WOrg In the News

Professor Theresa Glomb spoke with Angela Davis on MPR News about time management. During the interview, Professor Glomb talks about how small changes can improve performance, meaning and well-being.

Many employers are scaling back work with flexibility options for employees.  Other companies are using flexibility as their advantage in recruiting. Solventum, which spun off of 3M, continues to allow fully remote work. Professor Colleen Manchester discusses the different approaches Minnesota companies are taking.

The undergraduate program requires students to take BA 3011 Race, Power, and Justice Professor in Business. Carlson faculty and staff were able to participate in a summer series focused on content from this course. Presenters included Professor John Budd, Nitya Chawla and Todd Williams.

Since 2021, there have been more job openings than job seekers. However, those job seekers interested in less than 40 hour work weeks are struggling to get hired. Some of this can be due to lack of flexibility in the schedule or barriers to entry in qualifications. Professor Colleen Manchester speaks on the issue.

Change, especially in the workplace, can take it's toll on our emotions but some change can be good. Professor Nitya Chawla talks about some of the silver linings. "The changes that happened to work because of COVID can actually do a lot of good in terms of investing properly in DEI initiatives."

Minnesota food company KLN is known for products like Wiley Wallaby licorice and NutriSource pet food. They also offer their employees profit sharing insentives which is something less than 10% of U.S. companies do.
Professor Alan Benson talks about some of the history of profit sharing and how it can be a win for both employees and employers.

How can you help parents, especially mothers, when they are returning to work? Professor Nitya Chawla researched the impact of allyship in the workplace. Read the link below to find out what the research team found and what specific actions you can take.

Professor Alan Benson looks to help answer the question "What makes a good manager?".  So many managers who get promoted receive little to no formal training. In sales, Benson's research helped show the "Peter Principle" where people who get promoted often do so until they reach a job they are incompetent at. How then should managers be selected? Read more to find out!

Minnesota has seen an increase in union organizing in a variety of workplaces including museums, nonprofits, restaurants and bookstores. However, the number of U.S. workers represented by a union has not grown. Learn more about the trends and their implications from Professor John Budd.

What can make you more productive, successful and happier at work? Friendship. "People who are close, their communication happens faster." Friends can also hold each other accountable in ways that others can't. Professor Pri Shah has done research on workplace friendships and performance and has one of the most cited papers on the subject!

Do you consider yourself a curious employee? Is curiosity in the workplace a good or bad thing? How does ones ability to network play a role in determining how curiosity is perceived by others? Post Doctoral Associate Kalan Norris help lead research to answer these questions. 

Leaked documents from Mayo Clinic show how leaders were instructed to engage around the topic of unionizing. Most of the messaging was not favorable towards unions but Professor John Budd says that can be "predictable messaging across all industries." Employers can share facts, opinions and experiences (FOE) but not engage in threats, intimidation, promises and spying (TIPS).

Could we be near the beginning of an organized labor rebound? In the Twin Cities, we have seen recent labor activism from groups in health care, public works, and education. Professor John Budd was interviewed by KSTP to discuss these current labor trends and how they compare to the past. You can watch his interview or read about it in the link.

The Connecting Carlson building renovation project is happening! The renovation will include upgrades to the first and second floors, atrium, study spaces and a name change. The building will be named Marilyn Carlson Nelson Hall. In this article, Professor Theresa Glomb shares a point of pride in what that naming means.

Migrants face many challenges in the workplace including being underemployed/underpaid, higher threat of job loss and insecurity about residence permits. However, the benefits to nations and firms that take in skilled migrants are clear. Professor Mary Zellmer-Bruhn has been researching key factors that help drive skilled migrant retention. 

According to Professor John Budd, the pandemic was a "wake-up call for how powerless workers have become." Union's have seen a gain in public approval and large gains in pay. Read more about how Union's have made a big impact in the US labor market in recent times.

Professor Theresa Glomb spoke with MPR News to discuss the Future of Us. The pandemic shifted the way we work and that shift has continued even after the threat of the virus has diminished. This has allowed for great opportunities for some but inequities for others. Speaking about the future of work, Theresa said "Until we get something that works, it's going to be awkward and clumsy. It's not going to be perfect right away. But I think if we can take this time to pause and reflect and rethink work, we've got an opportunity here to make work better for people."

How will Minnesota deal with national workforce shortages will enacting new programs? Professor Alan Benson was interviewed by the Star Tribune to talk about one of the tightest labor markets of a generation. Private sector employers have flexibility to create policies offering temporary signing bonuses or allowing people to work from home with greater ease than the state. "State government must follow requirements around pay fairness and transparency, and many jobs are in-person. Job security, traditionally one of the big selling points of government work, has less value now." 

Professor Abdifatah Ali is not only researching health disparities but he's out on the ground helping the East African community. His current project aims to "reduce cancer disparities by building knowledge in community health workers. They want to find the gaps, in terms of what services are being provided, and train trusted people in the community so they can provide the best interventions possible."

Would you leave a corporate job to join a startup company? Why or why wouldn't you decide to do this? Professor's Colleen Manchester and Alan Benson have new research looking into the factors of this decision. They've found that "Men and women who are the primary source of household income are equally unlikely to consider startup opportunities, but when they have a career-prioritized spouse, men become more than twice as likely than women to be willing to consider startup opportunities (82% vs. 37%)." 

The Poets & Quants for Undergrads has announced the list of favorite business professors of the class of 2023. Professor John Kammeyer-Mueller has the honor of being selected and a student said "John is one of the most charismatic people I know. He always engages the class with (mostly relevant) stories, thought-provoking questions, and deep conversations about the subject matter. He also made an effort to learn everyone’s names, making us all feel more comfortable and ready to engage."

Professor Alan Benson was interviewed for a Friday Coffee Talk with Plant Fair on his research on why female employees are 50% more likely to be labeled "high performance" but "low potential" for promotion. 

How do black police officers combat racism at work? Professor Nitya Chawla and a team of authors have been researching this to find out. Their focus has been on bottom-up strategies in policing to combat rascism. Read more about what their research found on this topic!

Gophers head football coach P.J. Fleck joins Professor Theresa Glomb in the classroom to co-teach students on leadership principles. Professor Glomb read Fleck's memoir "Row The Boat" and said "When I read P.J.'s book I thought, 'This compltetly aligns with the leadership principles we're trying to teach the students.'"

Workday Magazine writer Amie Stager's latest piece is on the reflections on Marcia Howard (Minneapolis of Federation of Teachers, Local 59) and Kelley Anaas (Minnesota Nurses Association). Their experiences show how gender shows up in their work and organizing, not just in their compensation and working conditions, but also in cultural values and self-awareness.

As companies look to fill positions, hiring bonuses are becoming more and more common. Why is this? Professor John Kammeyer-Mueller talks with Kare11 News to discuss why it's becoming more common across industries and job types. Read the article or watch the interview!

March 14, 2023 was Equal Pay Day in the United States, "a date that marks how far into the year the typical woman must work to finally earn what a man earned in 2022." Professor Alan Benson was interviewed to share some of the insights he has learned on why that is. Specifically his research focuses on high performance but low potential ratings women often receive.it may look like going forward.

Professor Alan Benson was interviewed by the Star Tribune. He's quoted saying "The pandemic would have been a different experience without people doing these [delivery] jobs." Read more about how delivery workers jobs have changed in recent times and what it may look like going forward.

MPR News host Angela Davis talks to two Minnesotans who have been looking into “quiet quitting” about the state of current work culture and if “quiet quitting” is a problem for employers.

Guests: Beth Campbell, Associate Professor WOrg & Cecelia Stanton Adams, CEO, Diversity Institute. 

A lot of us have seen them in action but few of us have driven a zamboni. Professor Colleen Manchester talks "on the job training" with the Star Tribune. See how you could become the next driver and how industries are shifting expectations for new workers.

Professor Alan Benson was interviewed by the Star Tribune for an article on the new Minnesota nursing union contract. Learn more about what it means for workers and what the next steps are.

Workday Magazine writer Isabela Escalona spoke with caregivers and disabled Minnesotans for a story on the home care crisis, showing how the fight to improve working conditions for home care workers is also the fight to improve living conditions for disabled people and their families.  

New University of Minnesota research suggests that while many in the midst of divorce struggle at work, others find renewed career motivation.

WORG Professors Connie Wanberg and Michelle Duffy, along with alum Borbala Csillag, ‘21 Ph.D., published their findings from two studies in Personnel Psychology. 

Workday Magazine writer Isabela Escalona writes about Piotr Szyhalski’s We Are Working All The Time!, now on view at the Weisman Art Museum through December 31.  The exhibition is a unchanging criterion of cultural merit. Thus: Suspending all ideological banners, we work.”  

MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two guests about what’s happening to improve worker retention. 

Guests:  Mary Zellmer-Bruhn, Professor and Chair, WOrg & Chris Farrell, MPR's News' senior economics contributor. 

Professor Elizabeth Campbell was interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for an article on hiring top performers. According to her research, hiring a top performer can help motivate other employees or have the opposite effect and decrease their output. A lot of that is determined by the manager.