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The Herman Trend Alert
December 31, 2003
2004 Workforce and Workplace Forecasts
- Employment Market Turbulence. More secure employees will stimulate unprecedented churning in the labor marketplace. This turbulence will threaten corporate stability and capacity to serve customers, particularly for employers who took employees for granted in recent years.
- Shift to Sellers' Market in Labor. Employers will face the most severe shortage of skilled labor in history. Corporations will become more aggressive to attract and hold top talent. People will change jobs to find their personal Employer of Choice®.
- Fluid International Job Movement. Economic issues and skilled labor shortages in the United States will move even more jobs to other countries. However, employers will discover that some situations are unsatisfactory and jobs will be returned.
- Retirement will Evaporate. Traditional retirement will continue its metamorphosis. Retirees will move into jobs in other fields, start their own businesses, and engage in other activities to remain active and productive.
- Training and Education will Accelerate. Corporate development programs will reach out to new employees and existing staff. Demand for vocational education will grow. Educators will be challenged to make major changes to produce graduates ready to be productive in a faster-moving world.
- Leadership Deficit will be Crippling. As employers discover serious inadequacies, leadership development will take on new importance. Up and coming managers will be expected to learn and practice leadership skills before assuming new positions.
- Flexible Employment will gain Popularity. As more people work flexible hours, work from home, and use technology to work for employers in distant locations, traditional work arrangements will further erode.
- Casual is Here to Stay. Despite some movement to return to more formality in the workplace, informality will dominate in clothing, culture, office décor, and workplace structural design.
- Advantage of Agility. Companies will re-create themselves to be more agile, nimble, and responsive to customers and employees. Relationships, resources, knowledge, and speed will become strategic weapons.
- Workers Becoming Independent. More people will become independent contractors, selling their services on a project, contract, or set-term basis. This movement will stimulate emergence of specialized staffing firms and electronic communities to connect workers with employers.
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by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc."
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM
A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week).
BUSINESS IS PICKING UP
Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com.
FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL
Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html.
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