Joseph F. Bastian President, The Human Performance Network
Workforce Development Workforce Development offers a variety of solutions for unemployed workers while highlighting professional opportunities for expanding skill sets.
It’s been said that the only real constant is change. If that is true, things have been VERY consistent over the past few years.
It seems that we are in a constant state of flux, as old businesses disappear and new industries crop up. This uncertain trend has a major impact on the psychology behind our regional workforce, as well. This new generation of workers has been called Generation Flux, and they represent an entirely new mindset for how people work and live in this New Economy.
The new profile for GenFluxers is people who are flexible, adaptable, and open-minded to all the changes that are taking place around them. In a recent article by Robert Safian, "This Is Generation Flux: Meet The Pioneers Of The New (And Chaotic) ...
Imagine it — a 21-hour work week. How much different would your life be if you only worked 3 days a week? Well, the idea is out there, folks. And it doesn’t seem so far-fetched, once you start to look into the concept a little bit more.
The New Economics Foundation, an international workforce organization, recently published a report advocating for a 21-hour workweek in Europe. This report proposes a radical change to our standard 40-hour workweek. Their vision is this:
“Moving towards much shorter hours of paid work offers a new route out of the multiple crises we face today. Many of us are consuming well beyond our economic means and well beyond the limits of the natural environment, yet in ways that fail ...
In this brand new, fresh out-of-the-box year, there is a lot of energy focused on doing things differently. We are all motivated to be creative and make changes for the better in 2012.
A new way of doing things takes innovation, creativity, and a renewed commitment to see our changes through to fruition. Whether our motivations are personal or professional, there is real value in getting creative in 2012.
Just don’t expect your group or organization to jump right on board your forward-thinking bandwagon …
Most organizations give great lip service to creativity. It’s coveted in business for a very simple reason: New ideas that transcend the current marketplace have the power to bring wealth, fame, and new status to any ...
Have you ever wondered why your bosses seem like they’re nuts? Or have you ever wondered why you feel a little crazy, unfulfilled, anxious, or frustrated in your current work environment?
Well, you and your boss may be hard wired entrepreneurs. Recent studies show that there’s a very high incidence of ADD among CEOs in small companies. These are people who take risks need people to help them stay organized, don’t like working for other people, have a lot of energy and are good at multitasking.
Carl Silverstein of BizTimes categorizes the different types of entrepreneurs and how their brains function. See if you or your boss fits any of these categories:
In a college sociology class, I was first exposed to the concept that our sense of self is at first defined by those around us. The theory states that we define ourselves by how others react to us. Over the course of time, our interpretations of these “reactions” come together to shape the structure of our personality.
Since those college days, I have found a fair amount of truth to this theory. We certainly are products of our environment. This process of building a self-identity seems quite natural and it occurs over a long, unconscious period of time. What scares me is when I see a systematic approach to shaping people’s sense of self.
In a recent Washington Post article, Marion Brady wrote about a school ...
As the holidays approach rapidly, I am sensing a strange, ghostly feeling in the air. At our house this season, we have been talking about these turbulent times that we live in and the misplaced importance on material possessions.
Some days, it seems that our entire world is upside down and inside out. The more people I talk to, the more I get the feeling that we are all in a cultural recovery; trying to make sense in the economic aftermath of too much consumerism, greed, and corruption.
In his essay, “The Quiet Storm,” Sam Smith points out that there has been a corporatization of our culture, where our language and values reflect business-based morality and ethics (instead of the other way around). Smith states:
I was having a conversation with my college-age daughter the other day. We were talking about different careers, professionals, and what makes a person an expert in their field.
After some thought, it occurred to me that the experts I have met over the years seemed to share common traits. Recent studies have noted that elite performers and experts do share similar attributes in both their ability and willingness to practice their craft, along with a natural affinity for the field in which they work.
The combination of nature and nurture in top performers is supported by real science. In K. Ericsson’s study from the Psychological Review (Issue 100) "The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert ...
Based upon recent studies, people don’t read enough books. It seems like the old conversation-starting question is quickly losing its relevance in our high-tech, high-speed world. We are rapidly becoming a society where no one has the time or energy to sit down with a good book. Despite eBooks and technology-enabled readers like Nooks, Kindles, and iPads that make books more accessible, we are all resisting the creasing of any spines.
In a recent report from the National Endowment for the Arts, “To Read or Not to Read: A Question of National Consequence,” an increasing number of adult Americans were not even reading one book a year. The report emphasizes the social benefits of reading: "Literary readers" are more likely to ...
Refocusing on the Customer: Building Up the Trust We Lost
As I work with clients in this post-recession world, I am beginning to see a common thread throughout a number of organizations and industries. There is clearly a trend toward rebuilding trust with external customers and internal resources, in an effort to restore what was torn down over the past few years.
Companies are investing time, money, and resources to re-establish relationships with their employees along with current and prospective customers. This is a powerful statement. The fact that these investments are being made is a strong acknowledgement that a breach of trust has occurred. Organizations now realize that their success is ultimately based upon the people who work within their culture and their attitudes toward each other and their customers. ...
The band KISS has an anthem that belts out the chorus:
Get up
Everybody’s gonna move their feet
Get down
Everybody’s gonna leave their seat
You gotta lose your mind in Detroit Rock City!
So, what about Detroit as a start-up city?
What is so exciting about the Detroit region right now is that there is movement and excitement all around us. Supporters and pundits alike are investing in the region like never before, even if it’s on a small scale.
Author Cameron Cushman recently wrote a very interesting article, highlighting that Detroit could become the next big start-up region for new business development:
Upside Down at College: The Value of a College Education in Our Topsy-Turvy Economy
Being upside down at college usually refers to hanging out a window by your heels or participating in some bizarre fraternity prank. But when you start talking in these terms in reference to paying for school, all the fun and games come to a painful stop.
A recent study from the Pew Research Center on Americans' views toward higher education points toward the nation’s souring on the cost of college — a perennial debate, I know.
Some 57 percent of Americans believe that the current higher education system in the U.S. "fails to provide students with good value for the money they and their families spend."
What is more disturbing, however, is the amount of debt being racked up by young adults just to pay for their ...
Folklore, Fiction, and a Fantastic Detroit Comeback Story
My travels often find me in strange and unusual places. Take a recent Saturday evening, for example. In the shadow of the old Detroit Central Train Station, I stood on the first floor of a burned-out building, giving a speech about Le Nain Rouge (the Red Dwarf of Detroit).
For those of you not familiar with Le Nain Rouge, he is part of a 300-year-old legend that tells the tale of an evil, red dwarf that appears as a harbinger of doom just before tragic events in the city (www.thenainrouge.com). Now, Le Nain is fast becoming a symbol for the positive energy that is flowing through the city.
My hosts were the visionaries at the Imagination Station (www.facethestation.com) and the friendly folks at Believe It Tours. At the ...
I have noted in previous blogs that it is still too early for us to take a true historical perspective on the Great Recession of 2009-2010. We are still too close to the subject, and there are still too many issues that require the unraveling of time before we will be able to truly measure the impact of what we have been through these past few years.
Recently, I was re-watching the Lord of the Rings movies, and I couldn’t help but see metaphors for the personal and financial wars from which we are all emerging. At the end of the second movie, when full-blown battles are imminent, one of the characters notes, “War will make corpses of us all.”
This sentiment echoes the deep psychological impact related to financial distress, ...
Not Interested in the Unemployed? Stop the Madness, Please!
Imagine going through your daily routine of researching potential job opportunities and finding this posted in the recruiting section on a corporate web site:
“No unemployed candidates will be considered at all.”
Huh? What gives?
I thought recruiters and human resource professionals were in the business of placing the right people in the right jobs with the right companies. If that is true, isn’t it counter-intuitive to try to exclude those who are the most motivated and anxious to work from the job market?
Unfortunately, these ads are becoming all too common around the country as employers continue to shy away from displaced workers with the fear that they may be dealing with damaged goods.
A good friend of mine recently shared a copy of a new book by John Gallagher, “Reimagining Detroit: Opportunities for Redesigning an American City.”
You can check out the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Reimagining-Detroit-Opportunities-Redefining-American/dp/0814334695/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306432325&sr=8-1
I read the book in one sitting, riveted by the ideas, concepts, and visions of what just could be. In a nutshell, the book acknowledged the past, present, and future struggles that face the Detroit Metropolitan region. Without lamenting the lost opportunities and failed efforts of the past, the author painted a picture of a modern city, where people and businesses are clustered into vital downtown communities. ...
A Sustainable Workforce: Beginning with the North Star
In the past, the term sustainability was used to describe strategies for protecting and securing current business practices without compromising a company’s (or an individual’s) ability to advance. In the May edition of Chief Learning Officer Magazine, Adam Werbach noted, “In recent years, sustainability has been recast as a broader concept encompassing the social, economic, environmental, and cultural systems needed to sustain any organization. A sustainable organization, and similarly a sustainable person, is prepared to thrive today and tomorrow.” This means that businesses are beginning to refocus on sustainable growth, including the growth and sustainability of their employees. As a part this sustainability trend, companies ...
I don't know if anyone has used the term "antebellum" to describe the period before our economic collapse, but it seems appropriate. A term that literally means "before the war" has historically been used to describe the period before the Civil War. As our workforce and the economy continue to improve, we are just beginning to gain a bit more perspective on what really happened to all of us over the past few years - which was a true socio-economic battle with many casualties.
As far as organizations go, it is clear that business strategy and focus have changed since the "antebellum" period of rapid growth and prosperity. Prior to the collapse, companies were focused on the following areas in business and workforce development:
In the Fall of 2010, it was announced that major private funding was coming our way, in the form of a $22 million investment in the Woodward Corridor. The announcement noted that,
“New York-based Living Cities, a collaborative of 22 national foundations and financial institutions, plans to invest $22 million in an effort to redensify Detroit's Woodward Corridor.
The money is comprised of grants, program-related investments from foundations, and loans.
The investment is part of up to $80 million Living Cities is investing in five metropolitan areas over the next 10 years and the largest amount given to any of the cities.”
These dollars, along with ongoing talk of a light rail system running up and down ...
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