Topic Category: Labor

For decades, America’s unmatched economic achievements have depended primarily on U.S. creativity, innovativeness and entrepreneurialism. With 231,588 American utility patent applications filed just in 2008, representing 51 percent of world patents filed that year, these vital characteristics appear to be alive and well.

This, no doubt, will result in fantastic new technologically-advanced products and services, giving U.S. companies a continued competitive advantage. Plus, as American firms shed non-core functions and focus increasingly on sophisticated core competencies, they will require higher-level skills from employees. But will America’s workforce be able to supply the necessary skill sets?

When business is good, positive feelings can be felt inside just about any organization. And why not? Sales are coming in and money is available to incentivize all performers, not just those at the top. However, during recessionary periods like this one, the tone inside most companies—perhaps even yours—is probably quite different.

What Not To Do

As sales slow, people become nervous and edgy. And although everyone may boost efforts, pressure mounts. The result: finger pointing begins and silos between departments or teams rise. And worst of all, a company culture built upon mutual trust begins to fade.

These are tough economic times. As a business leader, you may feel engaged in a nearly impossible balancing act. Inflows and outflows. Customers and suppliers. Board members and employees. Nothing lines up!

Information Is Control

Although these are difficult economic times for many businesses, it is even worse for the workforce. Why? Because whatever decisions your business makes, you’ll have a central role. And this will make you feel in control—in the good times, like the successful captain of your ship—as well as in bad times, because you have the power and opportunity to make things right.

As the pace of change accelerates in our age of information, few things remain the same. And like product cycles, skills cycles have been shortened. For example, “A skill cycle that once ran for three years now lasts just nine months,” says Manpower Inc., a leader in the employment services industry. Plus, finding the right employees with the appropriate skills in the first place is proving more difficult than ever. What does this mean for your business?

America is undergoing one of the greatest periods of transformation in history. Not unlike the powerful changes caused by the industrial revolution that shaped the 19th and 20th centuries, today, globalization is shaping the 21st century and the United States is leading the way.

America is undergoing one of the greatest periods of transformation in history. Not unlike the powerful changes caused by the industrial revolution that shaped the 19th and 20th centuries, today, globalization is shaping the 21st century and the United States is leading the way.

Since economic globalization — the integration of national markets through international trade and investment — emerged in the 1980s, resources have shifted to sectors with competitive advantages, productivity has reached new highs, and innovation has flourished. In turn, globalization has become a vital factor in the economic growth of the United States and benefited working Americans in many ways.

In today’s rapidly changing world, leadership is the key component to the maintenance of a viable and growing organization. In managing change, leaders set the tone and pave the way. They determine the rate at which the organization will be willing to change—not only in what the leaders say, but, more importantly, in what they do.

As aspects of the market changes, leaders must be facile in changing with them. This includes anticipating changes, as well as preparing themselves and their organizations in how to address them. One example is the shift to results-focused accountability. Leaders must now be able to demonstrate the results of their activities, not just the activity itself. This is a major shift in emphasis and focus, one which ripples throughout their organizations.

It is evident that isolated, short-term thinking no longer works. I hear many leaders say "I will control the things that I can." While this is a tempting way to think in our increasingly complex and interdependent world, it does not serve the organizations and systems that we are a part of. Bigger systems thinking is required.

Within Your Organization

Organizations are learning that operating in silos suboptimizes outcomes. There are almost no projects or processes that can be accomplished solely within a silo. Interdependencies, those relationships necessary throughout your organization in order to get the work done and the goal accomplished, must be recognized. Collaboration requires that we include others, communicate our planned actions, and assess the impact of our decisions across the organization.

This article is not only about expanding your business. It also is about expanding your thinking.

Leaders expanded thinking creates expanded possibilities for their businesses. It is critical to understand the latest trends and shifts in the world, and to postulate how they might impact your organization. It's also important to ask what the implications are for the people running these organization.