Success Performance Solutions

Major Sponsor of
2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania

Welcome to the August 6, 2008 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 this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Competition Keeps You In The Game -  Sur/petition wins!

Edward de Bono in his book Sur/petition over 15 years ago described how competition will no longer be enough and why sur/petition would be a critical ingredient to product and service differentiation.

Competition means "seeking together."  This means accepting that you are running in the same race as your competitors.  Your behavior is in large part dependent on the behavior of your competitors.  Sur/petition on the other hand means "seeking above" or creating your own race.  Beginning now and continuing for the long term will be a need to create a new value, leading innovation.

The biggest challenge to execute this change is hiring the talented people you want.  As many managers have learned, you can hire all the people you want but unless they can help you make a profit who cares.  

To "sur/pete" the leading companies are combining talent and technology and organizational design to generate higher profits per employee than was possible in the past. So the real question executives should be asking is, "how do I hire talent that I can profit from?"

To stay competitive in today's hyper-competitive market, organizations must link employee behavior and activities to business outcomes.  What follows is a simplified action plan to hire and retain profitable employees:

1. Understand the organization's key strategies
2. Establish performance metrics to define strategic success
3. Identify competencies that drive these strategies
4. Assess the skills gap between current and needed

    competence
5. Set goals and prioritize the path to filling the gap
6. Implement learning and development solutions to develop

    skills
7. Measure results and communicate the impact regularly  

To learn how your organization can generate higher profits per employee, read more about CriteriaOne: The Whole Person Approach, send us an email or call 800.803.4303.

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Subscribe to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog and receive skilled worker shortage updates like this:

According to a new survey of more than 2,500 senior human resource executives by Novations Group, half of the executives reported they have less than 6 months to "prove" to Gen Y employees that their company is the best place for them. One-quarter of respondents indicated they have less than a month. Only 22 percent felt they had more than 6 months. Read more at Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 Blog

Listen to the new Perfect Labor Storm interview now.

Purchase the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 books (soft and hard cover versions) at PerfectLaborStorm.com.

New Perfect Labor Storm videos added. Watch now!

3.  What are competencies?

What are competencies?  Competencies codify the job requirements that a recruiter needs to find the right candidate; they establish the criteria for performance appraisal and identification of high-potentials; they help assess the leadership skills needed to build leadership-development programs; and more importantly, they document and reinforce an organization's core values. Using talent management as a competitive strategy happens when individual goals are aligned with organizational goals, un-leveling the playing field between competitors for products, services and talent.  

Read more about competency modeling.

4.  Free Generation IQ Test

     Test your knowledge about the generations

How many generations are working in the workplace?  (So far less than 50% got this question right!)  

How are Millennials (Gen Y) and Veterans (Matures) most connected?  

True or False?  SecondLife.com a site for unemployed Baby Boomers.  (You have a 50/50 chance but only 50% of our visitors have gotten it right!)  

Dozens of different managerial approaches and working styles seem to be popping up about how to best manage generational clashpoints. At times these co-workers seem to be worlds apart in their attitudes and values. As a result, conflicts between the generations are distracting co-workers and diverting the attention of managers.    

Where do you start to learn to how to manage the generation mix?  Begin by testing your Generation IQ here.

5. Geeks, Geezers and Googlization

When Old and Young Workers Collide
 

Schedule Your 2008-2009 Presentation Today!
 

We live in interesting times, indeed. Four generations are co-mingling in the workplace, each bringing with them different managerial approaches and working styles. Capitalizing on each generation's strengths is a must. Minimizing generational clash-points is a necessity. Finding common ground is critical. How do you keep Veteran workers, Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and Millennials all engaged, motivated, and on the job?  

During this presentation, participants will learn from workforce management expert/author Ira S. Wolfe about workforce trends that are changing the way employers will do business followed by a lively and interactive discussion about the newest challenge facing managers: managing the four generations in the workplace.  

Topics to be discussed:

• Learn how workforce trends will change the way you do business
• Why "walkers" will outnumber "strollers" in years to come
• What's up with the "incredible shrinking workforce"?
• Exploring differences between the four generations at work
• Keys to Managing "Clashpoints" in a Multi-Generational Workforce

Call 717-291-4640 or click here to schedule Ira S Wolfe for your 2008-2009 meetings and conferences

6. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe

2008:

August 20 - Sunrise Breakfast, Hiring is not Kid's Play, Harrisburg PA Chamber of Commerce

August 27 (Rescheduled)- Talent Challenge: Recruiting in a fast-changing world, Roanoke VA

September 8 - Electrical Generation Systems Association - "The Perfect Labor Storm"

September 25 - Human Resource Professionals of Central PA's Fall Conference, Perfect Labor Storm  

November 4-5 - "Geeks, Geezers and Googlization" - Vistage, Lakeland (FL)  

Watch and listen to Ira speaking about the Perfect Labor Storm

Call 717.291.4640 to schedule Ira for your next meeting or conference.

7. Perfect Labor Storm 2.0:

Workforce Trends That Will Change the Way You Do Business   

View Table of Contents  

Of every 10 workers in your organization now, three will retire over the next 10 years. Out of that same 10, three others are looking for new jobs even as you read this. And if you've hired younger "20-somethings," expect them to stay no longer than 18 months, on average, before moving on. What should you do?  

Start by reading the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0.   Workforce trends WILL change the way you do business!

Hard Cover: $29.99

Soft Cover: $19.99

e-Book(downloadable): $14.99

8. Quotes from Hire Authorities

" When employees perceive that their company would rather churn their workforce instead of investing in their performance and competencies, their attachment to the employer is tenuous and their commitment to performance erodes."

Vince Serritella, VP of Employee Development for W.W. Grainger   

Permission is granted to consultants, managers, business owners and HR professionals to reproduce content from this newsletter for your internal publications, or to distribute copies to your workforce, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Ira S Wolfe and Success Performance Solutions. Copyright 2008 Ira S Wolfe."  We also hope you will forward the newsletter in its entirety and recommend to others that they subscribe.

Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission