December 14, 2013

Warning Signs of Layoffs

Are you at risk of getting fired or being laid off. A career coach gives you the telltale signs that your job could be in danger. Then, a recent study examines the arrest records of young Americans, with alarming results. We talk to a criminologist for the details.

Episode Segments:

InfoTrak: Warning Signs of Layoffs B>Marjorie Treu, Career Coach and Management Consultant, and author of 78 Mistakes New Managers Make; What You Need to Know to Avoid Career Suicide offered suggestions for employees who may be concerned about potential layoffs. She outlined possible warning signs and how employees should react to them. She discussed the most common mistakes that may affect job security. She outlined other ways to successfully adapt to a changing job market.
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InfoTrak: Americans Under Arrest Shawn Bushway, PhD, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the State University of New York, Albany was the co-author of a study that found that by age 23, almost a third of Americans have been arrested for a crime. He talked about the reasons behind this trend and how changes in policing may have affected it. He also discussed the possible employment ramifications, as many young people are unable to pass a background check for certain jobs.
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InfoTrak: The Racial Divide Dr. Daniel Byrd, PhD, Research Director at the Greenlining Institute , led a 3-year study that found that black and white Americans are still miles apart regarding their perceptions of equality or inequality among racial groups. He outlined the results of his research, and discussed possible ways to increase awareness of racism.
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Guest(s) Appearing on this Episode

Marjorie Treu Marjorie Treu is CEO of Team Fusion, LLC, a company dedicated to empowering managers with the tools to create and live their leadership legacy. Her 20-year journey in Corporate America has led Marjorie into the worlds of travel, banking, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and non-profits. The challenges facing today's executives are similar regardless of industry: Lack of visionary leadership in succession planning Low employee morale during uncertain economic times Limited understanding of generational differences in the workplace Marjorie learned tough lessons in her quest to build "dream teams" in the organizations she served. She's been called "The Best Boss" AND "The Worst Boss!" Using these lessons, Marjorie shares her secrets to over-coming obstacles that will lead you toward success. While Marjorie is best known for her teambuilding and leadership expertise, her clients share that her biggest impact comes from her philosophy of incorporating humor, experiential activities, and authentic caring into every interaction. Marjorie most enjoys sharing her message in person, and has spoken on stages around North America, communicating her message of leadership empowerment in business. She grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin and earned a B.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin. Team Fusion Website

Shawn Bushway Shawn D. Bushway is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice in the School of Criminal Justice and Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy in the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany. He is leader in the field of criminology, serving as an Executive Counselor on the American Society of Criminology’s Executive Board, and a member of the four editorial boards. Shawn has done research in three distinct areas: the relationship between work and crime, the effect of discretion in criminal justice processing, and the study of desistance/dynamic change. Occasionally, the areas intersect, such as his collection of studies on redemption. This work was driven by legal questions surrounding the appropriate role of criminal history records, particularly old criminal history records, in employment decisions. Shawn’s analysis of long term hazard rates with co-authors Robert Brame and Megan Kurlychek helped to establish that first time youthful offenders eventually have the same levels of risk as non-offenders seven to ten years after their conviction. These results have raised questions about the validity of lifetime bans against those with criminal history records. A recent paper with Dutch colleagues has extended this work for older offenders with multiple convictions in an international context, and another recent paper in Criminology with Brame and Kurlychek has focused on using long term hazards to describe the nature of desistance. They found the strongest support for a model in which people have constant rates of offending along with a substantial probability of near instantaneous desistance after the most recent offense. This line of work is continuing as part of an ongoing grant from the Bureau of Justice Statistics on recidivism using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Shawn’s work on sentencing has resulted on numerous papers highlighting discretion in the criminal justice system. This focus on discretion has led to a conviction about the importance of plea bargains. Shawn recently directed an NSF- funded symposium on the Future of Empirical Sentencing Research (http://www.albany.edu/scj/symposium_home.php) at Albany in which a consensus developed about the importance of plea bargains in explaining several macro trends in sentencing, including mass incarceration. Plea bargains account for more than 95% of all felony convictions, but receive very little social scientific study. Shawn has a current grant from National Institute of Justice with psychologist Allison Redlich which takes a mixed method approach to testing the most prominent theory of plea bargaining, bargaining in the shadow of the trial. Starting from this simple model, the goal is to build a realistic understanding of the process that generates plea bargains in the United States. Shawn's Website

Daniel Byrd Daniel Byrd is originally from Milwaukee, WI. Daniel completed his BA in psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2005. During his senior year in college, Daniel interned for US Congresswoman Gwen Moore. In 2006 Daniel moved to Seattle to pursue his PhD in Social Psychology at the University of Washington. At the University of Washington Daniel’s research interest focused on racism in politics, and life cycles of political attitudes. Daniel completed his PhD in 2010. Daniel enjoys reading and traveling. The Greenlining Institute