b'DECREASE STRESS FOR BLACK EMPLOYEES A McKinsey & Company study identifies several challenges companies must address to increase opportunities for black team members:Address the broken rung. Black employees are overrepresented in frontline positions and underrepresented in management. They dont receive promotions to managerial positions at the same rate as other workers and rarely advance to senior levels. Managers should track promotion rates and provide opportunities and support for black team members to advance.Increase mentorship and sponsorship. Feeling pressured to work twice as hard to prove yourself while being overly scrutinized can create an emotionally exhausting situation often referred to as a black tax. Managers can create environments of inclusion and support within their teams, and colleagues can be allies to reduce stress for black peers.Use remote work options. Remote and hybrid work environments can provide options for black workers who might not live in geographic regions with rapid growth opportunities. Managers can evaluate which positions can be performed remotely and expand recruitment efforts in predominantly black communities. Demonstrate appreciation. The vast majority of black employees feel they are helping their companies succeed (90 percent). Smart managers will demonstrate appreciation for those contributions to address the trust deficit between black employees and their companies.NEW TREND TOWARD QUIET HIRINGCNN recently reported on a new phenomenon in the workplace. Remember quiet quitting, describing the trend where employees choose not to go above and beyond in the workplace? Well, that was 2022. This year theres a new practice in vogue dubbed quiet hiring. Quiet hiring could potentially have a major impact on the future of work, according to Emily Rose McRae, who leads Gartners research team on that topic. She claims that for some organizations, it will be a game changer. Companies have begun turning to quiet hiring to trim costs ahead in an unstable economy. Employers are looking for ways to fulfill their needs without actually having to commit to growing their workforce, says Kory Kantenga, senior economist at LinkedIn.Hiring shortterm contractors or reassigning additional tasks to existing employees offers a much less expensive way to fill in the gaps from the current labor shortage. Retraining workers has fewer associated costs, including advertising, sifting through applications, conducting interviews, and bringing someone in and up to speed.One note of caution would be the inequity of asking people to work harder without changing their compensation. However, employees can also benefit from the opportunity to build new skill sets which can grow and develop their careers.JULY/AUGUST 2023 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG 55'