Welcome to the May 10, 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:

Don't forget to register for:

The Greater Valley Forge Human Resource Association
Organization Development Special Interest Group presents

Navigating the Talent Management Rough-Water:
Charting for the Labor Shortage Ahead

Keynote Speaker: Ira S Wolfe, Author - Perfect Labor Storm

What does all the current buzz about “Talent Management” mean in light of the impending labor shortages we face? This forum is your opportunity to get an insiders view of the latest statistical data as well as hear how several well known companies are “battening down their hatches” to prepare for the changing tides.

Listen to presentations and ask questions of:

• Ira S. Wolfe, Author and Founder of Success Performance Solutions
• Virginia Clarke, VP Organization & Talent Management, SAP America
• Gail Townsend, Organizational Development Specialist and Tiny Dyer, Human Resources Generalist, W. L. Gore
• Scott Cook, Sr. Director, Human Resources, Day and Zimmerman

To learn more or register for Navigating Talent Management Rough-Water.

1.   Should Employers Be Required to Provide Health Care Benefits?

The United States will spend over $2.1 trillion in 2006 on healthcare. That's the size of the entire GNP for a small industrialized nation and 5 percent of the world's GNP! Employers are paying $800 billion of this in premiums and reimbursable expenses.

Despite this explosion of cost, growing at 8 percent per year, at least 77 million people in the U.S. - or two out of every five adults - have a hard time paying for medical bills or have accrued debt as a result of health care expenses…and sixty-two percent of these people had health insurance! (The Commonwealth Fund, August 2005).

The study defined those who are struggling as people spending at least 10% of income on medical debt or bills. Patients will find it harder to pay their bills as employers sponsor insurance bills with low deductibles and co-pays, if they provide any insurance at all. As a result, half of the underinsured (54%) and uninsured (59%) went without at least one of four needed medical services-double the rate of those with adequate insurance.

What role should employers play in ensuring that their employee's lives are covered? What role should employees play in taking their turn at the oars?

That is exactly what we asked 60 human resource professionals, executives and business owners during the month of April. Below are a few highlights about what they told us:

• 55 percent said NO when asked if employers should be required to provide health care benefits but a surprising say YES if employers who don't provide benefits should be forced to pay a subsidy for the uninsured.

• A resounding 71.2% percent thought employers should be allowed to charge higher premiums to employees who smoke and half of the respondents thought it would be okay to charge more for employees who are 30 pounds or more overweight.

Over one-third of the respondents shared their opinions, ranging from the last thing we need is more government interverntion to its the employers responsibility to help keep employees productive.

Read the comments and see the full Health Care Benefits Survey.

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 531to 532

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 #531: Truck driver shortages are expected to worsen in coming years since about 219,000 of the country's 1.3 million long-haul truckers are over 55 and are likely to retire in the next 10 years. (Source: American Trucking Association)

Fact #532: The number of truck drivers who are not white males increased to 30 percent in 2004, up from 26.6 percent in 2001. Hispanics now account for 15 percent of all truck drivers, up from 12 percent during the same period. (Source: Department of Labor)

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.   JobClues: The world's leading pre-employment assessment?

JobClues™ a part of the CLUES™ Assessments family of products. Using the CLUES™ personality and Cognitive Assessments, JobClues™ provides reports describing an individual’s core behavioral traits and cognitive reasoning speed. The reporting describes the participant’s core Personality and Cognitive measurements in the context of various job categories and what affect they may have on performance in that type of job. It then provides specific behavioral interview questions based on how the participant scored in various areas.

We have developed numerous “job category templates” to assist you. These templates provide specific descriptions of behavior in the job category as well as a “generic” benchmark to use as an initial guide for determining job fit. It is critical that the benchmarks are adjusted to apply specifically to your job requirements.

The system is completely web based and requires only an internet connection. (Note, the assessment can be given on paper if necessary and then keyed into your online administration area for accessing reports.)

The assessments are validated for 20 positions and behavioral interview questions are included in each report.

View a sample JobClues report:

4.   Quotes from Hire Authorities

We're under-investing in the business because of limitations of hiring.....we are unquestionably not getting the quantity of top applicants that the company seeks.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, February 9, 2005

5.  Managing Generation Y
Global Citizens Born in the Late Seventies and Early Eighties

Here they come: the fourteenth generation of Americans. Self-confident and optimistic. Independent and goal-oriented. Masters of the Internet and PC. Young adults who believe education is cool, integrity is admirable, and parents are role models. They're blunt. They're savvy. They're contradictory. They're the children of Baby Boomers and the upbeat younger siblings of Gen X. They are the 29 million young adults born between 1978 and 1984 streaming into the workplace whose presence will continue to grow each year for the next ten years. They are Generation Y.

Managing Genertion Y is for those who want to become the employer of choice for the next cohort of young adults. Discover the Gen Y traits that pose the greatest challenges to managers as well as the best practices you can implement now to keep these upbeat, techno-savvy workers focused and motivated.

Order Managing Generation Y

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