August 19, 2009

Edited and Written by Ira S. Wolfe

Published by Success Performance Solutions. Major Sponsor,

2008 Best Places to Work In Pennsylvania

What's Inside this issue of The TotalView:

1.  Generation Gap Widest Since 1969

2.  Perfect Labor Storm Warnings

3.  Ready to Manage

4.  eSKill Office Skill Testing

5.  Quotes from the Hire Authorities

1. Generation Gap Widest Since 1969

Baby Boomers are lingering in the workplace.  Gen Xs are growing impatient waiting to acquire additional responsibilities and ascend into leadership.  Gen Ys are knocking at HR’s door in record numbers.  And technology, including social media, is transforming the mode and pace of communication.  This convergence of “the wired, the tired, and technology” is simultaneously creating opportunity and crisis.

From cell phones and texting to religion and manners, almost 8 in 10 people believe there is a major difference in the point of view of younger and older Americans, according to a new study released in June 2009.  This is the highest spread since 1969, when about 74 percent reported generational clashes over the Vietnam War and equal rights for women and minorities.  In contrast, just 60 percent in 1979 saw a generation gap.

The study by the Pew Research Center found Americans of different ages increasingly at odds over a range of issues.  It also confirms the shift in generational power that helped catapult Barack Obama into the White House, when 18- to 29-year-olds supported the Democratic candidate by a 2-to-1 ratio.

Social values and morality were issues where older and younger people differed the most.  People age 18 to 29 were likely to report disagreements over lifestyle, views and family, relationships and dating while older people cited differences in a sense of entitlement. Young people also were more tolerant on cultural issues such as gay marriage and interracial relationships.  Those in the middle-age groups often cited manners as the greatest source of conflict.

Not unexpectedly, the adoption of “newfangled” information technologies divides the generations. Just 4 in 10 adults ages 65-74 use the Internet on a daily basis and that share drops to just 1 in 6 among adults 75 and older. By contrast, 75 percent of adults ages 18-30 go online daily.

The gap is even wider when it comes to cell phones and text messages.  Just

5 percent of adults 65 and older make most or all of their calls on a cell phone.  For adults under age 30, the number jumps to 72 percent.  The difference is greater when it comes to texting:  just 11 percent of older adults use their cell phone to text messages while 87 percent of the under-30 crowd let their fingers do the talking. 

The different generations don’t even agree on the most basic question of all about old age:

When does old age begin?   Much to my chagrin, 18 to 29 year olds, belonging to the Millennial generation, believe that the average person becomes old at age 60.  Gen Xs and young Baby Boomers, the middle age respondents to the survey, put the threshold closer to 70.  People 65 and older say that the average person does not become old until turning 74.

Comments? Post them on my blog.

To learn more about how to manage multi-generational workforce and turn clashes into collaboration, I recommend my new book Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization. It is filled with background on the four generations in the workplace plus tips and solutions about how to recruit, manage, motivate, and retain each generation. Enter code GGG10 and receive an additional special discount.

Perfect Labor Storm Warnings   

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that by 2010, more than 51 percent of the workforce will be 40 years or older, a 33 percent increase since 1980. 

For more workforce and hiring trends. subscribe to the Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 blog.

Purchase the NEW Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 books (soft and hard cover versions) at PerfectLaborStorm.com.

42 online assessments for employees, managers and leaders. Some of these are competency-based and focus on a specific competency, such as Coaching Effectiveness, and break it down to the behavioral level so that individuals can examine and rate individual behaviors that can be mastered to boost that competency and increase effectiveness. 
 
Some are style-based and break down a topic area into a four-quadrant grid so that an individual can better understand his or her own, dominant style in an area like Emotional Intelligence.  Often, trainers or OD specialists use style assessments in advance of a workshop or other learning event to determine participants' dominant style and least-used style and then plan the learning around "style-flexing."
 
What you also may not know is that ...
 
We have Facilitator Guides that go with assessments that you can use to plan your training and coaching interventions.  These facilitator guides describe the assessment in detail by providing foundational background, different ways to train or coach others, exercises, hand-outs, slides and flip-charts, and supplemental activities - everything a trainer, coach or facilitator needs to help participants develop and grow.
 
We also have Detailed Coaching Guides that include ALL of the coaching suggestions and actions for each assessment. These comprehensive guides cover the full range of competency-building materials so that your library is complete and learners can put together detailed self-development plans.
 
To visit our Ready to Manage webstore, click here and save 20% off selected Facilitator Guides.

Test for Office Skills Accurate & Affordable   

eSkill assessments are an effective method of ensuring your candidates have the skills needed for your jobs before an extensive interview process. eSkill's online testing tool creates valid, job-based tests by combining multiple subjects and skill levels as needed into a single assessment.  

• Accounting
• Bookkeeping
• Arithmetic
• English and grammar

Click here to learn more

Quotes from Hire Authorities

"I keep saying that the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians. And I'm not kidding."
 HAL VARIAN, chief economist at Google.

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Ira S. Wolfe Copyright 2009 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.