Special Reports

The Handbook of the New American Workforce
by Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson, Robert Morison, and David Baxter

The American workforce is changing—in age distribution, ethnic makeup, background, lifestyle, and motivation. These changes have accelerated the obsolescence of the old employment deal, namely the exchange of loyalty for security. At the same time, these changes have created imperatives around the need for greater flexibility in employer-employee deals. In responding to the challenge of a changing workforce, organizations must understand present and potential employees in greater and more sophisticated detail than ever before.

Two innovative global consulting organizations, the Concours Group and AgeWave, collaborated in the research and design of a comprehensive diagnostic survey geared to better understand the workforce of the 21st century. The three-year, $2.3 million national study included input from major U.S. organizations and thought leaders in the fields of human resources, demographics, and assessment. Harris Interactive conducted the cross-industry survey of over 7,700 managers, professionals, and workers representing large, medium and small organizations. The Handbook of the New American Workforce makes the results and insights from this groundbreaking study available to employers, enabling them to implement strategies and practices that effectively address and capitalize on key workforce trends in the coming decade.

Coauthored by Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson, Robert Morison, and David Baxter, The Handbook of the New American Workforce presents key findings from the national survey, including comparisons by age, organization, and industry. In addition, the handbook describes the six types of employee segments, including their demographics, attitudes, and behaviors, and the factors that impact their level of engagement. The handbook also provides actionable steps to manage effectively across the six employee segments in order to maximize employee engagement and productivity.

For more information and to place an order for the Handbook of the New American Workforce, please visit http://www.concoursgroup.com/handbook/.

Leaving a Legacy: The Essential Resource for Financial Professionals
By Mark Zesbaugh, Ken Dychtwald and Catherine Fredman

During the next several decades, we can expect roughly $25 trillion in wealth to be handed down by the elder parents of the boomer generation, $7.2 trillion of which will go directly to the boomers. This constitutes the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in history.

Most of today’s financial professionals aren’t equipped to assist families in creating effective and comprehensive legacy plans that best address the needs of clients and their families. Leaving a Legacy: The Essential Resource for Financial Professionals is based on Age Wave’s groundbreaking, comprehensive national study of the attitudes, hopes, worries, priorities, plans, and goals of both the elder generation and their heirs-the 78-million strong baby boom generation. The study was conducted by Harris Interactive with the Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America.

Financial services professionals have an unprecedented opportunity to become an ideal legacy advisor if they can help families pass their legacies on from generation to generation. There are many books today that guide financial professionals on the nuts and bolts of preparing estate plans, yet, until this book, there were none that provided actionable ways to address the thorny and difficult subject of inheritance, legacy, and wealth management with multiple generations of clients.

Published by Age Wave Press and coauthored by Ken Dychtwald, Mark Zesbaugh, and Catherine Fredman, this indispensable report covers the key issues, challenges, needs, and motivations of both boomer clients and their elder parents and delves into the four aspects of legacy management and transfer, including 1) financial assets, 2) meaningful possessions, 3) wishes/directions, and 4) values/ethics/history. In addition, each chapter is complete with valuable tools, resources, and suggestions. More than anything, this is a field guide that will help financial professionals become effective legacy advisors and learn how to engage clients and their families in meaningful conversations.

To learn more about how we can work with your organization on special reports, contact Elyse Pellman at (415) 705-8018 or