Welcome to the June 20, 2007 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. Is Second Place the First Place for Losers?

Tiger Woods won $611,336 this past Sunday when he came in 2nd at the U.S. Open golf tournament. To this he responded, "finishing second is never fun."

His comments reminded me of the manager who recently shared his management style by telling me that he taught his son that "second place was the first place for losers." If this philosophy was good
enough for his family, it was certainly good enough for his employees. This manager couldn't understand why any parent would teach their child that losing was acceptable and he mentioned this often when communicating with his employees. His son, by the way, was playing T-ball at the time and was the ripe old age of six years.

For some people, this manager's philosophy of life is inspiring. For others, his words are appalling. When it comes to winning, viewpoints can range from "it's doesn't matter if you win or lose, it's how you
play the game" to "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." These individual viewpoints translate into work behaviors, for better or worse.

Individual attitudes about winning shape company cultures, ranging from dog-eat-dog sales environments to collaborative non-profit organizations. What is important to know is that one viewpoint is not better or worse. The take-away for employers however is that the recruitment and selection of employees who share the same winning nature must be deliberate. Inserting highly competitive employees into a collaborative, cooperative environment is often disruptive and always a challenge to manage. Likewise, placing an individual content with "playing the game" into a cut-throat culture is kin to throwing the sheep to the wolves. With few exceptions, these mis-matches end up badly.

Nearly everyone agrees that matching the right people to the company culture is a proven strategy for industry-leading business performance. Assessing an employee's propensity toward cooperation,
collaboration, or competition is one of the most predictable aspects of pre-employment testing, taking the guesswork out of building teams and hiring top performers.

For more information about assessing candidates for drive, competitiveneess, and teamwork, call 800.800.4303. or visit Online Personality Tests

2. Perfect Labor Storm Workforce Statistics and Trends

Americans over the age of 55 are filing for bankruptcy at a faster rate than the general population as growing mortgage debt and higher health care costs make them more vulnerable, an American Bankruptcy Institute (2007) study shows.

The trend of rising bankruptcies among older Americans is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The study found that rising costs for housing and health care, especially prescription drugs, have made
older Americans more dependent on credit. This, in turn, makes them more vulnerable to financial rough spots.  Source: American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, May 2007

Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 is now available. The year 2007 will see an increase in skilled worker shortages and more competition. The result will be higher salaries, more training and career advancement opportunities, and more flexible work cultures. How prepared is your company to find skilled and dependable workers?

Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 is the newly updated and revised 2007 edition of best-selling book first published in 2005. You can now download an advance copy of PLS 2.0. a $10 value with every purchase of the original Perfect Labor Storm, still a great value at $9.95. Order your copy today!

3. Wolfe to keynote PA Chamber Skilled Worker Shortage Crisis roundtable

The Pennsylvania Chamber Foundation invites you to a free public service roundtable "Help Wanted: The Skilled Worker And Business Leader Shortage Crisis", from 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday, July 31, 2007 at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg-Hershey, Grantville, PA. Ira S Wolfe will open the event with an update on The Perfect Labor Storm.

Designed for presidents, business owners, HR professionals, supervisors, department heads and other business executives who hire in Pennsylvania, in addition to local chamber executives and state
association executives, this event will provide practical, concrete advice on how the business community can cope with the current and anticipated shortage of qualified, skilled employees and business leaders.

Read more about The Skilled Worker and Business Leader Shortage Crisis

4. ASSESS Leadership Series Makes A Difference

The focus in The ASSESS Leadership Difference series is on people leadership and how that impacts how effective you are in your organization. Great leaders are capable of creating synergy among
their team and motivating them to achieve great results.

In our Leading Leaders and Leading Others Seminar we take a strategic approach to people management. We will work from the top-down, beginning with business strategy, to create an alignment between the people and the organization's needs.

In each workshop we provide assessment feedback based on management and leadership competencies and guidance in the context of developing leadership skills, moving from managing others to managing managers. Participants in the workshops will learn critical people management
skills. Each participant will leave the workshop with a personal development plan and/or a plan for developing their management team.

Read more about ASSESS Leadership Workshops

5. Test Drive JobClues

Try JobClues ... a state-of-the-art, fast, affordable assessment tool guaranteed to help you make smarter, more informed hiring decisions.

Take the test yourself ... you'll be amazed at the accuracy of the assessment results ... and you'll immediately see how this tool will give you keen insights into a candidate's abilities and "fit" for the
job you want to fill.

For a FREE JobClues report, click here or call toll-free at 800-803-4303 about our special unlimited use pricing.

6. Kalas Manufacturing managers earn ASSESS User Certification

Five managers from Kalas Manufacturing, a leading producer of wire and cable products, completed a two day user certification in the ASSESS Expert System. ASSESS is a competency-based assessment for the selection and development of managers, leaders and individual contributors. Kalas is using ASSESS for development and succession planning as well as selection of new managers.

Congratulations to Steve Heisey, Dennis Melnyk, Scott Smith, Brad Bowser and Kelly Fasnacht on completing the certification.

Read more information about ASSESS Expert Systems

7. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success."
Irving Berlin

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 2007 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