HBR’s Most-Read Research Articles of 2021

Summary.   

What will it take to make work better? Over the past year, HBR has published a wide array of research-backed articles that explore topics ranging from retaining employees to overcoming meeting overload to fostering gender equity in the workplace. In this end-of-year roundup, we share key insights and trends from our most-read research articles of 2021.

As the workplace rapidly transforms in the wake of the pandemic, social movements, and more, a fundamental question remains: How can we ensure we’re making work better — for employees, organizations, and society at large?

Over the past year, HBR has published a wide array of research-backed articles exploring that question, looking at everything from retaining employees to overcoming meeting overload to fostering gender equity in the workplace. With the year coming to an end, we decided to take a look at what resonated most with our readers in 2021. Our most visited articles include a broad range of ideas, but several distinct trends emerged:

Managing Through the Great Resignation

Our two most-read research articles from the past year both focus on one of the biggest issues on all our minds: the Great Resignation. In Who Is Driving the Great Resignation?, data from nine million employees at 4,000 companies around the world sheds light on which segments of the global economy have experienced the most resignations. It turns out that rates have been highest among mid-career employees, and among those in the health care and tech sectors. The article recommends that firms take a data-driven approach to boosting retention by quantifying the problem, identifying the root causes that are driving employees to leave, and developing tailored retention programs.

A related piece, Research: Why Rejected Internal Candidates End Up Quitting, explores a common driver of resignations: If an internal candidate is passed up for a new opportunity, research shows that they are more than twice as likely to quit shortly thereafter. Of course, not every internal candidate is the right fit for the job, so what can organizations do to encourage internal applicants while still making the necessary hiring decisions? The authors found that rejected internal candidates were half as likely to quit if they interviewed with a hiring manager, or if they were passed over for another internal candidate, since these signals suggested that even though they didn’t get the promotion this time, their candidacy was taken seriously. In other words, even if an employee is rejected today, they are more likely to stick around if they feel they have a good chance of advancing tomorrow.

What Employees Want (and Need) to Thrive

Of course, convincing people not to quit is really just the bare minimum.

Complete at HBR

 

A New Approach to Rebalancing the U.S-China Trade Deficit

Tariffs have not succeeded in reducing the U.S. trade deficit with China. A much better way for the U.S. to tackle this problem and rebuild domestic production is a cap-and-trade system similar to the one for greenhouse gas emissions. The beauty of such a system is its insulation from political favoritism and bureaucracy: Market forces would determine who buys licenses and what gets imported. The cap’s level can be managed relative to a target such as GDP or the size of the trade deficit.

Three years of trade war and supply disruption from the pandemic have the United States looking to reverse decades of migration of American production lines to China and the resulting loss of industrial capability and manufacturing jobs.

The U.S. government wants to rebuild domestic production, especially of critical items, and reduce dependence on an increasingly hostile strategic rival, and U.S. corporations are rethinking their sourcing risks given that China President Xi Jinping could shut down shipments to the United States at any time.

The one policy tool that would do both is a cap-and-trade system that would entail the U.S. government issuing rights to import certain dollar amounts of Chinese goods and then allowing those rights to be traded.

The Need for a New Approach

Other tools have failed: U.S. imports from China continue to rise and in 2021 will likely exceed the pre-trade war 2018 peak of $539 billion. If the United States were to raise existing tariffs on Chinese goods or impose new ones, China could easily follow suit as it has in the past; tariffs also create uncertainty for buyers in terms of their duration and the likely tit-for-tat responses they provoke. The United States has won the lion’s share of the complaints it has filed with the World Trade Organization against China for issues involving individual products, but by the time the WTO has completed the long adjudication process and levied a penalty tariff, the damage has been done.

Complete Article at HBR

 

Difficult questions to answer in a job interview

If you are about to show up for a job interview, you should be prepared to answer those questions that will stagger you. Here are some recommendations.

According to a small business report, 50 percent of companies in 2016 say the hiring stage is the toughest challenge they face. 50 percent of companies keep the hiring area active, this means that your ideal job is waiting for you.

Now, it's time to prepare for interview questions that would make even the most skilled of interviewees nervous.

Despite all the preparations, a job interview is a nerve-racking experience. To make matters worse, interviewers have numerous questions that can easily get in the way of the interviewee.

These questions are not malicious. They try to get a clear picture of the candidate to make sure they are qualified for the job and that they can be a good fit for the company.

Over the years I have hired hundreds of people and interviewed thousands of candidates. As a recruiter, taking candidates out of their control state allows me to see how they can thrive under pressure in the workplace.

No matter how experienced or prepared you are, sometimes these questions are designed to trip anyone up. If you want to avoid it, you should prepare some answers for difficult questions like the following 11 examples.

1. "Can you tell me about yourself?"

This may sound like an innocent and straightforward question, however, it can mislead you to the point of delving too deeply into your personal life. The great interviewers through conversation determine aspects such as culture; You should focus it on your academic training, your professional career and recent work experiences.

How to respond: don't talk about your family or your hobbies. Stay focused on sharing information about how you can be a good fit for the organization.

2. "Are you the type of person who checks your email on vacation?"

On the one hand, you want to convey the dedication and passion you have about your job, you want to assure the interviewer that you are available and that you are trustworthy; Similarly, you must imply that you know the value and importance of work-life balance away from it.

Complete Article at Entrepreneur India

 

Job Interview Preparation Checklist: Don't panic! Be prepared by following these 10 steps.

So you applied for a job online, and just got a call from the recruiter asking if you can interview with the hiring manager. You are super excited until you hear that the interview is happening in 48 hours. Two days. OMG!

Don’t panic; just prepare! Glassdoor has got you covered. Complete with timing and strategy, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of essential ways to gear up for your interview and knock it out of the park. Ready, set, prep!

As soon as you hang up with the recruiter:

1. Study for your interview like it’s a final exam.

Find as much information as you can on the company or organization, and commit as much of it to memory as possible.

If the job you’re interviewing for requires knowledge in a certain field, do all of the learning and brushing up you can on information that will be relevant to your interview.

2. Generate a list of potential interview questions (and their answers!) beforehand.

Base your list of questions on both what you expect them to ask and the real life experience of others

Reach out to people who worked in similar companies and positions as you are interviewing for and ask them about their interview experience

Use tools like Glassdoor’s interview question database to look up real interview questions and their answers.

36 hours before the interview:

3. Write out answers to every question you anticipate, and practice delivering them out loud.

Even if you don’t remember your responses word for word, you can fall back on certain key points and phrases.

Write your own list of questions for the interviewer, and be prepared to ask them when the time arises.

Make sure your questions are nuanced and well-researched. Never ask for any information that can be simply found online.

Complete Article at Entrepreneur India