Customer Reviews

Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills And Talent

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This is an excellent book about the impact of the upcoming retirement of the baby boomer generation. The authors go way beyond the usual clich? that the retirement of the baby boomers will cause an apocalyptic skill shortage. Although, the authors spend a lot of time analyzing this emerging skill shortage they suggest it may not be as bad as other experts think. This is for two reasons: first immigration, and second baby boomers will not abruptly retire at 65. Many will decide to remain active much longer than that.

The authors then approach a far broader and complex subject: how to retain and engage a very diverse workforce. Being concentrated on age brackets, they classify the workforce in three distinct age buckets (> 34 years old; > 34 < 55; > 55). These can be thought of as the young, middle age, and nearing retirement. They describe in detail the three completely different sets of temperament and career aspirations of these three groups. Their findings are based on a very extensive survey of over 7,000 employees.

The key for companies to resolve the emerging skill shortage is not just to cater to the retirement bound baby boomers, but create a work climate and flexible benefits catered to all three age buckets. They give many examples of corporations who have already adapted to this new working world. And, they make further recommendations for companies to promote and retain an information age skilled labor force no matter what its age.

This is an excellent book for any one engaged or interested in broad social trends, human resources, management, and consulting.

I don't envy the job of the Human Resource director these days. Global competition and the aging American workforce makes it really difficult to figure out where your future workers are going to come from. These questions are examined along with possible solutions in the book Workforce Crisis: How To Beat The Coming Shortage Of Skills And Talent by Ken Dychtwald, Tamara A. Erickson, and Robert Morison.

Contents:
Part 1 - The Management Challenges of Changing Workforce Demographics: The Coming Shortage of Skills and Labor; The Diverse and Demanding New Workforce
Part 2 - The Three Worker Cohorts and How to Engage Them: The Needs and Capabilities of Mature Workers; The End of Retirement; The Needs and Frustrations of Midcareer Workers; The Relaunch of Careers; The Needs and Attitudes of Young Workers; The Retention of Talent
Part 3 - The New Employment Deal and How to Shape It: Flexible Work Arrangements; Flexible Learning Opportunities; Flexible Compensation and Benefits
Part 4 - Management Practices for the New Workforce: Meaningful Work and Engaged Workers; The Manager's Agenda for Change
Readers' Discussion Guide; Notes; Acknowledgements; Index; About the Authors

The authors don't paint a very encouraging picture of the American workforce. For instance, the baby boomer generation is getting much older, and many are starting to approach retirement. You'll either lose them to retirement, or they'll want to work less than full time. There is also a shortage of younger workers who have the necessary education and skills to allow today's company to compete effectively on the world stage. A company's ability to train workers becomes ever more important. And if that's not enough, the typical workforce is made up of a diverse range of cultures and nationalities. No longer is it possible to have a company full of people who share the same background and value system. If you don't accommodate those differences, you'll self-destruct.

But all is not lost... If a company is willing to start changing their hiring practices as well as their benefit systems, it will be possible to find and retain quality staff. Realize that mature workers shouldn't be put out to pasture as being past their prime. The reality is that they are experienced and still motivated to work. Workers in the midst of their careers need to be able to manage their personal lives (like kids) with the flexibility of their work environment. Younger workers don't want to be given cursory training or spend forever before they can contribute. They're looking for meaningful careers, and they'll go wherever they can find it. There is plenty of material in this book (well documented, too) on how a company can structure itself to adapt to the realities of today's landscape. The practices of the last 25 years won't cut it...

Workforce Crisis should be on the reading list of anyone responsible for managing an organization's staff. If you're not already dealing with these new realities, you soon will be...

In essence, the "workforce crisis" to which the title refers results from an insufficiency of talented, skilled, and principled people at a time when competition for them has never been more intense than it is now...and "the coming shortage" of them is certain to increase in months and years ahead. In the first two Parts of this volume, the authors explain how this "brain drain" threatens organizational performance, why a new workforce stategy is needed, why older workers (ages 55+) comprise "the biggest untapped resource" and how to optimize their services, why and how the "boomer bottleneck" disrupts productibity, how to rekindle employees' passion for work, why the best of the younger workers (ages 18-34) keep leaving, and how to connect with them. Then in Parts III and IV, they explain why flexible work arrangements are needed and how to make them work, why continuous education matters and how to make it pay off, why "variety will rule" and how to leverage it, how to evaluate the talent and skills of the current workforce and anticipate their needs, and finally, how to formulate and then implement strategies by which to avert a workforce crisis.

Readers will greatly appreciate the authors' no-nonsense approach to real-world issues. Their observations are based on extensive research and their recommendations are both practical and do-able. The provision of various case studies is a substantial value-added benefit. It is instructive to see how various organizations have either avoided or satisrfactorily resolved the "workforce crisis" each faced. There are two other books which should be read in combinbation with this one: Leigh Branham`s The 7 Hidden Reasons Employees Leave: How to Recognize the Subtle Signs and Act Before It's Too Late and Bradford Smart's Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People (Revised and Updated Edition).

WORKFORCE CRISIS: HOW TO BEAT THE COMING SHORTAGE OF SKILLS AND TALENT predicts a crisis in the workplace as the huge boomer generation requires and leaves less experience holding the bag in the workplace. Companies must rethink their workforce management and attract and retain works of all ages, as a result. Decades of research have culled these strategies for reorganization in WORKFORCE CRISIS, which will prove an inspirational vision for any manager looking at the long-term picture.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is an excellent read! I was browsing through the book stores with a hope of finding a book that relates to trends in the workforce demographics and I came across a Harvard Business School Press book that caught my attention with its not-so-big book size and an impressive title that read "Workforce Crisis - How to beat the coming shortage of skills and talent?" and I did not have second thoughts of picking it up. I felt happy I picked this one....there were lots of examples that i could relate to my workplace. I am thrilled to recommend this book to anyone who is in an organizational setup as a part of a team or managing one, with different age groups, nationalities, and culture which I think would include majority of us. This book concentrates on the impact of upcoming retirement of the baby boomer generation. The authors spend a lot of time analyzing the emerging skill shortage that may not be as critical as experts would think. It also offers innovative strategies for rewriting the "employment deal" that helps in leveraging the talent of the people that is required for the enterprise to succeed.

In Age Works: What Corporate America Must Do to Survive the Graying of the Workforce, published by the Free Press in 2000, Beverly Goldberg tried to alert business to this very problem, and offered such solutions as flexible work and phased retirement as a way of holding onto older workers. Only human resource managers seemed to get the message, however. Senior management, more concerned with the bottom line, ignored the problem. Perhaps this book can convince corporate leaders that the problem is real. Goldberg's book was also greeted enthusiastically by reviewers, but alas, they are not in charge of corporate America.

Good analysis of the problem and some suggestions for solutions. Employers are going to have to use older workers or go without in the near term. Raises some real questions about the importance of "guest workers" to the continued success of our economy. The labor has to come from somewhere.

the book came when I expected, was in the condition I expected and the recipient of my gift was thrilled to receive it.

This is a page-turner for anyone interested in workforce development, human capital, or economic development interests. It's a succinct, digestible argument concerning the dramatic changes that will be taking place over the next 20 years. Their points are articulate, digestible and actionable. I highly recommend this book.

This book talks about engagement by age group, which is a good topic but when reading into futher...its saying all age groups want the same things; flexible work arrangements, good pay and benefits. Nothing new in this book.