Page 38 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Crosswind Factors C25

: The workplace expectations of most Generation Xers (born
1965–1980) and Millennials (born 1981–1994) are so differ-
ent from those of Traditionalists (born 1945 and before) and
Boomers (born 1946–1964), that many long-standing man-
agement philosophies and practices are no longer effective.
: The continuing retirement of 78 million Boomers, combined
with a limited pool of 44 million rising Gen Xers, is expected
to result in a long-term talent shortage that (assuming rea-
sonable levels of economic growth) will give more power and
leverage to the employee.
: Leaner organizational structures have continued to fuel the
pressure to “do more with less” at the very time when younger
generations (and many older workers) are seeking more work-
life balance.
: The quickened pace of technological and economic change
has made most jobs more complex, requiring greater skill lev-
els and literacy at the precise time when workforce skill levels
are dropping.
: Facing higher health-care costs, many companies have cut
back on benefits without providing compensatory improve-
ments in overall quality of working life.

These challenges will continue to significantly affect how we en-
gage our employees and ourselves.

: CROSSWIND FACTORS: CHALLENGES TO
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

We can now report groundbreaking research into three trends that, in
whole or in part, make creating a great workplace more difficult. Be-
cause they are so relevant, we will reference them frequently through-
out this book (identifiable by three icons) and make note of how they
impact all aspects of creating a great place to work. In a sense, they