Welcome to the November 16, 2005 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.  Career Paths Deal with Ambiguity

Once upon a time, not so long ago, ascending the career ladder meant having drive and ambition. Job performance propelled you up the ladder and loyalty kept you there. Promotions went to hard-driving, successful, faithful employees. Over time, the rewards grew to include power and authority.

Time and circumstances altered the rules. Granted, experience and education-whether college, or business school, or professional training-still provide entry to a job. What's changed is how quickly knowledge and specific skills such as proficiency with computer software becomes outdated. For people who relied on patience, hard work and applied logic to get ahead, it a real shock to learn many employers consider these attributes useful but not necessarily critical to maintaining the bottom line.

Then, there's our ever expanding global economy. How many men and women worked hard to reach the upper rungs only to see the next step up is, well, not there? That's what happens when employers see the opportunity to cut costs through attrition, automation, or outsourcing.

Still, successful business practice requires careful attention to succession planning. From the top down to mid-managers and supervisors, a forward-thinking businessman or woman keeps a sharp eye toward promoting the right people. If it's so important to choose the right successors, why is the failure rate so high? Succinctly, what's wrong with the way managers pick successors?

The left-brain, right-brain conundrum
In his book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman identifies star performers as people who have a single skill: pattern recognition. These are the "big picture" thinkers that sort meaningful trends from a mountain of information. They think strategically with an eye toward the far future.

Consider a company that built its reputation and success on consistency and proven results, and promoted key employees because they never veered from time-honored methods. That company may be on the verge of significant leadership problems if future business success hinges on adaptability, anticipation and innovation. A core competency required to function effectively under these circumstances is dealing with ambiguity.

Looking to an uncertain future
Michael Lombardo and Robert Eichinger, expert authorities on management and leadership competence, describe dealing with ambiguity as the ability to decide and act without having all the information. After all, a sure-fire way to sabotage productivity is a manager's inability to shift gears quickly and make sound decisions under demanding time constraints.

Conversely, a more conservative manager may become afflicted with "analysis paralysis." This manager wants data even though more information isn't readily available and deadlines are imminent. This manager prefers structure, order and predictability and has a strong need to plan and ponder before solving problems and making decisions. This person favors tried-and-true solutions considering innovation and creativity as risky business. Spontaneity might as well be a four-letter word.

By now, it should be readily apparent that understanding an employee's or candidate's behavioral styles, values and personality traits might predict how a person is likely to perform when faced with unclear choices and innovation.

In coming weeks, I'll discuss different competencies and how behavioral style assessments (DISC), values assessments (Business Values and Motivators) and personality assessments (TotalView and Assess) can predict the natural job fit and career succession of employees.

Learn more about DISC, Business Values and Motivators, TotalView Assessments and ASSESS

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts # 472 to # 475

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

Fact #472:  A woman age 65 has a 19% chance of living to 95; a man has an 11% chance. (Source: American Academy of Actuaries)

Fact #473:  The average American retires five years earlier than in 1950 and lives 12 years longer. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Fact #474:  The United States will have more than 1 million centenarians in 2050, up from 71,000 today. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau)

Fact #475:  Medicare has four workers paying taxes for every senior getting medical coverage. In 25 years, the ratio will be 2.4 workers for every beneficiary. That is assuming the system does not pay for a single new medical treatment. Workers and retirees in the system will take out an estimated $12.7 trillion more than they contributed.
(Source: Social Security and USA Today, October 25, 2005)

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. NEW! Test of Supervisory Skills (TOSS)

The Test of Supervisory Skills (TOSS) is a 70-item, multiple-choice, untimed test that taps the knowledge required for successful supervision.

Based on careful, repeated factor analyses of supervisory behavior, TOSS provides norms that allows a comparison of scores with a large (1,000+) number of supervisory and non-supervisory profile. TOSS is a paper-and-pencil administered profile.

The new version of this well-established screening instrument includes separate test booklets and self-scoring answer sheets and a revised, enhanced technical and administrative manual.

TOSS is a valid instrument for evaluating both applicants for supervisory positions and those being considered for promotion to such positions.

Learn more about TOSS (Test of Supervisory Skills)

4.   50 Training Activities

Choose from over 1,000 activities, including role plays, assessments, games, simulations, icebreakers. Virtually every important training topic is covered. Three-ring binders are ready to use and fully reproducible. Each volume includes trainer's notes and clearly stated objectives.

5.   The Leader Within

Best-selling authors and Fortune 100 consultants, Dr. Drea Zigarmi, Dr. Ken Blanchard, Dr. Michael O'Connor and Dr. Carl Edeburn reveal the results of an in-depth, seven-year statistical study of leadership in Corporate America. Their new book, The Leader Within, Knowing Enough About Yourself To Lead Others, shows how leaders exert influence and how disposition, values, beliefs, and persona contribute to their very success—or failure.

The Leader Within explores the following:

Which of the four unique management styles of Situational Leadership® II: directing, coaching, supporting, delegating—is most—and least effective?

The difference between being a manager and a leader—and how one cannot fundamentally lead unless he or she knows what his or her values are.

Four classic DISC dispositions for a boss—direct controller (D), direct acceptor (I), indirect acceptor (S) and indirect controller (C)—and shows us the guiding principles that govern all bosses.

Contrast how famous leaders compare with one another, based on their values-inspired leadership styles: traditionalists; challengers, in-betweeners, and synthesizers.

Order "The Leader Within"

6.  Check Backgrounds before you hire

If, like Pinocchio's nose, each lie a candidate told on his/her resume or during the interview became immediately apparent, business owners could easily weed out employees who cheat and deceive. Because it's not always that easy, how can employers like you tell if an employee is lying about their work experience, criminal background, and education?

Our Background Checks Services include:

• Employment Verification
• Criminal Records Search
• Civil Records Search
• Workers Comp Search
• SSN Verification
• Credit Reports
• DMV Reports
• Bankruptcy Search
• Degree Verification
• Professional License Verification
• Drug Screening

Learn more about Background Checks

Ira S. Wolfe. 2005 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other distribution by permission only.

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