Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

In the next 45 seconds...

190 babies will be born aorund the world.

 

India - 25

China - 20

USA - 5

UK - 1

 

Source: New World of Work Video  

Is the Perfect Labor Storm over?

The picture below tells the story.

Between 1970 and 1980, the U.S. workforce grew a whopping 29%. 

Between 2000 and 2010 growth slowed to 12%, still robust but showing the early signs of serious skilled worker shortages.

The biggest change has yet to come. Between 2010 and 2020 (when baby boomers will start to leave the workforce en masse), growth will slow to 4%. And it will slip another 1% to just 3% growth between 2020 and 2030. 

As soon as the economy rebounds, the demand for workers will increase like never before. The Perfect Labor Storm isn't over...it hasn't even begun!

Stop Doing Annual Reviews!

Something has gotten into management.  Everywhere I turn - meetings, discussion groups and blogs -  managers are talking about performance reviews.  That's good news for the many organizations that are finally realizing how ineffective the annual employee review really is.  In nearly all cases, the annual review has little to do with performance but a lot to do with salary. The review meeting has become little more than a ritual.  It's the once a year sit-down where an entire year of success and failures are boiled down into a few minutes conversation. These so-called performance meetings are carved out of (or maybe more appropriately squeezed into) a busy schedule to chat a bit about the last 12 months.  The manager is often rushed and distracted and the employee defensive and anxious.

And let's be honest.  If it wasn't for HR's mandate that every employee must have this meeting in order to create a piece of paper and collect a signature, annual reviews would never get done.  The review has become no more than a veiled attempt to justify paltry pay increases and to produce the legally defensible documentation in case the employee ever needs to be disciplined, counseled, or terminated.   For most organizations, it has little if anything to do with performance - past or future. And during these difficult times, I've heard about several companies cancelling reviews this year because salaries are frozen.  What else would a manager discuss at the annual review if it isn't money?

The bad news is that many organizations still see the once-a-year review as their attempt at performance management. The most common questions I hear being asked is "what can we do to improve our annual review?" or "how can we get all our managers to do their annual reviews?"

My response might surprise you.  Stop doing annual reviews!

 

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Telework: An ounce of prevention?

Should the swine flu virus spread and employees heed the advice of public health experts and stay home, employers could expect to see absenteeism jump to 50% or more.  Mind you that not all these employees will be sick but fear and childcare/eldercare issues will force many employees to be missing in action. 

One solution for many organizations is telework.  Telework is a tool for emergency planning at all levels - from snowstorms that close offices in a region for a day or two, to pandemic influenza that may affect operations over the course of weeks or even months.

The Life meets Work Blog today posted an excellent story about telework.

 Flu outbreaks don’t have to be disabling if companies are set up to telework. The federal government has long incorporated teleworking in its business continuity plans:

“By helping support a distributed workforce, telework is a tool for emergency planning at all levels - from snowstorms that close offices in a region for a day or two, to pandemic influenza that may affect operations over the course of weeks or even months.” (Source: telework.gov)

Even in the face of a global flu pandemic, business CAN continue if your employees are equipped to log-in remotely.  To be successful, your company should have a telework program with as many staffers as possible equipped to work from home. The best way to test your system is to use it as a routine course of business, to ensure all tools are operational.

You can get more tips to prepare your business for a flu pandemic from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management at telework.gov. 

Good People are Great for Business

If you've ever questioned if the effort to implement effective performance management is worth it, this picture says it all. 

 

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Free Business Preparedness Assessment and more

The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) is cautioning businesses and nonprofit organizations to examine their ability to operate in the event of a flu pandemic.

The Top 5 IBHS recommends these pandemic preparedness steps include:

1. Determine when to curtail employee travel, domestically and internationally.
2. Develop business continuity policies that provide work-at-home options.
3. Address sick leave policies, since people with swine flu or those attending to relatives may need to be on leave longer that the current policy allows.
4. Consider the impact a shutdown of public transportation or the loss of basic utilities would have.
5. Determine at what point the organization would need to close its doors.

IBHS has also created a free Pandemic Flu Business Assessment.

http://www.disastersafety.org/resource/resmgr/pdfs/pandemic_flu.pdf

 

Best free sites about Swine Flu

The media, the government and the public are watching the most recent outbreak of swine flu with growing concern.  The chances of a severe epidemic appear to be relatively small, especially since the CDC has reported that the swine flu virus is "susceptible" to the anti-viral drugs oseltamivir, aka Tamiflu, and zanamivir, aka Relenza.  The threat nonetheless is very real.

The best cure is always prevention.  So I've pulled together a few sites to serve as a quick reference guide to keep current with this rapidly changing story, .   

First, visit the CDC and Red Cross sites.  You'll learn more about the swine flu. Tips will help you avoid  contracting the illness. There's also help in identifying symptoms.

http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

http://sn.im/redcrossflu

The World Health Organization and federal government sites are also excellent sources.

http://www.who.int/csr/don/2009_04_24/en/index.html

http://www.pandemicflu.gov/

You can also map the outbreaks. At Google Maps, you'll see a swine flu map. Cases are plotted on the map. There's also HealthMap. It plots disease outbreaks from the past 30 days. By default, it shows a variety of different diseases.

http://sn.im/flumapgoogle

http://www.healthmap.org/en

 

 

The New World of Work!

“The average knowledge worker will outlive the average employing organization. This is the first time in history that’s happened. … ” Peter Drucker, Business 2.0 (08.22.00)

Thanks to The Better Leader blog for posting this interesting video.
 

It's a nice follow-up and complement to a video that I posted on YouTube last year.

Generation Gaps: What a difference 50 years makes

The concept of a “generation” is attributed to social scientist Karl Mannheim (1920s). A generation is a group of people who are programmed by events they share in history while growing up. The result of this "programming" are cohorts of people who share a common set of memories, expectations, and values based on headlines and heroes, music and mood, parenting style, and education systems.

We're all familiar with the common generational clashpoints involving attitudes toward work, communication (the personal handwritten note vs texting), and expectations (immediate vs delayed.)  But just take a few minutes and read these scenarios to remember-way-back-when (for you geezers) or to put current events in perspective (for you geeks).

Scenario:  Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1959 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2009 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.   

 

Scenario:  Jeffrey won't sit still in class, disrupts other students.
1959 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2009 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

 

Scenario:  Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1959 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario:  Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary.  Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1959 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.  

How times have changed! What will they be writing about in 2059? Do you have other examples you'd like to share?  Please add them to the comment box below.

First, Know Thyself

"When it comes to career reinvention, too many people make a fundamental mistake: They don't know themselves," begins an article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal Careers Journal. I couldn't agree more.

A combination of aging boomers, massive layoffs, and a large young adult population poised to enter the workforce has a lot of people asking 'what do I want to do?' 

The article recommends self-assessment exercises.

"Career self-assessment is the process of getting acquainted with what you like -- and don't like -- in a work environment  ...You can do this by simply making a list of your skills and interests, and asking yourself questions such as "What type of work would make me sit in traffic for hours just for the privilege of showing up?" and "What energizes me at work?" Increasingly, though, career changers are drawing guidance from more sophisticated tests.

A book I published just a few years ago takes job and career satisfaction beyond just understanding jobs by industry and position. 

Business Values and Motivators helps identify 6 personal values that motivate or de-motivate people. For instance, a career test or self-assessment might lead you to a career in engineering or medicine.  But one person may get his satisfaction from continuous learning and problem solving (Conceptual Value) while another might be motivated by the prestige (Power and Authority), economic rewards (Economic), or ability to be a contributor to the community as a whole (Social).  Often times people switch careers when all they really need to do is change environments. 

Read more at Career Assessment Tests and Business Values and Motivators