The Perfect Storm

Some of you will be familiar with the term ‘Perfect Storm’, a common reference to the 1991 Halloween Nor’easter that consumed the East coast for several days. This storm had a significant social and economic impact. The phrase ‘Perfect Storm’ refers to the simultaneous occurrence of events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the result of their chance combination. Such occurrences are rare by their very nature, so that even a slight change in any one event contributing to the perfect storm would lessen its overall impact.

The ‘Perfect Storm’ looming is predicted to have a far greater economic impact than either the millennium bug or the tragedy of 9/11. Enough suspense you say, do tell…

The predicted workforce crisis seems to be focused on an anticipated talent shortage. That factor alone has many employers very concerned and scrambling to address their needs. It is far worse than that! Add to the talent shortage the following significant challenges that employers are facing:

· North America has never experienced the proportion of workers that are currently preparing for retirement

· Growth rate in our labour force has never dropped and remained so low in our history

· Our reliance on knowledge workers rather than labourers has reached an all time high

It is doubtful that most employers have prepared for the multiple effects that these trends will provide when they eventually collide. This ‘Perfect Storm’ will not discriminate - every sector will experience sudden, and in some cases significant, challenges in meeting their labour needs.

As if this were not enough to send employers into hiding, recent reports on employee engagement also demand employer’s attention. In Workforce Crisis, How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills and Talent, Ken Dychtwald defined employee engagement as passion and commitment – the willingness to expend one’s discretionary effort on the employer’s success. A number of recent surveys and studies report that more than half of the workers in the North American workforce are disengaged or highly disengaged in their current jobs. The mistake that many employers make is the assumption that if their workforce is satisfied, then they will also be engaged. Sadly, not true.

So, what are you to do as an employer and/or leader in your organization? Certainly, the crisis does require some serious thought about how prepared your organization is currently to address this ‘Perfect Storm’. Now I know, some of you are quietly taking all of this in and wondering if any of this even applies to you. I have found a quick checklist (credit going to Dr. Scott Hamilton and John Bradford of Profiles International) that will help you gauge whether this workforce crisis issue will impact you.

1. Do you anticipate a productivity issue if your organization cannot get the workers needed or if young workers are constantly turning over?
2. Are you noticing an increase in style clashes between managers, employees, or even between your senior team members?
3. Are you facing a loss of critical knowledge when those who truly understand your business, your customers, and the organization retire at once?
4. Are you facing the challenge of losing your top executives and/or performers to retirement?
5. Do you anticipate a tremendous brain drain on your institutional memory due to retirement and potential departure of super contributors?
6. Do you know what actions you can take to prevent the pilfering of your top executives and super performers by competitors and other companies who could benefit from your institutional knowledge?
7. Do you have a workforce strategy in place to meet the challenges of the impending work force crisis?

If you answered yes to any of the first five questions or no to either of the final two, then you can consider your organization vulnerable to the potentially devastating effects of the looming workforce crisis!

I encourage you to hold off on bolting the doors and boarding the windows in your organization. There are a number of things you can do to enhance your ability to survive and actually thrive in this turbulent period of challenge and change. The key will be to fully understand the complete landscape and where you currently reside. There are many important steps and no quick fixes to introducing and executing an effective workforce strategy.

You will learn and appreciate (I hope) that there is no one strategy/solution that will fit all organizations. I do boldly predict that we will come to realize that any strategy will die on the vine without effective leadership and execution. I look forward to this discussion with you and encourage your feedback and comments.

‘Leadership without the discipline of execution is incomplete and ineffective. Without the ability to execute, all other attributes of leadership become hollow.’ – Execution, The Discipline of Getting Things Done – by Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan.