Workforce Development - A Good Investment?

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?

What Does It Take to be an "Employer of Choice"?

Joyce L. Gioia and the late Roger E. Herman wrote the groundbreaking book "How to Become an Employer of Choice" back in 2000.  It has become the foundation for several subsequent works assisting organizations who aspire to this distinction.

One of them was published by Sandy Asch, author of Excellence at Work--The Six Keys to Inspire Passion in the Workplace, who has addressed how employers can transform and reward employee performance and offered six things employers can do to become an employer of choice.

Asch identified a number of questions companies can ask themselves to determine if their employees view them as an employer of choice.

• Do your employees love to work for your company?
• Are employees deeply engaged?
• Are employees' full potential being realized?
• Are employees planning on staying with your company?
• Are communications open, honest, positive and future-focused?
• Are people proactive and see, own, and act on problems quickly and efficiently?
• Are truth telling and risk taking encouraged and rewarded?
• Is there a high level of cooperation and collaboration?
• Are people respectful and seek to bring out the best in each other?
• Is there a healthy work-life balance?
• Do employees have energy and passion?
• Do employees trust and respect their managers and feel valued and supported?
• Are your leaders trusted and respected?
• Are employees treated fairly?
• Are employees regularly rewarded and recognized for good performance?
• Are there opportunities for growth and development?
• Are employees encouraged to contribute and make a difference?
• Are employees proud to work for your organization?
• Would your employees recommend your company to their friends as a good place to work?

How does your organization fare in each of these areas?  If you aren't sure, this book may be a good one in which to invest...

Creating a More Democratic Work Environment

A bright fellow named Stephen Simon has set out to "democratize" the process of employer selection for interns and young architects.

As a young professional he looked at the marketplace for Architects and made a keen observation: "As interns and young architects we usually think of ourselves as sellers, hawking our skills to the best firm that will have us. What if we instead consider ourselves as buyers, investing our skills in the best firm we can find? We are the consumers of architectural employment. Unfortunately, we consumers have very little information about the enterprises that we're investing in"

He has set about to create a community where interns and young architects in the huge AEC marketplace can share their experiences and perspectives with others. 

He has correctly determined that there is a sizable "information gap" as relates to the ability to identify firm characteristics and workplace styles.  So he created a unique website called InsideArch.org to enable young design professionals to share information that will enable them and others to make smarter employment choices.

The site produces a "Firm Report" which provides a set of metrics which recap the survey data gathered by the young professionals who have been exposed to the firm. 

In addition to an overall firm score (on a scale from 1-25) for each firm, the InsideArch Firm Reports contain scores in 9 different sub categories called 'Key Metrics' (on a scale from 1-5).

• PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• EMPLOYEE CALIBER
• WORK ENVIRONMENT
• OVERALL EXPERIENCE
• MANAGEMENT SKILL
• DESIGN QUALITY
• WORK HOURS
• COMPENSATION
• ATTITUDE TOWARD INTERNS

The majority of architecture firms are small firms. They don't receive a lot of press and may not have a website. Those few firms that do the 'coolest' and most publicized work are inundated with unsolicited resumes, regardless of the quality of the experience for the intern. Lesser-known firms place 'help wanted' ads that offer only cursory descriptions of the firm and its work and often don't even mention the firm's name.

Mr Simon's site enables interns and young architects to evaluate, in a subjective manner, the quality of the firm work experience. Things that are of interest to young A&E professionals include:

• How much will we learn?
• How much opportunity will we have?
• Which firm's work will most interest us?
• Where will our contribution be most respected?

WI th additional information Simon feels that these young professionals can make more intelligent decisions about which firm to invest their time and talent in.

It also seems to have a benefit for top employers.

By letting evaluations expose which Architecture firms are providing high-quality experiences to their employees, those firms would attract a larger pool of candidates, they could be more selective in their hiring, and ultimately produce better work.

(This however puts those firms that let their interns stagnate in a cube in the corner with piles of redlines on their desks would see their applicant pools dry up, the skill levels of their applicants decrease and they would either have to offer higher salaries to compensate or offer a more challenging work experience)

Simon's site seems to provide a community where conceivably everyone wins.  Wonder what the workplace would become if there were more sites of this caliber?

Five Signals of a Poor Self-Image

In doing your own personal analysis of the self-image of others, there are certain keys or signals to look for when interviewing that will tell you whether the individual is suffering from a poor self image:

1. Putting the blame on someone else.
By putting the blame for your own circumstances and situation on someone else, you avoid taking responsibility for what you have really done to yourself. If you do not take responsibility for your condition, you cannot change it, nor can you grow through it.

That which you cannot grow through, you will go through again and again.

2. Running away from your problems.
When you are confronted with a problem or challenge, how do you respond? Generally, you can do one of four things: Flee It, Fight It, Forget It, or Face It. It is only when you face your problems and challenges and consider them projects to be completed, that you grow stronger in faith and self-confidence. As your faith and confidence grows, your ability to handle greater problems and challenges improves.

3. Criticizing other people constantly.
Why do you criticize other people constantly? Is your criticism constructive and motivated by true care, concern and desire to help? Or, is it based on envy, jealousy, and thoughts of inferiority? If your criticism is not positive based on love, respect, and a sincere desire to help and improve another person then it is not constructive criticism and it does harm not only to the other person, but also to your own self-image.

4. Waiting for someone else to solve your problems/challenges.
When you wait for someone else to solve your problems and challenges, you neutralize your own possibilities for learning and growing through experience. What keeps you from taking action when a problem or challenge presents itself? Is it fear of failure that you won t do the right things? Or is it fear of success that contradicts how you really feel about yourself? Whether it is the fear of failure or fear of success, it doesn t matter since the result is the same procrastination, inaction, and ultimately, failure.

5. Pretending that everything is OK.
When you pretend that everything is alright, actively ignoring your problems and challenges, you subconsciously accept the consequences that will surely result from your inaction. You deceive yourself into thinking that there is no need for change or improvement, and develop a false sense of complacency. You eliminate virtually all possibility for personal growth and development. The nature of problems and challenges is that if they continue unresolved, they only get worse.

How Interns figure into the picture

For many firms, interns may represent serious untapped potential.

An internship, provides training for those who are interested in a career in process technology or a related field, as well as providing skill/knowledge enhancement for those who seek to further their training in the process industry.  It also provides an opportunity for a real-world work experience.

Have you employed interns previously?  You may want to consider this resource, which is highly relevant today.

We all know that a significant labor shortage has been predicted, and knowledgeable entry-level technicians and craftspersons with some experience in the work environment are preferred by employers.

Internships benefit the Company in a number of ways.  Internships allow the company to invest in the community, and  Interns can be evaluated prior to hire - those you choose to hire tend to contribute to lower recruiting and turnover costs.  These Intern employees are partially trained when you bring them on-board and can be productive to the organization sooner.

They also bring the latest theories, ideas, and classroom training to their job to share with incumbent employees.  Accordingly, they also re-energize the work force with their enthusiasm, positive attitudes and work ethic.

Don't have an Internship program currently?  Watch this space for a future discussion on how you can begin one - and make it work for you.

Starting a Successful Intern Program

I recently spoke on how interns can be a great way to supercharge your talent acquisition program.  I received several questions since this post on how to begin an internship program, so here goes.

Here are some suggestions, on how to setup a basic internship program, in a outline format...

Determine the Parameters for Your Internship program

• Usually 20 to 40 hours per week for a minimum of one semester
• Close supervision can be expected
• Will it be Paid or unpaid (university rules may apply)
• Usually for school credit and/or professional development

Internally Understand and Sell the Benefits of hosting students
(eg. Don't assume that management "gets it")

• Fresh perspective
• Energetic attitude
• Professional development – students and organization
• Screen potential employees
• Attract employees to the field
• Cost-effective

Be Realistic about the Challenges of hosting students

• Balancing the needs of your organization, the students, and the university
• Gaining internal buy-in
• Accommodating busy student schedules
• Making the most of limited student hours
• Navigating the bureaucracy of the university system

Establish the "Building Blocks" to create an effective program

• Set realistic goals
• Develop a plan
• Recruit students
• Host students
• Ongoing maintenance

OK, these building blocks need some additional clarification (grin).  Thought you'd never ask...

To Set Realistic Internship Program Goals you need to define...

• Project identification (what you hope to accomplish and why)
• Benefits statement for your organization
• A perspective on student limits (capabilities and time)
• A realistic timeframe for establishing program
• student learning opportunities (from their point of view)

Develop a plan to launch and run the program

• Who's going to be the On-site supervisor of the program
  • do not assume it will run by itself
• Identify what is going to be done
  • and who is going to be assigned to do it
• Define commitment
  • and make sure those assigned are measured on making it happen
• Assign tasks
  • and target completion / milestone dates

• Define learner tasks (what do you want the intern to do / learn)
• Maintain a good balance organization, university, and student needs

Deal with the Tactical realities of starting and running an internship program

• Work space
• Parking
• Coats and backpacks
• Making them feel they are a part of the organization

Provide feedback

• Feedback is a two-way street
• What will be discussed?
• How will it be discussed (in-person, e-mail, etc.)
• How often, and for how long each week?

Develop a the “foundations” to support the plan and communicate expectations to universities

• Paid vs. unpaid
• Student grade level (graduate, upper or lower classman)
• Academic backgrounds/majors
• Specific colleges and universities

Recruit students - getting the word out

• Start early – at least three months in advance
• Academic personnel
• Internship postings – print and internet
• Networking
• Other forms of marketing

Prepare to host students

• First day training/orientation
• Emergency contact information
• Risk-management forms
• Other legal forms / training (eg. OSHA)
• On-site point(s) of supervision

Establish and maintain open lines of communication

Ongoing maintenance - You need to communicate goals of the program with:

• Staff and management
• Students
• University

And don’t forget to evaluate progress of you are making, and the perception of students to keep you on track….

In my personal experience, if you do these things, you can have a successful and mutually beneficial program that helps all stakeholders.  But the success of the planning and execution is up to you.

Hope this helps.

What Should We Expect as Basic Administrative Skills?

When I interact with small business owners, I am appalled to hear the difficulty that they are having finding workers with the most basic administrative skills.  I recently spoke to a client who advertised a entry level sales position, got over 2,000 responses, and after sorting out the candidates, was left with only one (1) that demonstrated the attitude,, work ethic and technical skills that he required.

When I asked what he was looking for, he gave me his list. 
It looked like this:

• Familiarity with desktop operating systems (Apple OS, Windows)
• Ability to access files - understand the concept of connectivity - storage
• Perform basic word processing
• Operate E-mail, calendar, address book
• Able to perform data entry and chart preparation
• Create a brief informational presentation
• Ability to safeguard confidential information
• High-school graduate (not GED)
• Able to pass a drug test
• Valid active in-state drivers license

Note that sales experience was NOT one of his requirements.  He was prepared to train the new hire in his products / services and how to sell.

Is this indicative of what the "available" workforce looks like?

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.

Ever Wonder Why Women Enter the Field of Engineering?

Julie Martin Trenor, Director of Undergraduate Student Recruitment and Retention at the Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston is one of the most significant voices advocating the Engineering profession for women. I pay close attention to anything from her that crosses my desk.

She recently cited some excellent research into WHY women are drawn to engineering, that I wanted to share with you.  She cites studies by Goodman & Cunningham in 2002, Seymour & Hewitt, in 1997, Grose in 2006 and the American Society for Engineering Education in 2006 that document the "drivers" of interest in Engineering for women.  These studies provide a good "roadmap" for profiling women who might take to the Engineering field:

• Confidence in math/science abilities
• Engineer role models (90% know an engineer)
• Parental encouragement
• Value potential societal contributions of the field
  • Fields with more obvious altruistic nature boast much higher female enrollment percentages: 
    
    • e.g. biomedical engineering =  42%,
    • environmental engineering = 43%.
  • However, top 6 disciplines with highest % of women comprise only 17% of all B.S. degrees awarded
• The future of our engineering workforce therefore rests on the ability of the field to market itself as a socially-conscious, application-driven, and team-based profession!

The talent shortage will not relent, even in a recessionary cycle, and it is imperative that women continue to ascribe to the engineering profession.  Unfortunately, just as there are incentives, Dr. Trenor also points out that there are still many barriers for women.  Among them she cites:

• Poor math preparation: decisions on which discipline to consider, often start in 7th or 8th grade
• Lack of K-12 engineering courses
  
• Negative messages, gender-biased attitudes exist everywhere
  
• Lack of female role models
• Engineering’s public image problem
  • Few role models available in the public eye.
  • Unlike doctors & lawyers, engineers are rarely portrayed in prime time television
    • Engineers/scientists are often portrayed as white males
    • Women fre3quently relegated to subordinate roles (e.g. lab assistants)
    • Contrast “Dilbert”, “Star Trek” vs. “Law & Order”, “Grey’s Anatomy”
• Peer pressure to go into "popular" programs
• Isolation

There need to be more engineers period, and there are many opportunities for women to excel in this profession.  Watch this blog for more updates on Dr Trenor's important work in this area.

What are Hard to Fill Jobs? Not What You Might Expect...

The country is not suffering for astrophysicists and neurosurgeons.

Rather, a majority of the "hardest-to-fill jobs" are done by blue collar workers, according to a survey by Manpower Inc.

The jobs most likely to go wanting are:

1. Sales representative
2. Teacher
3. Mechanic
4. Technician
5. Management/executive
6. Truck driver
7. Driver/delivery
8. Accountant
9. Laborer
10. Machine operator

To compile the results, Manpower surveyed more than 2,400 employers nationwide.

"With the variety of positions employers are struggling to fill, it seems like job seekers should have little trouble finding work," said Jonas Prising, president of Manpower North America, an employment services company. "Yet on a daily basis, we hear from clients who can't find the right people for open positions and candidates who are struggling to get hired. ... The talent crunch is more complex than a shortage of people."

In 2007, 41 percent of employers said that they had difficulty filling jobs, down from 44 percent in 2006. Sales representatives were also the hardest jobs to fill in 2006, though engineers and nurses were then second and third.

They Still Don't Get It...

A recent article I found on the Columbia News Service proves that the construction industry still doesn't get the idea that women NEED to be an increasing part of the skilled construction workforce.

A well written article, entitled "Hard-hatted women struggle to land construction jobs"  produced by Julia Marsh, chronicles the current-day struggles that women fact in this male-dominated industry.  Read on, I think you'll be amazed at what a long way the industry still needs to go - and how the worker shortage in construction will continue until enlightened leadership steps forward.

Carole Jordan’s first day at work was a frigid January morning in 2003. She rose early and arrived at the job site by 6:30 a.m. After eight hours of standing on concrete, carrying sheetrock up and down stairs, Jordan left the skeleton of the skyscraper she was helping to build, arrived home by 5 p.m. and collapsed in bed by 6.

"After the first two weeks I thought I was dying. Muscles I didn’t even know I had were aching," said Jordan, a native New Yorker who is in her late 40s.

A little more than three years later, the elements haven’t proved to be the hardest part of Jordan’s career as a construction worker.

"It’s a man’s world," she said. "You work hard, come to the job every day and you’re often not given a shot" at a promotion.

Jordan is among a small but budding number of women entering what is officially called nontraditional employment--a range of jobs that includes fishing and firefighting, the toughest of which to break into is the construction industry. About 900,000 women across the United States work in some form of construction, be it brick masonry or drywall installation, a rise of 18 percent over the last eight years, according to the National Association for Women in Construction.

Though the Equal Employment Opportunity Act was passed in the early 1970s, women account for only 9 percent of construction workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which recently published a survey showing that 88 percent of those women had experienced sexual harassment on the job.

Jordan sat at a table with two other women, Olga Aguilar, 29, and Donna Kielbasa, 28, at the New York headquarters of a job-training nonprofit group called Nontraditional Employment for Women, known as NEW. The three came through NEW’s construction school, a six-week program in which they learned to read blueprints and handle skill saws. Seventy percent of graduates are placed in jobs averaging $53,000 a year in the construction, transportation and utilities industries.

The NEW model of supporting women in blue-collar trades is also used by sister organizations like Tradeswomen Inc. in California and the North Carolina group Charm and Hammer.

All three women had some history in construction. Aguilar’s father renovated homes. Jordan’s childhood mentor was a woodworker. Kielbasa built tree houses.

"I always liked to work with my hands and wear my jeans," Aguilar said, slapping her paint-speckled pants. "The better angle is that I make $16 an hour."

The lure for many women, said NEW's director, Anne Rascon, is a desire for economic independence. Rascon, who worked in a gold mine in California to pay for college, added, "Our experience has been that the women spend their 20s cycling through dead-end, low-wage jobs, and then a light goes on and they see us as an alternative."

Women entering the trades are ethnically diverse, typically about 31 years old and single heads of households, according to statistics from advocacy groups.

Participants of Hard Hatted Women, Cleveland’s version of NEW, which also began in the late 1970s, have an average income of $15,000 before entering the training program. The pay they receive in their first jobs is $11.50 an hour, which with overtime and union benefits comes to an annual salary of just under $30,000.

"It’s a different kind of lifestyle," Rascon said. "You have to like getting up early, working in the hot and cold weather."

Though the women have to be prepared for physical work, technology is such today that workers no longer have to rely solely on brute strength.

The women also often have to go it alone. Though the current job the NEW graduates are working on, a building for City University of New York, has a relatively high 7-to-45 ratio of women to men, in many cases there may be only one woman on a site.

"The women have it real rough," said Kevin Simmons, shop steward for the CUNY site. "I tip my hat to the ones that last."

Although the construction industry has experienced a labor shortage in recent years, one of the greatest challenges to bringing in women is simple recruitment.

"A lot of women don’t think about it," said Nancy Gentile, former chairwoman of the Committee of Women in the Trades, a division of the AFL-CIO. "They’re raised on Barbie dolls, not tools."

Though trade unions are mandated to train a certain percentage of women in construction, for Aguilar and Jordan the unions still have an old boys club feeling.

"Have you been in a union hall?" Aguilar asked. "It’s all white Irish men sitting in the directors' chairs."

Jordan switched out of a floor-covering apprenticeship, when, she said, she was twice overlooked by her construction teacher and then by a union director to fill job openings.

Kielbasa and Jordan said the harassment they had encountered included lurid sexual drawings at the site and come-ons by coworkers. Sometimes the discrimination is less overt or emerges as a lack of awareness about women’s needs in a male-dominated environment.

The three women said that at their most recent job, the one portable toilet for seven women was being used regularly by men. Also, without any running water to wash their hands, the women found it unsanitary to switch from fitting insulation to using the facilities during menstruation.

"Sometimes I feel like a stepchild [and] I don’t want to be too much of a problem," Aguilar said. "But are we a problem now that we need a place to wash our hands when we have a ‘woman’s issue?’"

But as Beth Young, director of Tradeswomen Inc., points out, it’s less of an anomaly to see a woman with a tool belt slung on her hip than it was 20 years ago when she worked as a crane operator.

"When I started I was told straight up, women don’t belong here," Young said. "[People thought] I either wanted to be a man or I wanted to get a man. I just wanted to get a paycheck like anyone else."

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

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.

Mining "silver" becoming increasingly popular

Looking for work in Japan? Shigeo Hirano  says you may have an edge if you are older than 60.  Hirano, president of staffing agency Mystar 60 Corp., says so-called "silver" workers are in growing demand as Japan's population ages.

"Japan's best engineers and technicians are leaving factories and offices for retirement," said Hirano, who heads the employment company which specializes in finding jobs for those aged 60 and over.  "Companies are realizing that hiring the elderly is the only way to retain high levels of skills and expertise," added Hirano, himself a sprightly 63.

A decline in young workers globally is exacerbating the concern as  the population ages at an unprecedented pace. The proportion of people over the age of 65 to total population is already the world's highest at 20 percent of Japan's population of 127 million people. The figure is forecast to hit 40 percent by 2055.

This and other information characterizing the worsening labor crunch were chronicled in a Reuters article published in the Boston Globe entitled "Greying workers wanted for hire in aging Japan"

Recruitment of "silver workers" is projected to play an increasing role in the quest for competent, experienced staff.  It is just one of many strategies to ensure the workforce needed for the 21st century.

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.

Where to Find Women Building Bridges

Responding to the London 2012 Olympics and the push to get women into Construction, members of the WorcNet Women’s network, based in Skipton, hosted a “Women Into Construction” seminar at the Craven College Construction Launch event on Monday 5 June.

The seminar included presentations from two women ambassadors from the Construction Industry Training Board. Vicky Belton works as a Civil Engineer and Helen Dickinson as a Quantity Surveyor, they each presented on their journey and experiences as women in the construction industry. Attique Barlas told the audience of a scheme to introduce minority groups and women into construction, offering a four week placement and a guaranteed interview which could lead to a job and further training. Mary Kelly gave a very inspiring talk on the work of the Walter Segal Trust which supports people who are interested in self build opportunities, and Keith and Jane Barber from SHE Build UK told of their business which employs and trains women construction workers for their property management and development company in Bradford.

Members of the North Northumberland and Cumbrian Women’s Networks who travelled down to the Launch event are taking back information to their own networks and local colleges in a bid to establish a similar project in their own areas.

Following the formal launch event, some of the WorcNet members who are currently undertaking a 10 week starter course in construction, hosted an evening dinner at the Rendezvous Hotel for the speakers and the guests from other networks, where they talked about their experiences on the course and their hopes for the future.

WorcNet Co-ordinator Debi Hawkins said “We are really pleased that 11 of our members have taken part in this first Women In Construction course and we are working with the College to progress women into more specialized courses later on in the year. We hope to be running another Women In Construction course from September. We will be having a Women In Construction taster day in September which will include presentations, workshops and hands on activities.”

For more information on WorcNet, the courses or the taster day please contact Debi, Kath or Karen on 01756 692788 or worcnet@craven-college.ac.uk

Here where the new jobs (and job growth) will be

There's a lot projected to happen as relates to skilled jobs, according to a recent report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among the interesting data of this report:

WHERE THE SKILLED JOBS WILL BE
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projections of employment in 2014 suggest that apart from IT-related occupations, most other scientific, technological, engineering and mathematical (STEM) professions are expected to grow moderately, at rates similar to those for the entire U.S. labor force. Only three specific STEM occupations are expected to actually decline in employment, and all of those projected declines are quite small.
High projected growth rates (20 percent or better):

• Forensic science technicians +36%
• Medical scientists & epidemiologists (summary) +34
• Hydrologists +32
• Biomedical engineers +31
• Computer specialists (summary) +31
• Network systems & data communications analysts +55
• Computer software engineers +46
• Network & computer systems administrators +38
• Database administrators +38
• Computer systems analysts +31
• Computer & information scientists, research +26
• Computer support specialists +23
• Computer specialists, all other +19
• Environmental engineers +30
• Computer & information systems managers +26
• Environmental engineering technicians +24
• Actuaries +23
• Life scientists (summary) +21
• Market and survey researchers (summary) +20
• Other life, physical, & social science technicians +20

Low projected growth rates (five percent or less):

• Sociologists +5
• Statisticians +5
• Architectural and civil drafters +5
• Chemical technicians +4
• Historians +4
• Mathematical technicians +3
• Computer programmers +2
• Electrical and electronics drafters +1
• Petroleum engineers -0
• Mathematicians -1
• Mining & geological engineers, incl. mining safety -2

 

• WOMEN INCREASE IN THE WORKFORCE - Also of note is the projection that over the 2004-14 projection period, the number of women in the labor force is projected to grow by 10.9 percent, faster than the 9.1 percent growth projected for men. As a result, women's share of the labor force is expected to increase from 46.4 percent in 2004 to 46.8 percent by 2014.

• GROWTH OF THE HISPANIC WORK GROUP -“By 2014, the Hispanic labor force is expected to reach 25.8 million, due to faster population growth resulting from a younger population, higher fertility rates, and increased immigration levels.
  
  Despite relatively slow growth, whites will remain the largest group, composing 80.2 percent of the labor force. Blacks will constitute 12.0 percent of the labor force. Asians will continue to be the fastest growing race group, climbing to 5.1 percent of the labor force in 2014.

and finally, a topic we've covered extensively both on this blogspace as well as my speaking engagements around the country:

• CHANGES IN THE MAKEUP OF THE LABOR FORCE -The labor force will change in composition, as a result of changes in both the composition of the population and in the rates of labor force participation across demographic groups. The projected labor force growth will be affected by the aging of the baby-boom generation — persons born between 1946 and 1964.
  
  In 2014, baby-boomers will be ages 50 to 68 years, and this age group will grow significantly over the 2004-2014 period. The labor force will continue to age, with the number of workers in the 55-and-older group projected to grow by 49.1 percent, nearly five times the 10 percent growth projected for the overall labor force. Youths between the ages of 16 and 24.will decline in numbers and lose share of the labor force, from 15.1 percent in 2004 to 13.7 percent in 2014.
  
  Prime-age workers. those between the ages of 25 and 54 also will lose share of the labor force, from 69.3 percent in 2004 to 65.2 percent in 2014. The 55-and-older age group, on the other hand, is projected to gain share of the labor force, from 15.6 percent to 21.2 percent.

Men at Work - Gimme a Break !?!

Call it my warped sense of irony...

I was driving down the road today and saw the DOT standard "MEN AT WORK" sign, and noted that there were 3 ladies on the work crew.  I wonder how often the average passerby even considers that these are not just MEN at work?

It should not be a surprise that increasingly, smart women are looking to the construction industry as careers.  The pay and benefits in the construction industry are the best in business and industry. Pay is based on knowledge, skills and experience. Additional coursework and degrees from higher educational institutions paves the way to promotions within the industry. And there are more jobs than employees available to fill the many positions in construction. Whether your ambition is to work in an office or in the field, furthering your education is a vital step in getting ahead and staying ahead.

Many women enter the field of construction because their husbands, fathers, brothers or uncles work in construction and they encourage their wives, daughters, sisters and nieces to come into the field with them. Other women start out working in a construction office processing paperwork and then advance into the field and up the career ladder. Still others like the idea of working outdoors, using their hands to build houses, commercial buildings, bridges and highways, supervising projects and providing a good income for their families.

Women can be found working in construction offices or on-site as architects, CAD technicians, interior designers, estimators, project managers and project superintendents. Some women work on surveying crews; others work as building inspectors and plans examiners for municipalities. The possibilities are unlimited.

There are several ways to learn the construction business.

1. On-the-job training and apprenticeship programs have been the traditional route to construction jobs.
2. College programs and courses in construction management, business, drafting, estimating, surveying, civil engineering, and mathematics prepare women for both office and field positions. Some women continue their educations at the university level. Networking with management and leadership groups helps in moving up the ladder.  Many colleges offer certificates and associate degrees in Architectural Drafting, Computer Aided Drafting, Building Safety and Construction Technology, Civil Engineering Technology, Surveying Technology, Construction Management and Welding. (before you laugh at welding - bear in mind that a journeyman welder with O/T can make $120-130k/yr)
3. Want to check out construction from the comfort of your living room?  There are hundreds of "continuing education grade" courses on construction available online.  For example, RedVector has a large library of "fundamentals-level" online courses that will help anyone interested become familiar with the concepts and language of construction.
4. Another resource is the Arizona State University, Del E. Webb School of Construction that offers a bachelor of science degree in Construction. Starting wages average $50,000 per year.

Looking for change and a career with a long-term future?  Check out these resources...

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!

Could Mom and Dad help keep young workers in the workplace?

Economists predict that a glut of job openings will wreak havoc on the economy, not to mention happy hour.
There have been plenty of blue-ribbon panels, forums and focus groups to address this issue, but none has answered the basic question: How do we persuade the best and brightest to stick around and help solve this looming worker shortage?

read more | digg story

Hiring Foreign Nationals: A Visa Programs Primer

In many situations, you may not be able to find "local" talent to fill a skilled labor requirement.  Obviously, there are a number of "alternative sources" from which you can source these needed skillsets.  When considering bringing in foreign workers, you and your team need to be aware of the myriad requirements, laws and issues associated with bringing foreign workers on board.

The good folks over at BLR (Business & Legal Reports) have provided a great source of information to help keep you out of hot water.  Their HR Daily Advisor newsletter, which provides in-depth professional guidance to those in the talent business, published a recent article you will not want to miss.

Entitled, "Hiring Foreign Nationals: A Visa Programs Primer", this great article will provide you useful information, including perspectives on your talent acquisition policies and procedures when it comes to hiring foreigners.

Check out this information, it can keep you out of trouble.

Laborers Are Unskilled, Right?

A common misconception is that the "common laborer" you encounter falls into the "unskilled labor" category.  In discussions I have with others, I sometimes hear things like "well they're just laborers, anybody could do their job.  Wow!  DO these people need to get up-to-date!

Sure, there are plenty of "general labor" jobs where anyone who can fog a mirror could be pressed into service, but there are in every industry "laborers" that don't fit into the category of "tradesmen", but who have a vital role, and need to have a set of skills to do their job.

For example, in the Construction Industry, here are some of the categories of "LABORER" that the U.S. Department of Labor includes as skilled labor (and have specific "prevailing wages" defined under the Davis-Bacon Act)

• potmen
• power tool operator
• small machine operator
• concrete labor including concrete preparation
• signalmen
• laser beam operator
• waterproofer
• open caisson
• test pit
• underpinning
• pier hole and ditches
• laggers and all work associated with lagging
• strippers
• operator of hand derricks
• vibrator operators
• pipe layers
• tile layers (tile laid on road construction projects ONLY)
• operators of jackhammer
• paving breakers
• spaders or any machine that does the same general type of work
• scaffold builders
• operators of towmasters
• scootcretes
• buggymobiles and other machines of similar character
• operators of tampers and rammers and other machines that do the same general type of work, whether powered by air, electric or gasoline
• builders of trestle scaffolds over one tier high
• sand blaster
• power and chain saw operators used in clearing
• installers of well points
• wagon drill operators
• acetylene burners and
• licensed powdermen.

After looking at this list, it should be clear that these laborers need to have specific skills, right?  Ask yourself, in the "War for Talent", what are you doing to recruit people with these skills, test for these skills, or development of these skills?

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!

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!

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.

Looking for Expert Guidance on Online Training Content?

Dave Boggs, the editor of the Boggs eLearning journal, also has a great blog devoted to Online Training Content. Dave, a respected and knowledgeable guy, and what he says about elearning and how to deliver it is always right on point.

Check out this interesting and informative site.  You'll be glad you did!

Does Playing Games Make You Smarter?

Games may be crucial to ensure the skilled talent pool we need now and in the years ahead...

According to a 2002 study by Gentile & Walsh, American children aged 2-7 play computer games an average of 43 min/day, children aged 8-12 play an average of 56 min/day, and children aged 13-17 play an average of 78 min/day.

Our youth are accustomed to learning through games.  In fact, games are largely responsible for the use of the computer.  According to a national survey conducted by the National Institute on Media and the Family, 92% of kids age 2-17 play video and computer games.  Michigan State University also conducted a longitudinal study of 140 low-income children and their Internet use at home; participants reported game play as their primary reason for using their computers.

For most of you, learning was chiefly considered fun during your stint in grade school when learning games were commonplace. However, once you hit junior high and then high school, learning seemed to be required and was not necessarily fun anymore. Games were no longer commonplace, long lectures, extensive reading assignments and homework became the routine.

 

No matter what your age, games are fun and naturally give people enjoyment and pleasure. Whether it’s a board game, computer game, video game or basketball game, most involve people, inspire interaction, offer challenges, stir a competitive spirit and of course, provide satisfaction. Simply put, games engage people.

 

That’s why corporate learning organizations worldwide increasingly develop and implement learning games and simulations for their employees. Learning games and simulations, much like the ones that were played during grade school, can improve learner engagement, learner participation and comprehension, retention and more.

So should we be focusing our attention on Educational Games?  Consider what's at risk.

• U.S. workforce must raise skills to compete in global labor markets
• U.S. workforce must raise skills to support an innovation based economy
• U.S. workforce must be ready for new jobs created by technological advancements
• Digital media the medium of attention for youth
• Schools must become high-performance organizations

What does this suggest to you?

Women in Engineering - still a "Boys Club"

From "The Herman Trend Alert," by the Herman Group, a new alert, discussing Women in Engineering.  Like all of the excellent work The Herman Group does, it is an exceptional piece addressing a critical issue in the skilled workforce.

A recent study demonstrates clearly that the field of engineering is still primarily a "Boys Club". Only 20 percent of engineering degrees in the United States are earned by women; only 9% of American engineers are women.

Though a study by the Families and Work Institute showed that young men are taking a much more active role in their children’s lives, in the US and Europe, the majority of people still expect that most of the burden of housekeeping, childcare, school interface, looking after aging parents, and similar family duties are handled by the woman.

In many industries, an engineering career frequently demands long hours and lots of travel---difficult for a man, even harder for a woman. It is challenging to take care of a family when the job sometimes requires an emergency plant visit at 2am, or worse, weeks or months on assignment overseas.

When it comes to advancing in the corporate hierarchy, women engineers experience the most problems. There is a "systemic pressure," far more difficult than any "overt discrimination," that makes matters even more challenging for women engineers.

Nancy Bartels, Managing Editor for "Control" Magazine, interviewed a number of women engineers. Here’s what they want:

• Treated with respect, as professionals, just like other engineers
• Given the chance to prove themselves—just like other engineers.
• Respected for their ideas and have their thinking processes accepted.
• Included---in all conversations, casual and otherwise and to be treated as peers and valued team members
• Mentored and encouraged by experienced seniors.
• Considered for promotion.

There is no doubt that engineering will benefit from having more women who bring their unique perspectives and innovative ideas to the industry. They also possess intuitive skills and can provide different ways to solve many complex problems, problems that may be approached better through their distinctive points of view. Hundreds of colleges, organizations, and businesses have created programs, workshops, and conferences to increase the number of women in engineering. And if your organization is looking for engineers, don’t overlook The National GEM Consortium, a non-profit headquartered in Washington, DC.

JIM's NOTE: Also, check out the Society of Women Engineers (SWE)

The Hottest Jobs (for College graduates)

According to Parade magazine, there are plenty of good paying jobs in HIGH DEMAND in today's market for graduates:

Forensic accountant
Combines accounting, auditing and investigative skills: $30,000-$150,000

Logistics manager
Plan, implement and control flow of goods or services: $35,000-$118,000

Corporate librarian
More companies need specialists to manage information: $37,000-$93,000

Emerging media specialist
Managers in Web content and online marketing need communication skills and tech savvy: $26,500-$100,000

Physical therapist
Aging baby boomers will drive the increasing need: $34,600-$74,000

Information security
Workers plan, implement and support network security: $47,000-$122,000

Source: Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., with data provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and industry sources

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?

Getting to the Starting Block

Many seeking employment today (in any industry) require a High School diploma or a GED.  Without this credential, more often than not, workers are relegated to the lower paid job classifications.

If an applicant hasn't completed High School with a diploma, the GED offers to the roughly 500,000 dropouts per year, a way to get back into better paying jobs in the workforce.

Depending upon how long it has been since the school days, there is increasing resistance with age to get back into self-education.  Online educational opportunities exist to help the dropout who has committed to obtaining their GED.

There's a good bit of discussion about the value and importance of the GED in today's marketplace.  MIT published Who Benefits from Obtaining a GED? Evidence from High School and beyond by Richard J. Murnane, John B. Willett, and John H. Tyler
The Review of Economics and Statistics,        Vol. 82,        No. 1 (Feb., 2000),                   pp. 23-37, a 15 page research paper on the multiple aspects of the value of the GED.  You'll find it an interesting read (I've provided a synosis here)

Leonard Williams, an e-learning instructor, recently published a great article entitled  "Planning, Perseverance and Motivation for the GED Test" that looks int this option and how e-learning can benefit the GED aspirant.  it's well thought out and Williams provides a sound proposal.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

Working with the Contingent Workforce

Esme Friesen of the Galt Global Review published a set of great best practices to assist the supervisor or manager thinking of hiring a contingent worker.

According to Friesen, the squeeze on workforce budgets continues the same as it has for well over a decade. Whereas everybody wants to expand their scope while increasing their bottom line, adapting to variable market trends is still the order of the day. In some organizations this means the hiring of new staff and for others this means a decrease in their labor pool. Both ways, managers have had to find flexible staffing solutions and as a result, the demand for a skilled, reliable contingent workforce has risen significantly.

Fishing for resources in a new "fishing hole" carries with it a special set of challenges.

Friesen offers the following points to help you be more effective in sourcing from the Contingent Workforce marketplace:

1. Have the staffing service coach or counsel a contingent worker on job performance.

It is one thing to point out a procedural protocol to a new contingent worker, but it is another to give them an evaluation. Marcie Ellison, Vice President of The Personnel Department's temporary division advises "the staffing service should be calling you. If there is a need for a performance or corrective review, it is the responsibility of the service to address it." Otherwise, contact the service to request a review and tell them why it is necessary.

2. Let the staffing service negotiate the rate of pay.

This issue is best addressed with the staffing service. The staffing service's account manager uses input from you to establish rates of pay and will handle all communications regarding pay raises for the contingent worker. Contingent workers are regular staff of the service and as such, have their own agreements with respect to wages. When you begin negotiating with the contingent worker, you become a de facto employer and can run into difficulties in defining the "employer" if there is ever a dispute.

3. Express your needs for skills and let the staffing service do the training.

Staffing agencies often have training and upgrading programs available to their field staff. If specific training is required for a job, the staffing service will work with you to identify and implement the best training program for the contingent worker.

4. Refer any requests for personal time-off or vacation to the staffing service.

Contingent workers will request time off through their staffing service manager who will then contact you regarding coverage prior to approval being given. If temporary employees approach you, simply refer them back to their staffing service manager. Your primary relationship is with the service, and so is the employee's.

5. Discuss job opportunities with the staffing service.

In this era of talent shortages, it is best to discuss job opportunities with the staffing service. Often the best contingent worker is not the best permanent employee. For many individuals in the contingent workforce, it is a lifestyle choice. They prefer the flexibility and variety that going from job-site to job-site affords them and staffing services know this. The service may have other individuals available who are interested in finding permanent employment, and who are more suitable to the position. To get the best from the "temp to perm" potential, contact the service who can then work with you to determine who the most suitable candidates are. It is always good to check first with the service.

If a temporary or contract worker approaches you for a position, it is a compliment to your managers and your organization. Still, you are best advised to direct them to publicly available job postings to which they can apply. If there were a position that you wanted to hire the contingent worker for, contact the service, which will then approach the employee directly.

6. Be discrete regarding harassment or discrimination issues.

If a situation where a contingent worker is behaving inappropriately arises, contact the service directly as soon as you become aware of a situation.

7. Let the staffing service terminate a contingent worker.

While it may be your responsibility to do the hiring and firing for your firm, the contingent worker is the responsibility of the staffing service. Always contact the service to terminate a contingent worker.

8. Do include contingent workers in your company's employee functions where appropriate.

Contingent workers are an important part of the modern workforce, therefore it is important to make them feel as though they are part of your team. Inclusion at staff parties and other employee functions is a good idea.

There are times, however, when the company may be hosting "staff only" events such as company retreats and seminars etc. In these instances, it is best to contact the service to explain the contingent worker's exclusion. For recognition events, the service should be invited to present any awards or bonuses the company is offering to its contingent workers.  In addition, a few staffing services offer their field staff benefits packages, training and skill development, advancement schemes, and recognition programs. Choose one that does.

9. Be in touch with the service.

The basic rule of thumb is to always be in touch with the service. They are set up specifically to manage contingent and leased workforces. They have a firm understanding of the legal and logistical issues associated with the hiring of temporary staff.

It starts with a plan

Today's secondary, postsecondary and career and technical education students stand poised at the center of industry trends that will benefit them enormously. The United States is embarking on a construction boom. In fact, according to a 2004 report published by Brookings Institute, more than half of the buildings that will exist in 2035 have not been built yet.

As baby boomers approach retirement age, a significant portion of the existing construction workforce will be leaving. The demand for quality skilled craft professionals will be critical, and this will create a wealth of possibilities for young people who seize that opportunity. It is critical to the future of our industry that we reach out to our young people and expand career-training opportunities.

Accordingly, the US has a vested stake in ensuring that the workforce needed to construct these buildings.  Thus, the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) has been an advocate in promoting ways for contractors to keep up with this surge.

The challenge is that the Construction industry, representing almost a trillion dollars of spending in our national economy is incredibly fragmented, and it is a monumental challenge to get the industry on the same page, with literally almost 1000 construction industry different trade groups in operation.

The NCCER has produced a document entitled the 2007 Construction Careers Planning guide, Download 2007_construction_careers_planning_guide.pdf in conjuntion with the upcoming National Careers in Construction Week (CiC Week) is a nationwide campaign designed to increase public awareness of the hard work and contributions of our nation’s craft professionals by highlighting the many career opportunities available in the Construction industry.

Is use of "Best Practices" a common practice in your firm?

The term "best practices" is commonly bandied about in business.  "We use this 'best practice' or that one" some claim.  Matt Stevens in his blog "The New Business Model of Construction" gives us some good insight on how to leverage Best Practices in a practical way.

A "Best Practice" is a management idea which asserts that there is a technique, method, process, activity, incentive or reward that is more effective at delivering a particular outcome than any other technique, method, process, etc. The idea is that with proper processes, checks, and testing, a desired outcome can be delivered with fewer problems and unforeseen complications. Best practices can also be defined as the most efficient (least amount of effort) and effective (best results) way of accomplishing a task, based on repeatable procedures that have proven themselves over time for large numbers of people.

Thus, one of the growth strategies for any successful business should be the identification and adoption of Best Practices.  There are numerous sources for these practices.  One of the challenges is finding practices that are relevant to your particular type of business. 

For example, take construction:  According to Matt Stevens of the Stevens Construction Institute, there are over 100 market sectors in the construction industry. F.W. Dodge reports in its construction permit data 30-odd categories and that is just the type of projects. Multiply that by the all the different types of contractors. The old CSI classification methodology outlines 16 divisions of work. Each division typically has several construction firm types occupying each of those.

Stevens has published over 140 best practices in the construction industry in a book entitled "Managing a Construction Firm on Just 24 Hours a Day" that helps contractors seeking to imporove their businesses with better techniques, construction methods, business processes, activity management, workplace incentives etc.

Check out the book and Matt's blog.  Both are filled with good information for Contractors.

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

How do competencies factor into Business Performance/

The folks over at General Electric are known to be pretty smart folks.  So when they look at competencies in the workforce, its a good bet that they know what they are talking about.

GE has a competency model that starts with the strategic intent of the business, or put another way, what is it that we're trying to accomplish?  From this "foundation" definition, they then develop the organizational capabilities that GE requires.

The GE competency model looks at has four (4) "pillars":

1. Competence Pillar - What are the Competencies we require  to accomplish our Strategy?
2. Consequence Pillar - What are the standards and  consequences requires to accomplish our strategy?
3. Governance Pillar - What is the Organization we need to accomplish our  strategy?
4. Work- Process/Capacity for Change Pillar - How able are we to manage the work processes and change in order to accomplish our Strategy?

They have wisely implemented an organizational model that not only addresses the competencies (very important), but go well beyond to tie how these resources will be utilized effectively to accomplish business results.

Thus, it's important for you to understand that competencies represent a basic "foundation" upon which business performance is predicated. 

So in today's increasingly skill challenged work environment, having an ample supply people with a skillset will be inadequate.  Unless you are able to not only secure the competencies that the business requires, (that often requires looking at new hires and existing staff differently), but also address how these competencies will be productively applied in the business, you probably won't get the "pull through" effect you may have been hoping for.

The competency framework - where do competencies fit?

Sometimes there is confusion between competencies and skills in the workplace.  I hope to be able to shed some light on the subject. 

To begin with competencies are the successful combination and application of experience, skills, knowledge and temperment. 

Competencies are characteristics which drive outstanding performance in a given job, role or function. A competency model refers to a group of competencies required in a particular job and usually number 7 to 9 in total.

The number and type of competencies in a model will depend upon the nature and complexity of work along with the culture and values of the organisation in which the work takes place.

For almose 3 decades, leading organizations have been using competencies to help recruit, select and manage their outstanding performers after Dr. David McClelland, a Harvard Business School Professor of Psychology, found that traditional tests such as academic aptitude and knowledge tests, did not predict success in the job.

Thus, the use of competency definitions may be more appropriate to creating a high-performance team than the more narrow definition of skills needed to perform on the job.

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

Partnership - How Education and the Construction Industry collaborate

Don Whyte, President of the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) published a paper on the strategy and activities of his organization, which is focused on dealing with the formation of the craft and supervision in the large and highly specialized Construction industry.

The paper, Download building_success.pdf delves into the industry situation, challenges and some of the initiatives that are underway to address the needs of the current marketplace.  If you're interested in how the Construction industry is approaching the challenge, this is a "must read".

Plain Language - an unappreciated skillset

Doublespeak is language deliberately constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Such language is often associated with governmental, military, and corporate institutions and its deliberate use by these is what distinguishes it from other euphemisms. Doublespeak may be in the form of bald euphemisms ("downsizing" for "firing of many employees") or deliberately ambiguous phrases ("wet work" for "assassination", "take out" for "destroy").

Workplace literacy is not only about improving the skills and abilities of your employees. It is also about effectively and clearly communicating with them. Plain language is defined as straightforward expression, using only as many words as are necessary. It is language that avoids obscurity, inflated vocabulary and convoluted sentence construction. Using plain language principles in information bulletins, health and safety manuals, forms and other modes of communications saves time, money and lives

• readers understand documents better
• readers locate information faster
• documents are easier to update
• it is easier to train people
• documents are more cost-effective

Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. Language that is plain to one set of readers may not be plain to others. Written material is in plain language if your audience can:

• Find what they need;
• Understand what they find;      and
• Use what they find to meet      their needs.

There are many writing techniques that can help you achieve this goal. Among the most common are:

• Logical organization with the      reader in mind
• "You" and other      pronouns
• Active voice
• Short sentences
• Common, everyday words
• Easy-to-read design features

No one technique defines plain language. Rather, plain language is defined by results—it is easy to read, understand, and use.  Does your organization engage reward doublespeak or plain language?  Moreover, what form of communication style do you screen for?

 

The Contingent Workforce

Highly skilled professionals are fast joining the temp ranks, so start planning your career as a consultant now, says HotGigs CEO Doug Berg

read more | digg story

Emotional Intelligence (EI) - An essential skill?

Are you aware of the importance of Emotional Intelligence?

Emotional intelligence (EI) includes abilities such as recognizing, appraising, describing, understanding, and analyzing emotions in self and others, as well as regulating, managing, and adapting one’s emotions in changing situations. EI has been associated with many aspects of daily living, including one’s perceived emotional well-being, self-esteem, happiness, and life satisfaction, general psychological and physical health, and quality of interpersonal interactions. Not surprisingly, EI has also been found to be an important predictor of success in almost any job.

Why is Emotional Intelligence a better approach to identifying leaders?
Well first, the concept of "Intelligence" is typically focused on analytic reasoning, verbal skills, spatial ability, attention, memory and judgment (all of which can have many different definitions). 

Besides, we are all different, and come from many different backgrounds and experiences.  This diversity complicates relationships in the workplace, and the consequences of inability to read others’ emotion at an early stage of development may lead to the development of poor social skills, which can manifest themselves in poor worker-boss or peer-peer relationships on the job.

For example, males tend to be more willing to compromise social connectedness for independence, they are not as good as women at "reading" the feelings of others, and may be more physiologically overwhelmed by marital conflict.  Women tend to have a greater need for "connectedness", have a wider range of emotions and are better at reading emotions than males, and tend to be better at developing social strategies overall and perhaps will tend to be more engaged in marital conflict.

Do these aspects carry over into the workplace - You Bet !

Thus, as individuals grow in responsibility EI becomes more important a factor.  Failure to develop a healthy understanding of emotional behavior can overwhelm solid "technical skills" performance - even to the point of rendering a technically competent person ineffective.

Examples of this are evident on todays workplace.  You may have worked with bosses who exhibit

• "all or nothing" thinking
• overgeneralization
• excessive worrying
• worrying as magical thinking
• disqualifying the position
• jumping to negative conclusions
• “should” statements
• labeling & mislabeling
• personalization
• stonewalling
• criticism; contempt

Since 50% of work satisfaction is determined by the relationship a worker has with his/her boss, it follows that EI should be a prerequisite for effective leadership across borders.

Developing competency as a supervisor/manager requires a higher level of self-mastery and people skills; developing the ability to put yourself into the positions of others is an essential skill today.

How to overcome employee indifference to a Workforce Development initiative

Sometimes organizations launching a workforce development initiative encounter indifference, hostility or fear from the workforce. 
Here are some ideas on how to overcome this resistance and build cooperation and trust:

• establish champions among supervisors and labor representatives
• maintain confidentiality
• recognize existing skills and experience
• do a skills needs assessment and disseminate results
• involve employees from all areas and levels of the organization

These simple (but often overlooked) steps will help get your workforce initiative off on the right foot.

Literacy and Workplace Skills: How to Assess Levels

Thomas Phillips, Ph.D., an economist, writing for the Ontario Workforce Development Board writes "Our economy has entered a new era. Those with strong communications skills – reading, writing, and speaking – and more particularly those who have the ability to thoughtfully analyze information are the most valued people in our labor market. They are the ones who have more job opportunities, higher pay, and are less often without work than any other group. The ability to communicate and analyze are the keystones of a knowledge economy

Literacy is often considered an either/or issue; one can read and write and do basic math or not. The continuum of literacy and basic skills is becoming increasingly better understood, however, to mean the degree to which people can communicate, learn, adapt to change and deal with complex problems.

Minimum literacy skills for the current economy have been benchmarked and a study of 23,000 working-age Canadians found that 40 percent have marginal to poor skills1. These categories include those at levels one, two and the bottom of level three. The levels are described as:

Level 1: It identifies people who can read, but test poorly. They may have developed coping skills to manage everyday literacy demands but their low level of proficiency makes it difficult for them to face novel demands, such as learning new job skills

Level 2: People can only deal with material that is simple, clearly laid out, and in which the tasks involved are not too complex. It denotes a weak level of skill, but more hidden than Level 1. At this level, people have developed coping skills to manage everyday literacy demands but face difficulty earning new job skills.

Level 3: The minimum skill level suitable for coping with the demands of everyday life and work in a complex, advanced society. It denotes roughly the skill level required for successful secondary school completion and college entry. Like higher levels, it requires the ability to integrate several sources of information and solve more complex problems.

Levels 4/5: It represents people who demonstrate command of higher-order information processing skills. 

21st Century Skills : Do you Have Them?

Because the world of work is changing, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education formed the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) to study the kinds of competencies and skills that workers must have to succeed in today's workplace.  The results of the study were published in a document entitled What Work Requires of Schools: A SCANS Report for America 2000.  A summary of the findings are provided in the tables below.

 

Table 1: SCANS' Five Competencies

Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources

 

• Time - selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules
• Money - uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives
• Material and facilities - acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently
• Human resources - assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback

Interpersonal: Works with others

• Participates as member of a team - contributes to group effort
• Teaches others new skills
• Services clients/customers - works to satisfy customers expectations
• Exercises leadership - communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies
• Negotiates - works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests
• Works with diversity - works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds

Information: Acquires and evaluates information

• Acquires and evaluates information
• Organizes and maintains information
• Interprets and communicates information
• Uses computers to process information

Systems: Understands complex interrelationships

• Understands systems - knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them
• Monitors and corrects performance - distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems performance and corrects malfunctions
• Improves or designs systems - suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance

Technology: Works with a variety of technologies

• Selects technology - chooses procedures, tools, or equipment including computers and related technologies
• Applies technology to task - understands intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment
• Maintains and troubleshoots equipment - prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies

---

Table 2:  A Three-Part Foundation of SCANS Skills and Personal Qualities

Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens, and speaks

• Reading - locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules
• Writing - communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts
• Arithmetic/mathematics - performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques
• Listening - receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues
• Speaking - organizes ideas and communicates orally

Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons

• Creative thinking - generates new ideas
• Decision making - specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses best alternatives
• Problem solving - recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action
• Visualizing - organizes and processes symbols
• Knowing how to learn - uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills
• Reasoning - discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem

Personal Qualities: Responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty

• Responsibility - exerts a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment
• Self-esteem - believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self
• Sociability - demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings
• Self-management - assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control
• Integrity/honesty - chooses ethical courses of action

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.

. . . .

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...

More than half of US workers are slackers

More than half of US workers are slackers, but the slackers don't see themselves as slackers. Men more so than women.

read more | digg story

Training talent critical to workforce development

Global trends indicate that economies, and companies, are developing knowledge-based business cultures. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that organisations measure themselves – not only in terms of profitability and turnover, nor product diversification and market share – but in terms of the fundamental cornerstone of business: people.”

According to CRF’s HR Benchmark™, the scientific research survey used to determine the best employers in the eight countries in which CRF operates, the current global business environment is characterised by an increasing war for talent. CRF maintains that human resource management and strategy is fast becoming the key organisational differentiator in this ‘war’.

As such, companies need to continually look for new measures to interpret their effectiveness in attracting top talent in the market, and retaining and investing in their A-perfomers.

“One of the primary aspects highlighted in the HR Benchmark™ is how companies manage talent in terms of training. 

“Over 30 percent of the leading employers that participated in the 2006 survey view training as a highly important facet in maximising the talents of their employees, and ultimately the success of their business. 

“Traditional training is still in place, but the introduction of ‘soft’ training programmes such as mentoring, emotional intelligence and coaching is becoming increasingly popular to develop graduates and executives,” says Baalbergen.

“What we found particularly interesting is that a quarter of respondents prefer to outsource their training. This indicates to us that the corporate view on staff training is become increasingly focused as they prefer professional trainers to inject real muscle into traditional in-house training methods,” continues Baalbergen.

Sierk Baalbergen, CRF Country Manager says, “The war for talent is on – this is a statement that is heard time and again in boardrooms around the world. Global trends indicate that economies, and companies, are developing knowledge-based business cultures. It is therefore becoming increasingly important that organisations measure themselves – not only in terms of profitability and turnover, nor product diversification and market share – but in terms of the fundamental cornerstone of business: people.”

“We also found that less than 5 percent of all surveyed organisations see HR as a key driver of internal skills growth. That, of course, presents one explanation as to why 25 percent choose to outsource their training function.

“However, it also indicates an ongoing lack of confidence companies have in their internal ability to properly manage talent. On the positive side, this does reveal that companies recognise the value of training as a business driver and it is this that compels these companies to seek out professionals to assist them.