Welcome to the September 29, 2004 issue of The Total View

Your resource for cutting-edge news, tips, and tools to help you hire, manage,
and motivate top-performing employees.

If you are receiving this issue as a forward, and want your own subscription, visit
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/newsletter.htm

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In This Issue
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1. U.S. Business on Collision Course With Shortages of Skilled Workers.

2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #251 to #255.

3. Introducing The CoachView Assessment.

4. Testing and Assessments: An Employer's Guide to Best Practices.

5. 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail.

6. Is Your Company or Association Planning to Conduct a Survey in Q4 2004?

7. Have You Downloaded our Complimentary DISC E-booklet Yet?

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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 web site at http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/totalview_backissues.htm

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1. U.S. Business on Collision Course With Shortages of Skilled Workers.
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Hurricanes Charley, Francine, Ivan, and Jean battered much of the eastern half of the United States these past few weeks, leaving a devastating path of death and destruction. Property damage, caused by rain and high winds, totaled in the billions of dollars. For hundreds of miles, cities and towns downstream of the storm flooded as rivers overflowed their banks. Thousands of businesses were closed, many of them never to open again.

Eventually this hurricane season will come to an end. Businesses will re-build and life will get back to normal - so many people think.

The U.S. business community is in the direct path of an even more powerful storm. Unlike the hurricanes, this storm and its disastrous path can be predicted with a reasonable degree of accuracy. It's what I call the Perfect Labor Storm. When it hits, America will experience the greatest labor shortage in her history. Unlike forces of nature, which come and go, the Perfect Labor Storm will profoundly affect U.S. businesses for years to come, and no region will go untouched. It's barely started and already industries like healthcare, manufacturing and technology are already feeling its effects.

A few skeptics question the accuracy of this forecast when six million workers currently are unemployed or working in low-skill, low-wage jobs. All I can say is that they are shortsighted. The naysayer ignores the key threat of the Perfect Labor Storm, believing the problem is in the number of people available to fill jobs, or having enough butts to fill seats. A new report released by the Aspen Institute only confirms the gravity of the situation.

The Aspen Institute correctly identifies the problem … "overall skill levels of American workers is on a collision course with the skills requirements of American employers." Smart business owners will heed this dramatic wake up call and begin to take all necessary precautions to weather the storm.

The impending storm is about workforce gaps in the three areas: number of workers, skill levels, and wages. A business that defends itself against only one gap is vulnerable to the other two. If upper management fails to focus attention on human resources, strategic plans will be as useless as paper files stored in a flooded basement. Human resources professionals also must begin to connect the organization's strategic plan with human capital metrics for their companies to remain competitive and profitable.

Consider these facts:

--Although 41 million people are expected to enter the American workforce by 2010, 46 million college-educated baby boomers will retire in the next 20 years.

--A serious lack of skilled workers will begin in 2005 and grow to 5.3 million by 2010, and to 14 million by 2015.

--If you include the need for unskilled workers, the labor shortage will be 7 million in 2010,and 21 million by 2010.

--The shortages will be most acute among managers and skilled workers in high- tech jobs.

The immediacy of the worker shortage crisis is evidenced in a story recently published by the Associated Press about Seimens. The company received 1,000 applicants for 500 new manufacturing jobs. After resume parsing and screening, a mere 35 applicants had the necessary skills to perform the job.

They are not alone. The National Association of Manufacturers confirmed this as an indicator of things to come in a study they conducted in 2003. While manufacturers having lost two million jobs, 80 percent of the association's members reported a moderate to serious shortage of qualified applicants. Despite the depressing news about layoffs, downsizings, and outsourcing, the manufacturing industry is facing a shortfall of highly qualified employees with specific educational backgrounds and skills, rather than a shortage of job applicants.

The business owners who survive the impending labor and skills shortage are those who strategically plan to meet future workforce needs. The Chrysalis Corporation recommends a three-part strategy, which is:

1. Select the right people

2. Develop the right people

3. Retain the right people

Our clients use CriteriaOne(r), a comprehensive competency-based selection and performance management system, to implement this plan. Success Performance Solutions offers a three-day CriteriaOne train-the-trainer program for human resource professionals, hiring managers, business owners, and consultants. The next training is scheduled for November 3 - 5, 2004 in Lancaster PA. For more information about CriteriaOne and the Train-The-Trainer program, follow this link:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/criteria_one.htm

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2. Perfect Labor Storm Alerts #251 to #255.
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Fact #251: Although 41 million people are expected to enter the American workforce by 2010, 46 million college-educated baby boomers will retire in the next 20 years. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Fact #252: A serious lack of skilled workers will begin in 2005 and grow to 5.3 million by 2010, and to 14 million by 2015. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Fact #253: Employers estimate that 39 percent of their current workforce and 26 percent of new hires will have basic skills deficiencies. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Fact #254: Sixty-five percent of all American employment now requires specific skills. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Fact #255: Seventy-five percent of the American workforce will need to be re-trained merely to retain their jobs. (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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 - $7.95 includes no shipping costs for limited time only.
http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=37174&ProductID=1717642

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3. Introducing the CoachView Assessment
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The CoachView Assessment provides managers and coaches with an accurate, valid and reliable assessment tool that is superior to current assessment products in the marketplace.

The CoachView program is simple to use. It is web-based and provides a personalized report for the individual and the manager/coach, including coaching tips. The ICES Plus Assessment is the cornerstone of a number of established and respected employment and vocational assessments including the TotalView Assessment System. Those products have been used to assess more than one million people in North America alone.

To receive a sample CoachView Manager/Coach and Client report, follow the link below. Along with your contact information, please type "CoachView" in the comment box.
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/contact_us.htm

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4. Testing and Assessments: An Employer's Guide to Best Practices.
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The U.S. Department of Labor and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission clearly states that any assessment used for selecting employees must meet uniform guidelines. Developing your own list of questions or creating a test, especially for non- technical skills or soft skills, may seem like a good idea until someone challenges you on the grounds of the test or interview.

To learn more about what's right and what's not when selecting tools for selection and promotion, click below to receive a complimentary US Department of Labor publication.
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/pdf/Testing_and_Assessment_Guide.pdf

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5. 21 Reasons Why Performance Reviews Fail.
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1. The reviewer and employee have a personal friendship outside of work and both individuals can't differentiate their manager-employee role from their friend-friend relationship.

2. The reviewer and the employee see themselves as part of a team. Team members are supposed to encourage one another, be supportive in good and bad times. But when the manager has to provide negative feedback or discipline the employee, these actions are viewed as divisive.

3. When not provided regularly, annual (or even less periodic) reviews can be based on most recent performance, not performance over the course of the year. The results go both ways. Employees who put on their best behavior around review time get favorable ratings and the employee who has a bad couple of weeks gets punished.

4. Performance reviews are only scheduled when an employee is not performing up to expectations or a company needs to terminate/lay-off the employee.

5. "You know nobody's perfect and there is always room for improvement." The manager doesn't believe in rewarding an employee with a "10" (out of 10) even when he/she deserves it. Some employers actually use a rating scale of 1 to 9 because no employee deserves a 10 in their minds.

Source: Ira S. Wolfe.

To read more, follow this link below:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/why_performance_reviews_fail.htm

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6. Is Your Company or Association Planning to Conduct a Survey in Q4 2004?
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Is your company or association planning to conduct a survey in Q4 2004? 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, employees and members?

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

For more information about the survey solutions we can provide you with, including our Rapid Survey Option, follow the link below and type "Surveys" in the comment box. You can also contact us by phone at: 229-257-0665:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/contact_us_surveys.htm

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7. Have You Downloaded our Complimentary DISC E-booklet Yet?
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If you are new to DISC, or just want to brush up on your DISC knowledge, we invite you to download our complimentary e-booklet Teamworks: 42 Tips to Help Teams Thrive & Survive.

This easy reference pocked guide will provide you with a solid understanding of the DISC model in clear, concise language. You will learn:

--Four ways that people approach their work.
--Secrets to reading a person like a book.
--How to predict a person's behavior.
--What motivates your boss and coworkers

Follow this link to download Teamworks: 42 Tips to Help Teams Thrive:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com/booklet_request.htm

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Contact Information:

The Chrysalis Corporation
2001 Hammock Drive
Valdosta, GA 31602
229-257-0665

To learn more about The Chrysalis Corporation, visit:
http://www.chrysaliscorporation.com