Have you ever felt the workers you really need are not the workers you actually employ? Maybe you believe your organization is not operating as effectively as it should. Perhaps it is issues like procurement cost overruns, customer complaints or shrinking market share. Some in the organization might even be wondering when the competition will overtake your organization in revenues. Unlike last time, these issues are not process or technology related; they are something different. Demographics, retirements and lifestyles are triggering a shortage of critical skills. Some organizations are extending their searches and accepting short-run vacancies, while others are hiring under-qualified workers. In both cases, the outcome is similar - a workforce producing marginal results. Breakthrough Workforce Strategy was written as an executive toolkit for thinking strategically about critical skill shortages. Its insights and proven practices are more than the product of creative thinking. They are the result of intense analytics and uncommon observations about the workforce. With Breakthrough Workforce Strategy, executives have a toolkit to further develop competencies for: -Understanding the sweeping nature of the skilled worker shortage-Integrating a Workforce Strategy with business objectives-Evaluating positions critical to operations and profitability-Examining internal workforce supply threats-Assessing external workforce supply and demand threats-Predicting the impact of demographic trends on workforce supply and demand balances-Analyzing meaningful demographic segments for solution opportunities Build your organization's response to the critical skills shortage in less time and with greater business impact with Breakthrough Workforce Strategy. Forward Just when you thought you could relax as the recession dissipates Eric Seubert comes along and confronts us with an even more sobering reality. How will we plan and execute our growth strategies when demographics are shifting, engagement is declining, and those with critical skills are disappearing into retirement? How do we plan our workforce needs in the U.S. when the fastest growing segment of talent contains those over the age of 55? How far can France push elevation of the retirement age to 62 if the trade-off for a solvent system is infrastructure paralysis? How will Japan cope when its essentially homogeneous workforce will need to include more than 20% non-ethnic citizens to subsidize its social benefits? Moreover, to whom rests the responsibility to create the Workforce Plan? There was a book published by Dr. Noel Tichy entitled Control Your Destiny Or Somebody Else Will This title is prophetic for those responsible for safeguarding the talent pipeline, development and retention at the Enterprise level. Presently the lack of clarity regarding the implications of the above and concomitant lack of robust planning to cope portend calamity The lack of progressive or even evasive answers to the question "what is our workforce plan" are now becoming indefensible for those chartered to - you guessed it - have a plan In his book, Breakthrough Workforce Strategy, Eric is in many ways throwing us all a life preserver when we need it the most He frames for us the emerging trends, implications for a lack of responsiveness, and when we feel anti depressants are the only solution, an outstanding framework for developing a Workforce Plan The book Breakthrough Workforce Strategy is recommended reading for all who want to understand the implications of these shifting dynamics and an essential read for those of us who are being held accountable for enterprise planning. -Thomas Casey is the Managing Principal of Discussion Partner Collaborate, a global Executive Advisory firm focused on Human Capital Strategy.
