Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

No clear answer for nuclear industry's succession plans

The utility industry is in crisis mode due to its rapidly aging workforce.  Utilities are trying to replace a workforce that could shrink by half through retirements over the next decade. 

The Nuclear Energy Institute did a survey of the nuclear workforce in 2007. The nuclear workforce age distribution has two peaks. The highest peak occurs for workers between the ages of 45 and 65. A smaller peak exists for workers between the ages of 20 and 32.  In between there is a valley of workers between the ages of 32 and 45, the prime ages for workers to move up into management roles.

What this means is that as the boomers retire and the Gen Xers move up the career ladder, the utility industry will hear a big sucking sound creating a huge void in the workforce. Between 2007 and 2012 about 35 percent or 19,600 current nuclear utility workers will be eligible to retire. Over the same five-year period it is projected that an additional 11 percent or 6,300 workers will leave the workforce due to attrition.

The unique demands of utility work, which include the basics of electronics, math, hydraulics, engineering, working outdoors in all kinds of weather, and climbing poles and towers (often exceeding 200 feet) presents a daunting challenge to even the most gifted recruiters. At risk, in addition to helping solve the world’s energy needs is security. The U.S. and other developed countries count on nuclear engineers in shaping the military have and defense structures contributions to national security.

The problem facing the utility and in particular the nuclear industry isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact efforts to recruit more young workers aren’t even a reasonable solution: not many universities in the world offer degree programs in nuclear engineering.   That makes this shortage much more threatening than what occurred with technology workers during the dot-com boom in the late 1990s. Back then, the shortage of computer science graduates was localized to the United States while India and China were pumping out computer scientists, feeding the world’s appetite. 

Today, the world’s educational and training institutions do not have the capacity or resources to keep up with the current demand much less projected future demand.  New degree programs will not be able to start up quickly because of a shortage of qualified faculty and the cost of the infrastructure required to start a program.

Brazil: Perfect Labor Storm strikes another emerging country

For almost any nation other than China or India, achieving more than 5 percent growth a year is hard. Doing it without skilled labor is even harder.

But that is the challenge facing Brazil, the B in the BRIC economies — Brazil, Russia, India and China — today’s version of economic tigers.

Brazil is projecting a period of sustained growth, with the gross domestic product increasing 5 percent a year, from now to 2010, and about 3 and 4 percent annually for the decade after. But many companies and economists, including some inside the government, say the dearth of highly skilled labor, particularly engineers and tradesmen, will jeopardize those goals, and Brazil’s economic and political rise.

The engineering shortage is spreading across industries. The lack of civil and construction engineers threatens infrastructure projects; areas like banking, aircraft manufacture, petrochemicals and metals are all competing for the same top graduates. In the booming oil and gas industries, companies are turning to foreign labor because there are not enough qualified Brazilians to go around.

A study by the National Confederation of Industry last September found that more than half the 1,715 industrial firms polled could not find the skilled workers they needed. Of those, 69 percent said the lack of a qualified work force resulted in inefficiency; 36 percent said it led to lower quality goods; and 25 percent said it made acquiring or assimilating new technologies more difficult.

Read more.

Employers Can't Ignore Workplace Bullies

It’s been over 30 years ago since I first stepped foot in an operating room. (Well, that’s not completely true.  It was just the first time I walked in wearing scrubs and not lying prone on a table being wheeled in!) What I witnessed that day always stuck in my mind. It wasn’t the surgical procedure that created this lasting impression but the attitude of the surgeon toward his residents and particularly the nurses.  And when I say attitude, I mean ATTITUDE. 

The scrub nurse was ridiculed, berated, defamed, and nearly injured as her quick reflexes saved her from being the bulls-eye for a flying forceps.  Over the course of the next few months, I saw this scene repeated time and time again. The only thing that changed was the surgeon who played the bully and the recipient of his/her tirades.

I later discovered that bullying was not an art practiced only by surgeons, nor were hospitals the exclusive stadium in which these events were staged.  Bullying in the workplace for many salespeople, managers and executives and even executive assistants became a sport with bragging rights going to the individual who put down and ran off the most employees.

Despite all the warnings and legal rhetoric (hostile work environment) to protect workers from bullying and jerk bosses, not much has improved in 30 years. In a recent survey, workers reported that in 62% of the cases employers worsened the problem or simply did nothing when made aware of bullying, despite losing an estimated 21-28 million workers as a direct result. There seems to be an ample supply of excuses to give the bully another chance especially if he/she is the surgeon bringing in millions of dollars to the hospital, the salesperson who accounts for 50 percent of company sales, or the executive whose company stock is reaching new highs every day.

The survey sponsored by Workplace Bullying Institute also revealed that Workplace Bullying is an Epidemic:

• 37% of American workers, an estimated 54 million people, have been bullied at work. It affects half (49%) of American workers, 71.5 million workers, when witnesses are included.

• 72% of bullies are bosses. 55% of those bullied are rank-and-file workers.

• Bullying is 4 times more prevalent than illegal forms of "harassment."

• For 45% of bullied targets, stress affects their health. 33% suffer for more than one year.

• Only 3% of bullied targets file lawsuits. 40% never complain.

• Targets have to stop the vast majority of bullying (77%) by losing their jobs despite being the ones harmed.

All that however may be about to change. In a ruling this past Spring, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of a hospital employee who sued a surgeon for emotional distress and assault based on his treatment of the person at work. That’s good news for the victims of bullying and an overdue wake-up call for employers of bullies. 

What implications does the Indiana ruling have for small-business owners nationwide?

It suggests that there could be a trend of these kinds of decisions and small business should adopt a policy on proper conduct in the workplace. Model policies are available online and even very small employers would benefit from adopting one. Click here to read more recommendations.

Related articles: Snakes in Suits: The High Cost of Workplace Jerks

Leaderships Lessons We Learned from Tim Russert

Within minutes after the unexpected death of Tim Russert was announced, the story took on a complete life of its own. While at first I admit I was just curious to find out what happened, I was soon humbled by the sudden outpouring of shock and the impact that Russert had on so many people.  Not since the passing of JFK, Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and Princess Diana do I recall seeing so many people stunned by a death.  Wherever I stopped over the weekend, people were staring at the television, glued to the radio, or talking with complete strangers about his death.  Why was the death of this journalist and host of Meet the Press so meaningful? We've lost celebrities in the past but the public response for them paled in comparison to what I saw and heard over this past weekend.  Why did the passing of this one man have such a profound effect on so many people?   

As I began to watch and listen to the stories about Russert be recounted during the day-long tributes and remembrances, I realized that Russert exemplified the virtues of a great leader. Nearly everyone, from politicians, colleagues, and even his competitors, lauded Russert's prowess as a journalist and as an interviewer. But these were just roles he filled. What is more important is that while he held no official leadership position other than Washington Bureau Chief for NBC, his life encapsulated the behavior that anyone who finds him- or herself in a leadership or management role must strive to emulate.

I must admit that I always enjoyed listening to Tim Russert but was not a loyal watcher of Meet the Press nor his other shows.  But when channel surfing, my fingers stopped clicking the channel changer if Tim was a guest or host.  I admired his quick wit, his humility, his curiosity, his persistence, his direct but fair questioning.

Despite his enormous success and recognition as one of the world's leading political analysts, Russert remained just a common guy.  He seemed like the kind of guy you'd trust with your darkest and deepest secret even if you only met him minutes ago. He seemed like the guy you'd strike up a conversation at the corner bar about what was happening in the neighborhood and just stay there talking for hours. 

Tim Russert never forgot where he came from.   He never forgot his roots coming from Buffalo, the son of a blue collar worker who worked two jobs for thirty years to support his family.  He had a humble beginning and remained humble right up until his untimely death.  He was not embarrassed by his father's occupation as a trash hauler. Instead he was so proud that he made him a national hero.

There is no greater legacy that Tim Russert leaves to both current and up and coming leaders than how critical humility is in becoming an effective leader.  Too often these days people start life on third base and then think they hit a triple. Russert never took his success for granted and always remained thankful to those who helped him become the person he became. Russert told Larry King the three lessons he taught his son, "you're always, always loved but you are never entitled."
Russert loved what he did and it always showed.  I thought it odd that in the days that followed his death, not a single picture was shown that didn't show him with that huge smile or devilish twinkle in his eyes ---or both.  And then I heard Tom Brokaw tell us why that was so: "it was tough to find a picture of my friend Tim when he wasn't smiling."

But the smiles weren't about him but the success of others.  In spite of the high, high standards Russert set for himself, success was never about him.  He enjoyed everyone's success even more than his own.

Story after story has came out from family, friends, interns to politicians about lives that Russert touched.  He was the ultimate mentor and cheerleader.  He had this missionary zeal for lifting people up, for wanting to make everyone around him better. This doesn't mean he ignored flaws in people but recognized them as human beings.  He once said that the "best exercise for the human heart is to pick someone up and hold them up."

His interviewing style was described as tough but fair, direct but never condescending, persistent but civilized. Russert was always challenging, but never hostile. He never intended to embarrass anyone but to understand what they were thinking. He set a high standard that others only wanted to emulate which elevated everyone's performance.

James Carville, Democratic strategist and good friend of Russert, was asked "if he [Russert] was really as good as he seemed?"  Carville replied, "he was better."

Eleanor Roosevelt once said about Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill that "the best men always had a lot of the little boy in them." What made Russert great was that he never lost "the little boy" inside.  Despite meeting and interviewing Presidents, world leaders, and several Popes, he never lost his innocence.   Until his death he took the most complex and polarizing topic and spun it down to its simplest form.  He put "legal-eze" and political-speak in terms that even the most common man could understand. He didn't try to impress us, not even with designer suits that he could well afford. Tom Brokaw said, despite Tim's success, he still relied on his "three tailors - L., L. & Bean."

Driving Russert was a passion for the truth and integrity/ He was genuinely curious, always wondering what you were thinking and who you were.   He rarely fought for a cause other than plain old human decency. What you saw was what you got.

Russert was a superb role model.  His passion for life and for his work gushed from his heart.   He had this Walter Cronkite-type of integrity. He lived his life in a way that others only dream about living. He was passionately enthusiastic.  He wanted everyone to be an A player, not just himself.  He revered his father, his wife and his son. He believed in God, his country and fellow man.

What I learned over these past days from Tim Russert was what leadership is all about. I learned more about leadership from hearing and observing how he lived his life than I did from reading hundreds of leadership books, spending dozens of hours in workshops and class, and writing too many columns and term papers. 

The leadership lessons of Tim Russert are simple but so true:
1. Never forget where you came from.
2. Never forget who helped you get you where you are.
3. Always be tough but fair.
4. Never stop challenging others to seek the truth.
5. Prepare, prepare, prepare.
6. Help everyone become an A player.
7. Have fun doing whatever you do.
8. Do what you do with a missionary zeal.
9. Keep the little boy alive inside you.
10.Keep faith, families, and friends in the forefront.

Or to sum it up all up in Tim Russert's words: "Work hard, laugh often and keep your honor."

Pulbic schools "lose" 6,829 students every day

The world of work is a great place to be if you can’t stand the excitement!

I just completed reading through two new studies: 2008 World of Work and Diplomas Count 2008.  Like I’ve been touting for years, employers and employees will feel they are living through a Perfect Labor Storm. If figuring out where to find the right people with the right skills isn’t hard enough, getting older and younger employees to share what they know seems to be a real problem that is getting worse.

For instance, the 2008 World of Work report, published each year by Ranstad, found that employees and employers agree on at least one thing:  hiring the right people with the right skills is the most important workplace challenge. This contrasts with last year’s report when employees saw retaining and motivating employees as the number one issue.

But the report also redefined the message about worker shortages:  “we’re not facing a talent shortage. We’re facing a knowledge gap.”  After speaking with thousands of workers from all the generations, the study deduced that “cross generational interaction is rare.” In fact, the report states “the transfer of knowledge between retiring generations of veteran workers and newer entrants to the workforce is unlikely.”  It goes on to say that “each generation sees itself as bringing different strengths to the workplace that don’t enhance or expand the strengths of those older or younger.”

If these workplace challenges weren’t enough, wait until you read this.  According to study released by the EPE Research Center1.23 million high school students will fail to graduate in 2008.  That’s 6,829 students every day leave U.S. Public High Schools. That amounts to 3 out of every 10 students who enters 9^th grade does NOT complete high school. As reported in earlier studies, that number gets even worse in certain areas where the graduation rate is less than 50%!!  Even in my home state of Pennsylvania, which has one of the highest graduation rates in the country, schools lose 170 students per day.

Based on just the information in these two reports alone, the war for qualified workers has only just begun.  From the graduation rates, it’s obvious that the pool of skilled workers will only shrink while the knowledge transfer gap between generations widens.

Gray ceiling disrupts succession plans for Gen Xers

     While some organizations are focusing on recruiting new and replacement workers, many others are urging and enticing older workers to stay longer. This is creating a new form of discrimination called the “gray ceiling.”  Unlike the more common cases involving discrimination such as gender, age, and sexual preference, the gray ceiling isn’t necessarilty protecting a protected class. The implications for ignoring the gray ceiling won’t likely result in an employee filing a discrimination claim. But this isn’t necessarily a time to celebrate.  The consequences may be much worse!

     Generation X, the former youngest generation in the workplace, are now the middle children at work.  They’ve been patiently – or at least reluctantly - waiting for a boomer to get out of the way so they can finally move up the career ladder.  But those aging, baby boomers just don’t seem to want to move on with their lives.  Whether it’s their workaholic nature or the need for money, they are not leaving the workplace as quickly as anticipated.

     While that might generate a sigh of relief for many executives and business owners, I’ll suggest you take a deep breath and …..ponder this.

    

     The most highly skilled Generation X workers are no longer waiting around.  They are leaving the workforce in record numbers. Their skill sets make them hot property. Their age (roughly late 20s to early 40s) offers another organization immediate talent and future capacity.

This exodus of Gen X skilled workers is not only the fault of gray-haired boomers staying longer.  It’s also the result of the newest generation, the Millennials, arriving on the scene.  Bright, ambitious, collaborative and technically advanced, this youngest cohort is catching the eye of the workplace elders and the wrath of the Xers. In fact, it’s not the Boomers who are complaining the most of these “irritating rug rats.”  It’s the Xers!

     

     What is beginning to happen in many workplaces is that the Millennials are leapfrogging the Xers into lead roles and projects.  Even more insulting, Millennials are like heat seeking missiles for knowledge.  Why waste no time going to his or her Gen X boss when they have a question.  They just go straight to the best source by sending an email or knocking on the door of the President.  This group is used to quick access to information. Why go to the library and borrow the book when you can "google" just about anything?  Playing politics to them is just like playing games.  You outmaneuver your opponents to get to the next level.  Gen Xers are just another level on the way to the top and these game-playing Millennials are smart and savvy. 

     

     The Xers, on the other hand, are restless and aren’t taking this lying down. Remember these kids grew up with latch-keys and learned to fend for themselves.  Ignore them and they’ll go away without anyone really noticing.  But when the boomers finally do decide to call it a career, a gaping talent hole will be discovered by those businesses who don't consider the consequences and don’t plan ahead.

     Succession used to be so much easier!  What’s a business to do? 

1.  First things first.   Assess the demography of your workforce today. How many older workers are just biding time until retirement?  How soon will be they leaving?  Who is in line to replace them?  How many younger workers are at risk to be picked off by a competitor?

2. What is the capability of the younger workers?  Will they be prepared to move up into management and leadership position when the time comes?  What additional training will they need?

3. How prepared are your managers to deal with the wants and demands of four generations working side-by-side?  How prepared is your organization to squelch the workplace warfare between the Geeks, Geezers and other generations? What can you do to slow the boomer brain drain, retain the Gen Xers and recruit the Millennials all at the same time?

Nuclear industry experiencing worker meltdown

In the next five years, just as the nuclear industry hopes to launch a renaissance, up to 19,600 nuclear workers-35 percent of the workforce-will reach retirement age.

Big energy construction will be booming in the next decade, concentrated in the South-not only nuclear generators but coal plants, liquefied natural gas terminals, oil refineries, and electricity transmission lines. All projects need skilled craft workers, and they are in drastically short supply. The utility Southern Co. estimates that existing energy facilities already are short 20,000 workers in the Southeast. That shortfall will balloon to 40,000 by 2011 because of the new construction.

Read More: Worker Shortage in Nuclear Industry

Over 1/5 of U.S. employers have difficulty filling positions

According to the 2008 Talent Shortage Survey conducted by Manpower, 22% of the 2,000 employers participating in the survey indicated they were having difficulty filling positions even in a slowing economy. On a brighter note, this is less than the 41 percentage of U.S. firms having difficulty filling positions in 2007.  Nevertheless unfilled positions in key roles are de-railing the business plans of many organizations.  For instance, energy industry can't keep up with demand. Backlogs for drilling rigs are out 3 to 5 years because the companies can't find enough qualified people.  Machinery is breaking down for longer periods of time in manufacturing because employers can't find enough maintenance technicians.

The hardest to fill positions are:

1. Engineers
2. Machinests/Machine Operators
3. Skilled Manual Trades (welders, carpenters)
4. Technicians
5. Sales Reps
6. Accounting and Finance Staff
7. Mechanics
8. Laborers
9. IT Staff
10. Production Operators

The U.S. isn't alone. Over 73% of employers reported having a difficult time finding the right people.  In Japan 63% of employers can't find skilled workers. In Hong Kong, it's 61% and Australia, 52%.

On a worldwide basis, shortages of skilled manual labors dominate the list with nearly one-third of employers reporting hard-to-fill positions.

Source: Manpower "2008 Talent Shortage Survey"

One fifth of workers completely disengaged!

Employees who'd rather tune into their iPod than the needs of your customers are nothing new. But is the problem getting worse? As they text and instant message friends about their discontent, or walk the length of the hallway just to gaze longingly at the parking lot, that's not a bad question to consider. A new report, "The State of Employee Engagement 2008," issued by global consultant BlessingWhite, reveals that fewer than one in three North American workers are fully engaged. Moreover, 19 percent are completely disengaged, and a further 13 percent are disillusioned and at risk for becoming disengaged. The study, based on a survey of more than 7,500 employees and interviews with 40 human resource and line managers on four continents, identified five levels of employee engagement in North America:

Engaged: 29 percent. These employees are contributing fully to the success of the organization and find great satisfaction in their work. They bring discretionary effort and initiative.

Almost Engaged: 27 percent. A critical group, these employees are among the high performers and are reasonably satisfied with their job. Organizations, BlessingWhite recommends, should invest in them because they are highly employable and have the shortest distance to travel to reach full engagement.

Honeymooners or Hamsters: 12 percent. Honeymooners are new to the organization or their role and have yet to become fully productive. Hamsters may be working hard, but are, in effect, spinning their wheels, focused on the wrong things, and contributing little to the success of the organization.

Crash and Burners: 13 percent. "Crash and Burners" are disillusioned and potentially exhausted. They are top producers who are not satisfying their personal definition of success and satisfaction. Sometimes bitterly vocal, these workers, if left alone, may slip into disengagement and bring down those around them.

Disengaged: 19 percent. Disengaged employees are the most disconnected to organizational priorities and are not getting what they need from work. If left alone, people in this group are likely to collect a paycheck and enjoy favorable job conditions but contribute minimally. Some disengaged employees will leave, but more likely they will just talk about leaving. "While organizations are keen to maximize the contribution of each individual toward corporate imperatives and the metrics," says BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice, "individual employees need to find purpose and satisfaction in their work."

Source: Inside Training Newsletter, May 07, 2008

The "Hole" Story

The story wasn't new - a perfect labor storm is brewing.  But the title caught my eye.

The headline in today's (May 4, 2008) Atlanta Journal Constitution stated the problem quite simply:

Hole story: Georgia work force faces gaps as boomers retire

The article begins with "the percentage of the state's population ages 55 to 64 is growing (from 8.6 percent in 1998 to 12.2 percent in 2007), while the percentage of people younger than 24 is shrinking. At the same time, Georgia's economy is expanding. This means there will be fewer entrants into the job market at the same time that older workers will be retiring."

That's not big or new news unless you've just awakened from a 20 year sleep.  It's significant in that still another state is realizing the gaping hole opening up in its workforce. 

The author does a good job of pointing out that shortages are imminent in management, leadership, healthcare, education, child care and the trades - electricians, plumbers and welders to name a few.

I've said it before-I'll say it again:  the Perfect Labor Storm is not something that will happen to everyone else.  It's a global-wide phenomenon and change the way every organizations does business.

Read the rest of the Hole Story.

Read more about the Perfect Labor Storm.