February 26, 2003
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This Labor Shortage Will NOT Blow Over
-- 10 Reasons Why Every Manager Needs To Be Concerned with Employee Productivity
-- Healthcare costs threaten US competitiveness
-- Will saving low paying jobs kill the US economy?
-- Can your hiring managers pass the Interview IQ test?
-- Stop Guessing, Start Knowing Seminars
-- New! Radio interviews online at super-solutions.com.
-- NOW OPEN! The SPS Bookstore
-- JANUS: Looking Forward and Looking Back
-- Surveys! Surveys! Surveys!
-- New! Situational Interviewing added to CriteriaOne

Greetings!

Between 2010 and the mid-2020s, 12,489 boomers per day will leave the workforce. By 2005, 71 percent of senior executive federal government employees will be eligible for retirement.

Nineteen percent of baby boomers holding executive, administrative, and managerial positions are expected to retire by 2008.

10 Reasons Why Every Manager Needs To Be Concerned with Employee Productivity
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1. Persistent shortages of qualified employees is a given. 2. Competition for skilled employees will only increase. 3. Increased competition raises the cost of labor. 4. Increased labor costs without increases in productivity raises costs, not profitability. 5. Lower profits leads to slower growth. 6. Slower growth leaves fewer dollars for competitive compensation. 7. Compensation, that is wages and benefits, is a reward for effort and an incentive for productivity. 8. Increasing compensation without increased productivity becomes a cost. 9. Unnecessary costs reduce profits. 10. The pressures on profits will escalate due to global competition, skilled worker shortages, an aging workforce, and increasing health care and other insurance costs.

Read more about what's ahead in this month's issue of Labor Storm Alert.

Healthcare costs threaten US competitiveness
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Healthcare costs are one of the biggest threats to keeping American workplaces competitive. Americans spend $1.4 trillion annually on healthcare goods and services. Employers spend $263 billion annually - 20% of the total. Healthcare insurance costs go up as utilization rates increases and price of health services escalate.

Increased healthcare insurance costs will be expressed in slower job growth without increases in employee productivity. Job growth is a critical factor in Gross Domestic Product and per capita income. With slower job growth, employers lose market share to competitors.

Will saving low paying jobs kill the US economy?
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Skilled and educated employees earn more. In fact, four-year college graduates earn nearly double what other workers earn. Skilled and educated workers spend more which creates more demand for goods and services.

By 2012, a shortfall of 6 million bacculaureate graduates is expected. This shortage translates into a loss of $154 billion dollars from wages and salaries, not including the loss in government revenues such as federal, state and local payroll taxes and social security. The failure to meet the need for college graduates will mean $22 billion per year less in payroll taxes for the social security system. Lower income also means lower cost homes. Less costly homes means less property tax revenues which further strains municipal and school budgets.

The Perfect Labor Storm: Why This Labor Shortage Will Not Blow Over is a must-hear keynote. Don't wait. Schedule Ira Wolfe for your next presentation today.

Can your hiring managers pass the Interview IQ test?
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You're looking for top performers. Research has shown that the traditional interview is only 7% successful at predicting job performance. A behaviorally based structured interview increases your odds of success to over 50%.

Are your interviewing skills up to the task of hiring winners? (No? Not sure? Need help? It's not too late to sign up for CriteriaOne training on March 14-15, 2003.)

Test your interviewing IQ online.

Stop Guessing, Start Knowing Seminars
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HRD Press and Training House is pleased to announce a a FREE half-day seminar: Stop Guessing, Start Knowing. How to Accurately Assess Personality and Competencies. The seminar will be presented in Atlanta (GA) on April 9 and Lancaster (PA) on April 30, from 8:30 AM to Noon.

Attendance is limited to the first 20 participants and is FREE to HR and sales managers, COO, CFO, CEO, plant managers, and general managers. To register for this seminar, click on the link below.

Yes, register me today for the Stop Guessing, Start Knowing Seminar.

New! Radio interviews online at super-solutions.com.
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Listen to The Perfect Labor Storm interview with Ira Wolfe, taped for Philadelphia Focus on WJJZ-FM, hosted by Bill Brosey.

For a free tape of the interview in its entirety, call 800.803.4303 or email: iwolfe@super-solutions.com.

Listen now - The Perfect Labor Storm Interview.

NOW OPEN! The SPS Bookstore
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The Situational Leader by Dr. Paul Hersey. Only $19.95

The Situational Leader is more than a story. It is the compelling summary of key behavioral science concepts and the Situational Leader® model. The book will help you effectively: *Develop the skills required when leading people *Diagnose the competency and commitment of others *Differentiate influence styles *Select appropriate leader behaviors and more.

Click here to visit the new SPS bookstore and scroll down to The Situational Leader

JANUS: Looking Forward and Looking Back
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Janus, the ancient Roman god with two faces, was originally considered to be the benevolent creator and god of gods. He later came to represent change and transition, such as the progression of past to future or one vision or condition to another. Janus was chosen as the ideal symbol for this performance management system because it, also, is about looking back and looking forward.

Subscribe to the Janus Resource Library. Receive over 600 pages on-line of how-to instructions for identifying competencies, evaluating competence and simplifying your performance managemant system. The Janus Resource Library also includes over 40 forms (which can be freely copied) and more than 50 original articles on everything from how to set up an organizational 360s to leadership effectiveness.

For your FREE Janus Performance Management Library, click here.

Surveys! Surveys! Surveys!
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Hate the hassle of inputting survey results? Not enough time to query the data and create reports? Are you putting off getting much needed feedback from customers and employees?

Contact us today about real-time e-mail and web based surveys. No more hassles with entering results and creating presentations. Let SPS do the work for you. We can help you write, set-up, distribute (electonically), process and present in less time for less cost.

For more information about customer satisfaction or employee morale surveys, click here and type " surveys" in the comment box

New! Situational Interviewing added to CriteriaOne
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You don't want to miss the program that one participant described as "a common sense approach that is so accurate, it's scary." Learn to assess competencies and personalities in just two days. Learn a step-by-step technique for behavioral and situational interviewing plus how to use the right assessments that will increase your success in identifying high performing employees up to 10-fold.

Consultants, owners and HR specialists from PA to CA attended this program in 2002. There's still time for you to register for the March 14-15, 2003 workshop to be held in Lancaster, PA. Register before February 27 and save $150!

To register or receive more information, click here.