Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

How does the way older people learn and think fit into the workplace?

I was recently reading an article entitles  "Elderly Workers" in the Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety (4th edition), that got me thinking about an issue that I suspect is commonplace.

Training requirements may be different for older workers.

Since learning is based on previous experience, training may need to be more "practically" based. New skills need to be explained in a way that fits into what they already know. Justification and the logic behind the information -- why you're doing what you're doing -- are more important. Training may take longer than with younger workers. There may also be a need for more assistance or practice. However, several studies show that there may not be a difference in how well someone works once the learning curve has been reached.

Everyone, at every age, thinks and learns differently.

These cognitive functions -- how someone learns and thinks -- are very dependent on the individual, and the experiences they have had during their lifetime. People who have had a lot of training or education over their lifetime, or who have had to carry out a variety of tasks, are experienced learners. They are typically able to learn new skills well and improve the ones they have with ease. People who may be more resistant to learning as an older adult include those who have little formal training or who have carried out relatively simple or repetitive tasks for many years. They are used to doing the same thing, the same way, and may find it hard to take in new information or ways of doing things.

So I ask, how does YOUR personal experience with training older people in the workplace abide with this perspective?

When hard work isn't always appreciated

I know plenty of people who pride themselves on putting in 18 or 20-hour days and brag about how they used to pull those "all nighters" back in college.  Thinking back, I remember that more often than not, it was because we didn't know there was a smarter way to get things done, and given our youthfulness, we were able to use the "brute force" method and get anything done that we set our minds to.

In retrospect, today I would feel ashamed to admit to anyone that I took 18 or 20 hours to do what I now know is a 2 or 3-hour job with the right knowledge and technology!

I recall reading about a famous auto company executive during his peak years.

One of his senior vice  presidents bragged to him one day about the long hours he constantly put in on the job seven days a week, month after month.

Instead of receiving praise from the top executive, this person received a real butt chewing for being so inefficient and disorganized that he couldn't plan out at least two weeks a year for vacation to recharge his batteries and do everyone a favor… including his coworkers, who lived with this taskmaster and his long suffering family.

It isn't about how much you work that counts as much as it is getting the important work done.

Maybe it's time to revisit your time management skills?

Aging population - and how it impacts today's workforce

Did you know that approximately 17 million people are spending more than 10% of their income on caregiving for a loved one 50 or older?

This and much more relating to caregiver impacts, was published in the Evercare study entitled "Family Caregivers – What They Spend, What They Sacrifice", a comprehensive study of the personal financial toll of caring for a loved one.

The study points out that when it comes to employment, that 37% of the study respondents reported quitting their jobs or reducing their work hours in order to care for a loved one. 

According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, (FCA) informal caregiver and family caregiver (terms that refer to unpaid individuals such as family members, friends and neighbors who provide care), can be primary or secondary caregivers, full time or part time, and can live with the person being cared for or live separately.

The FCA publishes a Fact Sheet on Selected Long-Term Care Statistics. 

From the Fact Sheet are some sobering data:

• 52 million informal and family caregivers provide care to someone aged 20+ who is ill or disabled.3
• 29.2 million family caregivers provide personal assistance to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or chronic illness.
• 34 million adults (16% of population) provide care to adults 50+ years.
• 8.9 million caregivers (20% of adult caregivers) care for someone 50+ years who have dementia.
• 5.8 - 7 8 million people (family, friends and neighbors) provide care to persons 65+ who need assistance with everyday activities.
• Unpaid family caregivers will likely continue to be the largest source of long-term care services in the U.S. and are estimated to reach 37 million caregivers by 2050, an increase of 85% from 2000.

The numbers are large and increasing, as our population ages, and in light of healthcare and treatment options that were not previously available.

Far too many employers today have underestimated the impact of this growing trend.

The workforce issue occurs on two fronts:

1. The "formal" healthcare workforce, which provides volunteer caregivers or paid care providers associated with a service system.  In light of the Administrations's recent Health Care initiative, the industry, already struggling to keep up with demand, will see an increasing set of requirements.
2. The informal caregiver workforce, who are making critical financial and lifestyle decisions, affecting entire families.  Often informal caregivers are thrust into this mode unexpectedly, after an accident, healthcare diagnosis, medical event, for which

Americans are living longer and having fewer children. At the turn of the century, the life expectancy was 46 years; today it is approximately 76 years. In the 1990s alone, the number of centenarians in the United States nearly doubled (from 37,000 to 70,000). Analysts at the Census Bureau suggest that this per-decade doubling
trend may continue, with the centenarian population possibly reaching 834,000 by the middle of the century.

Workers are in a "pressure cooker" today, and studies conducted by the National Center for State Courts document increases in domestic violence, and family violence affecting older persons increasingly finding their way into the nation’s courts.

Steps need to be taken to increase employer awareness of this matter, going beyond the current FMLA provisions that already exist.  Lacking this foresight, expect increased worker frustration when the unexpected happens, and a worker is thrust without warning into the role of caregiver.

Where future opportunity lies - right under our noses

It is too easy to get sucked into the gloom and doom that dominates today's media.  To hear them, one would believe that opportunities are limites and the future is bleak.

But on the positive side there is significant economic and technological growth going on in the world.

And it is strongest in the world's largest population countries. There are opportunities for the young to both make money and make a genuine contribution to the world rather than shuffling paper money around.

The world is changing. Unfortunately, for the growing uneducated underclass in the developed world (including the US) crime and extremist fundamentlism is sadly the logical response.

We must remember that at the same time we see significant unrest, multi-millionaires are being created at an unprecedented rate.

Entrepeneurs look at the world differently, and when they see a hole, view this as an opportunity to fill it with something!

I wonder how much emphasis is being given to looking at "outside the box" career alternatives?  (both within enterprises, as well as those preparing to enter (or re-enter) the workplace? 

Is the Super Engineer acheivable?

In an earlier column where I reviewed the article "Redefining Engineering for the Year 2020", I discussed the present malaise of the Engineering discipline, but also the resources and initiatives that are already looking at this problem.

I'd like to revisit the approach discussed, a "Renaissance Man" type of engineer.

What attributes will that engineer of 2020 have? The NAE report says he or she will aspire to have the:

• ingenuity of Lillian Gilbreth,
• the problem-solving capabilities of Gordon Moore,
• the scientific insight of Albert Einstein,
• the creativity of Pablo Picasso,
• the determination of the Wright brothers,
• the leadership abilities of Bill Gates,
• the conscience of Eleanor Roosevelt,
• the vision of Martin Luther King and
• the curiosity and wonder of our grandchildren.

As we begin the 2nd half of 2010, we might ask ourselves: 

• Is it realistically possible to create an army of such super-engineers by 2020?
• If so, what major initiaitves would have to be put in place that we do not have today?

What price do we pay for not creating "ground floor opportunities"?

Unless something dramatic happens, opportunities are likely to be much more limited for todays youngest generation of workers who are less likely to get on the first rung of the ladder in order to learn their craft.

If todays youngest generation don’t get on the first rung of the workforce ladder, then the opportunity to progress further in their careers will be further limited.

Could we see a generation of 30-somethings with nothing more than McJobs on their resume?

Even education can't help in a jobless recovery

 My friends and colleagues have been discussing how sons and daughters graduating from a top universities with good grades this past month, many (over half of their class), have no paying jobs waiting.

It's not just graduates affected.  Maureen Conway, deputy director of the Workforce Strategies Initiative at theAspen Institute, writes in the Denver Post that "[a]s the White House and Congress consider a job creation agenda, they should bear in mind the chief lesson of the sector-based approach: The best money is spent training for a job that's waiting to be filled."

What will become of a workforce that is ready to work, but with limited job openings?  Education and training, the backbone of a competent, well-equipped workforce, has limited value as we know, given the erosion of knowledge that occurs over time.

Question for today:

How best to maintain the knowledge and skills of those who have invested in their personal development until the market changes occur that will present new opportunities for these individuals to put these capabilities to work?

What kind of message is being sent to younger workers?

Since the current recession started in December 2007, the labor force -- people who are either working or seeking work -- has declined by 700,000 workers, even though the working-age population has increased by 3.7 million.

In an article recently published by the Economic Policy Institute, labor force participation rate for workers age 16-24 has decreased from 59.1% to 54.7% in the 25 months since the recession started, representing a loss of 1.3 million young workers, while the labor force participation rate of workers age 55 and older increased from 38.9% to 39.9%, representing an increase of 2.3 million workers. Many older workers are not retiring or are re-entering the labor force because they have suffered a sharp decline in economic security due to the collapse of the housing bubble and the plunge in stock prices. At the same time, workers age 16 to 24  -- who face an unemployment rate of 18.9%, compared to 6.8% for workers age 55 and older -- are having a difficult time securing employment and are leaving the labor force in large numbers.

This situation that is affecting the younger members of today's workforce, needs to be addressed by the business community, but from what I can see at my level, is not, on any significant scale.  It's not just about the deferrment of opportunity for younger workers until the old timers leave the picture, but the attitudes that are being formed, out of discouragement with the system.

MY question to you, dear readers, is what examples of this are you seeing in the industry, and perhaps more importantly, what steps do you see being taken in the business marketplace to deal with it?

 What's the best way to ask for help when you're overwhelmed at work?  

Sometimes it's hard because you don't want to look weak, incapable, or unable to keep up.

Linda Hardenstine, helps busy people reclaim and re-energize their business and life by conquering overwhelm and getting into greater productivity, profitability and peace of mind.

She recently wrote an article that provides three easy-to-follow tips for asking and getting what you need.  Regardless of the business life you lead, this is "must read" stuff.