DDI’s Talent Management Intelligence

The Multi-Generational Workforce: Getting in Touch with Our Social Selves

This is the third in a series of blogs done on how the generations differ in the worklace based on a survey conducted by the author. Read more about the survey.

By Verity Bissett-Powell

Along with the generation debate, the other hot topic around the boardroom table is about the role of web 2.0 in communication and personal development. So how much are the younger generations crying out for inter-office networking and facebook-for-work?

As a preferred interaction approach, email remains the favourite with 100% of all surveyed responding that they consider it appropriate for professional communication. Telephone contact is similarly approved although only 29% from across the generations thought that voice-over-IP (VOIP) is a valuable tool. When it comes to networking though, there is a clear distinction between professional networking with sites such as LinkedIn considered acceptable by 38% of those surveyed and very little generational variance among the responses. A surprise perhaps as the younger generation is evaluated to be “a global community."

Social networking also received a lower evaluation as an appropriate method of professional communication. There were generational variances, with the younger generations being more in favour than Traditionals or Boomers, but certainly not enough to hurry to invest in “workbook”.

The increase in acceptance of professional and social networkers among the younger generations may become more prevalent when the Z generations enter the workforce. One impact of this networking may be that controlling information is not as easy as once before, but it does also mean that with the comfort with new technology comes a generation of workers comfortable with change, a benefit that can be used to shape future strategies.

Verity Bissett-Powell is a Business Development Executive with DDI UK.

The Only Constant is Change Itself

By Jazmine Boatman, Ph.D.

Change. It was the  one overarching theme from thousands of leaders while conducting DDI's biennial Global Leadership Forecast. We heard from leaders and HR that the only thing constant is change itself.

Change may not be new news; however, what has been particularly astounding in recent years isn’t that change is occurring, but how fast it is happening. In today’s business environment, change is occurring at a blistering speed.

So how is leadership changing? And is it changing fast enough to keep up with the pace of business? Join us for a live TwitterChat Thursday, June 16 to talk about the results, and what you're experiencing in your own organizations. Follow #GLFChat at noon EDT (6/16) on Twitter to talk about these and other questions:

• What is the overall quality of leadership in organizations today? How does it compare to previous years?
• Do organizations have a sufficient supply of capable leaders to meet tomorrow’s business challenges?
• What can HR professionals do to revolutionize the development of their leaders?
• Is it time to radically innovate not only products and business models, but also the very way we manage?
• What impact can we have by moving the needle on leadership quality?

Join us on Twitter Thursday at noon EDT. More more instructions and a reminder email, register at http://www.ddiworld.com/glfchat.

Jazmine Boatman, Ph.D., is the manager of DDI's Center for Applied Behavioral Research (CABER).

The Gray Matter Matters

By Mike Hoban

Here’s the good news - the U.S. seems to be having something of a resurgence in manufacturing, especially on high tech factory floors. Manufacturers added 25,000 new jobs in April, the seventh month of gains in a row.  Now for the bad news – there aren’t enough skilled workers to run those sophisticated machines and companies are scrambling to hire and train qualified talent and are even poaching from one another. The long predicted talent gap seems to be appearing, but of all places on the factory floor? 

Wait – what?  A war for talent in manufacturing? Yes, you read correctly. There’s a 9% unemployment rate and 1 in 10 manufacturing employees are out of work in the U.S. but because of several trends, the help wanted sign is out for many companies who sport smart machines on the “new” factory floor.  In the last several weeks, two major business publications – Bloomberg/Business Week and the Wall Street Journal – had prominent articles about the reawakening in manufacturing and the huge challenge companies are having finding and keeping skilled workers. 

Manufacturing has slipped in the last 20 years as a desirable career path and there isn’t much of a pipeline of high school and community college graduates who are aspiring to be part of the manufacturing scene.  But demand for goods is back and coupled with boomer manufacturing worker retirements and offshoring wage rates that are rising, thereby reducing the wage gaps between here and “there,” suddenly we have what looks like a talent shortage. 

Some companies are finding that they don’t have enough of a pipeline of people - especially young people - who have the math and science necessary to run the hi-tech gadgetry on the shop floor. No longer is it enough to have a strong back and a good work ethic. The gray matter matters. 

Industry has heard the wake up bell and programs which teach math, technical skills and equipment training are being dusted off and others area being created anew by companies, community colleges and public sector groups.

That’s certainly part of the solution and represents an investment in our country’s future, but let’s hope the focus on new manufacturing readiness and competitiveness includes a healthy helping of interpersonal and team skills training. These days, kids are coming into the work world with underdeveloped and underappreciated social skills, the not so unexpected consequence of several years of electronic communication.

Having to become a productive member of a fast paced work cell or a problem solving team, workers need to be proficient in the areas of building on ideas, demonstrating empathy, conflict management, gaining agreement, communicating clearly and so on. Several years of texting and tweeting have not prepared our young talent for business world interactions. Let’s make the investment in the soft skills too so that when it comes to communicating, those young workers are not, um, “all thumbs.”

Mike Hoban is a Senior Consultant with Development Dimensions International (DDI)