Weekend Digest: The End Of The 40-Hour Work Week Edition

TV PREVIEW: HIGHWAYS, THE JOBS GOVERNOR AND BIG DATA

On this week’s agenda:

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has announced a May 26 special session primarily to pass a deal for the state’s second superproject – a multi-year, multi-billion military vehicle factory at Lockheed Martin in Camden. How super is this superproject? We’ll explore.

Along with the superproject — health care reform, Presidential primaries, and more dominated the week’s political headlines. Our Talk Politics roundtable guests include KATV’s Janelle Lilley plus TB&P contributors Frank Scott and Steve Brawner.

Digital media expert Skot Covert has been crunching numbers. He’ll join the show to look at who was quiet and who made noise in the most recently completed legislative session. What does the Big Data show?

Plus, highway funding is a national crisis and Arkansas’ roads are undergoing a new study. House Revenue and Tax committee chairman Rep. Joe Jett has an idea that could change the conversation.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock on Sunday at 9 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7.

40-HOUR WORK WEEK NO MORE

Calling it, “The death of the 40-hour work week” CNN Money says, “The expectation — especially for salaried employees who don’t qualify for overtime — is that you’ll put in more to ensure your projects get done.”

Or because the boss needs something at the last minute.

Or just because everyone at the office regularly works more than 8 hours a day, and you’re seen as kind of a slacker if you don’t.

So how long do full-time U.S. employees really work every week? Employers seem to be getting quite a bargain when it comes to all the additional hours of work.

Or maybe not. Read more at this link.

TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS ENTREPRENEURS

Harvard Business Review says, “National Infrastructure Week, May 11-15, should mark the acceleration of giving entrepreneurs and innovators a prominent seat at the table, adding technology opportunities to solve America’s infrastructure problems.”

Sensors, smartphones, tablets, wireless networks, and Big Data are starting to transform transportation and infrastructure. But not fast enough. Speed bumps stem from a classic tension between entrepreneurs who found companies or change them and established organizations, whether industry incumbents or government entities.

Innovation comes from courageous people with an entrepreneurial spirit. They want to move fast, unencumbered by tradition. But too often, they are constrained by existing rules and institutions, which prohibit experimentation or prevent new models from emerging. The tension is difficult to navigate, because some rules are there for a reason, such as safety, fair wages, or customer service.

Can this tension be circumvented to overcome roadblocks so entrepreneurs can help advance transportation infrastructure, and if so what will it take?

Find out by clicking on this link.

WHAT INDUSTRIES HAVE THE UNHAPPIEST EMPLOYEES?

Finance and insurance reports Fast Company.

And it says, “Three factors contribute to the lack of job satisfaction, despite security and high wages.”

According to new research by TINYpulse, less than a quarter (22%) of employees at financial services companies are “truly happy” at work. This is in sharp contrast to TINYPulse’s findings on construction workers, who are among the happiest.

The survey, which analyzed more than 3,000 survey responses from 60 different financial services companies ranging from banking to real estate, prompted a number of cringe-worthy comments on three main factors that had a negative impact on their work. They were…

Go here to find out along with the number one driver of happiness at work.

THE ETIQUITTE OF PROPER GOODBYES TO YOUR EMPLOYEES

Inc. reports, “It’s important to take just as much care in saying goodbye to employees as you do in hiring them.”

When your employees rave about the experience of working for your organization, they raise your profile as an employer, which in turn attracts great prospective employees. But what we don’t always realize is that it’s just as important to create raves when saying goodbye to employees as it is while they’re a part of your team.

The final stage of an employee’s time with your organization is one of the most important times to be supportive and to uphold your cultural values. Saying goodbye to an important member of your team can be tough, but think about this person as a long-term ambassador for your brand.

For the complete story on how “the way you say goodbye to a colleague directly impacts how smooth the transition will be when that person is no longer on the team,” and how the departure as well “also gives you an opportunity to send a strong message to the rest of your team about your commitment to your values,” go to this link.

FAIR-MINDED STRATEGY SEARCH FOR GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES

With so many contenders The New York Times reports, “Republican leaders, searching for a fair-minded but strategically wise way to conduct the presidential primary debates, are grappling with how to manage White House contenders in a sprawling field that mixes proven politicians with provocateurs and reflects an increasingly fractious party.”

The Republican National Committee’s decision last year to claim control of the 2016 debate process was welcomed by many in the party who believed that Mitt Romney, the 2012 nominee, was hurt by both the pummeling and the positions he took during the 20 debates in that primary contest.

But by trying to impose order through party-sanctioned debates and limiting the number of forums, the party may have begotten an equally messy problem: who to include on stage for a 90-minute debate from a field of nearly 20 potential candidates.

For an early look at how it possibly could be sorted out, connect to this link.

JEB STEPS IN IT

Calling it “a humiliating reversal for a proud and loyal member of the Republican Party’s foremost political dynasty,” POLITICO reports, “After three days of hemming and hawing about his brother’s decision to go to war in Iraq, Jeb Bush finally came up with a clear answer:

“Knowing what we know now, I would not invade.”

Only days earlier, Bush was aggressively dismissing “hypothetical” questions about the war in an effort to end the first real controversy enveloping his likely White House run — even saying it would be “a disservice” to Iraq veterans to address those questions at all.

But facing a barrage of attacks from his Republican rivals, he finally relented, perhaps against his natural instincts as a politician and certainly against his inclination as the devoted son of one president who waged a successful war in Iraq and the sometimes distant brother of another who almost destroyed his presidency launching one of his own.

For the complete story, click here.

THE GREAT STEPHANOPOLOUS MESS

POLITICO Magazine reports ABC News’ “This Week” and “Good Morning America” host George Stephanopoulos is proving to be his own worst enemy.

Former Clintonland insider George Stephanopoulos, who has excelled at both politics and journalism, appears to have failed both professions with a single transgression.

And as POLITICO Magazine notes, it is “something he had not previously disclosed to viewers or his employers.”

What did he do and will the network stand behind him? Go to this link to find out.

RUNNING AGAINST THE GRAIN

U.S. News & World Report calls them “The Outsiders.”

One has never tried to win elected office before. Another has, and was roundly thumped, only after being dumped from the helm of what was the world’s largest technology company. A third last served the public more than a decade ago and is now more defined by his time as a talk show commentator than his tenure as governor.

Get ready for the 2016 outsiders – a band of Republicans who turned on the ignition of candidacies for president last week, despite long odds and unconventional resumes.

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee each represent a potential wild card in what is shaping up to be the largest slate of GOP contenders vying for the nomination in a generation.

The mere fact that these underdogs are moving forward with bids speaks volumes about the fluidity and unpredictability of a race that’s only beginning to gel.

So how will these “underdogs” move forward and is it possible their strategies can make advances against the established pack? U.S. News & World Report has the full story and analysis at this link.

IF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WERE BORN TODAY

The Washington Post posts, “Sometimes, folks, there’s a little bit of web content that seems at first to be simple — to be self-contained entertainment from which nothing further can be derived. Like Time.com’s very fun “what would my name be now” tool.”

So how does it work and what would current Presidential candidates names be if they were born today?

Without further ado: The “What-If-They-Were-Born-Today” names of the 2016 candidates, ranked in order of spectacularness.

Here.

WYNTON MARSALIS REMEMBERS LOUIS ARMSTRONG

“With the last of the amps packed up and the stages disassembled, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Fest has added another year to the books. And for all the variety on this year’s lineup, so many of the acts can still count among their influences a man born more than a century ago: Louis Armstrong,” says LIFE.

Of course, the musicians most influenced by Armstrong are those, like Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, who play the trumpet. “Anybody who can play considers Louis Armstrong an influence,” Marsalis says. “He’s the foundation of our grammar, syntax, of our way of playing.”

“Marsalis spoke with LIFE about jazz in New Orleans, and Louis Armstrong’s enduring impact on the city, its people and its music,” at this link.

And in honor of the late, great blues legend B.B. King, check out this story of his life.

ARKANSAS’ JOHN DALY TO BECOME FIRST PRO GOLFER TO SHARE HIS LIFE ON ESPN

USA Today Sports reports, “Word got out during an ESPN event earlier this week that John Daly would become the first golfer ever to be the subject of a 30 for 30 documentary.”

Daly, on Thursday, confirmed the news through his Twitter account.

“Daly won’t be remembered as golf’s best ever player — although not due to lack of talent — but he’ll almost certainly go down as its most fascinating.”

For more on this story and why Daly remains so popular among fans despite his personal troubles and failed marriages, connect here.