Welcome to the September 13, 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.    Birth Dearth vs Brain Drain: Retaining Older Workers

The aging of the workforce is inevitable. In the past, older workers reached a point in their careers when they retired or were enticed to leave. This provided a simple and predictable turnover rate that opened up job positions, allowing younger employees to enter the workforce and advance up the corporate ladder.

In today’s work world, demographics have clouded the issue. The United States as well as nearly every developed country in the world is struggled in the aftermath of the “birth dearth.”

What is the birth dearth? The explanation is quite simple really. Seventy-two million people were born between 1945 and 1965, the Baby Boomers. Over the next twenty years, 1965 through 1985, only 56.6 million were born. Less babies meant less workers entering the workforce twenty years later. From 1985 to 2005, we had nearly 16 million less workers (not including the effects of immigration) entering the workforce. That wasn’t a problem when the baby boomers were in the prime of their careers. But now over 11,000 boomers turn 60 years old every minute!

The workforce is aging. The number of workers 45 years of age and older is now about 40 percent of the workforce. For growing companies that is a strategic and operational problem. Many of the older workers are leaving for retirement. Others are leaving corporate America to begin second and even third careers.

Regardless of the reason, more workers are leaving than there are qualified replacements to replace them. The birth dearth is colliding with the brain drain and American business is struggling finding enough qualified workers to fuel innovation and raise productivity.

Managing our aging workforce is imperative. But health care and retirement expenses, absences, work ethic, training, physical issues and workplace culture all make finding a solution more complex than maintaining peace in the Middle East.

Where do you start? The first place is to dispel “The Myths about Older Workers.” Next is to evaluate your workplace culture: “Is it older worker friendly?” Follow these links to view handouts about both older worker myths and assessing your workplace.

Myths about Older Workers
(Source: Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development)

Older Worker Friendly Assessment
(Source:Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development)

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 572 to 573

Don't miss day-to-day updates on Perfect Labor Storm. Save the Perfect Labor Storm blog to your favorites.
 

Just Released! Listen to "Trends That Will Change The Way You Do Business" - FREE Download.

Fact #572:  In 1970, the country's largest employer was General Motors, with 350,000 workers. Overwhelmingly union, they earned $17.50 an hour plus health, pension and vacation benefits and cost-of-living increases. Wal-Mart states it pays "full-time" employees $9.68 an hour with no defined benefit pension and inadequate health care. That translates into an annual wage of $17,114, and puts them below the Basic Family Budget requirement of $23,705. (2005 study by Arindrajit Dube and Steve Wertheim of the University of California's Berkeley Labor Center and www.ufcw.org)

Fact #573: One out of seven Wal-Mart employees has no health care coverage at all. This is nearly double the national percentage for large firms (firms with over 100 employees).

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.   Behavioral Interview Questions Increase Hiring Success by 50%

Training tools, behavioral assessments with interview guides, training videos and workshops. Visit our SPS behavioral interview "store"

4.  Get Clues 24/7

Our new Clues store is open 24/7. You can now order Clues reports around the clock. Need to create a new account? Our Clues store allows you to create a new account in minutes. Get ready to test candidates or employees in minutes. Order as few as 5 reports or purchase an annual license. To learn more about Clues and the Clues Store, go to:

Order Job Clues and Candid Clues here.

5.  DISCovering the Styles

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

The best study guide to help you prepare for DISC certification.
The perfect reference guide for effectively using DISC in the workplace.

Order DISCovering the Styles

6.   Quotes from Hire Authorities

Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.
Aldous Huxley, writer

6.    CriteriaOne Certification Workshop

"Light years ahead of the competition" says one CriteriaOne participant.

"A must for anyone interested in lowering turnover and improving productivity," says another.

Don't miss the final certification workshop in 2006.

Build a selection and performance management system to align employees with the right skills to meet the competitive demands of your business.

More about CriteriaOne Certification, the whole person approach to selecting and managing employees.

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