Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

Why Dilbert-style upper management still stymies good performers

Pattie Vargas of The Vargas Group, in San DIego did an article last year called On Incompetent Employees.

This article which referenced a piece appreaing on Bnet, entitled  “The Five Ways Managers Breed Incompetence” struck a chord with me.

One of my former Booz-Allen & Hamilton colleagues recently queried a group of us asking, "What was the top ethical issue" in the marketplace today?

After thinking about it, I responded, "setting the wrong incentives" which as we know, more often than not, results in rewarding the wrong behaviors.

Pattie hits the nail on the head with her article when she states:

One of the ways cited in the article was “Rewarding Mediocrity.” Hear, hear. An organization I once worked for had this process down pat. As I was leaving a meeting where one of the senior product managers had tap-danced his way through a late schedule, incomplete deliverables and cost over-runs, I cynically thought to myself, “He’s in line for a VP position.” Even though I was half joking (gallows humor, you know) my premonition came true within the week.

So I'd like to thank Pattie for bringing this issue into clearer focus for me.

Perhaps the "top ethical issue" is the damage that "setting the wrong incentives" for poor performers has on the rest of the workforce who are trying to do the right thing, just because it's the right thing, not because there is a "carrot" being help out in front of you.

Thank you Pattie !

Are You Working for Doogie Howser ?

Robert Wendover, of the Center for Generational Studies is one of the experts I look to when seeking guidance on multi-generational issues.  In his recent newsletter, he posed a question that many older professionals are asking...

"What to do when your boss is younger than you?" It’s a question that is surfacing more and more in conversations among the Boomer generation. As those in Generation X assume increasingly senior responsibilities, those who have spent years in the workforce reporting to someone older are now finding themselves supervised by those their children’s ages. Here are five suggestions for making the relationship a success:

1. Keep this situation in perspective. It can be easy to spiral into frustration or depression about having a younger supervisor. Instead, interpret it as a wake-up call to take stock about how you can better position yourself for the future.

2. Provide support. Just because this person has been put in charge doesn't mean they know what they're doing. Look for opportunities to share operational insights which will smooth this transition. If what you share goes unheeded, it's probably a good idea to back off and learn more about the person's style and how you two might relate.

3. Refrain from offering advice from your life experience unless requested. If this person is insecure about their authority to begin with, your stories might be interpreted as patronizing or perhaps even an attempt to undermine that authority.

4. Stay clear of the undercurrent that may consume the work environment about this person. This is not a time to participate in the gossip or grapevine. The new person will most certainly know that one exists and will be watching for signs of who is fostering these conversations.

5. After the dust has settled, ask this person about how he or she sees you thriving within the organization. Then listen carefully. In spite of his or her age, this individual might have better contacts within the organization. Rather than resenting this, look for ways to capitalize on it.

Remember, if you're in your 50s your life's not over simply because your boss is considerably younger. As most employment relationships continues to evolve from calling to contract, you need to remain vigilant about additional training and opportunities within and without your organization. Going forward, personal versatility is key.

Don't assume you've survived 2009 quite yet...

Recent surveys have found that 40 to 60 percent of employees intend to look for new opportunities as soon as the job market improves, possibly next year. 

Yes, unemployment rates are still at record highs, and that's part of the problem...

Workers, including some great employees, have been being cut throughout 2009 for budget, not performance, reasons.  That left remaining workers holding on for dear life, afraid to make any job search noises lest they be viewed as an attitude problem or disloyal.

But here's the thing...  As I've pointed out in previous posts, at the first sign of stability, the employee morale issue will leap to the forefront.

Sadly, many employers, despite years of warnings that "employee engagement" is broken, have done little about it, and instead continue to heap more and more work and responsibility on those that remain.

Workforce Management magazine had a article on entitled "How Do We Retain People Despite Being Unable to Raise Pay?"  that pointed out the necessity of employers needing to act now to get workers back on their side, suggesting unfreezing pay freezes and giving raises or bonuses to valued employees.

Increasingly, in the tightening economy, money talks.  

Diane Stafford the workplace and careers columnist at the Kansas City Star also suggests other essential non-financial imperatives to employers who seek to preserve their top talent:

• Tell employees who work hard that they are valued. Make sure they know this by a simple "thank you" or compliment for their work. (And that doesn't mean doing it once a year in a formal performance evaluation. It means every day, if warranted.)
  
• Evaluate and readjust workloads to make sure the most competent employees aren't overwhelmed.
• Assess and readjust work assignments to make sure priorities are being handled and that discretionary or less important things that used to be done with larger staffs are no longer sapping time and energy.
  
• Make it clear that naysayers and office gossipers don't help. Encourage more feedback, and share more business information. Misinformation usually gets spread in a knowledge vacuum. Don't be dogmatic about squashing naysaying.
  
• Provide opportunities for employees to say what's on their minds and ask questions. Encourage them to contribute tales and ideas from the front line.

Here's another useful resource:  "One Foot Out the Door"  (How to Combat the Psychological Recession That's Alienating Employees and Hurting American Business), is a great book by Judith M. Bardwick Ph.D. offers smart suggestions for establishing a workplace that is welcoming to a diverse set of people and committed to their job satisfaction and growth.

An Important Piece Of The Puzzle Regarding What New Engineers Should Learn

Anne Scarlett, of Scarlett Consulting, (former principal of Zweig-White), who appears in the AISC's publication, "Modern Steel Construction" produced a very good article entitled "10 Things Entry-Level Engineers Should Know"

The article points out many of the essential things that a young engineer should to to become well established in the profession.  But she missed an important one.

Professional Development.  And ny this I don't just mean getting the necessary continuing education (CE/PDH) credits needed to maintain an engineer's license(s) or certification, but the kind of ongoing life-long-learning habit that takes you beyond what a new engineer needs to stay current with in order to practice.

Here's a perspective that I see too frequently, from the point of view of a firm that is a leader in professional development education/training for engineers:

• an engineer will look for the simplest way to amass the nesessary number of PDH in order to complete the requirements for the state boards by the mandated completion deadline.
• in cases where a education provider offers multiple levels of course difficulty (basic, intermediate, advanced) the learner will often opt for the easiest material, just to ensure a passing score and getting the needed credits
• the closer they get to the reporting deadline, the less discerning the learner will be regaridng the relevancy of the course, to their job area, or professional needs

I have asked several "professionals" why they do this, and often get the response, "I don't have the time to be picky", or "I don't want to risk not passing"

When I've asked managers of engineers if they wonder why an experienced engineer would load up on courses that are very basic, they often tell me that they don't watch what their people take that closely, or even will tell me "it's up to the engineer"

What would happen if you discovered that your newest engineers were regularly stretching themselves and taking intermediate and advanced courses, and doing well on them?  Wouldn't you look at these individuals as "high potentials" for the firm's future.  Likewise, what about the ones that consistently just do the minimum?

With today's powerful Learning management Systems, and the increasing popularity of eLearning for Engineers, managers can now observe not only what their people are taking, but watch how they are growing professionally.  Isn't that a great asset to the firm?  Strange, isnt it, how in a profession where we put so much emphasis on improving outcomes based upon use of data and process, that we often overlook one of the most important processes in the Engineering profession - professional development?

From Training to On the Job Skills Transfer - 5 Important Tips

In these financially difficult times more and more companies are starting to look to their training budgets as a possible area for cuts.

Stop! This is time to invest even more in training. The secret is smart investments that truly transfer to the workplace.

MaryEllen Gibson, who writes in the Work + Money area for Yahoo, recently developed a short article entitled "Five Tips for Training to Transfer to the Workplace" that has some excellent guidance, especially in light of the market-related turmoil that has upended the plans of many businesses.

In her article, she justifies why is is not only important, but downright essential NOT to cut into the training and development area.

Here's a high-level summary of her article:

1. The trainer makes a big difference.  Don't underestimate this vital point.  Lose your good trainers and youcan undermine your entire program.

2. Training must remain a key part of a consistent message from the organization.
3. In order to increase organizational commitment, you need to ask each individual’s manager, and the manager’s manager, to attend the training session with their staff.
4. There is more value and long-term results from training delivered in “chunks” that are scheduled over a period of time, versus "big bang" that has lower learner retention.
5. Focus is necessary in order to train people in skills and information that are immediately applicable on the job.

 

 

is Your "BRAND" Helping or Hurting Your Recuitment Efforts?

In today's war for the best talent, if you are an employer, it's essential to remember that you understand the "brand" that your company represents.  This is sometimes difficult to get a handle on, as your "insider" perception may not be same as what people are thinking, feeling, or saying on the street about you.

A while back I had authored an article entitled "Creating a More Democratic Work Environment" in which I discussed a site called "InsideArch" which provides an "insiders" view into Design firms across the country and their "Professional Culture".  Following this article, I was besieged by people wanting to know if there was a comparable site for  other firms. 

I recently came across JobVent, a web site for anyone who has ever said 'I hate my job', or 'I love my job'. JobVent, besides a web site for people who are about to start a new job (and want to see what other people think of working there), also is a useful tool for company management and HR professionals to get external opinions about how the company is viewed.

Sure, I have heard some HR people tell me that it's only the "over the top - happy" or "really PO'd" people on these sites.  We know from experience (and past research) that unhappy people tell LOTS of people about their unhappy experience, while happy people will only tell a handful.  What is important to remember, is that these are "word of mouth" traditions.  In the "internet age" where social networks rule, anything GOOD or BAD about your company takes on a new life and comments become memorialized. 

This is imperative that firms take active control of their destiny by putting plans in place to calibrate with accuracy, what your "brand" (reputation) is in the marketplace.  Because does anyone really believe that these matters can be left to chance?

Can The Four Day Work Week Help America (And Improve Your Life)? [repost]

The notion that the majority of the workforce should work the eight hour work day and the 40 hour work week is based on nothing more than an idea put forth but the Federal government almost 70 years ago.  This column has a few examples on why the 4 day work week could be better.

read more | digg story

If You Think You Have A Bad Boss, You Could Do Much Worse

A recent global survey shows that employees in the U.S. have the most positive opinions and friendliest relationships with their managers, leading them to be the least likely to disobey their supervisors’ direction compared with international workers.

Writer David R. Butcher, who published a timely article on ThomasNet, reveals to us that while there are plenty of bad bosses, that bosses as a whole in the United States too often get a bad rap — one that they simply do not deserve.

His article, "Think Your Boss is Lousy? It Could be Worse" reveals a new global survey that shows that employees in the U.S. have the most positive opinions and friendliest relationships with their managers, leading them to be the least likely to disobey their supervisors’ direction compared with international workers.

U.S. employees are also most likely to perceive their managers as competent, talented and open to feedback, according to 5,500 workers surveyed in 10 countries by European management and HR consulting firm BPI, which owns a majority interest in Chicago-based SSP-BPI Group.

The international Employees Assess Their Manager survey, conducted in October 2007, sought insights about differences in workplaces and managerial styles by asking employees to rate their relationship with their supervisors.

The key findings, released last month, determined that, overall, about two-thirds of global employees generally had a good opinion of their managers.

It's a great, well written  article, that provides a good perspective on the things that U.S. bosses are doing right!

What are the pros and cons about telecommuting?

I have a blog I read with some frequency entitled HR Clean-up (Because HR is a Dirty Business), that recently published a great article entitled "Telecommuting"

It is written from the perspective of the current astronomical fuel prices we're seeing. The gist of the article follows:

There was an article, not a big one, in Sunday's Boston Globe that stated "4-day weeks, telecommuting look better to employers now".  Since I actually teach Virtual HR and I've been a proponent for flexible work arrangements for a long time, I read with interest. Traffic It turns out that soaring commuting costs are finally forcing employers to help employees out.  And, given that so many of us have moved away from work to find cheaper housing, employees are buckling under the increased expenses.  On top of employee costs, employer costs are also skyrocketing.  Companies are starting to figure out that office space isn't cheap--so if an employee is ok with heating and cooling themselves, why not? The other really big change is on the legal front.  Finally, there seems to be some movement to get a bit more flexible. As organizations start to embrace telecommuting, it will be critical for HR to be at the decision making table--along with IT, Building Services, and everyone else who makes the organization tick.  HR has an amazing opportunity to push the traditional boundaries of "butt in seat" and get companies to start measuring what counts--work output. It is going to be a long hot Summer and fuel costs are going to continue to escalate.

However, there are many faces beyond this article, that factor into the telecommuting discussion:

An article "Telecommuting not so great for those left in office" that was published in January 2008 by Kristina Cooke over at Reuters looks at how those that telecommute have less stress and a higher morale compared to those that are left to come into an office everyday. She mentions that “their co-workers tend to find the workplace less enjoyable, have fewer emotional ties to co-workers and generally feel less obligated to the organization.

The beginning of the article states "Telecommuting may boost morale, and cut stress, but it can have the opposite effect on those left behind in the office, according to a new study"

The author cites how telecommuting has been a growing trend in the United States since about 2000. About 37 percent of U.S.-based and international companies now offer flexible work arrangements, with the number of those programs growing at a rate of 11 percent per year, according to the Society of Human Resource Management. but then goes on to explain how

The author cites research of Timothy Golden, a management professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that claims that when a number of their co-workers toil away from the office by using computers, cell-phones or other electronic equipment, those who do not telecommute are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job and leave the company.

I'm a bit skeptical about this inference.

In the late 1990's I worked with IBA, an early pioneer in telecommuting, and participated in the establishment of the first "telework" centers around Washington DC.  Others have since sprung up, adding credence to the ideas of telecommuting in various "flavors".  In 2006, The Telework Coalition, conducted a Telework Benchmarking study of 13 large organizations with mature telework programs.

This study asked about the attitudes of those employees who did not telework. Both our study and two previously conducted studies by other organizations in which there were multiple participants showed that the non teleworking coworkers were both enthusiastically supportive and felt teleworking was good for the organization, or at the least, the situation was a non issue.

I believe that this area is ripe for investigation and action by management and HR practitioners.  Since each organizations' DNA is different, it may not be the right solution for every situation, but there are viable telecommuting approaches that will and do help organizations attract and retain talent in todays increasingly complex market.

Good Grief Charley Brown ! Now We Have a Maintenance Crisis

My thanks to Joel Leonard over at PlantServices.com for taking the bull by the horns.

With American Idol returning to the television air waves, Joel was reminded of why he started his crusade for awareness for the Maintenance Crisis in the first place.

The fuss and attention being paid to crowning still another singing American Idol has gotten on his nerves again. In case you didn’t know, almost five years ago he was a guest speaker at the Society for Maintenance & Reliability Professionals (SMRP) Conference in Nashville. That conference changed his life and started him on a crusade against the maintenance crisis.

At the time, Joel was serving as VP of the Association for Facilities Engineering and the board had been discussing the pending retirement of the boomer generation. To his surprise, that was a key concern at SMRP. Bob Baldwin, then editor of Maintenance Technology, led an open discussion about the pending crisis. He polled the audience of more than 600 engineers and maintenance pros from the biggest companies in the United States and said, “Raise your hand if you plan to retire in the next 10 years.”

More than 90% of the audience  reached for the sky. Then he asked the attendees to keep their hands raised if they felt comfortable with the next generation. Everyone dropped their hands.

Baldwin then asked why. One said,  “The kids aren’t hungry and aren’t pursuing the education needed to advance in this competitive profession.” Others chimed in, saying, “The insecurity of manufacturing is scaring the younger generation away,” and, They don’t want to get their hands dirty.” Some said that most of them don’t even know about the maintenance, reliability and facilities engineering professions. Or maintenance simply just isn’t cool.

When the group adjourned for a break, Joel and others stretched their legs outside in the 30° weather. To their surprise, around the corner they saw about 5,000 of the very people we had been looking for —16-to-28-year-olds — standing in a line outside the Nashville Coliseum. They were waiting to audition for American Idol. While we were discussing the exodus of retiring maintenance talent, whose salaries averaged more than $80,000, and wondering where the next generation was, we realized there they here at the Coliseum, hoping to sing their way to the top.

That evening, they decided that talking at maintenance conferences or writing books and articles for other engineers wouldn't fix the problem because outsiders need to be aware of the problem and the opportunities the crisis presents. After a couple of barley-infused beverages, Joel posed, “Why not write a song about the maintenance crisis?” His friends agreed that it was a good idea, but they said he couldn’t do it.

They were partly right: he couldn’t do it alone. With the help of some friends, real musicians took Joel's original lyrics and now as a result there we is not only a song, but in nine genres, with one version especially for women, and jazz, Spanish and French renditions in the works.

The songs have been played at industrial and engineering conferences worldwide. Rolls Royce Aerospace and others have made it their department’s anthem. The songs have been downloaded from Joel's Web site more than 50,000 times. Radio stations, including National Public Radio, have played it. Even a class of sixth graders knows the country version, “Find me a Maintenance Woman,” and at least three of them memorized the lyrics.

Free downloads of “Find Me a Maintenance Woman” and “The Maintenance Crisis Song” can be found at www.mpactlearning.com.

Are Construction Jobs Going Down Under?

One of my favorite sources on trends about the skilled labor shortage, is "Perfect Labor Storm 2.0" authored by Ira Wolfe, who constantly helps fill in the gaps about HOW people are coping with the worsening skills shortage.

One of Ira's latest excellent contributions is "Will U.S. construction workers flee to Australia?" where he discusses how the Australian Housing Industry Association (HIA) has called for a special visa scheme to recruit 15,000 overseas construction workers to combat the local (Australian) skills crisis. Thousands of skilled building workers could be lured from the faltering US housing industry to help ease the crisis "down under"

I'd like all of my readers in the construction space to ponder this, and carefully so.  Ask yourself what you think the economic will be to the US, when many workers choose to "relocate" their future to the other side of the globe. 

Just check out one of many sites offering Construction Jobs in Australia and you'll notice two things:

1. many companies are actively seeking qualified and skilled people to join them, and
2. these are the same types of jobs that are being cut by the implosion of the residential housing construction market in the U.S.

American construction workers may be surprised at how well they'll be received by the Australian workforce marketplace, and the incentives they'll have to come down to work.  Kind of makes you wonder when the last time their former American employers told them how valued they were?

Put yourself in the place of the laid-off or soon-to-be-laid-off construction worker.
There are a number of questions you might want to ask yourself...

• Did you feel valued at your last job? 
  
  • Was it because you were unappreciated, or was it because your work contribution was just "ordinary"?
• Do you have the skills to compete in the highly competitive Australian workforce
  • you didn't think they were looking for unskilled general labor did you?
  • (by skills, I mean the skills to survive in the marketplace, not just the technical skills to get the job)

Looking for another job, especially in another country, can be a daunting, as well as an enlightening process for US construction workers.  By entering into a job search in the other parts of the world, they will become informed of other opportunities and perhaps for the first time for most U.S. construction workers, lets them know how competitive they are in the "global" job market.  (HINT: If your skills have become outdated or job specific, you might want to consider a few training programs in order to update your skills, or develop new ones.)

American construction workers who consider the new global opportunities that are appearing, may also find that they need skills to adapt in a different culture that they never before had to consider.

Time of great risk or great opportunity?  I guess it depends on how you want to look at it.

When Location Matters

Hint - it ALWAYS matters!

When businesses go looking for an "ideal" location, you'll often hear that it's all about the quality of the workforce.  While that is always true, it's an oversimplification.

In reality, the workforce is only one of many factors that influence where to locate,, or where to expand. The major factors usually taken into consideration include:

1. Workforce
2. Taxes
3. Economic Incentives
4. Quality of Life
5. Operating Costs and
6. Real Estate

These factors provide business owners with a two level scale of "goodness of fit"

• Quantitative (Demographic, Workforce, Quality of Life) and
• Qualitative (Wages, Taxes, Utility Rates)

The elements also have differing weights, based upon the level of needs.  For example, a a foundry would be looking for a much different skillset, incentive and real estate package than a biotech firm, or a highway construction company.

Workers also look at similar elements when seeking out their future employer.  And they do so on multiple levels (Level 1 - what is important to me for the job I am considering, and Level 2 - once I am ready to change employment again, and wish to stay in the area, what other aspects of the location would compel me to stay in the area?)

Thus, each factor related to attracting and keeping a qualified workforce needs to have a similar perspective (an owners perspective) as well.  Bearing in mind that today we live in a global market for most commodities and skills, it's no longer sufficient to just try to match job titles.  Today's workers understand that they have more options available, so the employers job of "selling" the overall package must reflect these changing times.

Can You Afford The High Co$t of Turnover?

Thanks to the folks over at Chrysalis for this article, which puts the real cost of workforce turnover into a real-world dollars and sense perspective.

Case Study:The High Cost of Workforce Turnover

Les's business generated revenues of $6.6 million in 2003. Profit margins were 14%. His 2004 projected increase in revenues (an eight percent increase) is $528,000.

Last year, Les's company produced sixty-four W- 2's for 35 positions. Essentially they hired 64 new employees for twenty positions; 15 employees were employed more than 12 months.

On the surface, turnover appears to be 83 percent, less than the 92 percent industry average. Churn-over, the number of employees hired and gone in less than one-year, was a whopping 320 percent (64 attempts at hiring for 20 positions)!

At the cost of $6,000 per employee, these 64 employees cost the company $384,000. Even at the same clip this year, churn-over will eat up nearly seventy-two percent of the projected revenue gains.

What's worse - much worse - is how much revenue has to increase to sustain the 14 percent profit margin. At fourteen percent profit margin, nearly $2,743,000 in additional revenues need to be brought in just to keep pace with the lost costs of churn-over.

Increasing revenues shouldn't be Les' primary focus unless he likes to just work harder and harder with not a lot to show for it. If Les and his team would only put a plan in motion to reduce annual hourly turnover to 25%, they would find it much less painful to grow the business at the top line and the bottom line.

The cost of 16 churned employees would be $96,000, a savings of $288,000 in the human resource line item. Re-funneling a portion of the savings for wages, benefits and training back to the remaining employees would certainly be a good idea too as the return on retaining employees is clearly much greater than recruiting new ones.

Of even greater importance will be the increased profit margin from revenue growth. Although the revenues required to foot the bill for even 25 percent turnover is still over $600,000, Les's company will increase profits due to increased productivity and quality from a more experienced workforce, lower administrative and training costs for new hires, and less stress on supervisors, managers and co-workers.

Myths about Gen X in the Workforce - They don't want to grow up

The Reality:

They really don't know how.

The youngest generations in today's workforce are facing a delayed adulthood. They are getting married later, having children later and just generally facing the "real world" later. This isn't the result of a mutated maturity gene, it just is. And if we are being completely honest, Boomers had a lot to do with why it's happening.

First, as parents, Boomers had a tendency to coddle their children and use their own good fortune to make sure their children didn't experience adversity. Second, as career models, Boomers demonstrated the toll of working long hours and "paying one's dues" in a way that made their children less likely to follow in their footsteps. Millenials today look at the corporate ladder and think, "there must be another way."

My advice to you—don't waste time wishing they were different. Don't spend your energy comparing today's youth to the desires and drive you had at age 18. These employees are not a reflection of you, nor are they an earlier version of you. And again, that is okay. Your task is to take this new understanding and use it to reposition how you interact with, motivate and reward your staff.

Take attire for instance. Your 18-year-old self would have gladly donned whatever uniform was necessary to fit the company mold. Be it pressed khakis and a tie or a specific corporate uniform, fitting in was part of the package. Today's youth wants to stand out. They want their individuality to shine through even when required to provide a consistent standard of service and performance. Balancing corporate needs with individual desires takes some creative thinking.

Home Depot is one company that has addressed this dilemma at a very basic level—company uniforms. They simply require that all employees wear a standard Home Depot apron. Be yourself underneath (within reason) and show the customer that you are on the Home Depot team with this bright orange apron. Is there a standard that you can adopt to accommodate individual preferences? Something to think about.

Thanks to Cam Marsten for research cited in this article

Boomers Defy Traditional Retirement Through 'Re-careering'

Although the demand for talent continues to escalate as millions of Baby Boomers reach retirement age, a growing number of these professionals are "re-careering," or changing professions mid to late in their careers, according to more than 270 international recruiters surveyed by Korn Ferry

read more | digg story

The "Perfect Labor Storm" and Why It Isn't Going Away

Among the top experts in the discussion of the "Perfect Labor Storm" is Ira Wolfe, who authored the book by the same title.

The book discusses why the aging workers, retiring baby boomers, rising health care costs, shortages of skilled workers, generational gaps, work ethics (just a few of the workforce demographic and socio-economic events that I discuss on this blog) are colliding to produce the biggest shortage of skilled workers in the United States and many other developed countries.

It's a good read, and worth the time, especially if you're an employer or policy maker.

Here's a synopsis of what you'll find...

Many managers and business owners and even economists and strategists are hoping for a break in the socio-economic "climate" and praying this storm too will pass. Human resource professionals, executives, and managers alike wrongly believe they are the isolated targets of some insidious plot to abscond with their workers or else are just magnets for under-skilled workers with poor work ethics. And not unlike the Andrea Gail which was sucked under by the colossal waves even two days before the full force of the storm hit, their businesses too will sink with this short-sighted, wait-and-see attitude.

All workforce trends indicate future employee shortages will not blow over for decades. Many solutions such as retaining older workers longer are flawed. Since health care and retirement costs explode for workers over age 55, how will businesses afford to insure these workers....and without health care and retirement benefits, why will they work? Even worse the full force of the storm won't hit until the end of this decade.

The Perfect Labor Storm has no industry or geographic boundaries. From plumbers to dental hygienists to teachers to border patrol to radiologists, virtually every industry at nearly every skill and position level is affected by shortages of workers with the right skills and attitudes to do all the jobs.

Is this starting to get you attention?  It should!  Besides Dr Wolfe's book, check out the other parts of this blog to get a better understanding of why this is an issue, and most importantly, what you can do about it.

Factors Shaping Our Future Workforce - Part 3 - Many Generations of Co-Workers

At the risk of repeating much of what I've covered in previous posts regarding the multi-generational workforce, we are looking at a shortfall of approximately 10 million workers by 2012-2015 considering the pending retirement of the baby-boomer workforce. 

Much of this "body of knowledge" as we already know will be supplanted by the the Gen-X and Gen-y (millennial) generations of workers.  The current management challenge is getting these generations to interact productively with the existing baby boomer and traditionalists in the workforce.

But, remember that this is a moving target.  The baby boomers and traditionalists will continue to retire and by 2050 in the USA we will have four different or even five generations that will be working together in the work force.

Thus, having a PROCESS for facilitating productive workforce interaction, is a necessity!  If you think that a short-term "patch" will get you over the problem, you aren't being realistic.

Finding and keeping the best and the brightest from all the generations will continue to be THE challenge of the future.  Communication, management, training, remuneration and time scheduling will all be affected by the multi-generational workforce. 

As the human resource gets increasingly scarce, you can expect that like any precious commodity, it will become the domain of "asset managers" who know how to acquire, cultivate and preserve these assets at their maximum value.

Will you be one of these "asset managers?"

Companies May Lose Older Workers with Shortsighted Policies

A recent survey by Manpower revealed that only 21 percent have implemented retention strategies to keep them participating in the workforce.  Since senior employees are not enticed solely by money, using personality assessment and progressive retention strategies are part of a successful formula for retaining skilled talents. 

read more | digg story

The Dirty Little Secret in the Offshore Oil Patch

The poaching of personnel is becoming a significant source of aggravation, especially since oil companies have in the past been quick to downsize their geoscientific resources whenever the going gets tough.

And it's likely go get worse before it gets better.

An recent article entitled "The Trouble with People" appearing in Oil Online describes the antics that have been looked upon as a "standard practice" in the past, but which take on new significance in light of what the industry is characterizing as the ‘Great Crew Change’ the gap between the generation that is retiring and the generation that is to replace it.

Unfortunately, the Oil Industry, like many other industries have failed to attract the quantity of graduates and technically based talent that is now needed to capitalize on the growth potential that is prevalent.

In many cases there is a significant shortfall of candidates in the 15-25 year experience range which in essence can be described as a generation gap.

Many are concerned that while people are being promoted and given responsibility that is within their potential, it is being given too soon and beyond the true experience levels that would be needed in industries where there is no substitute for experience.

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) in a recent industry report cites the popular finding that 55% of E&P (Oil Exploration And Production);staff are in the 40-50 age bracket (probably on the higher side if the truth be known) and that half the current workforce is likely to retire in the next 10 years (the exercise of early retirement/lifestyle change options may make this prediction conservative).

The BAH report indicates that barely 15% of the E&P workforce are recruits in their early 20s to mid 30s. At the same time graduate recruitment into the industry from established western universities and business schools has been in steep decline.

The issue at hand is that, lacking qualified people at all levels, a fall-off in the E&P;industry’s enviable record for research and innovation could result in an impact on the ability of the industry to respond to the country;s growing energy requirements.

Despite growing employer demand and increased overall numbers in the university population, falling enrollments for geophysics have meant courses being discontinued by universities constantly under performance and economic pressures. The number of MSc courses in geophysics has been reduced from five to one, attributable to the fall in geophysics Masters graduates wanting to embark on exploration and environmental careers.

To reverse this kind of trend presents a huge challenge. as the study points out that the root of the problem stems from what goes on in schools. Geophysics is unlikely to appear on the student’s radar at all and this is part of a more deep-seated resistance to engage in maths and physics, which are regarded as difficult subjects. The result is that geophysics has effectively been structured out of the curriculum, and MSc courses no longer offer a safety net for those students who come across geophysics at university and change direction.

Like other industries suffering with a workforce crisis, it is imperative that the industries that have been considered "unattractive" in the past, must change their image to students.  The trend of students avoiding these fields of study, because they do not have an appreciation of its potential,  at the same time industry needs an increasingly technical workforce, is a recipe for disaster.

The E&P industry is working hard to change their image, but other industries like the design and construction industries have also worked toward this end for years, and still are not close to turning around the problem.   

In my opinion, the problem needs to be addressed at a much earlier stage, educating the youth in K-12, and introducing the teaching faculty and guidance counselors to the many dimensions of the industry, such that these youth will have a re-framed view of these essential industries.

To Have A Good Workforce, You Need To Have Good Leadership Skills

You'd be surprised at how much good talent flees from bad bosses each year.  Did you ever wonder if there is a "scale" (other than gut feel) to determine just how good - or bad, a boss is? 

in order, if you are looking at retaining top talent, and seeking to retain the talent you have, in addition to running the business or department responsibly, you need to be a boss that employees are thankful for

John McKee (Founder and President of BusinessSuccessCoach.net, is the author of "Career Wisdom: 101 Proven Strategies to Ensure Workplace Success") offers this quick quiz to help you find out if your management style is helping or hurting employee perceptions:

Simply answer yes or no to each item below. (scoring provided at end)

QUESTIONS
1. All employees generally dislike work.
2. The best motivator for your team is money; it's what brings them back every day.
3. Keeping emotions out of the management process has served the operation well.
4. Your staff prefers to work as a team so that individual accountability is lessened.
5. As much as I would like to, I just don’t have the time to spend talking in-person to my subordinates.
6. I encourage feedback from a suggestion box or other anonymous method.
7. I live for the weekends (this job is a paycheck to support my "real" life).
8. I don't believe outsourcing can happen to my company.
9. Regular team meetings are not justifiable as they take too much time, which lessens productivity.
10. My current management position isn't very influential, but when I move up the ladder a bit I can make a "real" contribution to the company.

SCORE CARD:
Give yourself 1 point for every time you said "No:"

10 = Excellent!! You'll be running the show in no time!
9 = Brilliant. You obviously see your employees as an asset.
8 = Solid. You have the right attitude, and the team will see that.
7 = Well done. You know people and their needs.
6 = Good. You recognize the power of your role.
5 = Fair. May be time to rethink your management strategy.
4 = It's definitely time for an attitude adjustment.
3 = Change or die (metaphorically). Things aren't good, but it's not too late to make impactful changes.
2 = Do something significant that will be viewed in a positive light or your employees will leave.
1 = It's time to consider a new job where you do not manage people.
0 = Ever consider a job as a bounty hunter?

Factors Shaping Our Future Workforce - Part 1 - Impact of an Aging Population

Aging of the population is currently the single most important trend affecting the workforce in the USA.

Personal lifestyle changes and medical advances are keeping people viable and active longer.

Additionally, financial pressure and personal desire are keeping them working beyond traditional retirement age.  This is evidenced by the projection that by 2025, workers aged 55 and older will be more than 20% of the work force in the USA

The concept of "old" and "senior" are also changing.  By 2050, individuals aged 75 – 78 will be considered to be "middle age."  Mortality tables are being changed to reflect this: maximum life expectancy is increasing from 99 (tables created in 1980) to 120.5 years (new tables published in 2003)

Finally, we are and will continue to experience a lack of younger replacement workers due to a "baby bust" which started with Generation X

One of the most anticipated workplace trends of the 21st Century is the huge retirement wave that will hit most industrialized countries, including the United States, in the next few years. But surveys consistently report that most companies are unprepared to respond to the seismic shifts that are expected to appear in the workforce.

What implications does this have?

Searching for the Silver Bullet: Leading Edge Solutions for Leveraging an Aging Workforce, the latest study from the MetLife Mature Market Institute, which was developed in collaboration with David DeLong & Associates, explores what proactive organizations are doing to creatively meet the challenges posed by an aging workforce.

The study includes in-depth case studies about four companies that have successfully implemented programs to address the changing workforce demographics: Boston Scientific, First Horizon Corporation, The Aerospace Corporation and Weyerhaeuser.

Drawing on the experiences of employers that have put innovative initiatives in place to address the changing demographics, the study provides insights for HR managers on such topics as: implementing effective flexible work arrangements, helping older workers successfully transfer knowledge and devising creative solutions for rehiring retirees.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that between 2004 and 2014 the growth in the percentage of older workers will far outpace that of younger workers.

In that period, the percentage of individuals in the workforce ages 55-64 is expected to grow 42%, compared to a 5% increase in workers age 45-54 and an 8% decline in workers age 35-44. At the same time, the percentage of workers 65+ is expected to grow 74%.

“As the wave of baby boomers approach retirement, companies are searching for a silver bullet – a one size fits all approach for addressing the needs of an aging workforce,” said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute. “However, what we learned from this new study is that there is no panacea for addressing the needs of a mature workforce.

What’s needed, instead, is a portfolio of strategies and solutions that balance the need to retain older workers while also transferring knowledge to younger workers, so that business performance can be sustained.”

“By learning from others and putting practices in place now, employers will be better able to navigate the dramatic changes coming in the workforce,” added Timmermann. “Organizations that haven’t prepared properly will have fewer options to minimize the impact of retiring baby boomers in order to sustain business performance.”

Valuable lessons learned from the study include:

• The need to think of phased retirement or flexible work options as a program, not a policy;
• How to create effective knowledge sharing relationships between older mentors and younger workers;
• How company-sponsored benefits and retirement planning workshops that focus on the economic consequences of leaving the workforce will encourage some employees to remain in the workforce past age 65;
• The need to make knowledge transfer an explicit part of any job when rehiring a retiree; and
• Why companies must stop searching for the “silver bullet” and recognize that there is no quick fix to these workforce challenges. The solution is a portfolio of integrated programs that will accommodate the changing labor market.

The study also provides specific tips to help employers:

1. Create and leverage a network of former employees;
2. Rehire retirees indirectly on a project basis when pension restrictions prevent direct re-employment;
3. Hire retirees with special expertise to innovate on critical projects; and
4. Tap the expanding pool of older people seeking employment.

“When it comes to solving the problems of an aging workforce, the glass is both half empty and half full,” said Dr. David DeLong, president of David DeLong & Associates, Inc. “Organizations can focus on the barriers or the opportunities. Most executives today recognize that their workforce is going to change dramatically in the next decade. They can maximize the contributions of employees and the assets they bring to the workplace.”

The MetLife Aging Workforce study was conducted during the first half of 2007. While this research focuses on four specific case studies, more than 75 interviews were conducted with managers in 28 organizations identified as leading edge in dealing with the changing workforce. To enhance the findings, more than a dozen experts on aging workforce issues were also interviewed.

Why Management is Fearful of Developing their Workforce

Recently, I was reading one of the great articles published by AmCheck (the Payroll Services, HR Solutions, and Employee Benefits people), that discussed the characteristics of a successful company.

One might think workforce development is an obvious characteristic of all successful companies and their managers. 

But Lominger Limited Inc. - a leadership development think tank and consultancy - reports that managers and employees ranked "developing direct reports" dead last out of all 67 competencies in its bi-annual study of leadership skills. That's right—managers are viewed and view themselves "worst" at developing their direct reports compared to all other skills in their toolbox.

What's your fear level?  Is it paralyzing you to the point where you may become a casualty to "inaction?"

Fears and hollow excuses are usually what prevents managers from developing their people. You may not be actively developing your reports job because you fear:

• Losing power. If you develop your people, you may not be the technical expert of your area anymore. (In reality, you agreed to not be the expert any more when you took a leadership position)
               
• Losing your good people. As people develop, they may want to grow further beyond the function of your department. Be aware, however, that if you are seen as a "people hoarder," your career will be severely diminished.
               
• Being "leap-frogged." Someone you develop may eventually get a job you want. You may even have to report to one of your previous direct reports. (Let's hope you developed them well.) If you use this excuse, you're revealing a basic insecurity about your own abilities.
               
• Creating a rival. Worse than the fear of being leap-frogged may be the fear that a former direct report could become an arch rival in your organization. This excuse is another indication of personal insecurity.

Or you may not be developing other leaders because it takes time or you want to avoid the responsibility. But what else are you doing with your time that is more important? Here are six reasons why you should can the excuses and work on your workforce-development skills:

• To improve productivity and effectiveness. While developing a direct report may cause some temporary reduction in productivity, it will pay dividends in your department, team or division in the long run
               
• To maximize long-term potential. Developing direct reports improves the long-run success of your entire company.
               
• To keep your sanity. Good people developers usually go home on time. Developing your people not only improves their capacity to perform, but it improves your capacity to delegate.
               
• To attract talent. When the word gets out that you are a people developer, the up-and-comers in your company line up to work in your department, team, shop or division.
               
• To "plant" good people. When people leave your area, they know your department's function, your methods and your needs, and can help you be successful from their new position
               
• To get promoted. Being a great people developer differentiates you from the pack. People say good things about you. People realize you are a more complete leader, not the usual, one-commodity manager.

No one becomes a great people developer overnight, and there's no one right way to do it. You should cater to your strengths and to your style. Here are some general tips for improvement:

• Be the motivator, not the "mom." Convince your employees that they are responsible for their own development. Each must have a written development plan, including both short- and long-term development goals. Remind employees that capitalism is "creative destruction" and that their jobs may dissolve without notice. Corporate maternalism breeds unhealthy dependence on the company and minimizes self-reliance.
               
• Incorporate their need to have a personal development plan into your performance-management process.
               
• Recognize that development is more than going to training. While training courses are an important aspect of development, so are rotations, special tasks, complex projects, reading assignments, informal "brown-bag discussions" and even successful staff meetings.
               
• Coach with a passion. Most people can remember a coach, teacher or mentor who dared to confront behavior when it was less than optimal. People developers constructively confront-in a private and professional way-when needed       
               
• Delegate incessantly, and make assignments with development in mind.
               
• Know your people, particularly their career aspirations.               
               
• When interviewing potential hires for your department, discuss an estimated time for them to move on (assuming this fits their career aspirations), usually by the end of three years. Make moving on a goal, and promise that you will help them find their next position within the company when they have developed to your expectations and performed in their current job for a reasonable period of time.
• Creatively reward people who actively develop themselves. Money is not always the right answer. Know your people and reward them with a motivating intangible.

Lose that fear!  You will pay a dear price for not developing your available talent in the next few years.  Remember, this is one of those thinngs you pay for, whether you do it or not.

Shouldn't that Christmas Feeling Last the Entire Year?

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL MY LOYAL READERS!

PEACE TO YOU AT THIS SPECIAL TIME OF YEAR, and throughout the year

Wouldn't it be nice if the feelings of appreciation that are expressed between friends and colleagues continued throughout the year?

That is the genesis of the question that our friends over at AZCentral.com raises in their recent article entitled "Show worker appreciation every day"

This timely article discusses the benefits of "showing the love" to the people that are important to us - every day.

Because isn't it a good feeling to know you're appreciated?

A Perfect Hiring Storm: Scarce talent and Bad Press

Over at the Offshore Recruitment Outsourcing blog I always find perspecfives of value.  In early December, they published a great piece entitled A Perfect Hiring Storm: Scarce talent and Bad Press

In this article, they discuss another recent article appearing on Careermag.com contributed by Debbie Benami-Rahm, whose research I have found to be top shelf.

One of the key elements of this discussion is the following:

The way your organization handles the interview and hiring process either brings you the talent you want or scares your talent away.

Couldn't agree more.  It's increasingly a binary choice.  Many organizations with whom I have consulted over the years have not changed their tactics and methods, despite the fact that entire workforce "value proposition" has changed.  Further, many are completely clueless, and still do the same thing over and over and expect a different outcome.

A few years back, I also put some specific metrics on the true cost of employee attrition when I wrote "The Death of Employee Loyalty"

The situation is changing, and the companies that refuse to change will be relegated with higher costs, lower customer satisfaction and lower profits until they come to the realization that the workforce recruitment and retention process IS their business.

Does Workplace Loyalty Cut Both Ways?

I suspect that one of the main reasons why so many people put up with long hours, constant demands to increase output, and even Hamburger Management is simply loyalty: loyalty to colleagues and friends, loyalty to a workplace, even corporate loyalty.

Not familiar with Hamburger Management? A relatively new term, coined by the folks over at Slow Leadership, refers to the process of doing everything as quickly and cheaply as possible. When everything has to be done yesterday, there can be no time for debate or questioning. Blind obedience is required because that is the only response that fits the constant demands for going faster and doing more with fewer and fewer resources. Blaming others? Hamburger Management is like every other type of cheap, shoddy goods. It doesn’t work very well. So those who use it must constantly find excuses to avoid the truth being seen: that they are incompetent because of the methods they are using.

I recently was introduced to an excellent piece entitled: Workplace Loyalty Cuts Both Ways, authored by Carmine Coyote. a brand of Adrian Savage a noted marketing guru, Englishman and a retired business executive who lives in Tucson, Arizona. You can read his serious thoughts most days at Slow Leadership, the site for anyone who wants to bring back the taste, zest and satisfaction to leadership; and his crazier ones at The Coyote Within..   It's really a good article.

The trouble is that organizations don’t appear to have the same sense of loyalty in return. That puts a huge strain on employees. Do you pitch in and help out your colleagues, who are struggling with the latest batch of unreasoning demands from on high? Or do you start polishing your resume and get ready to walk out the door as quickly as possible? Do you stay with your belief that the job you’re doing is both worthwhile and valuable—even if it’s poorly paid, as so many jobs in teaching, nursing, and other public services tend to be?

Or do you decide to follow the money into a different career—or even consider leaving to work overseas—and let go of your loyalty to an ideal?

You owe it to yourself to read Workplace Loyalty Cuts Both Ways
check it out for the full coverage.

We All Want To Work for A Company That Supports Us, Don't We?

I wanted to share this with you my readers.  I received this message from a close friend of ours, who also like myself is a vet.

My cousin sent this to me and I thought you all would like to know about it.  Happy holiday shopping!
Shannon

I know I needed this reminder since Sears isn't always my first choice. Amazing when you think of how long the war has lasted and they haven't withdrawn from their commitment. Could we each buy at least one thing at Sears this year? How does Sears treat its employees who are called up for military duty? By law, they are required to hold their jobs open and available, but nothing more. Usually, people take a big pay cut and lose benefits as a result of being called up.

Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salaries and maintaining all benefits, including medical insurance and bonus programs, for all called up reservist employees for up to two years. I submit that Sears is an exemplary corporate citizen and should be recognized for its contribution.

I suggest we all shop at Sears, and be sure to find a manager to tell them why we are there so the company gets the positive reinforcement it well deserves. Pass it on.

Decided to check this before I sent it forward. So I sent the following e-mail to the Sears Customer Service Department: I received this e-mail and I would like to know if it is true. If it is, th e Internet may have just become one very good source of advertisement for your company. I know I would go out of my way to buy products from Sears instead of another store for a like item, even if it's cheaper at that store.

This is their answer to my e-mail:
Dear Customer: Thank you for contacting Sears.The information is factual. We appreciate your positive feedback. Sears regards service to our country as one of greatest sacrifices our young men and women can make. We are happy to do our part to lessen the burden they bear at this time.
Bill Thorn
Sears Customer Care
webcenter@sears.com
1-800-349-4358

Please pass this on to all your friends. Sears needs to be recognized for this outstanding contribution and we need to show them as Americans, we do appreciate what they are doing for our military!!!

It's Verified ! By Snopes.com at: http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/sears.asp (shows the entire article)
http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/sears.htm

Not bad for a McJob

One high profile example of a corporation tackling their employer brand head-on is McDonalds, who rely on a steady supply of Human Capital to give their business and their brand life.

After the term 'McJob' appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary, being described as having low pay and poor prospects, McDonalds responded in 2006 with the challenging 'Not bad for a McJob' campaign.

The McDonalds fight-back campaign featured posters including examples of health policies, flexible working hours and prospects for promotion, with the objective of improving their public image as an employer of choice and ensuring their employees felt 'McRespected' and 'McValued'.

McDonalds represents an extreme example, but other companies across the world dedicate much time and resource to winning coveted places in top employer listings, such as the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For in the UK and the 100 Best Employers to work for in Canada. And, according to Sheffield University, its a case of 'Who Cares Wins' in todays job market.

Performance Appraisal and Feedback - What are Today's Management Expectations?

Performance Appraisal and Feedback is an important part of the talent management process.  However, the "equation" is different today than it has been in the past.

I'd like to share with you some ideas on current thinking about:

• Supervisors’ Accountability For Employee Performance
• The Supervisor As Coach
• What Does The Company Need From The Employment Relationship?
• What Do Employees Really Want From The Employment Relationship?

The Supervisors’ Accountability For Employee Performance

Traditionally, management has meant performing the functions of:
Planning

• Define Goals for Future Performance
• Determine Tasks Needed to Meet Goals
• Determine Available Resources

Organizing

• Assign Identified Tasks
• Allocate Needed Resources

Leading

• Inspire Employees to Achieve Goals

Controlling

• Monitor Employee Activities to Assure Progress

Over time, this role has transformed to include an awareness of :

• Decentralized Decision Making
• Flexible, Skilled & Involved Workforce
• Increased Sensitivity in Work Relationships

The Supervisors’ Job Description has thus evolved as a Supervisor of the Work of Other Employees to include :

• Setting Objectives
• Hiring Employees
• Training Employees
• Assigning Tasks to Employees (Delegation)
• Measuring Performance of Employees
• Rewarding/Disciplining Employees

Accordingly, the Supervisor is accountable to the business to

• Meet Their Own Performance Objectives
• Maintain Accurate and Timely Records of Employee Performance Throughout the Appraisal Period
• Complete the Forms Used in Appraising Employees and Return Them to HR on time
• Maintain Their Knowledge and Understanding of the Performance Appraisal Process,, and
• Review Appraisals Together With Employees

In other words, from the Company's perspective, they are looking for the Performance Appraisal and Feedback process to help

• Maximize Employee Productivity
• Employees Focus on Organization’s Objectives
• Employees Take On Responsibility for Their Performance
• Management Understand How to Manage Performance Effectively
• Facilitate Coaching, Counseling and/or Discipline for Poor Performers
• Provide protection From Legal Liability
• Establish an Objective Basis for Development, Compensation and Rewards

The Supervisor As Coach

Management is so 20th Century!  This "old" view of things looks at Management as a often one-way process whereas coaching is two-way, with the coach and the employee constantly giving and receiving feedback.

Coaching then, instead of “Managing” or “Supervising” is a key concept for achieving top organizational performance.  Supervisors become coaches when they use feedback on a continuous basis to reinforce positive behavior or counsel employees to correct actions that do not further the organization’s goals.

What does Coaching involve?

• Being there for them
• Giving them what they really want
• Rewarding them with "ownership" of their part of the business

According to a study conducted by Mercer management Consulting for the Council of Communications Management, 75% of respondents in a study of employee communications indicated that internal communication has a positive influence on employee performance.

The supervisor is the critical link between top management and employees.  Keeping employee communications “up front” and honest helps to build employee morale, contribute to company loyalty, and increase productivity.   

What kinds of things are important for your employees to be aware of?

What Does The Company Need From The Employment Relationship?

Employee engagement is more important today than ever.  Business leaders need to encourage activities that make employees feel more participative in the business.   You also need to reward people who learn more about their jobs, new trends, solve problems, and are willing to make changes.  Employees who feel empowered are far less likely to become chronically absent or quit.

What Do Employees Really Want From The Employment Relationship?

According to a 2001 Randstad North American Employee Review study looking at how employees define success in the workplace, the following dimensions were most frequently cited:

• Being trusted to get the job done
• Opportunity to do the type of work i want
• Power to make decisions that affect their own work
• Finding a company where i want to work a long time
• Getting raises
• Having flexibility
• Many different job options & opportunities
• Getting promotions
• Getting praise & recognition
• Managing (leading) other people
• Gaining seniority

But it gets even more interesting.

• Mature workers (aged 61-75) workers view themselves as "contributors," while viewing their employers as a "benevolent master." Their greatest psychological need is "respect" and their overriding workplace characteristic is "dedication." Having power to make decisions that affect the whole organization is important to them.
• Baby Boomers (now aged 42-60) are "adaptable" and in need of "appreciation." They view employers as "partners" while striving to be "recognized employees.”
• Gen X'ers (new age 27-42) are "realists" in need of "security." The volatile nature of the new economy drives them to perceive employers as "terminators," while they view themselves as "employees with a future."
• And Gen Y (26 and younger) see themselves as "entrepreneurs" and their employers as "providers." They are in need of "attention" while remaining "cautiously optimistic" about the future.

But for all employees, the most important corporate value cited was TRUST…even more than money or title.  A well thought out Performance Review and Feedback system can be a unique experience that can help

• Make employees feel like members of the “Club”
• Facilitate their ideas, suggestions for problem-solving
• Challenge them with new tasks, assignments, projects
• Involve them in setting performance criteria
• Encourage self-evaluation of their performance
• Work together to set performance objectives

Why then, does the Performance Appraisal process often evoke discomfort versus a sense of discovery?  Perhaps that's because often the program is representative of

• Inadequately defined standards of performance
• Sketchy or ambiguous performance documentation
• Inadequate time allotment for the discussion
• Supervisor bias in judging performance
• Reliance on gut feelings; lack of objectivity
• Lack of timeliness of performance reviews
• Lack of employee involvement

So are they still relevant?  YOU BET !   

Your workforce wants to do the right thing, BUT

• They may not know the rules
• They may not have clear goals
• They may lack confidence
• They may have limited ability
• They may be poorly trained
• They may not have the right equipment
• They may have limited communication
• They may be distracted by personal problems

Today more than ever, a well conceived and properly executed program can be used

• To let employees know where they stand and to give them feedback
• As A basis for compensation and rewards
• As A basis for individual training and performance improvement
• As A basis for career planning
• As A basis for business planning
• To document HR decisions, placement,promotions and discipline

Is this your experience?  How about sharing your "success" stories as well as "horror" stories with our readers.

Do you Understand Older Workers Priorities & Work Life Balance Concerns?

Older workers are one of the keys to the "War for Talent", but many employers do not understand these workers.   There are many different types of workers in this age group, and each one requires a different key to unlocking their potential.

Older members of the workforce who have extensive experience and skill, also have a significantly different "point of view" when it comes to what is important to them.  Firms and organizations alike need to recognize these  personal priorities, which include the important "work-life balance" element

Consider the many varied "situations" you'll discover when you examine a "cross-section" of these workers in almost every business and organization:

1. Those that are stable and settled:
   (and may have no further career aspirations)
   
2. The workers who are motivated by reputation,
   (they're seeking status and have a need for achievement that is still growing)
3. Workers who feel vulnerability
   (may feel that their "value" is diminished through reduced capability or feel that their skills are no longer up to date)
4. Those who are more engaged or feel their work more is important than in past periods of intermittent or part-time working. 
   (many women re-entering the workforce with grown families fit into this category)
5. People who are more confident, and ready for new challenges
   (ready for anything new, or are ready to try self employment)
6. and workers who are anxious about being displaced by younger colleagues

As you can see, each of these "categories" of workers are looking at employment from quite different points of view.  Keep checking back, as I'll be expanding on some ideas that you'll find useful in reaching out to each.

Emerging Health Care Trends 2007 Survey Results

Today, employers appear to be making a "choice of roads" decision when it comes to providing healthcare for their employees.  The choice taken can have significant effect for the employer as it impacts their ability to retain existing employees as well as colors the attractiveness of the organization when seen through the eye of certain classes of job-seekers.

There are two distinct types of employers, and their beliefs and behaviors are dramatically different in how they view the value of Healthcare benefits according to Hewitt Associates in a recent survey report.
Download emerging_health_care_trends_2007_survey_results.pdf  

There are the “Stop Light-to-Stop Light” employers who find they are primarily focused on managing trends.  They have substantial resistance to cutting benefits because they view health care benefits as an attraction and retention tool and are in a competitive market for talent. At the same time, however, they do not tend to see health and productivity as a business issue.

Then there are the respondents indicate they will become much more involved in health and health care benefits, referred to as the "Superhighway" companies

Employers from both roads ranked managing cost and competitive positioning as their top two business issues related to health care. However, the next most important business issue for Superhighway employers is a leadership mandate to address health care, whereas Stop Light-to-Stop Light employers are worried about profitability. Similarly, employers from both roads ranked employee satisfaction and protection from catastrophic loss as the top two employee issues related to health benefits. Superhighway employers ranked improving productivity next, while Stop Light-to-Stop Light employers are worried about turnover.

Small employers have been exiting from health care, dropping sponsorship of their plans entirely.  However, for most large employers, this approach would create significant difficulties for many of their employees. If an employee or dependent currently had a serious medical condition, for example, he or she may be denied coverage entirely in the individual marketplace. While costs continue to escalate, very few large employers are currently considering dropping sponsorship of health care
plans.

The Hewitt survey validates this trend—no respondents believe their organization will be less involved in health care benefits over the next three to five years than they are today.  What remains to be see is how each group reconciles the cost of quality healthcare to the demands of an increasingly tighter labor market.

A Halloween Treat for You from the Evil HR Lady

I'm a fan of the "Evil HR Lady", who publicly claims to be "an HR professional in a Fortune 500 Company. I've hired, fired, managed pay and analyzed the numbers. I've even tried to cooperate with Finance, but, well you can guess how that turned out."

She operates a great blog by the same name (Evil HR Lady) with a high volume of feedback that confirms that she is on the right track.

She recently published a great article called "The Coming Talent Shortage" that provided a response to the YouTube video about workforce demographic changes. 

Michael Moore (the lawyer, not the other Michael Moore) posted a link to this video about the upcoming labor shortage.

This article is a "MUST READ" for people concerned about where our future experienced talent will come from.  Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Motivating Workers By Giving Them a Vote

Our friend and colleague, David Wessel, of the Wall Street Journal's Washington Bureau, a brilliant scholar, and writer has once again hit the nail on the head.

In a recent article entitled "Motivating Workers By Giving Them a Vote" he examines a novel approach to self-governance, citing examples where  a large firm Schlumberger Ltd  allows its employee communities to govern themselves and choose their own leaders, often in contested elections.

This is not for the faint of heart, and not right for many firms.  This article shows however what CAN be done, even in a large multi-national firm that one might not expect to be nimble and progressive.

Want to be rocked out of complacency?  Read the article and tell me what you think?

Want to Understand Peoples Motivations ? Then Understand their Desires !

Incentive Intelligence is one of our favorite blogs.  One reason why is a recent article they published called "Maximize Overlapping Desires..." that does an excellent job of describing how fundamental the changes are in the way todays generations look at employment versus the generations that preceded it.

Wonder why the workforce doesn't "love" the things that the previous generations used to respond to?  Read the article - it's very well done, as are all of the articles at this interesting blog!

Its All About the Talent

FMI Corp's,  Ron Magnus, who heads their Talent Development division dropped me an email recently, alerting me to a new Construction Industry report on Talent Development that FMI has just published.

By 2008, it's an accepted fact that a wealth of skills and experience will disappear from the job market as the first members of the Baby Boom generation reach average retirement age. Talent development will become a critical strategic objective and differentiator for any competitive organization.

Magnus reaffirms that in order to remain successful in the knowledge-based, global economy building and construction firms must continually invest in their human capital. 

1. This is a great report, well worth your time, in a easy to read format. Click here Download USTReport2007.pdf for a copy. 

 

Addressing low employee retention requires tackling the underlying issues

I've been preaching for many years that it's pretty easy to identify the symptoms of most common business problems, whether it be customer satisfaction, employee retention, cashflow issues. 

In over 30 years of helping firms solve these problems I have also  learneed that there's a lot of "heavy lifting" needed in order to get beyond the  surface. 

For once you start uncovering the underlying causes, it starts to get messy.  Many people don't want messy issues - they want simple solutions.

You may as well get over it. 

As they say, the devil is in the details, and at some point you need to deal with them.  A recent press release from our friends over at PRWeb supports this belief.  Organizations with Low Employee Retention Need to "Unpack" Underlying Issues, Says Corporate Counseling Associates

I suggest you give it a look and let me know what you think, after reading it.  Enjoy.

Stopping the Evaporation of Graduate Women Engineers

There's a wealth of information and resources that are available to facilitate young women that are seeking to enter the engineering discipline.

The following is a partial list of sources you may wish to investigate:


    Women in Engineering Programs and Advocates Network (WEPAN):

The mission of WEPAN is to be a “catalyst, advocate, and leading resource for institutional and national change that will result in the full participation of women in engineering”.

Society of Women Engineers (SWE): 

The mission of SWE is to “stimulate women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering profession as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity.”

Yearly women in engineering literature reviews available

Assessing Women and Men in Engineering

Excellent annotated bibliographies, literature overviews

American Society for Engineering Education

Publishes Journal of Engineering Education, Prism Magazine, Engineering Colleges Profiles and Statistics, ASEE conference proceedings

Frontiers in Education conference proceedings

MentorNet: national electronic mentoring program

I've personally interacted with most of these organizations and can vouch for their passion and understanding of how to get more graduate engineers out of the "engineer pipeline"

Check them out!

Tougher US immigration leading to 'reverse brain-drain': study

The huge backlog in US immigration visas is leading to a "reverse brain-drain" that will force skilled workers to return to their home country, a report released Wednesday concludes.

read more | digg story

Women to overtake men by 2012

Citing better exam results that will catapult them to top at work , writer John Walsh of the Irish Independent wrote that women are well poised to take over the majority of top jobs in business, law, finance and the sciences within the next five years. And it's all because they are staying in education longer and getting better results than men.

The projections are made in a joint report from FÁS and the Economic and Social Research Institute which looks at the likely share-out of jobs by 2012. Just over a quarter of females will have degrees by then compared with only a fifth of men. A further 15.4 percent of females are expected to have attained diploma/certificate level compared with only 9.5 percent of men.

By contrast, nearly a fifth of men (18.9 percent) will drop out of school with only a Junior Certificate. Just 11.4 percent of women, however, will drop out at Junior Certificate level. Women tend to concentrate in clusters of occupations while men are in a greater range of jobs, some of which face uncertainty. The most obvious is construction where most workers are male. And the report, written by Dr Pete Lunn, Prof Gerry Hughes and Ms Nicola Doyle, suggests males workers would be more exposed if there were negative shocks to the housing market and the construction sector in general.

It predicts that, in the medium-term, overall jobs growth will be greatest in occupations that require third-level qualifications and high skill levels. Professional, associate professional and managerial occupations are expected to grow by more than 20 percent relative to 2005 figures. Outside of these high-skill occupations, some personal services occupations, including caring occupations such as childcare, are likely to experience similar expansion. Highest growth is expected in business, financial and the legal professions, where numbers are predicted to rise by nearly 50 percent.

Other occupations forecast to expand are managers and highly qualified workers in health, education and science. The report expects that two thirds of the health and education professions will be populated by female workers in 2012 - in fact 8.5 percent of all female workers will be in one or other of these areas. At present, around half of business, legal and other professionals such as psychologists, actors and information officers are women but the report predicts that their share will increase to 55 percent in the next five years.

In the case of science professionals, the report expects that women will account for 58.5 percent by 2012 compared with 41.5 percent in 1998. The category includes chemists, physicists and pharmacists. However, the proportion of women engineers, including software engineers, is expected to drop. This reflects the recent decline in numbers of females entering related courses. An area where women seem to be heading towards equality with men is management. In 1998, a third of managers were women but this is expected to reach 46.9 percent in five years.

However, Dr Lunn stressed this did not necessarily mean women were breaking through the 'glass ceiling' to the board room - it could simply be that more were being appointed to middle management and supervisory levels.

The employee retention audit - where it fits

Seldom does a day go by where I am not asked "What can I do to keep good people from leaving?"

Employee retention is essential in "winning the war for talent", so if you are losing good people, you need to understand WHY.

One method that can work is to conduct an assessment of your employee retention practices.  Such an assessment should enable you to :

1. Identify areas and activities that have the greatest potential benefits in retaining employees.
2. Allow you to create measurements and metrics to track your progress over time.
3. Discover what is of most concern to your employees, and therefore the greatest risks to losing them.
4. Learn the reasons your employees stay to continue and improve in these areas.
5. Improve your organization with the specific feedback from the tools, and become more attractive to current and potential employees.

Conducting exit interviews often will not get you the type of information that is useful to you.  These folks are already one step out the door.  You must swim upstream to discover WHY they were motivated to look in the first place.

I also caution you to carefully consider the consequences of simply doing a "standard" employee satisfaction survey.  Not that these surveys are bad, but more often than not, such surveys set an expectation that management is intending upon doing something, based upon the survey results.  If you don't develop (and publish) a plan of action shortly after the survey is completed the staff will see this as a meaningless exercise, and your efforts to elicit their input in the future will suffer.

Frequently, feedback is not acted upon in a timely manner, or used as a basis for terminations or discipline.  Using the survey data for this purpose can lead to a belief in the workforce that surveys are a management weapon, and the staff will respond accordingly.

To summarize, employee retention is about making sure you have a good job to do, finding the right people to do that job, making sure that people are feeling empowered and supported, and that they are being recognized for their accomplishments.

If you suspect, but don't know for sure, the temperature of the workforce, this might be a great time to start to figure it out.

Mentoring the Young Workforce

At some time in your life, you've likely been guided by a senior mentor.  Think of one or more important mentors in your life.  What story or stories can you remember about the experience?

Mentoring is advising, teaching, counseling and role modeling.  Formal mentoring matches a senior or more experienced person—the mentor—to a junior or less experienced person—the mentee.  Mentors focus on a mentee’s achievements, success in school and preparation for the workforce through a one-to-one relationship that is non-threatening and non-judgmental to both parties.  It is a relationship that changes over time as each grows, learns, and gains experiences in the relationship.

There are numerous "formats" of mentoring:

• Peer Mentoring where the Mentor/mentee are of similar ages, and where the Mentor experience greater than the mentee experience.
• Group Mentoring is used where there are multiple mentees
• Professional Mentoring where there is a major difference in life experience

Are you a good mentor?  Strong mentors share the following common attributes:

• Strong performances and continuous improvement on each performance that they mentor
• Ability to grow the performance abilities of mentees
• Professional behavior and attitudes
• Commitment to improving the enriched learning environment project—both the team and the overall environment

Mentoring is highly valuable, and becoming a "business essential" for the employer as well as the employee.  I'll share more on how to setup a mentoring program in a future post.

If you've been mentored, who are YOU mentoring today?

If you've never been mentored, who can you identify that can mentor YOU?

“Hidden” Costs of Turnover Can Greatly Exceed Numerical Calculations

Finding data on the cost of turnover is easy – many researchers have been able to quantify hard-dollar costs of losing valued employees.

However, many costs occur that can’t be assigned dollar amounts. These “costs’ can far outweigh the traditional, hard-dollar calculations – and organizations are incurring huge, unseen losses productivity, customer satisfaction, reputation among job-seekers and, significantly, in the morale of the departing employee’s co-workers.

When we take into account that about three-quarters of employees polled by the Society of Human Resource Management and the Wall Street Journal’s CareerJournal.com said they are looking for a job (according to information released by the Institute of Management and Administration in 2007), the costs of turnover can be nearly crippling to organizational finances and marketplace position.

Consider these examples, looking at the hard dollars incurred that result from unwanted turnover as determined by research studies plus the costs that can’t be measured precisely:

• Average employee turnover is 14.4% annually, according to the Bureau of National Affairs. And, turnover rates are on the rise, the Bureau now reports; turnover also varies widely among different industries.
  
  Yet, we can’t measure the blow to morale and increased job stress when remaining employees are burdened with the distribution of the departed employee’s workload. We also can’t always determine the negative impact on customer service.

• Replacement costs for a departing employee are estimated at one-third of his or her salary. Even at the former minimum wage, the cost to replace an employee is $3,700. The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates average costs to replace a worker in private industry at $13,996. (To determine an organization’s annual turnover costs, simply multiply turnover cost by the number of annual new hires.*)
  
  We can’t measure the future turnover of employees who are lured to other organizations by their friends who have departed. With all organizations in an industry competing for talent, informal networks are powerful resources for job seekers and friends often follow colleagues to other employers.

• The cost to replace a registered nurse is 1.2 to1.3 times his or her salary, which is substantially higher than for most other times of workers. We can’t measure the damage to an organization’s reputation when customer service falters due to low staffing levels. When customers are unhappy, research shows they’ll tell their stories to more people than they’ll share a tale of good service.
  
  Additionally, the current nursing shortage means that those remaining will have higher caseloads, possibly face mandatory overtime and incur greater job stress – all contributors, according to the research, to nursing turnover. Nearly half of all nurses under age 52 have said they expect to change jobs within five years.

• A 3,000-employee organization with average salaries of $45,000 that reduces turnover by just 1% can save $1.3 million, according to the Voluntary Hospitals of America.
  
  We can’t measure how employees feel when an admired, valued co-worker chooses to leave the organization. People naturally begin to consider their own options.

• Estimates have determined that lost knowledge that leaves with the departing employee can be as high as 50% of the exiting employee’s salary for one year of service; and, this figure grows by 10% for each year of employment.
  
  We can’t measure how many new ideas and innovations each employee might generate in the future to help the company. Nor can we determine his or her potential to be promoted to higher-level roles and leadership positions.

• On average, 30% of a financial advisor’s clients will move with their advisor if he or she changes firms.
  
  We can’t measure customer loyalty to staff. Customer loyalty often is people loyalty: Customers trust and build relationships with their contacts, often more so than to the organization. Out the door go not only the confidence in this employee, but future referrals from the employee’s loyal customers.

One element that can't be understated is the importance of building trust. 

James Kouzes and Barry Posner who authored the RedVector online course entitled
Leadership Challenge : Enable Others to Act cite the benefits that come to an organization when this is done.  The course poses some very insightful questions to learners:

• Do you appreciate the benefits of collaboration and encourage this in your workplace?
• How many leaders truly understand how to create an atmosphere of trust, which is the most significant predictor of individuals’ satisfaction with their organizations?
• Does existing management appreciate the value of quality listening?
• Who well does your organization understand the concept of positive interdependence and norms of reciprocity?
• Do you currently encourage face-to-face interactions in this age of technological communication?
• How well have you developed your own social skills and awareness of these skills in others?

The authors cite that the best work occurs when more than one person contributes, so this course will show leaders how to create a climate of trust and facilitate positive interdependence in order to maximize the potential for collaboration. One of your primary goals should also be the strengthening of others, so that they are empowered to do their personal best.

Increasingly, these skills are seen as essential, but organizations lacking these skills can see increased turnover, even when seeming to do all of the "technical" things correctly.

Readers, care to weigh in on this?

Skilled worker shortage hurts U.S.

According to a recent story published by CNN, Skilled worker shortage hurts U.S. the cross-industry problem being experienced by all industries is bad and getting worse.

Most experts agreed the shortage of skilled workers is likely to persist longer than it did in the late 1990s. That earlier tightness was fed by dot.com companies burning through investors' cash to hire people. The latest round of hiring is being driven by stronger corporate balance sheets, and as more retiring Baby Boomers start leaving the work force.

Today's challenge is different and the mandate for companies is different.

The problem I see with this article is that it's long on explanations, but offers few substantial ideas for firms looking for solutions.  What's your opinion?

How Safe Is Your Job?

In a recent edition published by Parade magazine, an article entitled "How Safe Is Your Job?"  examines a very real issue for management and affects workers too: 
U.S. workers are increasingly disengaged, and that foreign workers have appear to have a higher level of focus and commitment.

The article cites :
Beyond the cheaper cost of labor, U.S. employers say that many workers abroad simply have a better attitude toward work. “American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene,” says Chao. “They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something.”

Thus, when developing today's workforce, attention needs to be paid to the "soft skills" that are essential for career and workplace success.  Providing development in just the technical skill areas is simply not enough.

There are plenty of good traditional classroom training and online training resources available to help develop these skillsets.  For busy people, who want or need to take courses on their own time schedule, online training providers RedVector and Skillsoft provide excellent "competency-based" education programs to help you or your team to increase their skills in these important areas,

The Fastest Growing Top 10 Middle Class Jobs

As a person about to enter the workforce or someone who is simply trying to hang onto your job, the middle class has become a worrisome place for many. If you aren’t laid off you might soon become outdated.

If you are going to work you might as well work for the most money you can. You might not be aware of the highest paying middle class jobs and

read more | digg story

Before you give orders, you need experience taking orders

Many years ago, when I was aspiring my first supervisory role, my mentor asked me what experience I had in "taking orders", by which he meant, did I have any experience being directed what to do, and being held accountable for the result?

As it happens I had multiple such experiences - by directive parents, teachers, and early employment situations, and time served in the armed forces - all of which gave me perspective about examples of leadership - some were great leaders - some were awful.

This is a critical skillset to master, even if you're only a crew chief of a two person crew.

From these experiences however, I learned a couple of important things:

• giving orders is not as easy as it seems - properly done, there is a good deal of work that precedes the order.  It is not just "passing the buck" for someone to do something that the supervisor doesn't want to (or won't) do themselves.
• taking orders and getting them done requires good listening, and attention to detail, and especially important - finishing the assigned task
• It is not just about "assignment of work" and intimidation ("because I'm telling you to"), as much as it is facilitating the completion of the work to be done.  The "baby boomer" generation would take orders without question - increasingly, people want to know "why" and "why is this important" - you need to be prepared as a leader to answer these questions directly.

When I encounter someone who has not experienced first hand "taking orders", who wants to accede to supervision or management, it makes me wonder what kind of orders they will give, and what kinds of results they will see.

Seems like the "veterans" who have been the most successful, can relate to their own personal experiences and draw upon not just theory of management, but actual emotions that help them give orders that important, are appropriate to the person and address the situation at hand.

How do you acquire the ability to direct others if you've never had to do it yourself?

You Are Not Your Job: Part II

A good chunk of early education is really to prepare most people to just follow the rules once they enter the workforce. In many ways, the educational system is just an initiation to the workplace environment – with it's authority figures, their expectations and their reward system – and not truly about learning anything practical.

read more | digg story

Why is aging of the workforce significant to employers?

Demographers have presented a compelling case: the 21 st century workforce is – and increasingly will be – different from the workforce of the last century. One important change is the aging of the workforce, a trend expected to continue for several decades. Labor force economists expect significant increases in the percentages of workers 55 and older who will be in the labor force by 2012.

The National Study Report,a research product of The National Study of Business Strategy and Workforce Development authored by Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., Michael A. Smyer, Ph.D., Christina Matz-Costa, and Katherine Kane, looks deeply into the internal dynamics of workforce analysis and planning, and provides a rich and current set of options for employers to refer to when trying to make sense of today's dynamic workforce.

Employers increasingly understand that the success of their businesses often reflect the adaptations they make to new trends and changes occurring both inside and outside of their organizations. The reports shows conclusively how the “right” adaptations made “just-in-time” may produce competitive advantages; adaptations that are “not enough” or that occur “too late” could result in unanticipated vulnerabilities.

What do these employers do right?

According to Family Business magazine, there are a number of really old family businesses in existence.  One might ask, "what is it that keeps these firms going - generation after generation"?

The quality and consistency of the workforce has been a factor in all of these successful businesses.  many have employee ownership programs in place, all respect the people who have helped maintain the business over time

* Denotes new addition.

1. Kongo Gumi
Construction/Osaka, Japan
Founded: 578
40th generation
www.kongogumi.co.jp
Prince Shotoku brought Kongo family members to Japan from Korea more than 1,400 years ago to build the Buddhist Shitennoji Temple, which still stands. Over the centuries, Kongo Gumi has participated in the construction of many famous buildings, including the 16th-century Osaka castle. Today the family continues to build and repair religious temples and manage general contracting from its Osaka headquarters. Current president is Toshitaka Kongo; his 51-year-old son, Masakazu Kongo, is waiting in the wings.

2. Hoshi Ryokan
Innkeeping/Komatsu, Japan
Founded: 718
46th generation
www.ho-shi.co.jp/jiten/Houshi_E/
According to legend, the god of Mount Hakusan visited a Buddhist priest, telling him to uncover an underground hot spring in a nearby village. The hot spring was found, and the priest requested that his disciple, a woodcutter’s son named Garyo Saskiri, build and run a spa on the site. His family, known as Hoshi, have run a hotel in Komatsu ever since; the current structure houses 450 people in 100 rooms. Zengoro Hoshi is the current patriarch.

3. Château de Goulaine
Vineyard, museum, butterfly collection/Haute Goulaine, France
Founded: 1000
http://chateau.goulaine.online.fr
The castle, owned by the Goulaine family, houses a rare butterfly collection in addition to a museum. It hosts various functions, including weddings. Wine is available for sale at the castle’s vineyards.

*4. Fonderia Pontificia Marinelli
Bell foundry/Agnone, Italy
Founded: c. 1000
Bell foundry founded in the small central Italian town of Agnone, high in the Appenine hills. Still uses the original wax techniques of its founders (a wax “false bell” is overlaid with the real thing); its bells toll in New York, Beijing, Jerusalem, South America and Korea, among other locations. Firm has 20 employees, including five members of the founding Marinelli family. Pasquale Marinelli is current managing director. A museum, opened in 1997, features the work of Pasquale’s brother, sculptor Ettore Marinelli.

5. Barone Ricasoli
Wine and olive oil/Siena, Italy
Founded: 1141
www.ricasoli.it
The Ricasoli barons were first given their land by the Republic of Florence; today their Brolio Estate covers about 3,600 acres. The family’s main focus is its wine production, although 26 acres of the estate are used for olive cultivation.

6. Barovier & Toso
Glass making/Murano Venezia, Italy
Founded: 1295
20th generation
www.barovier.com
The Barovier family produces crystalline glass, mother-of-pearl glass and gold-free cornelian red on Murano Island, about a ten-minute ferry ride from Venice. The Baroviers merged with the Toso family, who were also glassmakers on Murano Island, in 1936.

7. Hotel Pilgrim Haus
Innkeeping/Soest, Germany
Founded: 1304
www.pilgrimhaus.de
The Hotel Pilgrim Haus is operated by the Andernach family in the town of Soest, about 110 miles north of Frankfurt.

8. Richard de Bas
Paper/Ambert d’Auvergne, France
Founded: 1326
www.richarddebas.fr
Richard de Bas has a longstanding reputation for high-quality papers, which has led to many high-profile jobs. The company has supplied paper for limited-edition works by Braque and Picasso. It also operates a museum.

9. Torrini Firenze
Goldsmiths/Florence, Italy
Founded: 1369
www.torrini.com
Jacopus Torrini moved to Florence from his native village of Scarperia to forge armor for Florentine knights. His workshop later evolved into a goldsmith, creating jewels and other precious objects. Perhaps the family’s most valued possession is its secretive and exclusive “Oro Nativo” manufacturing process, a method of working with gold while retaining its most natural color.

10. Antinori
Wine/Florence, Italy
Founded: 1385
19th generation
www.antinori.it
The Antinori family has been in the wine business since Giovanni di Piero Antinori joined the Florentine Guild of Vintners more than 600 years ago. Marchese (or “Count”) Piero Antinori, and his three daughters currently oversee a system of vineyards in Italy, the U.S., Hungary, Malta and Chile that continue to be recognized by consumers and wine critics for their superior-quality Chiantis and other vintages. He sold 49% to British beer brewer Whitbred in 1983, later bought it back. The company has been housed in a Florentine palazzo since 1506.

11. Camuffo
Shipbuilding/Portogruaro, Italy
Founded: 1438
18th generation
The business began in Khanià, a Venetian port on the island of Crete. It was founded by a man locals called “Camuffi” but whose real name was El Ham Muftì. The family has supplied boats to Mohammed the Second, the Venetian Republic, Napoleon, the Asburg Imperial and the Royal Italian navies. Experts refer to a Camuffo boat as “the Stradivarius of the sea.”

12. Baronnie de Coussergues
Wine/Montblanc, France
Founded: 1495
16th generation
www.henokiens.com/index_baronnie_gb.php
When King Charles VIII began selling royal property in France to pay off some of his expenses, Pierre Raymond de Sarret bought the estate known as Coussergues. Today the vineyard produces a wide variety of wines, including Chardonnays, Sauvignon Blancs, Viogniers, Cabernet Francs, Merlots and Cabernet Sauvignons. The Sarret family sells 1.5 million bottles a year and has won numerous gold medals for its wines.

13. Grazia Deruta
Ceramics/Turin, Italy
Founded: 1500
The company produces majolica, a special type of ceramic that pre-dates the 13th century. Current CEO Ubaldo Grazia has expanded the company’s business into the U.S. market and has produced three exclusive designs for Henri Bendel. Grazia has also done work for other major department stores and labels, such as Neiman-Marcus and Tiffany.

14. Fabbrica D’Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A.
Firearms/Gardone, Italy
Founded: 1526
14th generation
www.beretta.it
Bartolomeo Beretta’s world-class gun-maker is now a Hollywood favorite; its guns appear in the James Bond series, among other films. Beretta’s reputation for quality craftsmanship enabled the company to wrest a $56 million U.S. armed forces contract away from competitor Colt Industries. Beretta is the weapon of choice of other law-enforcement agencies around the world, such as the Italian Carabinieri, French Gendarmes and Texas Rangers. The company also has earned distinction for its line of hunting weapons. Ugo Gussalli Beretta is the company’s current president.

*15. William Prym GmbH & Co.
Copper, brass, haberdashery/Stolberg, Germany
Founded: 1530
www.prym.com
Goldsmith Wilhelm Prym started a brass and copper manufacturing business in Aachen in 1530. In 1642, the Protestant Prym family lost its guild rights in the Catholic city of Aachen and moved to Stolberg. In the 19th century, Prym developed the first finished products made of brass, iron and steel and later manufactured the first metal haberdashery products to be made mechanically. Michael Prym (born 1943) and Axel Prym (born 1950) are among the current company managers.

16. John Brooke & Sons
Woolens/Huddersfield, United Kingdom
Founded: 1541
15th generation
www.yorkspark.co.uk
The company, founded by John Brooke, has provided fabrics for British troops (Battle of Trafalgar, World War II), French troops and Russian military personnel. In the 19th century it had 220 looms and 900 employees, down to 280 by 1969. Today it’s headed by Mark Brooke and his brother Massimo Brooke. Mark has changed the company’s focus within the past decade, abandoning manufacturing and instead creating an entrepreneurial development park in the firm’s old mill buildings.

17. Codorniu
Wine/Saint Sadurní d’Anoia, Spain
Founded: 1551
www.codorniu.es
Jaime Codorniu acquired the company in 1551, beginning centuries of family ownership. In 1976 King Juan Carlos I declared the Codorniu estate a national historic and artistic monument. The estate is visited by 200,000 people every year and produces about 60 million bottles of wine annually.

18. Fonjallaz
Wine/Lavaux, Switzerland
Founded: 1552
13th generation
www.fonjallaz-vins.ch
Pierre Fonjallaz began the family business when he “devoted himself to the growing of the vine,” as the label on a bottle of Fonjallaz wine will tell you. The company is now headed by Patrick Fonjallaz.

19. von Poschinger Manufaktur
Glassmaking/Frauenau, Germany
Founded: 1568
13th generation
www.poschinger.de
The von Poschinger glassworks in Germany began in 1568 when Joachim Poschinger took ownership of a glass factory near Frauenau, near the Czech border. Today the business is divided into three areas—farming, forestry and glass works—though glassmaking is still the focal point of family business affairs.

20. Hacienda Los Lingues
Ranch/San Fernando, Chile
Founded: c. 1575
15th generation
www.loslingues.cl
The Angostura Estate, located in Chile’s Central Valley 78 miles south of Santiago, was originally granted by royal decree of Spanish King Felipe II to Don Melchor Jufré del Aguila for merit in the arts of war and fine writing. Currently dedicated to the hotel business. Named best wine valley in the world by Wine Enthusiast magazine; has a strategic agreement with Viña Los Vascos (Domaines Barons de Rothschild [Lafite]) under which Viña Los Vascos produces, bottles and labels a selection of five wines under the trademarks Hacienda Los Lingues and Los Lingues. It’s also the home of one of the most prestigious horse stables in the Americas: the Aculeo Stable, which features horses brought to Spain by the Moors in 711 and later brought to the New World by the Spanish Conquistadors. Family member Germán Claro Lyon is the general manager.

21. Wachsendustrie Fulda Adam Gies
Candles, wax figures/Fulda, Germany
Founded: 1589
Maker of candles and wax figures still operated by the founding Gies family.

22. Berenberg Bank
Banking/Hamburg, Germany
Founded: 1590
www.berenberg.de
One of the few remaining independently owned banks in Germany.

23. R. Durtnell & Sons
Construction/Kent, United Kingdom
Founded: 1591
12th generation
www.durtnell.co.uk
Founder John Durtnell and his brother Brian built their first house in 1593. It still stands and is occupied to this day. The company, based in Kent, is extremely versatile; its projects have included the Royal Military Academy, Chartwell House (Winston Churchill’s home) and Buckingham Palace.

24. J.P. Epping of Pippsvadr
Grocers/Germany
Founded: 1595

25. Eduard Meier
Shoes/Munich, Germany
Founded: 1596
13th generation
www.edmeier.de
The company today is run by Peter Eduard Meier and his sister Brigitte. Its product line consists of about 4,500 items.

*26. Toraya
Confectioners/Tokyo, Japan
Founded: pre-1600
17th generation
www.toraya-group.co.jp
Japan’s oldest traditional confectionery has been making the sweet delicacy known as wagashi since its founding in Kyoto by Enchu Kurokawa. After his son Kichiemon Kurokawa cultivated relationships with Japan’s nobility, the firm became purveyor to Japan’s Imperial Court in the 17th and 18th centuries. The firm moved to Tokyo in 1879 and opened its first branch retail outlet in 1962. Today, under Mitsuhiro Kurokawa, a former banker, the firm operates 79 shops with revenues of about $150 million.

27. Tissiman & Sons Ltd.
Tailors and outfitters/Bishop’s Stortford, United Kingdom
Founded: 1601
www.tissimans.co.uk
Established as a tailor, draper and undertaker; now offers formal and casual clothes and shoes. The original building in Bishop’s Stortford (which dates from about 1360) is still in use.

*28. Enshu Sado School
Ceremonial tea school/Tokyo, Japan
Founded: c. 1602
13th generation
www.enshuryu.com
The school has thrived for 400 years, imparting the traditional Sado tea ceremony and its culture to Japanese. Founded by Lord Enshu Kobori (1579-1647), who served as official tea instructor for Japan’s second and third shogun and built the famous Nagoya and Osaka castles. Current grand master Sojitsu Kobori succeeded his father in 2001 at age 44 and now oversees a staff of 20 with 30,000 practitioners, 53 local chapters in Japan, international chapters in Holland and Korea, and a school in Singapore. He goes to the school’s ancestor room each morning to pay his respects to his forebears.

29. Takenaka
Construction/Osaka, Japan
Founded: 1610
www.takenaka.co.jp
Takenaka has built office buildings for some of Japan’s major corporations, such as Mitsui Bank and Nippon Life Insurance. The family company has won many awards for design, technique and quality.

30. Mellerio dits Meller
Jewelry/Paris, France
Founded: 1613
15th generation
www.mellerio.fr
Members of the Mellerio family from Lombardy, Italy, became seasonal workers in France in the 16th century as purveyors of handcrafted jewelry. The family became royal favorites when it helped foil an attempted assassination of King Louis XIII. Located today near the Place Vendôme in Paris, Mellerio is known for fine jewelry and as designers and creators of the French Open tennis championship trophies.

31. Cartiera Mantovana Corp.
Paper/Mantua, Italy
Founded: 1615
www.cartieramantovana.it
The Marenghi family, descendants of Riccio da Parma (a knight famous for his battles in the early 1500s), owns the company. On July 1, 1615, the Duke of Mantua granted the family the privilege to make and and sell paper; production began that year. The company is currently run by Cristina Marenghi and her sons Marcofabio, Alberto and Vittorio.

32. Zildjian Cymbal Co.
Cymbals/Norwell, Mass.
Founded: 1623
14th generation
www.zildjian.com
Founded in Constantinople by an alchemist named Avedis I, who discovered an extremely musical metal alloy to create powerful, durable cymbals. The sultan named him “Zildjian,” Armenian for “cymbalsmith.” The family arrived in the U.S. in 1909, in time for Avedis Zildjian III to establish ties with the hot new jazz drummers of the day. His son Armand (1921-2002) created modern factory. Today his daughters Craigie (CEO) and Debbie (VP/human resources) run the company, the first women chiefs in the firm’s long history.

33. Kikkoman
Soy sauce/Noda, Japan
Founded: 1630
www.kikkoman.com
On the run after her husband’s military defeat and death at the Osaka castle in the 16th century, widow Shige Maki escaped to Noda, Japan, and established a small business making what was to become soy sauce. The family business became a unified company in 1917 when eight branches of the Mogi family merged their companies together. The company has grown into the world’s largest producer of soy sauce products.

34. Sumitomo Corp.
Conglomerate/Tokyo, Japan
Founded: 1630
www.sumitomocorp.co.jp
Masatomo Sumitomo opened a medicine and book shop in Kyoto in the 17th century. As time went on, various members of the family added to the conglomerate, making it what it is today. Sumitomo Group’s current core consists of 20 companies focusing on banking, shipbuilding, mining, glass production, electronics, cement, lumber and chemicals.

35. Akerblads
Hotel/Tällberg, Sweden
Founded: 1630
21st generation
www.akerblads-tallberg.se
This charming hotel in Tällberg is currently run by members of the 19th through 21st generations of the Akerblads family. The property has been remodeled and expanded over the years but still conveys a 17th-century atmosphere while offering excellent cuisine and warm Swedish hospitality.

36. Tuttle Farm
Agriculture/Dover, N.H.
Founded: 1635-38?
11th generation
Founder John Tuttle left England in 1635, survived a shipwreck off the Maine coast and arrived in Dover with his wife and four-year-old daughter. His 240-acre farm grows vegetables and strawberries and operates retail shop on site. Twelfth-generation member Evan Hourihan, who is in his 20s, has expressed interest in the family farm.

37. Gekkeikan
Sake/Fushimi, Japan
Founded: 1637
13th generation
www.gekkeikan.co.jp
The Gekkeikan brewery was established by Jiemon Okura in the town of Fushimi. The quality of its sake has led to the company’s appointment as the official supplier of the Japanese Imperial household. Currently, the business makes more than 170 different products and exports to more than 60 countries.

38. Shirley Plantation
Historical site/Charles City, Va.
Founded: 1638
11th generation
www.shirleyplantation.com
Virginia’s oldest plantation was settled in 1613 on the James River between Richmond and Williamsburg (near the present Charles City) by Sir Thomas West. Operated as a tobacco and grain farm, 1613-1952. Acquired in 1638 by Edward Hill and managed by his descendants ever since. His great-granddaughter Elizabeth Hill married John Carter in 1723; site has been owned since then by their descendants. Under tenth-generation owner Charles Hill Carter Jr. and his wife, it was converted to a tourist attraction in 1952; since 1998, it has hosted weddings and corporate events as well under the Carters’ children.

39. Hugel et Fils
Wine/Riquewihr, France
Founded: 1639
12th generation
www.hugel.com
The Hugel family’s roots in the war-torn Alsace-Lorraine region of France reach back to the 15th century. In 1639 the family began to make wine in the town of Riquewihr. Today its vintages have an outstanding international reputation and are exported to more than 100 countries.

40. James Lock & Co.
Hatters/London, United Kingdom
Founded: 1642
www.lockhatters.co.uk
The company was founded by James Lock and now makes men’s and women’s hats. One of its most recognized creations is the bowler.

41. Barker’s Farm
Dairy and apples/North Andover, Mass.
Founded: 1642
11th generation
Family farm now run the Barker family. Visitors can pick produce.

42. G.C. Fox & Co.
Shipping agent/Falmouth, United Kingdom
Founded: 1646
Shipping agent (now travel agency as well) founded by George Croker Fox.

43. R.H. Levey & Son
Funeral services/Stansted Mountfitchet, United Kingdom
Founded: 1649

44. William Adams & Sons
Potters/Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom
Founded: 1650
12th generation
www.thepotteries.org/potters/adams.htm
The family has been producing pottery since at least 1448. In 1650, brothers William and Thomas established their pottery business in Burslem, about 35 miles south of Liverpool. It’s currently run by members of the 11th and 12th generations.

45. Ulefos Jernvaerk
Metals, milling, forestry/Telemark, Norway
Founded: 1657
On Aug, 8, 1657, King Fredrik III gave a royal decree allowing the Cappelen family to begin the company’s operations. The family has become involved in many different businesses over the years: owning ships, trading and producing stoves and manhole covers. The company is currently Norway’s market leader in manhole covers, which accounts for 70% of the family’s business.

46. Van Eeghen
Trading company/Amsterdam, Netherlands
Founded: 1662
14th generation
www.vaneeghen.com
Christiaen Van Eeghen established himself circa 1633 in Aardenburg (in the present Flanders, Belgium) as a cloth merchant. His son Jacob van Eeghen founded Van Eeghen & Co. in 1662 in Amsterdam, where the business remains. Subsequent generations launched sailing ships to spread their markets along historic spice routes to British colonies and the Far East. Today Van Eeghen continues its involvement with world trade but specializes in food products.

47. Schwarze & Schlichte
Distillery/Oelde, Germany
Founded: 1664
12th generation
www.schwarze-schlichte.de
Jan Swarte (the surname was later changed to Schwarze) began the family business in Westphalia, where he was a farmer and a distiller. Four generations later, Hermann Josef Schwarze bought a house at Herrenstrasse, where the family still lives. This house serves as the company’s headquarters. The Schwarze Group acquired the Schlichte brands in the 1990s.

*48. The Seaside Inn and Cottages
Innkeeping/Kennebunkport, Maine
Founded: 1667
12th generation
Mason family
www.kennebunkbeach.com
At the request of Fernando Gorges, agent for King Charles II, John Gooch was asked to reside on this oceanfront peninsula at the mouth of the Kennebunk River to ferry travelers across in the 1640s. He provided rooms and operated a tavern for travelers who stayed in the area. The family’s first dated record is Gooch’s will, dated 1667. The property was passed down for generations to the first-born son. Four generations ago the Gooches had only daughters, and the name “Severance” was introduced. The current 12th-generation innkeeper, Patricia Mason—daughter of Mike and Sandy Severance—now operates the inn with her husband, Ken.

49. Early’s of Witney
Blankets/Witney, United Kingdom
Founded: 1669
Richard Early established a blanket factory in Witney in 1669, mostly contracting to spinners who worked in their homes. Family’s first weaver was his son Thomas. Brian Crawfford of the eighth generation (his mother was an Early) was with the firm from 1949 to 1986.

50. C. Hoare & Co.
Banking/London, United Kingdom
Founded: 1672
11th generation
www.hoaresbank.co.uk
The Hoare bank in London is the last survivor of the English private deposit banks that were originally established in the 17th and 18th centuries. The bank was founded by Richard Hoare and is now run by members of the tenth and 11th generations. The family’s pride in close customer relationships and meticulous service has attracted famous customers, including Samuel Pepys, Queen Charlotte, furniture makers Thomas Chippendale & Son, Lord Byron, Jane Austen and various prime ministers.

*51. Firmin & Sons Ltd.
Uniforms and insignia/Birmingham, United Kingdom
Founded: 1677
www.firmin.co.uk
Britain’s leading manufacturer of military and civil regalia (uniforms, badges, buttons, medals, swords, etc.) has served the British monarchy since about 1750. Past customers include Lord Nelson and his men at the Battle of Trafalgar, the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo and the armies of both North and South in the U.S. Civil War.

52. Viellard Migeon & Cie.
Iron making/Forges de Morvillars, France
Founded: 1679
www.vmchooks.com
The business was started by an ironmaster named Nicolas Viellard and met with significant success after the French Revolution. During this time the business adopted a strategy of cultivating family alliances to consolidate the iron works in Belfort, about 35 miles north of Toulouse. It’s now one of the world’s leading makers of fishhooks.

53. Miller Farm
Agriculture, timber/Frederica, Del.
Founded: 1684
The farm has remained in the Miller family’s hands through nine generations. Its tillable land is currently leased to a local farmer.

54. Gradis Corp.
Wine trading/Bordeaux, France
Founded: 1685
The Gradis family, Jewish refugees from Portugal, settled in Bordeaux in the late 1500s. Diego Gradis later began the family wine trading business. During the Seven Years’ War (1756-63), family ships were used to re-supply troops in Canada. During World War I, the French government commissioned the family to ensure the supply of sugar for France. Today, the family has returned to its roots in wine trading.

55. Toye, Kenning & Spencer
Weavers/London, United Kingdom
Founded: 1685
www.toye.com
Toye, Kenning & Spencer holds a royal warrant and over the years has produced much of the U.K.’s regalia, medals and uniforms. Brian Toye is the current chairman.

56. Yamamotoyama
Tea/Japan
Founded: 1690
www.yamamotoyama.com
The Yamamotoyama family began producing premium teas in Japan more than three centuries ago. The company is now the oldest family-owned tea business in the world.

57. Delamare et Cie.
Packaging materials/Criquebeuf-sur-Seine, France
Founded: 1690
www.henokiens.com/index_delamare_fr.php
The company was founded by André Delamare and is now run by Franéois Delamare. Family members initially worked with wood, making carts and stagecoaches. Eventually they expanded into plastics and adhesives in the packaging market. The family has earned two top packaging awards, in 1986 and 1988. Today it conducts research on recycling and transformation of industrial waste.

*58. Nolet Distillery (Ketel One Vodka)
Distillery/Schiedam, Netherlands
Founded: 1691
Tenth generation
www.ketelone.com
Since its founding by Joannes Nolet (1638-1702), the Nolet family’s distillery in Schiedam has been passed from father to son, each zealously guarding the family’s secret vodka formula. The company name refers to the family’s first distilling kettle. Current proprietor Carolus Nolet, 63, maintains the family tradition of distillation by hand.

59. Folkes Group
Real estate and engineering/Lye, United Kingdom
Founded: 1697
Seventh generation
www.folkesholdings.com
The company began by making chain mail and swords and is now the oldest firm with a current stock market listing in the United Kingdom. In addition to making real estate investments, the company produces specialized cargo handling equipment, large crankshafts, roofing materials and other products.

60. Berry Brothers & Rudd Ltd.
Wine merchants/London, United Kingdom
Founded: 1698
www.bbr.com
Family of coffee, tea and spice merchants gravitated to wines and spirits later. They earned the right to supply the British royal family in 1760 and continue to do so—they currently hold royal warrants to the Queen and the Prince of Wales. The family operates out of the same shop where they began three centuries ago.

61. Shepherd Neame
Brewer/Faversham, United Kingdom
Founded: 1698
Fifth generation
www.shepherd-neame.co.uk
Britain’s oldest brewer, founded by Capt. Richard Marsh, who was the mayor of Faversham, in Kent. Samuel Shepherd and his sons Julius and John eventually bought the business. When Percy Beale Neame joined the partnership in 1864, the company’s beer began to gain widespread renown. The Neame family has remained in control ever since.

62. Allandale Farm
Fruit, produce, flowers/Brookline, Mass.
Founded: 1700?
www.allandalefarm.com
Last working farm within Boston-Brookline limits; only one of six farms left within Route 128 Beltway. Also operates summer outdoor program for children.

*63. Farina Gegenüber
Fragrances/Cologne, Germany
Founded: 1709
Eighth generation
www.farina1709.com
The world’s oldest perfume company was launched in Cologne by Johann Maria Farina (1685-1766), who made his city famous by calling his new fragrance Eau de Cologne. His namesake and eighth-generation descendant, Johann Maria Farina, runs the firm today.

64. William Dalton & Sons
Pest control/United Kingdom
Founded: 1710

65. Cooke Farm
Farm/Wallingford, Conn.
Founded: 1720?
Tenth generation
Founded 1720 or earlier, once a thriving 550-acre dairy operation. Tenth-generation proprietor George Cooke stopped milking cows in 1995, sold off most acreage and developed an industrial park. The business is now a general contractor and leases its remaining land to a tenant farmer.

66. Nourse Family Farm
Agriculture/Westborough, Mass.
Founded: 1722
www.noursefarm.com
Farm established in 1722 by the grandchildren of Rebecca Nurse, hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Mass., in 1692. The family fled Salem and in 1722 purchased land on the frontier in Westborough, where descendants have farmed the 140-acre spread for more than 280 years. Jonathan Nourse, proprietor since 1971, has expanded into prepared foods (jams, jellies, pies, etc.).

67. Tissages Denantes
Cloth/Grenoble, France
Founded: 1723
Even with more than 400 employees, the company preserves its traditions, which began in the 18th-century French trade fairs. Michel Denantes and his wife, Barbe, established a reputation for fine cloth at these fairs.

68. Amarelli Fabbrica de Liquirizia
Licorice/Rossano Scalo, Italy
Founded: 1731
eng.liquirizia.it
The family’s roots in Italy’s southern Calabria region pre-date the year 1000. Fortunato Amarelli created the Amarelli company with his son in Rossano in 1731, harvesting licorice to sweeten his land when it lay fallow. In 1987 the company won the gold medal from the Italian Chemical Company for combining traditional craftsmanship with modern technology.

69. Fratelli Piacenza Corp.
Woolens/Pollone, Italy
Founded: 1733
11th generation
www.piacenza1733.it
Pietro Francesco Piacenza created the first woolen mill in Pollone, a small town nestled at the foot of the Alps, near the Swiss and French borders. The family prides itself on its strict quality standards—its method of producing wool takes up to six times longer than some more modern techniques. The company’s president today is Riccardo Piacenza.

70. Taittinger Champagne
Champagne/Reims, France
Founded: 1734
www.taittinger.com
The business was begun by Jacques Fourneaux. After World War I, the Taittinger family merged with Fourneaux-Forest (as the company was known at the time). The Taittingers ultimately took control of the operation. Claude Taittinger runs the business today.

71. William Clark & Sons
Linen/Upperlands, Northern Ireland, U.K.
Founded: 1739
Ninth generation
www.wmclark.co.uk
The family has operated for more than 250 years as a manufacturer of linens in Northern Ireland. Their international reputation for quality and value has made Irish linen perhaps more highly prized than any other cloth. Founded by Jackson Clark, the company was named for his great-great-grandson William; it’s now run by Bobby and Stephen Clark of the ninth generation.

72. Lyman Orchards
Agriculture/Middlefield, Conn.
Founded: 1741
Eighth generation
www.lymanorchards.com
The 1,100-acre farm today offers an ambitious variety of food products (cider, apple pies, etc.), events (golf tournaments, fund-raisers) and tours.

73. John Whitley Farm
Agriculture/Williamston, N.C.
Founded: 1742
Eighth generation
Oldest farm in North Carolina. Family mementos include the original deed with wax seal of the king of England and a note from Theodore Roosevelt thanking the Whitleys for lending him their binoculars. The land is now leased for tobacco, corn, wheat, peanuts, soybeans.

74. Boplaas
Agriculture, orchards/Koue Bokkeveld, Cape Town, South Africa
Founded: 1743
Ninth generation
The farm was founded by Isaak Wilhelm Van der Merwe and is now run by two brothers, Frans and Nicolaas Van der Merwe. The family also has built a literary legacy through poet Isaac Wilhelmus Van der Merwe, known nationally as “Boerneef,” and current author Carl Van der Merwe (eighth generation). The family farm was declared a national monument in 1973.

75. Aubanel Publishing Co.
Publishing/Avignon, France
Founded: 1744
The business was started by Antoine Aubanel in Avignon. Rome awarded Antoine the title of “master printer” in 1756, and in 1780 he was appointed the official printer to the Pope, an honor that was to be handed down from generation to generation. The family refused to publish Napoleon Bonaparte’s book Le Souper De Beaucaire.

76. Fonderia Daciano Colbachini & Figli
Bell maker/Padua, Italy
Founded: 1745
www.henokiens.com/index_colbachini_gb.php
The foundry was established by Giuseppe Colbachini when he joined with his three brothers to make bells. The Colbachini family’s talents earned them the prestigious title of ‰Pontifical Foundry” on Jan. 17, 1898. To this day, Fonderia Daciano Colbachini & Figli is the only maker of bells in the world that is able to stamp its products with the Papal coat of arms. The business is currently directed by Giovanni Aldinio-Colbachini.

77. J.D. Neuhaus Hebezeuge
Hoist manufacturers/Witten-Heven, Germany
Founded: 1745
Seventh generation
Johann Diederich Neuhaus began the business when he joined the Factory Register in Germany as a manufacturer. The company started by producing wooden jacks, which were in high demand by carters who would constantly break their wheels on the rough terrain of 18th-century roads. In 1952 the company invented the air hoist, which was much safer than the electrical hoists produced at the time. Today, the company’s products are sold in 90 countries. One product, the Gorilla V, is reportedly the world’s most powerful air hoist: It can lift 250 tons. Johann Diederich Neuhaus is the current chairman.

78. Villeroy & Boch
Housewares/Mettlach, Germany
Founded: 1748
www.villeroy-boch.com
The family business began in Lorraine when François Boch, then an iron founder, started making ceramic tableware. In 1791, Nicolas Villeroy established a nearby ceramic factory. In 1836, these two families merged their factories to form Villeroy & Boch.

79. Zenith Pipe Company
Tobacco pipes/Gouda, Netherlands
Founded: 1749
Eighth generation
Aart van der Want currently runs the company.

80. Parlange Plantation
Farm/New Roads, La.
Founded: 1750
www.pcchamber.org/parlange.htm
One of the state’s oldest plantations; descendants of first owner Marquis Vincent de Ternant still live there. Originally grew indigo and cotton; now sugarcane, soybeans, corn and Brahmin cattle. The house, open for tours, contains original Louis XIV- and Louis XV-style furnishings and French objects handed down through generations. A basement museum displays antiques: blacksmith tools, cotton scales, sugar kettles (formerly used to boil indigo beans down to a dye), candle molds, and an 1842 inventory of the estate, which lists livestock by name and ranks the value of each slave by age and ability.

81. Marie Brizard & Roger International
Distiller/Bordeaux, France
Founded: 1755
Eighth generation
www.marie-brizard.com
The company traces its origins to 18th-century Bordeaux, where, as legend has it, Marie Brizard saved a sailor from death. To show his gratitude, the sailor told Marie about an elixir that supposedly could cure every type of ill. Marie joined with her nephew Jean-Baptiste Roger to start the family company by producing the “elixir” known as anisette. The business is still centered in Bordeaux and is currently run by Jean-Baptiste Roger. Today the company’s products can be found in 130 countries.

82. Joseph Drouhin
Wine/Beaune, France
Founded: 1756
www.drouhin.com
Parts of the family’s wine cellars date to the 13th century. One portion of their cellar was built in the 16th century for the king of France. The family’s cellars have been classified as historical treasures. Today the estate covers more than 162 acres. Family members Robert, Philippe, Véronique, Françoise and Frédéric currently run the winery.

*83. Franz Haniel
Conglomerate/Duisburg, Germany
Founded: 1756
www.haniel.de
Family-owned conglomerate based in Duisburg controls Gehe, Europe’s biggest drug wholesaler, and Lloyd Chemists, a household name in Britain. It also has large stakes in retailers, mail-order houses, steel recycling, concrete blocks and disaster recovery services. Sales exceeded $25 billion in 2002. The company was founded by Jan Willem Noot and later renamed for his grandson Franz Haniel. About 520 Haniel family members are shareholders (although an unwritten rule precludes them from working there full-time). Franz Haniel, 49, is chairman of the firm’s supervisory board.

*84. Riedel Glas GmbH
Glassmaking/Kufstein, Austria
Founded: 1756
11th generation
www.riedelcrystal.com
Johann Christoph Riedel (1678-1744) journeyed throughout Europe trading glass. His son Johann Carl Riedel (1701-1781), a guilder and glasscutter, operated his own workshop. Grandson Johann Leopold Riedel (1726-1800) founded glass factory in 1756, benefited from the need to rebuild windowpanes after the Seven Year War (1756-1763) between Austrians and Prussians. The company is now known for making wineglasses. Georg Riedel of the tenth generation is the president. Eleventh-generation member Maximilian Riedel (born 1977) is in charge of the North American market; Laetizia Riedel (born 1974), a lawyer, plans to become the firm’s legal adviser.

85. Lanificio Conte S.p.A.
Woolens/Schio, Italy
Founded: 1757
www.henokiens.com/index_lanificio_gb.php
The business was started when Antonio Di Giovan Battista bought a woolen mill in 1757. The current president is Gemma Boniver Conte. The firm has cultivated a reputation for fine women’s clothing.

86. Jose Cuervo
Tequila/Tequila, Mexico
Founded: 1758
www.cuervo.com
José Antonio de Cuervo acquired a land grant from the king of Spain in 1758. In 1795, José Maria Guadalupe Cuervo was granted the first license from the king to produce tequila. The family business is now Mexico’s oldest existing company. In Spanish, Cuervo means “crow,” the symbol the firm uses to identify its products.

87. Waterford Wedgwood
Crystal, china, & cookware/Dublin, Ireland
Founded: 1759
www.waterfordwedgwood.com
Waterford Wedgwood is perhaps the world’s leading maker of luxury crystal, china, ceramics and cookware. The company’s most visible product is the large crystal ball lowered every New Year’s Eve in New York’s Times Square. Chairman Tony O’Reilly and his brother-in-law control about 27%.

88. Creed Perfume
Perfumes/Paris, France
Founded: 1760
Seventh generation
www.parfumsraffy.com
The business was started in the U.K. in 1760 when James Creed received an appointment from King George III to make fragrances. The company moved its operations from London to Paris in 1854. Prince Charles and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, both commissioned the company to make scents for them. Today the company has 238 fragrances in its line and is run by Olivier Creed.

89. Griset
Foundry/Villers-St. Paul, France
Founded: 1760
www.griset.com
Antoine Griset established the family’s first metal foundry in Paris in 1760. The factory was moved to Rue Oberkampf in Paris in 1825. Here the platinum bar used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures to denote the “standard meter” was first produced.

90. Faber-Castell
Writing instruments/Stein, Germany
Founded: 1761
Eighth generation
www.faber-castell.com
The company was founded in Stein, Germany (near Nuremberg), when Kaspar Faber, a carpenter, produced his own pencils. Count Anton Wolfgang Graf von Faber-Castell currently manages the company, which offers about 2,000 products with 2002 sales of $263 million.

91. Möller Group
Metal products/Bielefeld, Germany
Founded: 1762
Seventh generation
www.henokiens.com/index_moller_gb.php
The family can be traced back to 1575. The Möllers began working with copper in 1762. Successive generations expanded the family’s focus to include a tannery and leather goods factory (1827), an engineering division (1863) and a plastics division (1936). Dr. Peter von Möller, who represents the seventh generation, currently runs the company.

92. Bachman Funeral Home
Funerals/Strasburg, Pa.
Founded: 1769
Eighth generation
www.bachmanfuneral.com
Johannes Bachman, a Swiss Mennonite, began as cabinetmaker in Lancaster County, Pa., and evolved into coffins and funerals. His original business ledger (in German), dated April 1769, has been passed to the present eighth generation. John D. Bachman is the current director.

93. Silca
Keys & key cutting machines/Vittorio Veneto, Italy
Founded: 1770
Fifth generation
www.silca.it
Camillo Bianchi started the business when he invented the key-cutting service. The company serves more than 130,000 key-cutting centers, locksmiths and manufacturers in the security and automotive industries worldwide.

94. Osborne y Compania
Brandy and sherry/Cadiz, Spain
Founded: 1772
Sixth generation
The business was started by an Englishman, Thomas Osborne Mann, who in the late 1700s owned an export agency in Cadiz. He enjoyed early success through his friendship with a British consul, who allowed him to store his wines in the consulate’s personal cellar. Today the company has about 700 employees and is headed by Tomas and Ignacio Osborne.

95. Editions Henry Lemoine
Music publishing/Paris, France
Founded: 1772
www.editions-lemoine.fr
The family business was begun by Antoine-Marcel Lemoine in Paris. In 1810 he published the Messe Solennelle, composed for the coronation of Napoleon I. The company also published the works of Chopin, Berlioz, Donizetti, Halevy, Franck, Gounod, Messiaen and Piazzolla. Pierre Lemoine currently heads the company.

96. Stuart Land Co. of Virginia
Cattle/Rosedale, Va.
Founded: 1774
Eighth generation
Beef cattle operation still functioning. Henry Smith II started Clifton Farm. When his great-granddaughter Mary Taylor Carter married William Alexander Stuart, she brought a dowry of 80,000 acres, which Stuart added to his own large land holding. Current proprietor William (Zan) Stuart is eighth generation from founder; he has no children in the business, but his grandchildren may succeed him.

97. JB Fernandes & Sons
Tools & ironwares/Lisbon, Portugal
Founded: 1778
Sixth generation
www.redcube.org/JBF
In 1778 an earthquake ruined much of Lisbon, then one of Europe’s most brilliant capitals. This disaster prompted Ignacio Jose Fernandes to open a business selling tools and iron goods to help rebuild the city. Today the firm is an industry leader in Portugal.

98. St. John Milling Co.
Milling, farm products/Watauga, Tenn.
Founded: 1778
Sixth generation
Stone mason Jeremiah Dungan built the original foundation for the mill and stone manor (still standing) and ran the mill with his children Jeremiah and Mary D. Hendrix. The mill passed to his son Jeremiah’s daughter Mary and her husband, John Houston (brother of frontier hero Sam Houston), and then to their sons John Jr. and William Houston. They were succeeded in 1866 by George W. St. John (1837-1904), great-nephew of Jeremiah Dungan. His son James St. John (1874-1956) inherited the mill from his father in 1904. His son George St. John, an electrical engineer, succeeded him and converted the farm’s power source from water to electricity. Today the mill is owned by George’s daughter and son-in-law, Elizabeth and Ron Dawson. The operation changed from general feed and milling to a feed and seed store. Owing to shifting boundaries, the company has paid taxes in three different states: North Carolina, Tennessee and the short-lived “State of Franklin.”

99. Ditta Bortolo Nardini
Distillery/Bassano del Grappa, Italy
Founded: 1779
www.nardini.it
Bortolo Nardini founded the distillery when he bought an inn next to the famous Bassano Bridge, about 45 miles northwest of Venice. The inn became known as the “Grapperia Nardini.” Grape pomace acquavite (known as grappa) had been made by peasants living in the area before the Nardinis arrived. Nardini introduced technology to the process of distilling the seeds, skins and stems left at the end of the winemaking process, making it more modern and scientific.

100. Laird & Co.
Brandy Distiller/Scobeyville, N.J.
Founded: 1780
www.lairdandcompany.com
America’s first large-scale distiller produces AppleJack brandy, vodka, gin, scotch, bourbon, tequila, wines, etc. Robert Laird, Revolutionary War soldier, first distilled AppleJack in 1780 to serve at inn, provided brandy to George Washington.

When Taxes Drive Away Workers

Since I left upstate NY in the 70's due to cold weather and oppressive tax burdens (business and personal), the state has become even more economically unattractive to resident and non-resident workers.  Unless something changes, it will continue to struggle to find and retain the "best and the brightest"

This is also the thought of I can't Wait to Leave an article posted on The Knickerbocker Blog, a production of The Business Council of New York State, Inc. a group seeking to publish economic data, educate policymakers, and advocate ways to make the Empire State more attractive to businesses and workers.  They have their work cut out for them.

Despite its many and varied charms, New York is shrinking. The state lost 26,000 residents from July 2004 to July 2005. That's as if everyone is Saratoga Springs vanished.

That's a lot of resources to lose and it doesn't bode well for the future. Along with losing personal clout, the state will lose representation in Congress, if this trend continues.

The Business Council of New York State cites high taxes as the likely reason people are fleeing the state. No matter how nice a place is, people need to be able to pay the rent or mortgage with something left over for themselves or their families.

With tax season coming up, it's chilling to realize that New York's state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation at $4,645 per person. Florida and Texas have respective tax bites that are about $2,000 less. Not surprisingly, both gained population while New York lost it.

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Help on Best Jobs for Parents Returning to the Workforce

Heather Mundell publishes Life@Work a unique site that provides "real world" perspectives from her work as a career coach.  It has excellent articles that you'll want to refer to bookmark and refer to regularly.

She recently published Best Jobs for Parents Returning to the Workforce, based upon hearing women (and some men) stressing out about what kind of work they can return to after spending time as parents at home.  You'll find her insights and resources valuable, as we cannot afford to overlook experienced talent in any form today.  Check it out and let me know what you think...