Bosses Try To Wrest Back Power

Good morning and welcome back to the Journal's newsletter about the rapidly changing world of work and how to get ahead in your career.

In this edition we take a look at the power shift between bosses and workers, why the American consumer is starting to freak out, the double-bind of mandatory fun in the workplace, and more.

This is a short version of The Wall Street Journal’s Careers & Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the full edition in your inbox every week.

Bosses Try To Wrest Back Power

After years of navigating a tight job market, some executives say attrition is slowing, hiring challenges are easing and the balance of power between bosses and workers is shifting. Employers who felt they had less leverage in the tight labor market of the past couple of years say they have more power now. Just this week, U.S. return-to-office rates rose above 50% for the first time since the pandemic began.?

Bosses are starting to feel bossy again.

?? As We Work: Getting a new boss can be scary for workers. It’s also scary for the boss. Listen to As We Work for tips on getting on your boss’s good side. (Listen)

One Company’s Trick to Getting 95,000 Hours Back? Canceling Meetings

Meetings are the new corporate hobgoblin. Executives at Shopify Inc., Wayfair Inc. and other firms say overstuffed calendars—partly a symptom of more remote work that crimped quick, serendipitous gatherings—waste thousands of hours and cut into productivity.?

Definitely could have been an email.

?? Question for the next edition of Careers & Leadership:

What tips or tricks have helped you to improve productivity?

Email us your comments, which we may edit or shorten before publication, to?[email protected], and make sure to include your first and last name, industry, and location.

You’re Good at Your Job, but Are You ‘Fun’ Enough?

Some bosses believe in-person bonding is more important than ever in a hybrid work era, but mandatory fun time with colleagues fills a lot of people with dread. Even when the festivities are allegedly optional, people can feel forced into joining. Being viewed as a party pooper is sometimes a bigger professional risk than being unproductive.

Is mandatory fun still fun?

Career Conversations

Last week, we asked readers how they handled self-promotion at work. Below, a sampling of their responses.

"By definition, self-promotion is “artfully communicating your value to the people who want and need to know.” I recommend the following:

(1) Create a list of your most impactful performance results and accomplishments.

(2) Consider what is valuable to the individual(s) you’ll speak with and the best timing to do so.

(3) Communicate your strengths, skill set and/or contributions when asked ('How do you do it all?') or you can initiate conversation with colleagues." – Ericka Spradley, Entrepreneur, Charlotte, N.C.

"I rarely brag about my accomplishments but when I do, it's only with my direct supervisor.? In larger settings, I like to give credit to the greater team as a whole." – Ethan Butterworth, Legal Services, Richmond, Va.

"It's not bragging to tell your story honestly and clearly. You can make the best product in the world but if no one knows about it you will not succeed. Like it or not, you are a product and you are in a competition for scarce rewards. Marketing is not a dirty word and marketing yourself is just common sense. As the article says, you don't have to be a jerk about it but you do have to be confident and honest. It's your career and no one is going to do it for you." –Patrick Plemmons, Executive Transition, Athens, Ga.

"One of my favorite strategies for effectively sharing about your own accomplishments is to thoughtfully infuse updates about your contributions into everyday conversations. For example, if you find yourself in a Zoom meeting with the big boss before others join or ride the elevator with a more senior leader and they ask, ‘How are you?’, Instead of the usual ‘Great, thanks,’ try: ‘I am working on/recently completed [project] and we learned [brief outcome].’ It makes for a much more engaging conversation (better than how the weather is!) and highlights what you’ve been working on." – Shanna Hocking, Leadership, Philadelphia, Pa.?

"‘If you don’t tell your own story, people will just make up their own version.’ I believe it's also HOW you say it, as much as WHAT you say. That's where practice and humility come in (humility not as in thinking less of yourself, but as in having a balanced view of strengths & weaknesses)." – Rusty Gaillard, Executive Coach, San Francisco, Calif.

Elsewhere in The Wall Street Journal

Check out some of the Journal’s other best-read stories on work life and the office over the past week:

• Child Care Hasn’t Recovered From Covid, Keeping Many Parents at Home (Read)
• Once Flush Savings Accounts Are Starting to Run Dry (Read)
• How to Reduce Email Mess and Stress (Read)

This is a condensed version of WSJ’s Careers & Leadership newsletter. Sign up here to get the WSJ’s comprehensive work coverage in your inbox each week.

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This newsletter was curated by Gretchen Tarrant, WSJ Producer. Let us know what you think by dropping us a note at [email protected].?