Welcome to the September 26, 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. 

It's here! Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

"Just got your new Labor Storm book and I am blown away! You did a fantastic job!  Kudos!!!!!  I will most likely order this for everyone in my organization. Just pat yourself on the back....this is a fantastic contribution to our field."

Beverly Kaye

Founder/CEO, Career Systems International

Author, Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay

What's Inside:

1.  One-third of employed workers say Show Me The Money.  

Unless you've just awakened from a 10-year sleep, it comes as no surprise to executives and business owners that finding enough qualified workers to keep their businesses running is a big - and getting bigger - problem.  So when a crowd of nearly 2000 potential workers gathers in one place, you can be sure to find dozens of employers lining up to find their next "diamond in the rough."

It was only appropriate then that Lancaster Chamber of Commerce Annual Job Fair was held at Clipper Stadium under the grandstands, just a few feet away from the baseball diamond. Instead of carrying bats and balls, thousands of job seekers and employers were pitching resumes and job applications.

For the fifth straight year, Success Performance Solutions surveyed participants entering the September 13 event. Like previous years, the survey responses from nearly 300 attendees revealed a peek inside the local job market.  The results are enough to make any hiring manager gasp.

Forty percent of the job seekers were already employed. This hasn't changed much over the years with one exception.  The education of the currently employed job hunters is rising - over one-third of them hold a 2- or 4-year degree.  These results mirror national trends that indicate approximately one-third of employed workers will job hop every 12 months.  This is good news for businesses looking for qualified and educated workers but very bad news for organizations who can't retain the employees they have.

The belief that every worker does not need a college degree to obtain a good paying job is well documented.  But having only a graduate equivalency degree (GED) or High School diploma also isn't enough to make a candidate marketable any more either.  With over 52 percent of all the jobseekers carrying only a resume in one hand and a high school diploma in the other, the chasm between employee skills and employer needs is widening.

In a bit of a surprise, 37 percent of employed job seekers said they were extremely satisfied or very satisfied with their current job.  More surprisingly, over 38 percent were at least very satisfied or extremely satisfied with their current pay and benefits. 

So why then are these satisfied workers looking for new jobs? 

Better pay topped the list with a response rate of 35 percent.  The remaining factors varied but combined - 65 percent - fired a warning shot toward employers:  14.9 percent cited they were looking for career advancement, 17 percent job security, 9.6 percent health care benefits, 8.5 percent cited better hours, and 7.5 percent flexible hours.  And last but still worth noting was 7.5 percent wanted respect and recognition from their supervisors.

You might think that employees on the hunt for greener pastures and more pay would come armed with excellent skills, or at least they would want to create that perception.  But despite wanting more pay and opportunity, there was only one skill that over 70 percent of the currently employed workers rated themselves as excellent - teamwork.  In important skill areas like problem solving and getting results, less than 60 percent of these workers considered their skills as excellent.  Even fewer - less than half - viewed their stress management and written communication skills as excellent.  

To view the full report, go to:

http://www.super-solutions.com/pdfs/LCCI_job_fair_2007fullreport.pdf

Watch more Workforce Trends That Will Change The Way You Do Business:

Where Have All The Workers Gone? Skills Gaps  (6:33)
Where Have All The Workers Gone? Skilled Worker Crisis  (5:19)

New!  Diversity: Wake Up Everybody! (6:54)

Then please forward these links to co-workers, colleagues, bosses, reports, and customers.  Thanks.    

The videos are also available on The Perfect Labor Storm website.  

To discuss how to evaluate your workforce or leadership preparedness, call us at 800.803.4303 or 717.291.4640 or 717.291.4640.

2. Now on Sale!  Perfect Labor Storm 2.0 (soft and hard cover versions)  (Delivery date on or about September 20, 2007.)  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  

Read what one reader has said:  

"The policy and practical ramifications of the Perfect Labor Storm are astounding.  It should be required reading for every Human Resource Professional."

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.

Read the pre-publication reviews:  

Below you will find just a sampling of the trends, stats, and facts that will change the way you do business.

If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China . . .       

                                                                                                       .......China would still have a labor surplus.  

China's Generation Y accounts for nearly one-sixth of the Chinese population, equivalent to two-thirds of the entire U.S. population.   

By 2025 more than 75% of the workforce in India will be from Generation Y and younger generations.  

In the United States, Gen Y and younger will make up just less than 60%.

Trends and stats like this are just an inkling of the information you'll find in the revised, updated and expanded Perfect Labor Storm 2.0, including several chapters about managing generational clashes.  

Keep reading future issues of this newsletter for more announcements about the book release and updated Perfect Storm Indicators.  

Perfect Labor Storm e-book published earlier this year is still available.

You can order a download copy of PLS, a great value at $9.95. 

3. Hire for Higher Performance

Learn the Science of Hiring, The Art of Selection

• Some people love competition.  Some people hate it. 
• Some people thrive under pressure.  Others burn out.
• Some people perform best when juggling lots of projects.  Others are one-trick ponies.
• Some people thrive on confrontation.  Others yearn for harmony.
• Some people always follow-through. Others always over-promise.

Learn to take the mystery out of hiring right the first time.

During this one-day workshop you will learn to:

• Identify the core competencies that predict success in any job.
• Create a selection process that accurately identifies the most qualified candidates
• Conserve precious recruitment time and resources
• Select screening and selection tools that predict job fit
• Perform a job analysis to ensure compliance with EEOC and ADA guidelines.

Participants will eliminate hiring mistakes, promote the right people into the right positions, identify high potential employees and build your talent pool.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Hampton Inn, Lancaster, PA

8:30 AM - 4:30 PM

Fee: $495*

(* Early bird special: $395 before October 1st)

4. Find The Missing Link between Good and Great Companies

You can't improve your company performance with a process that employees don't want to use.  In a recent survey, only 11% of companies indicated that they are very satisfied with the current performance management process utilized by their organization.  

This indicates an obvious disconnect between where senior management sees their business going and how the plan gets executed.  

The catalyst that converts planning to results is effective employee performance management.  

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.   

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!  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.  

6. Speaking Schedule: Ira S Wolfe  

2007:  

October 3 - How Practical Assessment Tools Can Bulletproof Your Hiring and Promotion Decisions

October 16 - Shumaker Williams PC (Camp Hill PA)

October 17 - Vistage - Hiring Tools

October 17 - Associated Builders and Contractors (Lancaster PA)

October 22 - Vistage - Hiring Tools

October 23 - Ben Franklin Technology Venture

November 13 - Carlisle (PA) Chamber of Commerce

2008:  

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

January 22 - Optimance (Dallas, TX)  

October 2008 - American Staffing Association Annual Meeting

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

7. New White Paper!  Performance Management: 10 Steps to Bridge Strategy and Execution

Unlocking the potential of your organization requires discipline of definition, communication and alignment. Without these disciplines, your business "plans" will become at best, broken dreams and unfilled "hopes." The following 10 steps will guide your organization on the disciplined path to a successful future.

Download Performance Management: 10 Steps to Bridge Strategy and Execution

8. Quotes from Hire Authorities

"If we practiced medicine like we practice management, we would have much more malpractice and a lot of mortality and morbidity."

Jeffrey Pfeffer, author and Stanford University professor of organizational behavior

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