Welcome to the November 23, 2005 issue of The Total View

Published by Success Performance Solutions, Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Visit our Human Resources Blog and Perfect Labor Storm Blog where we can post daily (and more often) human resource updates, news, and Perfect Labor Storm facts. 

What's Inside:

1.    Two out of five employees looking for new jobs:    85% increase over past year.

"The future does not look good for traditional jobs" if you can believe what you read in the November-December 2005 issue of The Futurist. Apparently over 1500 hundred job seekers and seventy-plus businesses and organizations in Lancaster County didn't get the message. Resumes in hand, twenty-seven percent of employed job seekers had one thing to say: "Show me the money."

The 2005 Job Fair was sponsored by the Lancaster County Chamber of Commerce and Industry in late September. The survey was conducted by Success Performance Solutions. This is the third year Success Performance Solutions conducted the survey in conjunction with the Lancaster Chamber.

Better pay was the most important benefit sought by 421 attendees who completed the survey. Respect and recognition from supervisors and job security were the second and third most common benefits that employees wanted. This is consistent with prior surveys except that more pay and respect from supervisors swapped positions.

Nearly 40 percent of the job seekers were employed, which should throw up a warning sign for employers: nearly 2 out of 5 employees are ready to walk. Overall, twenty-four percent of the employed job seekers indicated they were dissatisfied with their current job, an 85 percent jump from last year! Based on the unexpected high turnout of employed job seekers, turnover and vacancies will remain a problem for employers.

Age played a significant role in the level of job satisfaction, too. Approximately 70 percent of the job seekers between ages 27 and 44 were dissatisfied. The number dipped just slightly for the 45-54 year old group. When compared with the 55 and older job seeker, only 30 percent expressed any level of dissatisfaction. Faced with impending retirements, losing workers in the 27 to 54 age group can create serious workforce challenges for management.

When asked "how likely you would be working for the same company two years from now", only 12 percent said very likely and 10% likely. This is a significant decrease from last year when 34 percent said very likely and 21 percent said likely.

The number of businesses represented at this year's job fair even exceeded Chamber officials' expectations. While this is a good sign that businesses are hiring, it also confirms all the hullabaloo about the skills gap. It is not coming, it's here. If this were a dating service, many job hunters and employers would be left standing as wallflowers at the end of the day. Why?

The answer lies in skills - or lack thereof. While four out of five candidates rated themselves very high at relating well with a lot of people, they don't consider themselves so competent when it comes to handling stressful situations, solving complex problems or understanding how a business operates.

Even more surprising was the number of job seekers who admitted they needed training when it came to computer skills, internet and emailing skills. Nearly 29 percent of the already employed job seekers said they "need training" compared to only 9 percent last year; nearly 14 percent said they need training for computer skills too, nearly twice as many as last year. Consequently the number of individuals who felt they had excellent or average computer skills declined.

Finally, despite the growing concern about ethics in business, only 47 percent said it was very important to work for a company that has a strong code of ethics, a decrease from 53 percent just a year before.

After all was said and done, it can be said that more businesses were looking for employees and more people were looking for jobs. While that sounds like a match made in heaven, all may not end up happily ever after as the skills gap widens between what employers need and what employees have.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 476 to # 478

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Fact #476: Four-year college grads make roughly $20,000 more than their high school trained counterparts. People with two year degrees make only about $7,000 more a year than high school grads. The bottom line: A four-year degree is becoming America's most reliable elevator of class and key to a middle-class standard of living. (Source: Business Week, October 31, 2005)

Fact #477: It takes a staggering 83% of a poor family's annual income to fund the annual costs at private four-year college - up from 60% a decade ago. (Source: Business Week, October 31, 2005)

Fact #478:  Individuals with less than a ninth-grade education earn an estimated $976,350 over their lifetime. A high school dropout earns $1,150,968. A high school graduate earns $1,455,253. And a person with a bachelor's degree earns $2,567,174. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas).

Don't be caught in storm without all the facts. "The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages Won't Go Away" is a must-read leading edge forecast that predicts workforce trends for decades to come. Order your copy today - Only $7.95.

3. E-Net Select™ Online Application Management and Tracking System

E-Net Select, our new Applicant Tracking System (ATS). It provides companies with the ability to manage applications, resumes and the potential hires. Using an ATS will create a more efficient hiring process by limiting time spent interviewing and training high risk, non-qualified applicants.

More about E-Net Select

4.   NEW! Test of Supervisory Skills (TOSS)

The Test of Supervisory Skills (TOSS) is a 70-item, multiple-choice, untimed test that taps the knowledge required for successful supervision.

Based on careful, repeated factor analyses of supervisory behavior, TOSS provides norms that allows a comparison of scores with a large (1,000+) number of supervisory and non-supervisory profile. TOSS is a paper-and-pencil administered profile.

The new version of this well-established screening instrument includes separate test booklets and self-scoring answer sheets and a revised, enhanced technical and administrative manual.

TOSS is a valid instrument for evaluating both applicants for supervisory positions and those being considered for promotion to such positions.

Learn more about TOSS (Test of Supervisory Skills)

5.   Manager's Pocket Guide to Recruiting the Workforce of the Future
Bruce Tulgan

In today’s downsized, restructured, and reengineered workplace, there is a tremendous pressure to recruit high-quality people in order to get more work and better work doen with fewer people. Through best practice, worksheets, and checklists, Recruiting the Workforce of the Future will show you how to develop and implement effective hiring solutions for today’s workplace.

Employers should no longer recruit for the long term, but to get the job done today, tomorrow and next week. Give your organization the advantage in quickly and effectively recruiting the talent you need.

Order Recruiting the Workforce of the Future
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The Manager's Pocket Guide to Career Skills for the New Economy
Bruce Tulgan

In the new economy, individuals will have to be extremely good at fending for themselves if they are to survive and succeed. The most successful people will position themselves as free agents and sell their skills and abilities on the open market. Career Skills for the New Economy will show you how to create your own success through best practices that come directly from the real strategies of real people who succeeding on their own terms.

Order Career Skills for the New Economy

More Management Development Books

6.  Check Backgrounds before you hire

If, like Pinocchio's nose, each lie a candidate told on his/her resume or during the interview became immediately apparent, business owners could easily weed out employees who cheat and deceive. Because it's not always that easy, how can employers like you tell if an employee is lying about their work experience, criminal background, and education?

Our Background Checks Services include:

• Employment Verification
• Criminal Records Search
• Civil Records Search
• Workers Comp Search
• SSN Verification
• Credit Reports
• DMV Reports
• Bankruptcy Search
• Degree Verification
• Professional License Verification
• Drug Screening

Learn more about Background Checks

Ira S. Wolfe. 2005 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

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