February 4 , 2010

Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Published by Success Performance Solutions. Major Sponsor,

2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Hot Jobs of the Future: Blue Collar?

2.  We Need Your Input

3.  Geeks, Geezers and Googlization

1. Hot Jobs of the Future:  Blue Collar?

(Previously posted on Workforce Trends, January 7, 2010) 

The United States has become a nation of "non-tinkerers," a new survey shows, and it's harming the way we live and work.

In a poll of 1,000 U.S. adults, nearly six in 10 said they had never made or built a toy. Twenty-seven percent had not made or built even one item from a list of eight common projects, including furniture and a flower box. Sixty percent avoided doing major household repairs themselves, noted the survey from The Foundation of the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association, based in Rockford, Ill.

"Many Americans simply do not work with their hands anymore, whether it's to tackle a hobby for pleasure or to handle a necessary household repair. Young people essentially have no role models when it comes to fixing things or taking pride in building something," said Gerald Shankel, the Fabricators and Manufacturers Association president.

There's a growing shortage of tinkerers and people with hands-on skills in the workplace. Many studies predict a severe labor shortage as waves of blue-collar workers reach retirement age. A national poll of 500 teenagers, however, showed that 73% had little or no interest in those hands-on careers. Six in 10 teenagers had never visited or toured a factory, according to another Fabricators and Manufacturers survey. Only 28% had taken an industrial arts or shop class.

The industrial heritage of the United States was based on tinkerers. In the future, who will fix our running toilets, creaky doors, and stalled engines?

We Need Your Input!

As the world readies itself for the upcoming transition of leadership from the exiting of so-called Baby Boomers to the younger generations, organizations everywhere are asking the question of what the forward thinking 21st century organization needs to look like to recruit and retain the best talent in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

 
Success Performance Solutions has partnered with The Worldwide Center for Organizational Development to participate in The Generational Leadership Research Project.  The purpose is to understand generational similarities and differences in expectations for the organizational "life cycle" of the employee. The results of the study will seek to identify key areas that organizations need to focus on to create structures and programs in support of a changing workforce as well as to create tools that serve organizations ready to face the challenges head-on.

The project includes a series of surveys (including such topics as recruitment and selection, orientation and onboarding, leadership and management styles to name a few) to gain insight into what the 21st century organization must consider best practices from an employee perspective.

For organizations that can provide 100 or more employees, you will have the option to receive customized benchmark reports comparing your employees to the results of all the respondents.

To learn more about participating, please reply to this email or call 410-941-2345.

Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization

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Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.