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Courageous Corporate Leadership Trumps Tax Cuts
By Roger E. Herman, CSP, CMC, FIMC In his State of the Union message, President George W. Bush called for small business to hire more workers to strengthen the economy. To overcome high unemployment and stimulate growth, he urged the application of tax incentives. While this strategy may have some impact, the economy will not be re-energized by giving tax rebates to people who are already working. The support needs to go to those who are unemployed, underemployed, and misemployed. There are several strategic solutions that will have a substantially greater effect than tax law changes. All of them are centered in the offices of America's top corporate executives, in all sizes of organizations. Senior executives and business owners must exercise courageous leadership--now. Vacant jobs will be filled and new jobs created when corporate leaders demonstrate the courage to loosen their purse strings. When business-to-business commerce increases, employment will rise. The increasing demand for talent--workers with the skills to meet the needs of today and tomorrow--must be high on leadership's radar screen. America does not have enough skilled workers to fill the jobs that will cry to be filled as the economy grows. Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that we may face a shortage of 10,033,000 skilled workers by 2010, a very short seven years away. Very few employers have prepared for this predicament. When they get caught short, many will face extinction because they simply won't have the people they need to achieve their corporate missions. The shortage will be felt deeply later this year, particularly as people change jobs to better their circumstances. Recent studies show that 30-40% of employees are already prepared to leave their current employer for new opportunities. They're just waiting for the economy to pick up, and most of their bosses don't have a clue that they may lose a significant part of their human resource. Now is the time for corporate leaders to concentrate on strategic staffing. Now is the time to focus on re-recruiting and retaining top talent. Now is the time to invest in the training and development--or removal--of employees who can't perform at acceptable levels. Tomorrow's workforce is ill-prepared. America must make a huge investment in vocational education to build a workforce with the skills that will be needed over the next decade. Corporate leaders must collaborate with educators in their local communities to help them understand their current and future needs. Corporate executives must lead the effort to assure that local school districts have the resources to educate today's young people to assume tomorrow's responsibilities. This is not a time for short-term thinking. This is a time for visionary thinking…and short-term action. Courageous corporate leaders must step forward to help workers build the skills that will be needed so they can fill the jobs that will open as the economy grows. Iraq is a wild card. But America's economy can flourish regardless of what happens in the Middle East. The time for excuses is over. Now is the time for courage…and action. Prepared by Roger E. Herman, lead author of Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People. |
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