremely useful for and work and personal. Hilton i s where I had gained most of my business knowledge. - Former EmployeeJob Details Squarespace is seeking a Director of Strategic Initiatives to identify, scope, and scale new business opportunities. You will oversee existing teams focused on business development, internationalization, and Circle, our community of design professionals. You will also scope and build out teams focused on new opportunities that you identify. The role reports to our SVP of Strategy in New York.What Employees Say From monthly All Hands and CEO arbeitszimmer hours, to Women at Squarespace speaker series and Friday happy hours, theres a living breathing community here. Its been really refreshing to work alongside people who try their best and bring their whole selves to work. - Current EmployeeWhere Hiring Chesterfield, MO Albuquerque, NM Germantown, MD Overland Park, KS & more.Job Details Create and maintain the Topgolf Culinary Experience its famous and fantastic Train, support, develop and manage th e kitchen staff and supervise/coordinate all related culinary activities Estimate food consumption, Monitor inventory and purchase product as needed Maintain food and labor costs according to budget Select and develop recipes, standardize production recipes to ensure consistent quality.What Employees Say I have worked here about 6 months and it is the best company I have ever worked for.Amazing Community Culture. Amazing Friendships created. - Current EmployeeWhere Hiring Remote Chicago, IL Scottsdale, AZ Schaumburg, IL New York, NY & more.Job Details The Client Engagement Manager is responsible for proactively owning and managing the relationships within an assigned set of clients and/or prospects. Partnering with the Account Development team, you will be responsible for supporting and managing a portfolio of client accounts, engaging with client contacts to ensure the proper usage and application of the Targeting solutions and services, and seeking out growth and upsell opport unities within the assigned account base.What Employees Say Great place to work in friendly, collaborative environment, as evidenced by long average tenures. Flexible work environment. Strong upper management team. Good benefits including employee stock purchase plans. - Current AnalystJob Details We seek a highly motivated candidate to fill our VUE Program Management position. PlayStation Vue is our live streaming TV service, and we want a candidate who is passionate about PlayStation and TV. This role will be responsible for driving projects from inception through deployment in our exciting platform.This is an opportunity to work on and influence the development of a really cool product with a massive and rapidly growing global customer base. Fun-focused team with end-to-end visibility of the product and the business.What Employees Say Great corporate atmosphere, company is doing well, top leaders are visionaries. Some of the smartest people Ive known. - Current Product Manag erWhere Hiring Phoenix, AZ Sunrise, FL Brighton, England Toronto & more.Job Details Individuals that have a winning attitude, coupled with demonstrated success in customer service, relationship building talents and with an excellent aptitude to position and sell products are the only candidates that need apply. American Express has the best payment products in the world, and we are looking for the few individuals that possess the skills to serve the best customers in the world, ours.What Employees Say Work from home and schedule flexibility . Excellent pay with bonuses and great benefits. Many opportunities to interim in other positions. - Current Customer Care ProfessionalWhere Hiring Liverpool, NY Williamsport, PA Charlottesville, VA Ashbury Park, NJ Westwood, MA & more.Job Details At Wegmans, our customers depend on our Pharmacy professionals to provide the best service possible when it comes to their health. In this department, youll play an integral role in ensuring custo mers are getting the medical attention, care and services needed that set a Wegmans Pharmacy apart from the rest. If youre a compassionate team player with a desire to help others, this could be the place for youWhat Employees Say Flexible hours, shorter shifts (usually 4-6 hours), great for students who want to pick up some money during school breaks. If you manage to put enough hours in during the year you can apply for a Wegmans Scholarship. - Current Front End CashierWhere Hiring McGregor, TX Cape Canaveral, FL Vandenberg AFB, CA Hawthorne, CA Irvine, CA Seattle, WA & Washington, DCJob Details SpaceX is currently seeking top talent to join our University Program. Our year-round program offers an unparalleled opportunity to play a direct role in transforming space exploration and helping us realize the next evolution of humanity as a multi-planetary species. Opportunities are available across all engineering functions and business operations at SpaceX. Interns and associate e ngineers are integral to the success of the company and tackle some of the hardest challenges on the planet. Join us, and find your place in the SpaceX legacy.What Employees Say Very meaningful work. Whatever youre working on, you feel like youre contributing to something important. You get a lot of respect for the work you do among your peers. You get to learn and talk to a lot of very interesting and smart people. - Former Avionics InternWhere Hiring San Francisco, CA Palo Alto, CA & Sydney, AustraliaJob Details If you are thoughtful, excellent at articulating a company story, creative in your approach, able to provide excellent care for candidates and advise hiring leaders accurately and effectively while managing multiple searches simultaneously in a dynamic environment this could be your dream jobWhat Employees Say Amazing benefits everything about it is great and it is the best and wow its so crazy how good it is. - Former Account ExecutiveWhere Hiring Columbia, MD San Diego, CA Seattle, WA Sacramento, CA Everett, WA Long Island City, NY Plano, TX Denver, CO Honolulu, HI New Haven, CT Reno, NV & more.Job Details As a Redfin Agent, your job is pretty simple delight your customers. You wont be thrown to the wolves or spend your days cold calling, door knocking, or direct mailing. Youll be working within a territory as a full-time employee with benefits and a career. Plus, youll have plenty of clients, mostly generated from our awesome website. What Employees Say Redfin has been an amazing place to work as an agent. I came in with quite a bit of experience, loved real estate but not regular traditional real estate. I got lucky and was hired on such an amazing team. The people have been what makes the job incredible. My team is amazingly supportive and always there for you. I can call any one of them at any time for literally anything. Our team manager is highly supportive and always there for you, as is our market manager. - Current Senior AgentWh ere Hiring Visalia, CA Exton, PA San Juan, PR Kansas City, MO Brooklyn, NY Cincinnati, OH DeSoto, TX Bloomington, MN & more.Job Details Its up to you to infuse every Sales Rep with a serious passion for our products and our mission. Youll also ensure that your customers get everything they need to make their experience unforgettable, and that means helping your team go the extra mile for their customers, solving the whole problem every time out. No one likes to wait, and you make sure that customer wait times are as low as they can be.What Employees Say They really care about their employees. The culture here is bar none to anywhere else Ive ever worked at. Its always a festivitt at TMobile. - Current Associate ExpertJob Details Youre perfect for this role if you are versatile, youre able to plan and write content for web and mobile interfaces, including interaction flows, product tours, transactional emails and launch education materials, as well as apply consistent standards and elevate the overall quality of our work love both high-level strategy and hands-on writing and editing for web and mobile experiences understand design thinking and user experience and thrive in a flat, fast-moving organization that uses light-weight process to have a huge impact.What Employees Say Facebook really respects its employees and is very interested in diversity and that everyone is treated and compensated fairly. Zuck is a great leader. - Current Engineering Training SpecialistWhere Hiring San Francisco, CA Mexico City, MX Boston, MA Seattle, WA & more.Job Details The Community Manager is the captain of the team and the owner of the building. Create a collaborative community environment amongst our members through events and personal introductions. Ensure that buildings are fully operational and processes are running smoothly. Manage sales process and churn. Team development and growth.What Employees Say VERY positive atmosphere. Coworkers are supportive, helpful , encouraging, happy. People are passionate about the mission/values. Strong customer/member focus. Endless career opportunities with a rapidly expanding business. strong financial outlook. Insanely cool all-employee meetings (private Snoop Dog concert?) - Current Employee

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Free Webinars Celebrating Womens History Month

Free Webinars Celebrating Womens History MonthFree Webinars Celebrating Womens History MonthFree Webinars Celebrating Womens History Month March 7, 2019In honor of Womens History Month, you are invitedto FREE Leadership and Career webinarswith KATHRYN TROUTMAN Entrepreneur, Author, Federal Resume Guru,President and Founder, Resume Place, Inc.The Stars are Lined Up for Military Spouses on USAJOBS, 2nd Ed.Two dates and times in May, 2019 By KATHRYN TROUTMAN, STARS BOOK AUTHOR Monday, May 13, 12 to 1230 PM ETTuesday, May 23, 7 to 730 PM ETREGISTER NOWWho should take this webinarMilitary Spouses who would like to get mora appreciation and credit for their effort and support for the military family over the years Learn how to GET CREDIT ON YOUR RESUMEMilitary spouses are Military Family Leaders Learn how to present your military career on your resume. Learn how to present your knowledge, skills and abilities as a military spouse and how to demonstrate relevant skills for your career a nd job searchMilitarySpouseAppreciationDay milspouse MilitaryAppreciationMonthAs a MILITARY SPOUSE YOU RELOCATE AND TRAVELING AROUND THE WORLD MULTIPLE TIMES over many years supporting the military family and service. Be proud, be transparent, tell your story. And apply for federal positions with the US government with your specialized knowledge. Learn the best format to write about your military family dedication and leadershipHandoutExcerpt of The Stars are Lined Up for Military Spouses on USAJOBS, 2nd Ed.Kathryn Troutman with Bobbi Rossiter, USMC Military SpouseClick Here For More Information, Dates, and RegistrationTRAIN-THE-TRAINER PROGRAM FOR CAREER COUNSELORSCERTIFIED FEDERAL JOB SEARCH TRAINER / CERTIFIED FEDERAL CAREER COACH PROGRAM FOR 2019The Stars are Lined up for Military Spouses is a Licensed Curriculum that YOU can teach at your career center with the CFJST / CFCC certification programDay One TEN STEPS TO A FEDERAL JOB Updated Ten Steps slides for 2019Day Two FEDERAL RESUME REVIEWS / COACHING STRATEGIES Practice Ten Steps + two more resume workshopsDay Three HR DAY Stars are Lined Up for Military SpousesCharles Clark, InstructorREGISTER NOW FOR 2019 TEN STEPS CREDENTIAL TRAININGHelp your clients get Best Qualified and Begin Federal CareersFederal Career Book Collection for each paid Ten Steps Registrant5 Federal Resume Texts with the latest federal resumes20 bonus Jobseekers Guide booksWEBINAR AND LIVE CLASSES COMING UPUniversity of California, San Diego, CAHonolulu, HawaiiColumbia, MDRead all the dates here. Government and military employee fees are $2,955 per person. Non-profit, University, Private Practice, and Self-Pay individual registrations are $2,685 per person. Group discounts apply. See our full 2019 fees here.REGISTER NOW FOR 2019 TEN STEPS CERTIFICATION TRAININGFind out more information about recertification.QUESTIONS?Bobbi Rossiter, Ten Steps Program Manager, bobbiresume-place.comInquiries about books, location, logistics, proposa ls, invoices.Kathryn Troutman, Program Director, kathrynresume-place.comCurriculum, possible hosted programs.www.resume-place.com (410) 744 4324. ext. 3 Baltimore, MD

Friday, December 13, 2019

These are the industries with the most dissatisfied employees

These are the industries with the most dissatisfied employeesThese are the industries with the most dissatisfied employeesWe all have those days when we really hate our jobs. Hopefully, those are few and far between for most of us. However, for many people hating your job is the status quo. Student loan refinancing firmComet decided to look into how much dissatisfaction with a company would take someone from just having negative thoughts about their job to actually moving to a different employer or just quitting.They surveyed over 1,000 employees about what frustrates them in their current careersand they found that these were the top industries citing the most dissatisfaction.Top industries citing dissatisfactionHotel, Food Services, and Hospitality 31.2%Wholesale and Retail 28.3%Transportation and Warehousing 20.6%Information Services and Data Processing 19.8%Technology 19.5%Arts Entertainment and Recreation 16.7%Medical and Health Care 16.3%Education 15.0%Manufacturing 13.7%Scient ific 13.4%Finance and Insurance 13.0%Government and Public Administration 12.7%Construction 11.0%It aint easy work in the tafelgeschirr industry it seems. This is why there are such high rates of turnover in these fields.Tech jobs also made it high in the rankings which isnt surprising considering earlier this summer when Ladders wrote about a survey from workplace appBlind that found that out of11,487 users, many of whom work in Silicon Valley, half of them were experiencing burnout from work. This is why the survey found thatmore than three-quarters of technology workers have contemplated leaving their jobs, the largest portion of any industry.It shows you that even if a fancy company has numerous perks, it really comes down to the culture.Top reasons for dissatisfaction by industryLack of appreciation/recognition ranked high for top reasons for job dissatisfaction in the tech industry the survey found. Take a look at the other reasons for unhappiness in industries in the graphic below.Resignation contemplationAnd here are the number of employees who have contemplated resigning from their jobs

Sunday, December 8, 2019

The Advantages of Can You Upload a Resume to Linkedin

The Advantages of Can You Upload a Resume to Linkedin If you dont have an email address, you can get a free account at Yahoo or Hotmail. The LinkedIn URL ought to go in the header along with the remainder of your contact info. Making your profile public also improves your Google search results for your name, which can be quite beneficial if you get a frequent name, or it can help you in making the suitable info about you accessible. Never write like a templated junkmail message If youre spamming on your very first message to an individual, its very rare that the LinkedIn message is going to be a success. Can You Upload a Resume to Linkedin It is imperative to position your profile before industry recruiters and decision makers. In the era of social networking, an individual ought to be dedicated enough to run a business account and ensure it is successful. When it has to do with job search, we cannot underestimate the significance of storytelling. For active job seekers, t heres a new hintergrund check to know about the social media scan. Simply take a look and see whether you believe that would be of interest. 1 thing you could do is to be certain you have good lightingthat directly affects the standard of your videos. Make certain you get to the point. Or DoYouBuzz, which is an extremely user-friendly website with both free and paid plans, providing you with a lot of template options and is an incredibly smooth process also. Your profile should be a representation of yourself. You will normally select your hours at the start of the week and many businesses have a minimum quantity of hours you must work each week. Include any appropriate background info. Right now is an excellent time to update your linkedin profile. Things You Wont Like About Can You Upload a Resume to Linkedin and Things You Will The organization isnt currently sharing how a lot of people have taken courses throughout the platform. You want people to get in touch with yo u. You need to make an excellent first impression for individuals to want to learn more about you. You want recruiters and hiring managers and HR people to get in touch with you so that you may show them you are a true person that you can ask questions and make a terrific impression whilst engaging in human contact. A Startling Fact about Can You Upload a Resume to Linkedin Uncovered LinkedIn can be a potent tool if you take the opportunity to utilize it well. LinkedIn is going to be the thing to do. LinkedIn isnt just for expert networking. LinkedIn offers users several methods to create an impressive profile. Look for a job that you would want to submit an application for that has the LinkedIn easy apply option. Customer Service skills show whether you find it possible to cope with interpersonal scenarios. When you make an application for work, the employer might also have a look at your LinkedIn profile to find out more about you. A well-curated profile could grab the i nterest of your upcoming boss. At the close of the day, its important to be equally as social as youre professional in order to correctly answer messages on LinkedIn The majority of the moment, this very straightforward message produces a response. Over the last few years linkedin has come to be among the topmost sites for expert networking. You are able to add any links, including links to your professional networking websites. Whether this site is on a distinct site, youre still able to include links to LinkedIn on your resume so long as they are separate. On the website, you can construct your professional network and engage with them. Furthermore, your LinkedIn profile can improve your visibility online and help you construct your professional brand. LinkedIn is among the most effective career tools for your job search aside from your resume. LinkedIn is somewhere to produce and manage a professional image of yourself, and that should guide all your interactions on the w ebsite. Over the past few decades, LinkedIn started supplanting the major job search sites.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

The Accusational a Workplace Counterpart to the Confessional

The Accusational a Workplace Counterpart to the Confessional Satire alert Yes, the following is partly satirical. Confession is good for the soul is fervently proclaimed by both those urging and those offering up confessions, irrespective of venuee.g., church, police station, in a managers office, or in the kitchen with a suspicious wife dangling a lipstick-smeared tie.In fact, that has been the implication of recent articles about recruiter confession published herbeie and there.The Concept of the AccusationalTo the extent that there is a good case to be made for that tenet as an organizational and psychological, as well as a negotiation and stimmung principle, it is worthwhile considering the merits of a diametrically opposite variation on the curtained confessional what Ill call the accusational.As I conceive it, an accusational would be an enclosed physical and psychological workplace space fo r privileged, private and generally confidential disclosures between a disgruntled, alarmed or whistle-blowing employee, manager, etc., and an accusation counselor, who, like the stereotypic father confessor, canbedrngnis disclose or publicly utilize anything learned in the session, with only rare exceptions of the sort described below. Unlike a shop steward, interrogating detective, conventional employee counselor, betrayed wife, ombudsman or other appointed intermediary tasked with addressing staff complaints, whistle-blowings, personal issues, etc., an accusation counselor would be limited to playing roles exactly parallel to and as limited as those of a father confessor or friar.These are to listen comfort guide empower the accuser invite and offer forgiveness of the accused, achieve closure and, ideally, remission and prevention of more sins of those identified or alluded to by the accuser.In the accusational, there would also be an emphasis on the mental, emotional and spirit ual fortification of the accuser against the consequences of alleged past or looming transgressions by the accused against the accuser, the company, society or the world.In particular, there would be a focus on moral and emotional empowerment of the accuser to take steps outside the accusational to address and prevent transgressions by if not against, or achieve outright, complete forgiveness of, those accused.This is exactly analogous to a clerical in the sense of church, not data-entry employee confessor inspiring a penitent to make changes out there, after making positive, personally internal changes induced within the confines of the confessional.A Lesson From Sex in HistoryTo achieve eternal and external change, start with your internal confiding staff. In fact, that goal of achieving inner changes among staff with outward consequences for others seems to have been a little-known key motivation for the creation of church confessionals.Historian Gordon Rattray Taylor maintained in his1954 panoramic analysis Sex in History that the confessional was introduced in 1565 by the Council of Valencia as a means of controlling compulsorily celibate friars and priests who were having so many illicit liaisons that the German language acquired a special term identifying the consequences of these couplings Pfaffenkindparsons child.as priestly marriage was made increasingly difficult, priests were driven to content themselves with simple fornicationto the point where, in Germany, the word Pfaffenkind (parsons child) was used as a synonym for bastard So serious did the situation become that in many parishesat least in Spain and inSwitzerlandthe parishioners insisted that the priest must have a concubine as a measure of protection for their wives from seduction and coercion through criminal withholding of absolution. The Rules and Goals of the AccusationalBound by an oath of confidentiality to refrain from disclosing or applying what is revealed to anything outside the soul of the accuser and the space of the accusational, the accusation counselor would be constrained by a code even stricter than that of a psychiatrist or monk.For in addition to doing his or her utmost to maintain strict client confidentiality, the accusational counselor, unlike a psychiatrist or lawyer, would have, at root, only one primary task catharsisi.e., providing a space and ear in which the accuser can vent, instilling hope being a bonus.Accusational ConfidentialityNonetheless, there is some fuzziness and debate surrounding the issue of absolute confidentiality and non-intervention in the case of confessional and client-confidentialityand by extension, in the rules governing and exchanges within accusationals.Some argue that what is said during a church confession can be reported so long as it does not expose or otherwise implicate the confessing party, e.g., a threat to vandalize the church exposed as a warning to provide safeguards, but not against a specific person and his actions.Translated into accusational rules, this would mean that the accusation could be reported by the company counselor generically, e.g., reporting that somebody is stealing office pens, but not specifically, by name or other identified, which would allow installation of office-supply locks, but without finger-pointing.As for threats, theres the argument that since a threat is not a confession, revealing it to third parties it is not problematic on the other hand, some see anything said or done in a confessional as utterly confidential. Following the former logic, an accusational counselor should be able to report a threat by either the accuser or the accused.Others, taking an even more restrictive stance, disallow even benefiting from the information at no expense to or to the material benefit of both parties in the confessional, e.g., a guilt-ridden inside-traders revelation of the stock info he acted on at lunch time.In an accusational, this would mean that the counselor could not capitalize on the information that the prettiest secretary in the office recently broke up with her boyfriend.Finally, there may be an acute conflict between secular and ecclesiastical law, with the latter requiring disclosure of past, looming or habitual criminal behaviors, e.g., family abuse or terror plots, with no legal exemption for confessionals. In an accusational, company policy and law may similarly collide.Clearly, most of these thorny issues of confidentiality are very likely to find their counterparts in the accusational.A Hands-Off, Arms-Length ApproachA hands-off approach means no counselor-initiated interventions regarding the accused, e.g., an overbearing boss or a pilfering colleague. Hence, like a father confessor, in addition to not being a lascivious hustler, the accusational counselor cannot be a spy, a shill, a conflict mediator, negotiator or an informer.Unlike a lawyer, an accusational counselor would not undertake the task of getting the accused o r the accuser off the hook or facilitating getting his hooks into or paws on either of them. For those concerned about the expense of it all, absent something like a church tithing 10% donation to cover it, to make the accusational cost-effective, 100% private and fully cathartic, there is one recommendation that would accomplish this in one fell swoop and even eliminate the expense of a counselor.Make the accusational an empty, padded, soundproof room.