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Survey
Middle managers say they're ready to move

Don't expect middle managers to stick around when the economy improves.

Accenture, the management consulting and technical services firm, reports that nearly 48 percent of US middle managers are looking for another job or are planning to look for new work when the economy gets better.

The survey of 509 middle managers also found that, of those respondents who are looking now, 64 percent will intensify their searches when the job market improves.

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Why do some middle managers want to change jobs? Twenty-seven percent wanted better pay or benefits. Others mentioned improved working conditions or job prospects, better training, and more opportunities to advance at their current jobs. The remaining respondents said they did not like their bosses or their current jobs.

According to the findings, many of the respondents were not expecting a quick economic rebound. Just 13 percent believed the job market would improve within the next six months. By contrast, 30 percent said it would take two years or more before the economy showed real signs of an upswing.

''Given the early indicators of a possible US recovery, companies need to identify their top performers, rethink their investments in them, and find ways to keep them happy and loyal,'' said Edward Jensen, a partner at Accenture's Human Performance service.

''They should understand the issues that are top-of-mind for those managers,'' he said. ''They should then address those issues with specific programs that might include compensation discussions, but could also focus on quality of life or training as well as development concerns.''

Jensen also advised that US companies begin to prepare for the future challenge of attracting new managers by developing a recruitment plan.

Workplace
Skills that lead to career success

What skills are more likely to guarantee success at work?

If your first reaction was ''people skills and critical thinking,'' you're correct.

''One of the reasons people skills and critical thinking are prized so highly in the workplace is that they are not easily learned,'' reports The Gallup Organization, a New Jersey-based polling firm that tracks public attitudes.

Gallup this month gave 588 working adults a list of 13 work-related skills and subject areas and asked each to rate them as critical, very important, somewhat important, or not that important to jobs success. Eighty percent said the ability to get along with people they encounter in the workplace and analytical thinking were critical to success or very important. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

In all, 65 percent said basic computing was important, 61 percent said writing ability was important, and 56 percent said an understanding of basic math was important. Less than 50 percent said advanced mathematics, artistic ability, or physicial strength were important or vital characteristics to have on the job.

Gallup also found that women were more likely to say that basic and advanced use of computers and reading speed and comprehension were more important to their work than men. The pollsters found that men were more likely to point to jobs requiring specific scientific knowledge or physical strength.

''Jobs requiring scientific knowledge or physical strength have traditionally been dominated by males, as reflected in the finding that fewer women than men say these are critical to success in their jobs,'' said Gallup. Both males and females valued the ability to communicate and get along with people and critical thinking skills highly, however, because those are skills that are most admired by employers, the research organization said.

Productivity
Futurist predicts worker, skills shortage

Futurist Roger Herman believes US employers will face a future job shortage that could cripple productivity.

According to Herman, economic growth in the latter part of 2003 will stimulate the labor market and create more jobs, causing many dissatisfied workers to job-hop.

Complacent employers might not be able to compete for new hires because of increased competition for talent and a hiring push by government recruiters. Over the next two years, 50 percent of the government's work force will be eligible for retirement, he said.

''Government recruiters will be offering meaningful work and a clear sense of mission,'' said Herman. ''But we will also see increased pay and benefits from the government. Their recruiters understand that they will be competing with the private sector.

''The other problem employers will face is that, in the United States, there are a lot of people who have been well trained for jobs that no longer exist. So, a lot of retraining will have to take place for these people to be brought up to speed on new technology.''

Herman said the nation's educational system may not be up to the task.

''Right now, schools are not producing enough people with the basic training and skills that companies will need,'' he said. ''When you have people who graduated from high school or college who cannot put a decent letter together, then you have a challenge. The ability to organize data, pull in information, and then put it all together in a way that makes sense is becoming a rare skill.''

With demand for skilled workers increasing, he said, older employees will continue to work well past their 60s. While immigrants should fill some of the demand, Herman said the increased red tape associated with homeland security will make it more difficult for employers to recruit workers from abroad.

''Most employers don't have a clue about what they will be facing,'' said Herman, author of ''Impending Crisis: Too Many Jobs, Too Few People'' (2003, Oakhill Press, Winchester, Va.) ''They should be doing strategic work-force planning now. That means looking at where the organization is going, the type of people needed, and where they will come from.

''It also means training and growing workers who are already inside the organization to fill new jobs. And it means hiring new people, and letting go people who have not updated their skills.''

Human resources
Industry sees employment upswing

The human resources field has seen an upswing in employment over the past year, according to research by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Bureau of National Affairs Inc., a research and publishing firm in Washington, D.C.

Surveys of 507 human resource executives conducted from May to July reveal that the median ratio of human resource staff to total employment is now one human resource executive for every 100 workers, up from 0.9 per 100 last year.

The two organizations said the change is most likely due to the retention of some HR staff to handle the fallout from layoffs, hiring freezes, and the elimination of some jobs.

Other findings: human resource staffing is lower at hospitals, healthcare facilities, government institutions, and academic or educational organizations, and 25 percent of the employers polled had no clerical employees on their human resources staffs. Most were firms with fewer than 250 workers.

DIANE E. LEWIS

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