July 1, 2006

Workforce Crisis Book Review

By Rivenbark, Leigh

 Workforce Crisis

   By Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson and Robert Morison, Harvard Business School Press, 2006

   List price: $29.95, 269 pages ISBN: 1-59139-521-6

   Despite longtime predictions of a coming drought in both workers and skills, "few large organizations are preparing" for the inevitableworkforce crisis, according to authors Ken Dychtwald, Tamara J. Erickson and Robert Morison. In Workforce Crisis, they quickly illustratethe problems ahead and offer ideas on getting and keeping employees.

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   Employers will need to retool their practices to meet the needs ofemployees in the three "worker cohorts" that the authors identify asmature workers (age 55 and up), mid-career workers (35 to 54) and young workers (18 to 35).

   Many mature workers want to keep working. The book examines how some employers have maintained relationships with retirees, created "retiree reserves " that let retirees come back for part-time roles and used "flexible retirement"
that phases in retirement gradually. The authors also cover how to be an attractive employer for mature workers seeking new employment.

   Mid-career workers are "ripe (and sometimes desperate) for change and renewal, yet few businesses recognize and take advantage of that fact." The book outlines how to "rekindle" these employees' careers, from fresh assignments and training to mentoring to sabbaticals. Readers learn to recruit new hires who are in the middle of their career.

   Employers need to connect with young workers by incorporating themrapidly into the workplace, making retention an ongoing process thatincludes tracking employee engagement and making employees' departures friendly--because these workers may return.

   The authors then turn to what they dub "the new employment deal" employers must embrace by offering flexible work arrangements, flexible learning opportunities, and flexible compensation and benefits.

   The book describes types of flexible work, gives examples from real companies, and helps readers determine if their workplaces and workforces are ready for flexible schedules and tele-work.

   It shows how each of the age cohorts approaches learning and how to create a learning environment. For compensation and benefits, the authors uncover employees' preferences and point out how the challenges of customization, fairness, accessibility and more affect compensation and benefits management.

   Readers also learn to analyze and survey their workforces better so they can adjust training, compensation and benefits, management practices, and work arrangements to meet that workforce's varied needs. A chapter on the manager's agenda for change offers actions, such as learning more about workforce demographics and making work more engaging, that employers can take to get ready for the coming shift in thelabor market.

   Workforce Crisis includes a readers' discussion guide with questions to help readers apply its ideas to specific situations.

   Dychtwald is founder and CEO of Age Wave, a consulting firm specializing in working with baby boomers and mature adults. Erickson and Morison are executives with The Concours Group, a consulting firm thatworks with senior executives on management issues.