Joyce Gioia-Herman - Future Workforce Trends

Nothing Bad Ever Happens

On the way back to San Francisco from Monterrey, having experienced two accidents (one critical) and being almost an hour late, I was the victim of a misguided GPS and Mapquest directions that took me the much longer way.

As I was dealing with all of this drama, wondering how I would reschedule with my 4pm appointment, I realized that “Nothing ‘bad’ ever really happens.” It is always one’s attitude towards what happens that determines that value judgment. So it is my personal challenge to maintain my normally joyful attitude towards life in the midst of adversity.

In the words of Paul Stolz, my “Adversity Quotient” is high. (By the way, I have also realized that there is a high positive correlation between the amount of sleep I have given myself and my ability to stay joyful.)

I am convinced that the right thing to do is to accept it, look for the lesson and let it go.

Looking forward. . .

Joyce Gioia-Herman

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Being Tested by the Universe

Then last night, as if on cue, the universe decided to test me. My youngest daughter who is in California to take her Third Degree Black Belt test in Tae Kwando, injured her “good” knee.

Samantha was in excruciating pain and this is a kid who has had a lot of experience with pain. As a caring mother, I found it very stressful to watch her suffer.

I could only remind myself of my colleague Reverend Leslie Harry Cohen’s statement to me through my husband Roger’s prolonged illness, “What has this come to teach me?”

The answers are many, “I do care; I am strong; I will help her through this situation, even if it means her having yet another surgery.”

Looking Forward. . .

Joyce Gioia-Herman

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Life Moves So Fast Sometimes

On Saturday, I put Samantha on an airplane for New York. On Tuesday, she had an MRI to determine the extent of her damage, and on Wednesday, she had surgery to repair her meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

I offered to fly up to New York, but was told (politely), I would just be “in the way”.

Why is it that many of us must learn from our own experiences?

If she had only worn her knee brace on her repaired leg, she would not have “favored” the “good” leg---the one that just had the extensive surgery.

As a parent, you always want to save your child from pain. And it is always so frustrating (and expensive), when they insist on learning those lessons the hard way.

In Samantha’s case, we are talking about two knee surgeries that probably needn’t have happened.

Looking Forward. . .

Joyce Gioia-Herman

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On the Way to Singapore

Here I am ensconced in my Business Class seat, listening to delightfully soothing music, on the way to SIN city, but actually though the airport call letters are SIN, the city and government are quite conservative about the deportment of its citizens and tourists.

Public displays of affection are not permitted and neither is gum-chewing. Even jay-walking is punishable by fine.

Though I have never been to Singapore before, everyone says I will love it. I’m looking forward to experiencing this new culture. Actually Singapore is an amalgam of cultures, languages, and religions. The residents are Malay, Chinese, or Tamil.

It also has four official languages---Malay, Chinese, Tamil, and English.

When I read about it, it reminded me of Mauritius, a fabulous island I visited with my partner and husband some years ago.

The difference is that the major European language of Mauritius is French.

Looking Forward. . .

Joyce Gioia-Herman

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Internal Consumers Make "Ethical Choices"

According to the recently released Cone Cause Evolution Survey 2007, more than two-thirds of Americans say they consider a company's business practices when choosing or staying with an employer. The study, the culmination of 14 years of Cause BrandingSM and corporate responsibility research, found a substantial increase in the number of workers who want their employers to be good corporate citizens and support a social cause or issue over their previous study. The latter findings confirm our research of a few years ago for our book "How to Become an Employer of Choice" in which we found that "making a difference" was an important element for an organization being an Employer of Choice®. (www.employerofchoice.com)

According to Julia Hobbs Kivistik, an executive vice president at Cone, cause-related marketing efforts remain an effective way for a company to express its charity and core values. This study indicates an evolution in internal and external consumer thinking about the ways organizations can support society.

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Jet Lag and Other Health Issues

On Thursday, September 20, I will leave for Singapore. It will be my third trip to Asia in as many months. I wish I could tell you that this time-zone hopping has not take its toll, but it has. To a degree, I feel run-down and a low-grade infection had to be addressed with antibiotics. Fortunately, they nipped any serious problem in the bud.

What is the lesson here? They are many. I hope, dear reader, you can profit from my learnings:

1) Sleep IS important. If you are bouncing around the globe, find a way to get enough. Engage additional support, if you need it? Sleep when you are exhausted. Don't try to fight it.

2) Use Skype.com to communicate with folks in the US, so that you can stay abreast of business here with less stress.

3) Take your vitamins and supplements. If you're not taking any yet, see a nutritionist. Our food here in the US and in many other parts of the world is significantly depleted in vitamins and minerals.

4) Become a vegetarian or what I call myself a "fishatarian", because I eat fruits and vegetables and fish. I am convinced that this diet actually gives me more energy.

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Herman Trend Alert: U.S. Employee Confidence Index Declines

The Spherion Employee Confidence Index, a monthly measure of workers’ confidence in their personal employment situation, fell for the seventh consecutive time last month. With this decline, it reached the lowest level since the survey's inception in 2004.

We see two reasons for this downturn: first, the United States has experienced negative job creation for the last two months, last month losing 63,000 jobs, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics; second, the media continues to beat the drum of doom and gloom, because "Bad news sells." We have written about the media's effect before. http://www.hermangroup.com/alert/archive_8-15-2007.html

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Our Tolerance for Uncertainty

On the LONG flights (total over 20 hours in the air) to Southeast Asia earlier this week, I had the opportunity to reflect on the previous few weeks. I remembered that my actual flight arrangements for 3-April had not been booked until very late in March. . .and that I had been waiting for a prospective client in Kuala Lumpur (KL) to decide when/if they wanted to schedule the two-day workshop that had been in discussions for months.

Just after they had opted to postpone the engagement until my next visit--due to internal project challenges--another prospect woke up and emailed to ask if it was too late to get onto my crowded schedule. After not booking until the last minute, I still ended up changing my flight arrangements three times to accommodate the new client.

As my professional speaker colleagues will confirm, our clients have been booking us to speak with less and less notice. My engagements for 2-April and 23-April in the US were both booked within six weeks of the date of delivery.

I think it is valuable to look at what's happening, why, and what it means to organizations moving forward. First, as we have said so many times before: the world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. The future is here today; that future we thought would take years to arrive.

Continue reading "Our Tolerance for Uncertainty" »

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Returning Vets Make Great Workers

Sandy Westlund-Deenihan, CEO of Quality Float Works in Schaumberg, Illinois is a model employer. "Nobody is really addressing the issues of greater numbers of people (returning veterans) coming out of the war with disabilities", said Westlund-Deenihan. Advances in battleground medical science have kept more wounded soldiers alive.

Having lived through the ordeal with family members, Westlund-Deenihan is on a personal campaign to hire and fast-track returning vets. The technology used in the military translates well to advanced manufacturing. In addition to having technological skills, they get themselves to work on time and stay focused. Some returning veterans are told to "dummy down", because they make their supervisors look bad.

Westlund-Deenihan also laments the fact that many employers are "uneducated" about the costs of hiring people with disabilities, as well as compliance issues. "They have no idea what outstanding employees these veterans make", she adds. "They even make excellent mentors for younger employees."

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US Losing its Tourism Lead to China April 23, 2008

For years, the United States has held the number one position as the world’s most popular travel destination. However, according to the World Tourism Organization, by 2015 China will be number one.

Some hotel chains, including Wyndham Worldwide, are already making moves to capitalize on this trend. The chain opened its first hotel in Beijing in 2004. Since then, it has grown to have 67 properties in China, including Howard Johnson and Days Inn locations.

The chain Super 8 intends to double its mainland locations by the end of the year. According to Mitchell Presnick, Super 8 China's chief executive, "When economies experience this kind of growth, one of the first things that happens is people want to travel". (from BusinessWeek)

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Job Growth at the Executive Level

The economic slowdown here in the United States is not having the expected effect on the demand for qualified executive talent.

ExecuNet's 2008 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report ; finds that increasing demand, along with a shortage of qualified talent and sustained economic growth overseas, are driving better than expected job growth at the executive level.

The sectors with the highest demand are High Tech, Healthcare, Business Services, Pharmaceuticals/Biotech, and Energy/Utilities. The factors credited with the continuing demand for executive talent are an aging workforce and global economic growth, despite the looming threat of recession.

The report also finds that despite evidence that the economy could continue to shed temporary and entry-level jobs, recruiting and retaining of executive-level talent will remain "a challenging priority" in 2008. More than 70 percent of search firms and corporate human resource professionals believe there is a shortage of executive talent, and two-thirds (67 percent) say the war for executive talent has intensified over the last year, amid increasing economic uncertainty. No longer is the United States economy the sole determinant executive demand.

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Social Responsibility is Good Strategy

Many indicators point to the fact corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a wise business strategy. In our book, How to Become an Employer of Choice, we discussed that people want to work for companies that are good corporate citizens.

Moreover, one of the elements of being an Employer of Choice® is "Making a Difference". We know that when employers give their people opportunities to make a difference that the workers feel more "bonded" to the organization. In these times of a tight (and getting tighter) labor market, it is particularly important to press whichever buttons are effective in keeping people and keeping them engaged and productive.

From the scrolling list of CSR goals in the lobby of Marks and Spencer's headquarters to a handful of enlightened employers in Singapore reaching out to older workers to corporate entities like Coca-Cola working with Greenpeace to eliminate carbon emissions from its vending machines and coolers, employers around the world are expressing their support for social causes and the environment.

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Herman Trend Alert: Secondhand Smoke Injures Heart Cells

Whether you live in the United States, Brazil, or China, study after study has documented the negative effects of smoking.

A just-published study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) documents the seemingly permanent adverse effects of secondhand smoke.

For a while, we have known that the children of smokers are one-third more likely to develop serious lung disease. (In high school, I was the victim of my mother's secondhand smoke.) However, this recent study confirms "brief exposure to secondhand smoking increases the risk of vascular (fluid carrying systems in the body) disease and should be a major public health concern". The increased risk of heart disease is significant.

The study followed a group of healthy nonsmokers (average age of 30.3 years) who were exposed to 30 minutes of secondhand smoke on two separate days. The levels of smoke were gauged at the same levels commonly observed in passive smokers. For the non-secondhand smoke environment, researchers simply used smoke-free air. Measurements were taken before exposure (baseline), immediately after (0 hour), and at one hour, 2.5 hours, and 24 hours after.

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Herman Trend Alert: The Economy and Job Creation, What's Really Happening?

On a number of occasions, we have decried the fact that "bad news sells". In spite of the fact that the press wants us to believe that the economy is in very bad shape to sell media, the United States Commerce Department reported the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) actually grew in the first quarter of 2008 at a rate of 0.6 percent.

While that level is not particularly impressive, the definition of recession is an economy with two consecutive quarters of decline in the GDP. Since the economy actually grew in the first quarter, the United States is NOT in a recession. America is certainly experiencing an economically stressed period associated with the theft, fraud, and corruption connected to the sub-prime debacle.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm payroll employment decreased in April by 20,000. Job losses continued in construction, manufacturing, and retail trade, while employment in healthcare, professional and technical services increased.

Continue reading "Herman Trend Alert: The Economy and Job Creation, What's Really Happening?" »

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Herman Trend Alert: Unemployment---the Numbers Behind the Numbers

The latest jump in the United States unemployment statistics has finally prompted us to speak out about what is really happening in the US labor marketplace and what effects these changes will have on our trading partners around the globe.

Last Friday, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the unemployment rate is the highest since October 2004; this 10 percent boost was the biggest percentage point gain in 33 years. The Payroll Survey of employers is the basis for this increase. To its credit, the BLS does include in its notes: "in the establishment (payroll) survey, estimates for the most recent 2 months are based on substantially incomplete returns".

This increase in unemployment continues to mask the real situation. Looking at the BLS' Household Survey, in the month of May, the national unemployment percentages among adult men and women were 4.9 and 4.8. At the same time, the rate for teenagers, ages 16 to 19 jumped from 15.4 in April to 18.7 in May, an increase of 21.4 percent. While part of this increase is due to high school and community college graduations, these new job seekers do not account for this huge increase. Rather, we believe that something else is happening.

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Herman Trend Alert: Thriving in Economic Crisis

Some enterprise is thriving in this period of economic crisis.

First, the sales of fuel efficient, mostly small, cars are booming. Toyota has only 15-days inventory on its Corollas and in May, Honda's modest Civic became the number one selling car in the United States.

Logistics alternatives to diesel-consuming trucks that are more efficient at moving goods, like railroads, are also doing well. Plus, fed up with increasing delays and cancellations of flights, passengers are choosing rail travel over air. Expect this trend to increase; the US rail lines will borrow experts from Canadian Pacific and Virgin to learn how to deliver extraordinary passenger experiences.

Domestic food producers, especially domestic cheese producers are reaping the benefits of the falling dollar. Rapidly rising prices for imported products are prompting customers to look for domestic substitutes. Farmers now find their products in increasingly higher demand.

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Musings from Kuala Lumpur

The pouring rain pelted the taxi with globs of water. Through the rain-splattered windows, the only visible scenery was the vegetation bordering the road and the almost white sky. My taxi driver, Mr. Chang, does not speak English, but most taxi drivers here in Kuala Lumpur share this "shortcoming". By the way, it is only a shortcoming for their English-speaking fares.

My first trip to KL, it lead to my having been taken to the wrong hotel at 1am. . . several kilometers away from my correct lodging with no local currency in hand. (Some lessons are more difficult to learn than others.)

The radio is blaring Top-40 tunes―from the US―back in the 60s. I am sitting silently in the backseat, consciously commanding my eyelids to stay open. Finally, as I succumb and close my eyes, even the plastic ballpoint pen feels heavy in my hand. Over 20 hours in the air is taking its toll.

My dollars are worth about one-half what they were worth a short year ago. I will have to buy my gifts wisely.

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Herman Trend Alert: The Danger of Ignorance

In his landmark monograph released earlier this year, Professor John Alexander, with the United States Joint Special [Military] Operations University, outlines the threat of ignoring the widespread political and social unrest in Central and South America. The document titled "Intelligence Scotomas [Blindspots] in Central and South America" details country-by-country the lack of security and sounds an alarm for the developed world to take notice.

From Brazil’s drug gangs in and out of prisons to the corruption and violence in Paraguay, from the outright terrorist attacks in Argentina, to the kidnappings in numerous countries including Columbia, criminal activity with ties to Islamic terrorism is a growing threat.

Alexander points out numerous ties between illicit activities and terrorist groups, citing specifics, e.g., A US State Department report affirms “The United States remains concerned that [Hezbollah] and HAMAS were raising funds in the TBA [infamous Tri-Border Area of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil] by participating in illicit activities and soliciting donations from extremists with in the sizable Muslim communities in the region. . ."

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Small In Singapore

Helen Keller said, "Life is either an adventure or it is nothing". I keep reminding myself of this fact.

This morning I am in the second smallest living/sleeping space I have ever attempted to inhabit. It is a standard room at the 1929 Hotel in Singapore, a boutique, hip hotel in a convenient area of the city. It is not possible for a person and a suitcase to get through the door at the same time; the best is too close.

The desk is a shelf, already filled with stuff. The commode is in the shower! That is a first for me. I chose this hotel to keep expenses reasonable for my sponsor who has scheduled appointments for me here tomorrow. I keep dosing off, slumping over and awakening with a start. I can not do this to my body any longer.

The next morning: it is not surprising that Singapore is so expensive (at least for Westerners); it is a thriving city. My day will be filled with meetings with business executives and media. I hope I can be brilliant like last week, but why not? I lead an exciting and blessed life. I leave for San Francisco at 5:50pm. The adventure continues.

Looking Forward. . .

Joyce Gioia-Herman

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