Guest Blog submitted by: Greg Scott, Jennifer Earls, Kelley Kossakoski

Hello, everyone!  We are excited to introduce you to a unique miniseries at the Workforce Institute, a series of blog posts that will follow the early stages of professional development of three recent entrants into the working world. We'll tackle issues that affect how generations interact in the workplace: technology, communications, perspectives and anything else that we, or you, feel is relevant.  Welcome to the Ground Floor.

So, who are we?  All of us just recently joined the workforce, and are members of a Marketing Employee Development program at Kronos, Inc.  More importantly, we're all from Generation Y (which includes anyone born after 1980).  We may have our obsessions with iPods, text messages and the Internet, but we're also beginning to enter the workforce - in HUGE numbers.  At 75 million strong, Gen Y is the largest generation to come along since the baby boomers.

Let's face it.  The workforce is now more diverse than ever, especially with regard to age.  In fact, 64 million people will be leaving the workforce by 2010.  Conveniently, the largest generation since the baby boomers, Gen Y, is stepping in to fill their shoes.

We're here to share our thoughts and insights on how generations can work together, and more importantly, establish a dialogue on these cross-generational issues.  We want your comments, ideas, and experiences!

When the economic outlook dims, people start wondering about their job security.   Having just had my 30th Middlebury College Reunion, and with close to 28 years of high tech experience under my belt, I've seen this movie before.  For those of you wondering whether you should hunker down in your current job or get out of Dodge, I offer the following perspective as a survivor of 30 years of business cycles.

Don't jump too soon:

Recession proof yourself:

Long before it's time to jump ship, you need to optimize your chances that there'll be someplace to jump to:

 When should you make the move to go?

A Guest Post from our Board Member David Creelman -

 I remember that I used to make a point of learning the names of new interns, but after a few years it seemed that they came and went so quickly that it was hardly worth the effort.  I imagine that managers of high turnover hourly workers may feel the same way.  People come, people go and it all seems a bit beyond one's control.  If we feel this way, how can we do a good job of people management?

 The first thing is to remind yourself of the numbers.  It doesn't take a math genius to figure out that if you reduce the annual turnover from 100% to 80% then that will save a substantial amount on hiring and training costs.  The tough thing is that 80% still feels high even if it is a great result for your industry.  So my advice is to not just go by feel, but to judge your success by looking at turnover or retention numbers versus industry or company norms.  You don't need highly accurate data, just something to keep yourself motivated.  Your company may not give rewards for retention but you can certainly take yourself out to a nice lunch if you hit your own retention targets.

 Another thing is to remind yourself that while it may not always feel like this, your success is being driven by your staff.  It really has to be something of a mantra: "if my staff succeeds, I succeed."  This will lead you to spend time directing and motivating staff, even if it feels like you are spending time motivating people who are gone three or four months later.

 It's just a matter of finding that head space where unavoidably rapid turnover doesn't feel like a downer.  It's having that personal goal of keeping retention substantially better in your unit than it is in the industry.  It's a matter of that generosity of spending time getting the best out of your staff even if they won't be repaying the favour with long service.  If you think "I want every employee who passes under my care to leave a little bit better than when they walked in the door" then that can keep you upbeat about the time you are investing.

 Of course, it's not just about generosity.  The manager who can find that optimistic head space even in a high turnover industry will have a more productive team-not to mention a happier life for themselves.

 For more thoughts on this topic, check out the paper that David and Steve Hunt wrote earlier this year on the role of the frontline manager in managing hourly retention.

It's almost the 4th of July, and time to start thinking about fun things to do over the long weekend.   Here at Kronos, the halls, parking lots and email inboxes have become increasingly empty as the summertime crunch hits.  It's my parents' 55th wedding anniversary on the 4th, so we'll be heading to the beach in Rockport to celebrate with family and friends as we always do - beach, kayak, art galleries downtown, barbecque, & parade.  I hope you all have your own 4th celebrations to look forward to.

If you're looking for a fun and creative project to start this weekend, consider entering the "How do you Kronos?"  video competition.

Top ten reasons to enter this contest:

  1. You can win $10,000!
  2. You need to exercise your creative muscles.  Check out Bob Sutton's blog on creativity.
  3. It's a good teambuilding opportunity for you and your coworkers who aren't on vacation.
  4. It's a reason for your adolescent son who wants to be a film maker to get out of bed before noon.
  5. Become a YouTube star like these guys...
  6. You can explore new ways to have fun with time clocks.
  7. Show the rest of the world just how bizarre your workplace is.
  8. Reveal your inner rock star.
  9. It's only a 1-2 minute video - you can do this!
  10. YOU CAN WIN $10,000!

Have fun and safe 4th of July weekend everybody!

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