~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Total View
Facts, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage, and motivate top-performing employees.
April 7, 2004
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this
issue
-- The Perfect Labor Storm - The Rx carries a BIG price
tag?
-- Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #111 to #115
-- Personality Gone Wild?
-- What Is It That Employees Really Value?
-- A Closer Look at Behavior-Based Interviewing
-- Have you ever avoided an employee's review and hoped they
would quit first?
-- The problems with performance reviews
-- Just the facts: Cold Turkey
Greetings:
Has The
Perfect Labor Storm fizzled? Are threats of severe shortages
of workers all hype and no substance? Is the forecast about
an excess of 10 million more jobs than workers to fill them
by the end of this decade just a statistical aberration promulgated
by consultants and government beauracrats? To learn more,
continue reading this week's The Total View.
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!) and is distributed
with permission by The Chrysalis Corporation.
Ira
S. Wolfe ©2004 - All Rights Reserved. Reprints and other
distribution by permission only.
To learn
more about The Chrysalis Corporation or to read back
issues of The Total View, visit our website at www.chrys aliscor poration.com
The Perfect Labor Storm - The Rx carries
a BIG price tag?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
According
to some experts, the pending worker shortage is exactly that
- just a media hoax. Thanks to increases in outsourcing and
immigration, advances in technology, and the inability for
baby boomers to retire both due to lack of financial planning
and - - well, just an aversion to kick back and do nothing,
workers will not be leaving the workforce in droves.
While
those factors might be true, other "systems" are fast approaching
that have some ideas of their own that will impact employers'
choices when it comes to hiring workers. These changes may
force the boomers to re-consider how they work and for employers
to re- think how they will manage an aging workforce.
Even if
it is true that baby boomers will work longer, one argument
rarely considered is who will pay for the healthcare of this
aging workforce. Employees? Surely not. At best, employees
may pick up only a share of their expenses but for those workers
with the right skills and experience, employers will find
health care coverage as an un-negotiable benefit to entice
workers to stay just a little bit longer. There is no doubt
that employers will acquire more costs.
Consider
this. Health expenses rise with age, and 77 million baby boomers
are now solidly into middle age. By one estimate, the average
elderly American consumes 37 percent more health care services
than the average worker. The healthcare cost disparity for
males over 50 is more than twice as high compared to workers
under age 50.Compared with people ages 18 to 44, people ages
45 to 64 are nearly three times more likely to have a disability,
six times more likely to have high blood pressure, and 15
times more likely to die of cancer.
Let's
see. Ages 45 to 64 - that the largest percentage of employees
in today's workforce. You can't afford to keep them - and
you can't work without them.
Not to
worry though. Prescription drugs will keep our cholesterol
and blood pressure down, our tickers ticking, our joints moving,
and our you-know-what up longer. (Hint - Think Viagra). Living
longer through technology however doesn't come free. The average
per-capita drug spending for insured people age 65 and older
increased from $827 in 1997 to $1,378 in 2000, an 18.5 percent
annual increase. Average annual expenditures for people under
age 65 rose from $231 to $358 during the same time period,
representing a 15.6 percent annual increase.
Where
does it stop? It doesn't. Annual per capita health spending
increases by about $74 on average (2001 dollars) for each
additional year in age between 18 and 64. Then spending starts
rising more rapidly after age 50-about $152 for each additional
year in age between 50 and 64.
But the
Perfect Labor Storm doesn't stop there. It is well documented
that health care workers are in short supply - and this is
one area that few experts disagree on. An aging workforce
and an aging population means more older people will live
longer. Consequently more workers will be struggling to be
at work while at the same time balancing a tight wire by caring
for a growing number of aging parents and relatives along
with their young children. For some employees, they will voluntarily
leave the workforce to provide support and care for their
parents, grandparents, and other immediate family members.
Others will leave because these aging relatives can't afford
the high cost of long term care or they can't find surrogate
caregivers due to a shortage of healthcare workers.
Get the
picture? The Perfect Labor Storm is not just about a shortage
of people to fill jobs. That explanation is far too simple.
The truth about The Perfect Labors Storm is that few developed
countries in the world, no less the United States, will have
enough workers with the right skills to meet the job requirements
demanded by a service and knowledge based economy.
Equally
important and possibly even more significant, the Perfect
Labor Storm is about an aging workforce that will have increased
healthcare needs. This only exacerbates the already rising
costs associated with employers trying to keep their workers
healthy. The Perfect Labor is also about a growing workforce
with chronic and acute conditions that forces employees to
miss work and work more cautiously. Despite living healthier
lives longer, employees still age.
Maybe
the naysayers are right and the forecast is exaggerated that
10 million excess jobs will exist by the end of this decade.
But employer beware - this storm will approach us from every
front imaginable. We've never experienced a storm quite like
The Perfect Labor Storm.
What's
Ahead For Employers? Download a sample chapter from The Perfect
Labor Storm.
Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #111 to #115
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fact #111 Obese employees are twice
as likely to be absent 14 or more times per year.
Fact #112 Paid sick leave associated
with obesity costs employers an estimated $2.4 billion per
year.
Fact #113 25% of obese workers under-perform
because of infirmities related to their weight.
Fact #114 Obesity is associated with 39
million lost work days.
Fact #115 Obesity is associated with 239 million restricted
activity days.
Source:HR Magazine, March 2004
"The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book: Why Worker Shortages
Won't Go Away" is HERE! Order your copy today - $7.95.
Order
your copy of The Perfect Labor Storm Fact Book today!
Personality Gone Wild?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just last week it happened again. Richard
Clarke, who worked with (and most people would use that word
loosely) four American presidents, came out swinging. He went
public with his outrage at how the current administration
is handling our nation's security problems.
I personally can't confirm whether Clarke
is right or wrong and that's not my point. But to be surprised
at his response - that is what is so puzzling.
Leslie Gelb, who first hired him in 1979,
described how Clarke worked with others. "He has annoyed everybody
he's worked with for 30 years - but everybody wanted him around
because he could actually get the job done." Over four administrations,
he became known as a "very hard working, arrogant, not especially
pleasant or polite fellow who manages to get an impressive
amount of work done", according to Gideon Rose who worked
under Clarke during the Clinton administration.
So what's up with the surprise? For 30 plus
years he got results through "throwing his elbows around",
"riding roughshod", "not paying attention to others around
him". He was even described as a "pile driver". Did people
really expect him to roll over when he couldn't get the results
he wanted?
Not even by the farthest stretch of the imagination,
could Richard Clarke be considered a team player. He's even
a registered Republican but calls himself a political independent.
What's my point? Personalities are personalities
are personalities. Without a significant emotional event,
a wake-up call if you will, personalities are quite stable.
People may modify and adapt their behavior situationally,
in a way "masking" their personality to communicate with and
engage other people. But the forces that actually drive the
behaviors are motivators and values which in turn, shape the
personality.
Should Richard Clarke (or his managerial clone)
stop by and apply for a position with your company, would
you hire him? Would he fit in your organization?
Allow me to take you through a quick overview
about how assessments can help you evaluate a candidate like
Richard Clarke and then determine how he might fit or mis-fit
your organization. I'll use a few scales from the TotalView
Assessment System to describe his personality.
I'm sure he could hold you in awe with his
lightening quick responses (high cognitive abilities) - but
are cognitive skills enough to predict success? What happens
when he wants to move faster than the rest of the team that
work for him?
His impressive track record for getting results
even when the going was tough is driven by his competitiveness.
He is likely a "10" out of 10 on this scale. The same goes
for assertiveness - he obviously isn't afraid to speak his
piece, even when it's controversial.
Does he believe that there is one right way
to do things? It appears so. That trait is "measured" by the
Conventional scale. Does he just speak off the cuff or did
he plan ahead and have all the facts? Based on the respect
he received from his peers despite his arrogance and bull-
headedness, no one ever described Clarke as someone who was
"winging it". He is a voracious reader and had as many facts
as possible before making his decisions. Planning and organized
is measured by the organized scale. With a personality like
his, he would have never made it this far if he wasn't always
prepared.
(If we switch gears for just a moment, Clarke
is also very likely driven by the Doctrine Motivator - a strong
set of beliefs that guides his every decision. In his case,
Clarke demonstrates that he will do and say what it take to
defend his country against terrorism - that is behavior driven
by Doctrine.)
As you can see, how Clarke did his job for
over 30 years and why he was praised for his hard work is
exactly how he believes he needs to do his job now. So he
keeps doing his job the way he's always done it and people
are is outraged at his behavior. Does that make any sense?
Personalities do predict HOW people will do
their jobs. Take the guesswork out of employee selection and
promotion.
Begin
to Hire Competence with Confidence. Follow this link to learn
more about how to assess personality in the workplace and
predict employee success.
What Is It That Employees Really Value?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6 Proven Motivators are revealed in Understanding
Business and Values.
Order your copy of "Understanding Business
Values and Motivators". (Yes, Understanding Business Values
and Motivators is finally here.)
Understanding Business Values and Motivators
is an introduction to understanding the six business values
and motivators that drives human performance. In this book,
Ira Wolfe describes how each of the motivators affects peoples'
behavior in the workplace and how managers can tap into those
motivators to increase productivity and improve performance.
Order your copy today - only $12.95. Want
a copy of all your managers - call us for volume discounts.
Attention Consultants - call us about affiliate
and re-seller programs.
Preview
Understanding Business Values and Motivators today. To view
a sample chapter online, follow this link.
A Closer
Look at Behavior-Based Interviewing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behavior-based
interviewing has been around for 25 years, but the practice
has recently been gaining momentum with the increasing demand
for skilled and competent employees.
"Behavioral
interviewing" is defined as an analysis of a candidate's potential
abilities by examining skills that have been used in past
job performance. The main difference between this type of
interviewing and a regular interview is that candidates are
asked to give specific examples of how they acted in the past,
instead of being asked to share their opinions or ideas.
To conduct
a behavioral interview, interviewers need to know what to
look for in a candidate's response. Online Interview Generator(r)
pairs specific "target behaviors" to over 60 competency based
interview questions.
Online
Interview Generator(r) (IG) allows users to create company
and job specific customized behavioral interview guides in
minutes. Satisfied IG users include hiring managers, employers,
human resources professionals, and consultants.
As an
IG user, you can choose an already- developed interview guide
from our Job Library of over 40 standard job titles (from
Administrative Assistant to COO), then quickly and easily
edit to fit your open job. Or, you can choose to design your
own interview guide from "scratch" using our extensive database
of 65 competencies, and over 1,500 different target behaviors
(interview "answers"), and corresponding interview questions.
IG is
extremely versatile and flexible - it can be used for selection
in every industry, business and organizational environment.
IG is inexpensive and cost- effective; clients can purchase
interview units separately, or through a site license.
View
a sample Interview Guide created with Interview Generator.
Have you ever avoided an employee's review
and hoped they would quit first?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Or have you ever -
Put off giving employee evaluations to the
last minute (or completely avoided them entirely).
Promoted an employee into a position for
which he or she wasn't qualified.
Paid out a bonus to an employee who didn't
deserve it.
Postponed terminating an under-performing
or disruptive employee because you lacked adequate documentation
of incidents and performance failures.
Then Pathfinder, the Integrated Performance System may
be for you. What are the benefits of Pathfinder?
Links individual employee productivity to
strategic goals and business profitability.
Pays for performance not tenure.
Takes the hassle out of employee evaluations.
Holds employees accountable for meeting individual
goals and personal development.
Gives
managers the ability to track employee performance 24/7 from
any location.
To
learn more about the Pathfinder, follow this link. Type
"Pathfinder" in the comment box and we will set up on online
demo with you.
The problems with performance reviews
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you miss last week's article titled "21 Reasons Why
Performance Reviews Fail"? If your company conducts performance
reviews and they are not producing the results you desire,
you need to read this article.
Follow
this link to read 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail.
Just the facts: Cold Turkey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cold Turkey, a phrase meaning "without preparation"
dates back to 1910. The use in relation to withdrawal from
an addictive substance (originally heroin) dates to around
1922. The derivation is from the idea that cold turkey is
a food that requires little preparation in the kitchen.
So to quit like cold turkey is to do so suddenly and without
preparation.
Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
email: mike@chrysaliscorporation.com
voice: 229-257-0665
web: http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
