Bob Kelleher, Chief Engagement Officer of the Employee Engagement Group, shared 13 key work force trends that will challenge organization sustainability.
The war for talent is not over! The average worker’s tenure is 3.5 years but the Gen-Y workers average only 20 months. Over the next 15 years, the demand for employees worldwide will rise by 33%, but there will be a 15% drop in supply. Those Gen-Yers are going to be able to negotiate their terms don’t ya think?
Second, there’s a new rule…retire retirement! Boomer followers, are you planning to retire any time soon? Bob also suggests, STOP trying to satisfy your employees. Engagement is not about satisfaction. That’s not our job. Our job is to engage employees to contribute to the bottom line. Satisfactionwill follow but it’s a bad message to say to employees “we’re here to satisfy you”. It sets the wrong tone.
India and China are changing the way we look at employment. Remember when our parents said “eat your vegetables. someone in india or china is starving”. Bob says the new reality is “finish your homework. someone in india or china is starving for your job”. Read the World is Flat or, an easier read is A Whole New Mind to get knowledge on this trend.
We need to be innovative. “Anyone can innovate” offers Bob. “Successful firms will go from what people MUST do to what people CAN do” he says.
The virtual employee is the way of the future. IBM states they don’t care HOW the work gets done, just THAT the work gets done. 42% of IBM’s 350,000 employees rearely ever go into the office.
Social networking…..thanks for reading my post….need I say more?
I don’t need to….but I will. The challenge is that social networking allows an ex-employee tell thousands of people how much they HATE your company.
What is your communication promise with your employees? Bob says to create one, publish it, and let your employees know.
Corporate responsibility will be expected. Thomas Friedman, author of the World is Flat (see the China and India comment above) says “tomorrow’s companies will need to have the brains of a Business School Graduate…and the heart of a social worker”. What do you think about that? Is it possible and STILL be profitable?
Lastly….says Bob…the government is watching. “Never in my life have I seen so much government intervention” he says. Greed is NOT good now…and the goverment will tell you so. What do you think about that?
I’m going to end this now before Bob leaves the stage. Do you have any questions you’d like me to ask him while I can? Let me know.
