Chapter 2: The Management Environment

Section 2.3 – What Will The Workforce of 2010 Look Like?

Key Terms

  • Workforce diversity
  • Downsizing
  • Rightsizing
  • Outsourcing
  • Contingent workforce
  • Core employees
  • Empowerment
  • Kaizen
  • Work process engineering
  • Coach

Summary

Until very recently, organizations took a “melting-pot” approach to differences in organizations. It was assumed that people who were different would somehow automatically want to assimilate. But today’s managers have found that employees do not set aside their cultural values and lifestyle preferences when they come to work.

Projecting into the future is often an educated guess at best. Trying to predict the exact composition of our workforce diversity is no exception, even though we do know it will be heterogeneous: made up of males and females, whites and people of color, gays and straights. Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, the disabled, and the elderly. Another group that has a significant impact on the workforce is the aging baby boom population.

How Does Diversity Affect Organizations?The diversity that exists in the workforce requires managers to be more sensitive to the differences that each group brings to the work setting.

The typical employee in the 1960s or 1970s showed up at the workplace Monday through Friday and did his or her job in eight-or nine-hour chunks of time. The workplace and hours were clearly specified. A number of forces have contributed to blurring the lines between employee work and personal lives. First, the creation of global organizations,second, communication technology andthird, organizations are asking employees to put in longer hours. It’s not unusual for employees to work more than 45 hours a week, and some work much more than 50. Finally, fewer families have only a single breadwinner.

There was a time in corporate America when organizations followed a relatively simple rule: In good times you hire employees; in bad times, you fire them. Since the late 1980s that “rule” no longer holds true.

This downsizing phenomenon is not just in the United States. Jobs are being eliminated in almost all industrialized nations.A better term for this organizational action might be rightsizing. Rightsizing involves linking staffing levels to organizational goals. Rightsizing promotes greater use of outside firms for providing necessary products and services—called outsourcing—in an effort to remain flexible and responsive to the ever-changing work environment.

Thousands of organizations in the global village have decided they could save money and increase their flexibility by converting many jobs into temporary or part-time positions—giving rise to what is commonly referred to as the contingent workforce.What issues do contingent workers create for managers? Each contingent worker may need to be treated differently in terms of practices and policies. Managers must also make sure that contingent workers do not perceive themselves as second-class workers.

Cyclical labor trends are difficult to predict. The world economy in the late 1990s, for instance, was generally quite robust and labor markets were tight. Then, in 2001, most developed countries suffered an economic recession. Layoffs were widespread, and the supply of skilled workers became must more plentiful. In contrast, demographic trends are much more predictable. Barring some unforeseeable economic or political calamity, there will be a labor shortage for at least another 10 to 15 years.The U.S. labor shortage is a function of two factors—birthrates and labor participation rates. In addition, this shortage will not be relegated to one or two industries.

Management can take several actions if it wants to make its culture more customer-responsive: 1) selection, 2) training, 3) organizing, 4) empowerment, 5) leadership, 6) evaluation, and 7) rewards.

There is a quality revolution that continues to take place in both the private and public sections. The generic term that has evolved to describe this revolution is quality management or continuous improvement. Quality management is a departure from the earlier management theories that were based on the belief that low costs were the only road to increase productivity.Although continuous improvement methods are useful innovations in many of our organizations, they generally focus on incremental change.The problem with a focus on continuous improvements is that it may provide a false sense of security. Unfortunately, ongoing incremental change may allow managers to avoid facing up to the possibility that what the organization may really need is radical or quantum change, referred to as work process engineering. Continuous change may also make managers feel as if they are taking progressive action while, at the same time, avoiding having to implement quantum changes that will threaten organizational members.

Section Outline

  1. What will the Workforce 2010 Look Like?
  2. What does the workforce look like today?
  3. How does diversity affect organizations?
  4. How can organizations help employees balance work/life concepts?
  5. Is Labor in Short Supply?
  6. Why do organizations lay off workers?
  7. Is a labor shortage pending in the United States?
  8. How do organizations make the customer king?
  9. Can organizations improve customer service?
  10. How have organizations shown an increased concern with quality?
  11. When must managers think in terms of quantum changes rather than continuous improvement?
  12. Concluding remarks