Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

Study finds hiring right personality equals 14 times more engaged employee

In a recent DDI (Development Dimensions International, Inc.) 44 percent of managers said their most significant hiring surprise was that a candidate’s personality in the interview differed from what they are actually like on the job.

(Study of 3,800 employees in different industries and roles, DDI identified six personal characteristics – adaptability, passion for work, emotional maturity, positive disposition, self-efficacy, and achievement orientation – that when combined help predict a candidate’s probability of being an “engaged contributor” in the organization.

Candidates which show a blend of these traits – which can be measured in pre-employment tests – are 14 times more likely to become highly engaged employees.

The study found employees with engaged supervisors were more engaged themselves and were nearly 20 percent less likely to leave the organization within a year.

Source:  Human Resource Executive, February 2006

For  information about online personality tests for hiring and development, go to http://www.super-solutions.com

Who should HR report to?

The baby-boom generation contains the largest number of people ever voluntarily to give up work in such a short time.  Because it is larger than the generation that follows it – and any that preceded it – it casts a long shadow over the companies it is set to leave behind.

Businesses are rapidly approaching the “demographic cliff" and yet Human Resources in many businesses is still not seated at the executive table. When it is, organizational charts vary with HR reporting to the CEO, COO, CFO or other senior executives.    

We'd like to hear from you.  Who should HR report to and why?  Please take a minute or two to complete this one question opinion survey at

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=679741801408 .

Results will be published on or before March 1, 2006 on this blog and at http://www.super-solutions.com.

Chronic Conditions Cost Employers Billions

Fact #509:   The top five chronic causes of workplace short-term and long-term disability are arthritis, lower back disorders, depression, coronary heart disease, and pulmonary diseases. Each year in the U.S., these illnesses account for nearly 30% of all longterm disability claims, and their economic burden is estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars in employee absences, diminished productivity, and increased health care costs.

Fact #510:  Most people under age 65 with chronic conditions are working. The percent of the 45- to 64-year-old population with these chronic conditions who are still in the workforce include 62% with hearing impairments, 61% with orthopedic impairments, 59% with hypertension, 53% with arthritis, and 51% with heart disease.

Fact #511:  In the U.S., arthritis is the leading cause of lost workdays, and some 60% of persons older than age 65 years have at least some symptoms of the disease. Costs of more than $60 billion a year in lost productivity -more often from reduced job performance than absenteeism-are estimated for workers in the U.S. with back pain, arthritis, and other muscle and joint pain.

Fact #512:   Depression is responsible for about 15% of the global disease burden and is an important cause of disability, impaired work performance, and reduced quality of life. Recent research found that the absenteeism rate in untreated patients was 70.2%, whereas the rate was 39.8% for those who were treated.

Fact #513:  More than 58 million annual lost workdays in the U.S. alone come from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of lung disorders that impair breathing. Among individuals over 40 years of age, COPD ranks second only to coronary disease as a cause of disability.

For more information about The Perfect Labor Storm, visit http://www.perfectlaborstorm.com

Facts about our aging population

Fact #502: By 2025, one in five Europeans will be more than 65 years old, up from 16 percent in 2002. Across the European continent, the number of working-age citizens will stagnate or shrink while the number of retirees explodes. As a result, household financial wealth, which had enjoyed steady, healthy growth during past decades, will slow drastically over the next 20 years, according to new research by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI). Fact #503: Japan is getting much older. By 2024, more than a third of the population will be over age 65—one of the developed world's largest proportions of elderly citizens. Retired households will outnumber households in their prime saving years, so savings rates will fall drastically. (Source: McKinsey Quarterly) Fact #504:  In just two decades, the proportion of people aged 80 and above will be more than 2.5 times higher than it is today, because women are having fewer children and people are living longer. In about a third of the world's countries, and in the vast majority of developed nations, the fertility rate is at, or below, the level needed to maintain the population. Women in Italy now average just 1.2 children. In the United Kingdom, the figure is 1.6; in Germany, 1.4; and in Japan, 1.3. Meanwhile, thanks to improvements in health care and living conditions, average life expectancy has increased from 46 years in 1950 to 66 years today. (Source: The State of World Population, 1999 and 2004, United Nations Population Fund.) Fact #505: One out of every ten persons is now 60 years or above; by 2050, one out of five will be 60 years or older; and by 2150, one out of three persons will be 60 years or older. (Source: The Aging of the World's Population, United Nations) Fact #506:  The older population itself is ageing. The oldest old (80 years or older) is the fastest growing segment of the older population. They currently make up 11 percent of the 60+ age group and will grow to 19 percent by 2050. The number of centenarians (aged 100 years or older) is projected to increase 15-fold from approximately 145,000 in 1999 to 2.2 million by 2050.  (Source: The Aging of the World's Population, United Nations) For more facts about The Perfect Labor Storm, visit http://www.perfectlaborstorm.com

Fact #507: The impact of population ageing is increasingly evident in the old-age dependency ratio, the number of working age persons (age 15 - 64 years) per older person (65 years or older) that is used as an indicator of the 'dependency burden' on potential workers. Between 2000 and 2050, the old-age dependency ratio will double in more developed regions and triple in less developed regions. The potential socioeconomic impact on society that may result from an increasing old-age dependency ratio is an area of growing research and public debate. (Source: The Aging of the World's Population, United Nations) Fact #508:  In urban China, the problem of elder dependency on a shrinking family is particularly severe (since there are usually no public or private retirement funds). It is referred to as the “4-2-1 phenomenon”: Four elderly grandparents, two retired parents, and one working child who is responsible for all of them.