Welcome to the May 24, 2006 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.   Aging Workforce: Be Careful of the Light at the End of the Tunnel

Employers are standing on the tracks facing an oncoming light. It is like they think the bright spot they see is the end of the tunnel when in fact, it's an oncoming locomotive.

It is clear from working with clients and speaking to professional and HR groups across the country, that the immediate concern of many senior management teams and human resource departments is governance and compliance. Organizations today are focusing their resources on dealing with perceived more pressing issues and plan to deal with the looming "widsom withdrawl", the impdending brain-drain, when it becomes more immediate.

As the light keeps getting larger and brighter, managers are hoping the engineer will see them on the track and he'll throw down the brakes. But this train has no brakes and the longer a busines waits, the more likely they will be run over. This rapidly approaching aging workforce faces a broad range of productivity, growth and competitiveness challenges that won't be solved overnight. The age train is coming through, ready or not.

The number of workers age 55 and over is growing four times faster than the workforce as a whole. Baby Boomers, who in 2006 range in age from 42 to 60, currently represent one-half of the U.S. workforce. This is slightly more than the combined number of workers from the succeeding two generations, Generation X and Millenial Generation (Generation Y).

Today out of a total population of nearly 300 million, approximately 35.9 million people are age 65 or older, or about 1 or every eight Americans. By the year 2030, people age 65 and older are projected to make up 24 percent of the population, nearly one of every four Americans.

Betweem 2000 and 2010, the number of U.S. workers ages 45 - 54 is projected to grow by just over 20 percent, while the number of those ages 55-64 is projected to grow more than 50 percent. In contrast, the number of workers ages 35-44 is projected to descrease by 10 percent.

The annual growth rate of the U.S. population ages 15-64, the traditional working age population, is projected at 0.3 percent. The comparable rate for ages 65 and over is projected at 3.1 percent. Almost 90 percent of the net increase in the traditional working age population is projected to occur in the age 55-64 group.

The result could be a shift from unprecedented productivity to "reductivity" - the systemic reduction in "business wisdom" that can extend learning curves, slow otherwise smooth processes, and cause duplication of efforts along the line of "recreating the wheel" theory.

The U.S. is not alone. In fact, 31 countries rank ahead of the United States in the percentage of people age 65 and older. The world's population is growing by an estimated 800,000 people a month. The number of people age 65 or older will more than double from 7 percent today to 15 percent by mid-century.

Workforce planning is no longer a zero-sum game in which jobs for younger workers depend on moving older workers out. Employers need to assess the attributes of certain older workers that if retained will translate into unique contributions to their enterprise and will complement, not compete, with what younger workers offer.

Planning time is running out as over 330 Baby Boomers turn 60 years old every hour. It's time to act today.

Source of Facts: The Aging of the U.S. Workforce: Employer Challenges and Responses, January 2006, Ernst & Young

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 535 to 537

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Fact #535: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that fatigue is a factor in at least 100,000 auto crashes and 1,500 deaths each year.

Fact #536: Four percent of people who have had an accident or near accident admitted they were too tired, or actually dozed off while driving. (2005 Sleep in America)

Fact #537: The work absences of employees with insomnia cost an average of $3,025 per employee each year, while the missed days of good sleepers cost an average of $1,250. (Sleep, February 2006)

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.  DISCovering the Styles

As early as 300 BC, Aristotle observed that the images speakers create of themselves are their strongest persuasive tools. Each person has various traits, abilities, and personality characteristics that influence these messages. Effective impression management means accenting some of those characteristics and de-emphasizing others. It involves putting on one's "best face" but not necessarily putting on a false face.

DISCovering The Styles, a new book by Bill Schult, describes how over 2300 years after Aristotle, the behavioral model DISC is still being used by leaders, managers, salespeople, and coaches to create powerful impressions, build high-performing teams and gain endorsement.

DISCovering the Styles is 162-pages filled with everything you need to know about:
- How the DISC Behavioral Styles Learn
- DISC Styles Approach to Decision Making
- DISC Styles Approach to Leadership
- DISC Styles Approach to Work

In addition, you will find valuable information in these areas:

- Self and Others Perception
- Quick Tips for Identifying High Side Behavior
- Communicating with the DISC Styles
- DISC Graph Interpretation

Order DISCovering the Styles

4.   Quotes from Hire Authorities

Staffing - it's like painting the Golden Gate Bridge. It is never done.
(The Retention Dilemma:Why Productive Workers Leave, Hay Group)

5.  CriteriaOne® DISC

We all have a basic behavioral style that affects how we work, play, communicate and build relationships.

CriteriaOne® DISC Behavioral Style reports produce an overview of four basic behavioral styles based on an individual's responses to a short 10 to 15 minute questionnaire. Each report then describes how an employee will deal with problems, interact with people, comply with rules and procedures, and the pace at which he or she will work.

CriteriaOne® DISC also provides management with a powerful new business tool to accurately measure the cores behaviors and skills that drive workplace performance using a proprietary job fit and team building Style Insights Map.

For more about CriteriaOne DISC

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Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2006 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.