Optimize Your Greatest Asset – Your People. Pease Gene

We can identify clusters of skills and gaps in knowledge. We can foresee threats posed by generational shifts or technology changes and work to remedy them before they actually have an impact. And we can expand our reach instantly across the globe to enact that change.2

      Everybody Wins

      By applying analytics to investments in people development, HR leaders know that they are deploying programs that work. Employees appreciate programs that give them what they need and want on the job. Brad Pearce, VP analytics manager at Wells Fargo, says, “The competition for talent is strong and will become even stronger in the coming years.”3 When people are given the skills, tools, and knowledge they need to perform at their best, it's a win for everybody involved. Companies are rewarded because they are maximizing their investments in human capital. Employees are happy because they are successful on the job. And customers are satisfied because companies that run like a well-oiled machine can fulfill their needs and exceed their expectations. The company is growing because its satisfied customers drive an increase in revenue. Employee engagement increases because everybody likes to be a part of a successful enterprise. And so the cycle continues, ad infinitum.

      Changing Workforce

      Globalization isn't the only force driving change in the makeup of today's workforce. Our last book summarized three main generational cohorts in the workforce, and since the next generation has begun to infiltrate the entry level. A 2013 EY survey of cross-company professionals outside of the EY organization found that 20 percent of managers reported managing a mostly even mix of employees from three different generations (boomers, generation X, and millennials). About two-thirds said their organization has made efforts toward alleviating the challenges in managing a generational mix:

      ● Work style accommodations (37 %)

      ● Team-building exercises (36 %)

      ● Generational differences training (32 %)

      ● Cross-generational networking (26 %)

      ● Tailored communications (25 %)4

      These types of accommodations tend to require significant resources and efforts to be successful, and we ask the same question about any initiative of this type: How do you know it is working?