I love Wednesday’s.  For those of you that didn’t read last Wednesday’s entry, the title of this blog is an anagram for “Rambling Wednesdays”.  So, time for me to ramble.

 The Stress of Stress

According to a recent study, only about 5% of employers are combating work-related stress, focusing on work-life balance issues or employee safety, not on long hours, the biggest complaint of workers.  And studies show stress has a big impact on the retention of employees in an organization. 

According to my company’s last national benchmark study on employee engagement, only four in ten employees believe their stress level is better than other employees with similar jobs at other companies, while nearly one in four say it’s worse.  Employees in companies with 2500-10,000 employees are most negative in their perceptions of stress, while employees in companies with less than 250 employees are more positive.

Some Things Never Change

According to a recent study, 80% of certified fraud examiners said the most common reason for institutional deceit is the pressure “to do whatever it takes to meet goals”. 

Enough said on that one.

A Note To My Sons

My younger son, currently in 10th grade, is already being recruited by a bunch of colleges.  And like his older brother, about to graduate Denison University, he seems to have a penchant for small, liberal arts colleges.  However Harvard is on the list as well, we’re visiting there in April.  So, a note to both my boys on the importance of Return on Investment…

Petroleum engineering graduates are hot in today’s markets. Due to retirement of highly skilled workers, top-ranked petroleum engineering graduates can expect starting pay of $80,000 to $110,000, plus signing bonuses and other perks.

Salaries for graduating geologists are also soaring. The average starting salary for a geologist just out of school is above $80,000, up nearly 50% in five years.  See, oil does have some benefits.

A Deficit in Hire Eduction

According to a recent study, one quarter of today’s employers believe Written Communication, Communication in English, and Leadership are “deficient” in today’s college grads. 

Hope my kids read that one as well.