October 15, 2003
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-- 2 out of 5 Job Seekers Have Jobs; 69 percent dissatisfied
-- Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 6 to #10
-- How Well Can They Sell?
-- Take the mystery out of employee motivation >>>>>>
-- Only 2 more weeks to go >>>>>>Employee Selection and Job Benchmarking Workshop - Get Certified October 30 - November 1.
-- Get Insight - Understand yourself and others
-- Online Personality Screening for as little as $15
-- Reduce no-shows, theft, aggressive behaviors with the Best Pre-Employment Tool for Hourly/Entry-Level Employees
-- Take the heat and misery out of employee evaluations.
-- The Perfect Books for Energizing People and Exploring Values

Welcome to this week's issue of The Total View.

A funny thing recently happened to over fifty employers on their way to a job fair. While expecting to see a parade of out-of-work, humbled candidates pleading for jobs, these employers found themselves speaking with job seekers who already had jobs. Nearly four out of every ten job hunters already in fact were already working!! Despite the doom and gloom of the jobless recovery you read about almost daily, employees are still out there actively looking for the better opportunity - and as they told us, better pay. Folks, that's forty percent of the currently employed who are actively looking for leave their current employer.

Employers can learn a great deal from these job seeking candidates through the information they shared with us at the end of September.

Over 700 of the 1000-plus job seekers who attended the September 2003 Lancaster Chamber Fall Job Fair completed the survey. What they revealed will be shared in the next few issues of The Total View.

Beginning today, we will publish the results including what benefits are most important to these job seekers, how they rate their own job skills and if employed, how likely it is they will be with the same company two years from now. Stay tuned >>>>>>>>

The Total View is written and published each Wednesday by Ira S. Wolfe, founder of Success Performance Solutions. (Yes, Ira writes every article, every week!)

Ira S. Wolfe ©2003 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

To learn more about Success Performance Solutions or read back issues of The Total View, visit our website at www.super- solutions.com.

Have a comment? Disagree? Need advice? Visit our Free Discussion Board.

2 out of 5 Job Seekers Have Jobs; 69 percent dissatisfied
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If there is even a lick of truth that employees will stick with their jobs if they like their supervisor, then employers should stand up and take notice.

Over 1000 job seekers recently submitted resumes and completed applications at 2003 Lancaster (PA) Chamber Fall Job Fair and 700 volunteered to complete an anonymous and confidential survey. The survey was sponsored by Success Performance Solutions.

Not surprising, 69 percent of the employed job seekers said they were dissatisfied with their current job. You would expect this if they were attending a job fair.

Why were they looking? Seventy-three percent were dissatisfied with their pay and 72 percent were dissatisfied with their benefits.

The good news is that nearly 54 percent were satisfied with their direct supervisor/manager's ability to manage. And of those satisfied with their supervisor, 57 percent, nearly the same number as those employee satisfied with their manager said they were very likely to be working at their same job two years from now. Compared to the 70-plus percent dissatisfied with pay and benefits, it looks like the bond of an effective supervisor can retain nearly 80 percent of the employees wanting a fatter paycheck. Another 23 percent were on the fence if they would stay or not. Only 10 percent said that it was not very likely they would be working at the same place. This does not mean that all is calm on the employer's home front. These currently employed job seekers were still looking. So what was it they were hoping to find?

Nearly 30 percent of the employed- and-satisfied with their supervisors were seeking better pay and 23 percent were looking for respect and recognition from their supervisor. Job security and career advancement followed with only 15 percent of these employed/supervisor-satisfied employees rating health care as a top benefit.

Of those employed but still seeking better opportunities, 87 percent wanted to work for a business with a strong code of ethics.

Think about what you just read.

With labor costs and benefits, especially health care, skyrocketing and blowing apart operating budgets, employers might heed what job seekers are saying in planning future recruitment and retention activities.

Respect and recognition from a supervisor costs almost nothing and yet nearly 45 percent of all the respondents were dissatisfied with their supervisor's ability to manage.

While job security and career advancement are never employee guarantees, employer loyalty and a culture that walks the talk can go a long way toward keeping the talent an employer already has. Considering that nearly 2 out of every 5 employees is looking for a better job, if you can't keep the employees you have, you better make plans to replace 40 percent of your workforce in the near future, not including any new positions you add.

But career advancement is a two-edged sword. To retain employees, creating opportunities for advancement is only one piece of the puzzle. Advancement requires new or improved skills.

How did these employees rate their skills?

Nearly 70 percent of the respondents rated their overall job skills as above average or better. Yet only 46 percent rated their understanding of business trends and how a business operates and makes money as above average. So that's interesting. Employees want more pay and benefits but don't necessarily undertand how a business makes the money to pay for it. Maybe a Business 101 course could at least help employees understand what they need to do to earn more pay.

Just 59 percent felt they can apply appropriate methods and solutions to a variety of problems with above average skill. Nearly 79 percent felt their best strength was in how well they relate with people. Employees seem to be ready to move and they rate their skills high. The question to be asked is "when a candidate comes knocking on your door, how will you know if he or she has been under-appreciated or over-rated?

Source: Success Performance Solutions

To request a copy of the survey, click here and type Job Fair Survey in the comment box.

Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 6 to #10
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Fact #6

One-fifth of this country's large, established companies will be losing 40 percent or more of their top- level talent in the next five years.

Source: Development Dimensions International

Fact #7

The replacement pool of 35 to 44 year olds will decline by 15 percent during the same period.

Source:U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Fact #8

Companies spent 15 percent of payroll on absenteeism in 2002. For an employer with 5,000 employees and an average pay base of $40,000, that adds up to $30 million a year.

Source:Source: Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Workforce Magazine

Fact #9

Companies lose approximately 2.8 million workdays each eacy because of injuries and illnesses.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Fact #10

Three to six percent of any given workforce is absent every day due to unscheduled issues or disability claims. To compensate most companies overstaff by 10 to 20 percent to mask lost productivity.

Source: Synchrony

Schedule Perfect Labor Storm Expert, Ira Wolfe, for your next meeting or keynote.

How Well Can They Sell?
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