Welcome to the October 24, 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. 

2 Seminars, 2 Days

Nov 1 - CriteriaOne DISC Training

Nov 2 - Become a Best-in-Class Company: Keep Execution on Track

More details below!

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  It's funny how a few decades changes everything!

The Veterans, the cohort born before 1945, grew up between the World Wars and during the depression.  Education for most people was limited to high school.  The next career step was the armed forces for most males and combat for many.  Upon discharge, a few men returned to school but most started their one-stop-career, staying with the company from young adulthood through retired.   Most Veterans grew up in a family with the same parents, same home, two siblings, one family car, one family radio, no air conditioning, and maybe a phonograph. For entertainment, the family would spend a few days at the beach or the lake, play board games and attend Saturday matinees at the town movie theater.  Communication was limited to U.S. Mail and phone, often shared with eight neighbors via party lines.  Veterans worked hard and waited until retirement to play.

Now fast forward to the life of an 18-year-old today.  Young lives are shaped by step-families or single parents. Few 18-year-olds have lived in the same house for more than a few years, moving as parents upscale or forced to house-hop to live with divorced parents.  Many are single children who own their first car at 16 years old, joining the three or four other cars parked in the driveway.  They have owned a personal mobile phone since 8 years old and have never lived in a world without the Internet.  In their bedroom you'll find a digital TV with 500 stations, laptop computer with high speed access, I-Pod with hundreds of music and video files at their fingertips, and a video game console with enough high tech features that makes the CIA envious.  Family vacations include Europe, cruises, Disney World and the Caribbean.

Finally and possibly the starkest contrast of them all: the Veterans grew up in a world where children lived with their parents until high school graduation or the first job.  From that point on, these young adults were on their own, generally married by their early 20's and raising a family just a few years later.

Today our youth lives in a world of "helicopter parents," hovering over their children's every move, and "snowplow parents," clearing a path for their children.  Described in a column posted on The Wall Street Journal Online, "a new generation of over-involved parents are flooding campus orientations, meddling in registration and interfering with students' dealing with professors, administrators and roommates."

At the University of Vermont "parent bouncers" are employed.  The job of the bouncers are to "un-invite" moms and dads who try to attend registration. At the University of Georgia, students who get frustrated or confused during registration have been known to interrupt their advisors to whip out a mobile phone, speed-dial their parents and hand the phone to the adviser saying, "Here, talk to my mom."  According to Richard Mullendore, a University of Georgia professor and former vice president of student affairs, "the cell phone has become the world's longest umbilical cord."

Blame it on the boomers who lowered our birthrate to historic lows.  Blame it on society who raised a generation of latch-key kids then expected them to play ball with the rest of the kids.  Blame it on the helicopter parents who won't let go of their kids long after they reach adulthood.  Blame it on immigration policy.  Blame it on whomever and whatever you want.  The fact remains the Millennials are the replacement workers you've been waiting for - - - and they are nearly 80 million strong, equal to or even larger than the Boomer population.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

Every day I receive dozens of stories highlighting

another shortage of workers. Each week I'll post

one or two of the more interesting ones.  This week's

post is:

The Coming Leadership Crisis

Companies are heading toward a catastrophic shortage

of qualified leaders with the knowledge needed to run

global businesses, according to a new IBM survey

of more than 400 human resources executives from

40 countries.

IBM's Global Human Capital Study, released today, also found only 14 percent of the companies surveyed believe their workforces are capable of adapting to change, and that only 6 percent of organizations are confident of their ability to assess their human capital and use it to make strategic decisions.

"Companies are heading toward a perfect storm when it comes to leadership," says Eric Lesser, an associate partner with IBM's Institute for Business Value, who was the lead author on the study.

Read more about the Coming Leadership Crisis

Now on Sale!  Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)  

Coming Leadership Crisis  Order today and save 25%.

NEW Chapters!  Generational Conflicts in the Workplace, Managing the Future Workforce, Attracting Young Employees in a Seller's Job Market plus hundreds of new facts, trends and stats.

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. Workforce trends WILL change the way you do business!

Save 25% off retail by ordering now.

Hard Cover: $29.99         Soft Cover: $19.99  

Your Price: $22.49           Your Price: $14.99

To order Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, call 800.803.4303.  Discounts for orders of 10 or more.  Specify hard or soft cover.

3. Manage the Generation Mix

Understand the four generations in the workplace today--each at different life stages, each with conflicting perspectives, expectations, and needs. Learn best practices to foster understanding, leverage strengths, avoid clashes, improve productivity, and maximize teamwork. Turn age diversity into a strategic advantage.

Learn More about Managing the Generation Mix Training Materials

Challenged by Recruiting and Managing Generation Y? 
Click here for Managing Generation Y Training Materials

4. How to Become a Best-in-Class Company

• 89% of Best-in-Class companies increased Employee
  Performance compared to only 33% for the industry average.
• 63% of Best-in-Class companies increased Revenue per
  Employee compared to only 35% for the industry average.
• 75% of Best-in-Class companies decreased Employee
  Turnover compared to only 13% for the industry average.

Join us on November 2, 2007 to learn about a revolutionary performance management system that links your organization's vision, values and operating objectives with the daily activities of your people and holds every employee accountable for their actions.

Who should attend this workshop:

• Managers who dread your current performance review process
• Executives who want to improve overall company performance
• Human Resource Professionals who want to improve employee productivity
• Business Owners who want to increase employee satisfaction
• Organizations who want to link individual performance to business objectives (pay for performance)

Call us today - 800-803-4304 - to register for this FREE workshop on November 2, 2007 in Lancaster, PA.

Registration: 8:00 AM

Seminar begins: 8:15 AM

Seminar ends: 11:30 AM  

Can't attend?  Call or reply to this email and schedule a FREE web demonstration or onsite consultation.  

Learn more about KeyneLink Performance Management System

5.  NEW! DISCovering Your Style QUICKFORM - Only $15

Introducing the new four color DISCovering Your Style QUICKFORM Questionnaire. It is designed to be used in workshop settings to help individuals discover his/her behavioral style. It has a scratch off questionnaire, similar to a lottery scratch off, making it easy to use.  

Order as few as 5 for $75 ($15 ea).  Volume Discounts for orders 100 - 250 - 500 - 1000+.  Call 800.803.4303

6.  NEW!  CriteriaOne DISC Training - November 1, 2007  

Position yourself as THE DISC subject matter expert in your organization!  When you become a CriteriaOne® DISC Behavioral Analyst*, you will have the know-how to deliver communication and team-building workshops and interpret CriteriaOne® DISC reports.  Success Performance Solutions' professional staff - experts in Marston's DISC model, building effective teams, and job matching using CriteriaOne® DISC reports - will conduct this training.

This fast-paced, comprehensive certification training will provide an in-depth understanding of DISC model, the CriteriaOne® DISC system and its many team building, conflict-reducing and job matching applications.

What's included in this workshop?  Register before October 1 and receive products and services worth nearly $1600.00, much more than the cost of this training!  

Learn more about CriteriaOne DISC reports.  

To register for CriteriaOne DISC Training or request more information, call 800-803-4303 or send an email.  

7. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe  

2007:  

November 1 - Healthcare Executives Forum - Workforce Trends That Change

                       The Way You  Will Do Business

November 13 - Carlisle (PA) Chamber of Commerce - Workforce Trends That

                          Change The Way You Will Do Business

2008:  

January 21 - Institute of Management Consultants (Dallas, TX) - Workforce

                      Trends That Change The Way You Will Do Business

January 22 - Optimance (Dallas, TX) - Workforce Trends That Change The Way

                       You Will Do Business

October 2008 - American Staffing Association Annual Meeting - Workforce

                          Trends That Change The Way You Will Do Business

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

8. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"No man is entirely worthless; he can always serve as a bad example."  

Brian Oldfield, Olympic shot putter

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