May 2022 – Croixstone

3 Essential Focus Areas for Your Board

As a boutique management consulting firm, the catalyst behind many of Croixstone’s engagements is tied to priorities established by private company boards.

The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) is a professional association with a mission to empower directors and transform boards to be future ready. For more than 40 years, NACD has been on the leading edge of corporate governance by setting standards of excellence that have elevated board performance.

The Croixstone team read with interest a recent publication by NACD spotlighting the fact that private company boards are facing increased pressure to both capitalize on and protect against disruption. Whether coming from the environment, rapid advances in technology, the political landscape, and/or regulatory realms, the ongoing threat of disruption demands that directors be flexible, agile, and ready to address these fast-evolving challenges.

NACD recommends that boards prioritize their discussions on the following three areas:

Human Capital: Especially on matters of hiring, retention, and succession planning.
Cyber Threats: In 2021, ransomware events increased by 700%. It is essential that directors understand their company’s vulnerabilities and the board’s role in addressing these challenges.
ESG: The rise in ESG (environmental, social and governance) mandates that boards provide strong leadership in guiding the management of their companies to allocate the appropriate resources and attention.

Learn more here.

Understanding America’s Labor Shortage

Here’s an eye-opening fact that truly captures that enormous hiring challenge facing USA employers of all sizes.

If every unemployed person in the country found a job, we would still have 5.3 million open jobs.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce published research in early February of 2022 that featured this fact along with other data that the Croixstone team found fascinating. The following data points truly help to shape the story of today’s labor market.

We have 11.3 million job openings in the USA – but only 6 million unemployed workers.
As of October 2021, the pandemic drove 3 million adults into early retirement.
The childcare industry lost 370,600 jobs between February and April 2020 – and is still recovering.
Women participating in the workforce is at its lowest rate since the 1970s.
Last year, more than 47 million workers quit their jobs.
A Gallup survey found that 91% of workers in the USA hope they can continue to work some of their hours from home.
3 in 10 workers surveyed by Gallup signaled they would seek now employment if they were recalled to the office.

Learn more about the U.S. Chamber research here.

The seismic disruption in the USA’s workforce mandates that organizations of all sizes reimagine their people strategies. Croixstone’s team of highly-experienced human capital professionals are here to ideate and bring new thinking to your HR organization. Reach out to us today and let’s kick-start a conversation.