The Biggest Challenge You Face

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The last post we made was on December 25th, 2018. I hope each of you had a joyous holiday season and I wish you, and yours, all the best for 2019.

The Biggest Challenge you Face

I was struck recently at the population growth rates across various age demographics.

 

 

I found that data to be quite surprising. I understand what has been happening as a direct result of my situation. My grandfather who emigrated to Canada in the 1920’s was physically finished, his body was spent, in his 50s. My father was spent in his 60s. By extension then, barring disease, my body should be spent in my 70s. But the type of work we have done over these three generations has changed. It started as quite physical and has morphed gradually to be more sedentary. Rather than that decreasing our life expectancy it has increased it. I am now in my 70s and see no reason to believe that I should not be spent until at least my 80s and perhaps even my 90s.

In an article published in Scientific American in 2011 the authors Rachel Caspari and Sang-Hee Lee, noted in the “evolution of our grandparents” that mankind marked for the first time in human history that three generations might have coexisted.

This is an extremely significant change.

People are living way beyond their typical retirement age of 65 years of age. This change is putting extreme pressure on retirement incomes and medical program costs. It is also putting pressure on the leadership of organizations. At the same time the “education sector” is no longer delivering “work ready employees” as they have in the past.

The major challenge, in my view, for at least the past ten years, has been “find and retain” talented employees. I further believe that this problem is going to get much more significant.
As a result of these truths we need to look at the workforce in different ways. Let me put forward three things that I believe should be discussed, debated and addressed in the coming five years.
1. We need to engage potential workers at a much younger age, when they are in high school. We need to offer part time work that can be done after school and on Saturdays. This will perform two valuable functions. The Employers can evaluate the potential employees and the Employees can evaluate the Employers.

2. We need to become much more serious about continually upgrading the knowledge of the current workforce. Different societies and different countries have taken differing approaches over the years. I suggest for soft skill work that two weeks of learning is required each year. For work involving technology that time should increase to four weeks. For leadership there are organizations in South America that require a one-year sabbatical every five years for the executive and senior management team.

3. We need to recognize that the “older” workers need to be retained for a longer period of time. The retirement age of 65 should be changed. It should be dependent on the decisions of the Company and the Employee. As an example, I am still working today.

4. We need to explore offering part time work for differing circumstances. Europe provides a very different approach to parental leave. Both parents, father and mother have, in some cases, six months leave with their job protected upon their return. There are many job functions that could be performed for two or three days each week, or even two or four hours each day, by older workers. This work can even be done from the employee’s home.

We are all aware of our own personal biases and societal impressions of differing generations: from baby boomers to millennials. We need to stop making these generalizations and look at each of the people as individuals. We are all the same with the same needs and wants. What I see with the “younger worker” is someone who is much better educated than I was and much more technologically savvy than I was. My granddaughter, and her friends, are a good example of another item. She text communicates much more than she telephone communicates. Don’t judge whether that is right or wrong, that is a fact. That is different than my generation. My generation looks askance at that fact. WE have to get over it. She is what she is and that is how she operates. We have to adapt. There are many other similar examples.

So, I truly believe this will be your biggest change over most of your remaining life. Finding and Retaining talented people. Think it over and make some decisions. If you don’t adapt and adjust you will be left on the side of the road.

The TIME is NOW.

Why Do We Do What We Do?

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Why Do We Do What We Do?

One of the most widely watched TED talks was by Simon Sinek called “start with why.” It has been four months short of fifty years that I have been involved working in this Industry. When people questioned what I wanted to do with my life when I entered the work place, I had no real answer. I don’t think I was very different from most people. Unless a teenager has a clear purpose of medicine or law or other specialized careers most people are looking for a job that is fulfilling and provides a reasonable income.

I bounced around through a reasonable number of different “temporary” work assignments until settling on working as a social worker in a custodial setting for Juvenile delinquents. I had been unsuccessful at landing a job in the computer Industry and settled on reconnecting with my heritage as my great grandfather was one of the founders of this institution. I was hired as a “control figure.” I was large and fit. This work involved being on the job from 7:00 AM until 11:00 PM daily and on call overnight. I had one day off every two weeks. (During which I slept.)

After six months of this I quit as it was too stressful for me. In the first task I was given there, eight of the twelve young men were there for murder. I had never experienced that side of society before.

I also was involved in teaching at a University in Montreal. I developed and taught a program within the Physical Education Department to teach aspiring coaches in swimming.
From that work my family got a call from the father of one of my University students inquiring as to my availability for an interview. The rest is history.

I was afforded wonderful opportunities to learn. I was given direct training on the job as well as an OEM who took an interest in my development. I am very sensitive to the need for employees to feel that they have a role to play and that the Company is interested in their professional development and growth. Prof. Sinek has an additional interview on YouTube addressing Millennials in the Workplace. It is very helpful.

One of my associates, Edward Gordon, a University of Chicago professor, author and consultant writes regularly on jobs and the workplace. His book Future Jobs is one that everyone in leadership positions across the world should read. His November report includes the following excerpt:

“Employer job training is only a part of the solution to the jobs-skills gap. The U.S. education system is not producing enough graduates with the credentials sought by American employers. Although 68 percent of high school seniors enroll in post-secondary programs, after six years only about 33 percent complete a certificate, apprenticeship, or degree program. Students who are required to take remedial courses (usually in math, reading or writing) drop out at far higher rates reflecting the difficulty of making up for past deficiencies in attainment. Clearly American education is out of step with current societal and economic needs. I agree with David Brooks who recently wrote, “We build a broken system and then ask people to try to fit into the system instead of tailoring a system around people’s actual needs.”

This brings me to Learning Without Scars.

We have been in the Industry since 1969, I have worked with thousands of dealers around the world. One thing is common with every employee with whom I have worked. EVERYONE WANTS TO DO A GOOD JOB. I believe our challenge is first to help employees understand what doing a good job means for each of them and how they can progress to better and better things according to their particular needs, wants and desires. That is why we do what we do. I hope that is also true of the leadership in every dealership in the work. Help each employee to be better at what they do and to help them reach their individual potential.

The Time is NOW.

A Reintroduction

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A Reintroduction

We are very pleased to announce the latest news from Learning Without Scars.

Our goal here at Learning Without Scars is to provide cost effective, comprehensive, content-rich dynamic learning products. We have developed these programs from the classroom programs which we used and which evolved from our training assignments worldwide over the past thirty years. These programs have been used in our classroom programs attended by over ten thousand people worldwide. The content has also been derived from our consulting engagements with several thousand dealers across the world.

In the past several years, online learning software has advanced to allow the online based learning experience to become much more effective. It has allowed measurement of the content absorbed by each student, even when their teacher is not in the room with them. We have adapted these learning software programs to our training and learning products. The foundation for all of our learning programs is a subject specific program we call Learning: On Demand (LOD.)

The Learning: On Demand (LOD) products cover specific learning objectives through four stages; preparatory reading, a pre-test, an audio video presentation consisting of a slide show with audio tracks and film clips inserted at strategic positions throughout the programs, as well as a final assessment of the learning absorbed. There are currently more than eighty of these programs. Each program requires an investment of two hours from each adult student. At the conclusion of each program there is a program evaluation.
The Learning: On Demand (LOD) products have been used as a foundation for our job specific programs, called Planned Specific Programs (PSP), as well as our Virtual Classroom programs (VCR). They are also packaged in our management training programs which we call Planned Learning Programs (PLP).

With the Planned Specific Programs (PSP) we are providing training opportunities to specific job functions. Each PSP provides four different programs requiring eight hours of learning. We offer twenty-two of these programs across the parts, service and product support selling and marketing groups. Employee development within the job functions spans three years and cover different levels of learning; fundamentals, advanced and professional.

The Virtual Classroom (VCR) programs which will be introduced in 2019 are for individuals identified as earning a “fast track” of training. This is a four-year program with each year requiring ten hours of learning. It is intended that the VCR programs will be capped with the final year of the Planned Learning Programs (PLP).

There are eight learning products available in the “Planned Learning Program. (PLP)” The intent of the program is to provide a path for individual professional development for the management and supervision of the Parts Business and the Service Business over the course of three years. There are also Learning Products available for Product Support Selling and Parts & Service Marketing groups. The planned program (PLP) provides ten classes each year which requires an investment of twenty hours of personal time from each student.

We at Learning Without Scars are pleased to present to you our latest learning model, tailor made for 21st century employee development, in these extensive and comprehensive Learning Without Scars programs.

The time is now.

The Big Reveal!

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Most of you know that we have created a wonderful image of “Socrates” as our Company Logo. A special thanks goes to Joanna Slee-Poulos, who created this image. She is a huge talent. We chose to use Socrates deliberately.

Socrates, who lived between 469 BC and 399BC, is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy. He also introduced a form of teaching that involves a commonly used tool in teaching in which a series of questions is asked, not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage fundamental insight to the issue at hand. our learning business. This is a bedrock principle of our learning platforms.

Today I want to introduce our latest entry into the blogosphere, “Socrates Says.”

I would like to thank Jason Brown for his skills in producing this animation. I hope you enjoy it in which case you can “like” this post. Comments are always welcome as well.

Be on the Lookout! #MondayBlogs

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For those of you who follow this blog, you know we have been hard at work with xFinigen Media Productions to create our learning videos.  These videos serve to complement the existing online courses found on our website.

This week, I want to invite you to subscribe to our Vimeo channel at vimeo.com/learningwithoutscars.  You’ll see each video release as it happens, and be the first to know what’s new in our world of 21st Century employee training.

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2016-18

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This week ends with Mother’s Day so we will celebrate our mothers, grandmothers, wives and children who are mothers just a couple of days early in this Friday Filosphy #2016-18.

 

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.

Rudyard Kipling

 

All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.

Abraham Lincoln

 

Mother is the name for god in the lips and hearts of little children.

William Makepeace Thackeray

 

It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?

Mahatma Gandhi

 

Motherhood. All love begins and ends there.

Robert Browning

 

A mother’s arm are made of tenderness and children sleep soundly in them.

Victor Hugo

 

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

Theodore Hesburgh

 

Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.

Sophocles

 

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

Honore de Balzac

 

When your mother asks, “do you want a piece of advice?” it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.

Erma Bombeck

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2016-1

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Today, in our Friday Filosophy #2016-1 I want to focus first on learning. We are undergoing a complete makeover, a radical one, in our learning business. We are converting everything to internet based learning.

We are creating programs we call Learning: On Demand which will cover 60 plus internet based self-study programs on specific subjects. These programs will replace our live webinars.

We are also in the process of developing the Virtual Classroom programs. These programs will replace the actual classroom seminars we have been conducting for the past twenty years. 2016 will be the last year we offer the live classroom as a learning format. The Virtual Classroom will offer 14 plus specific learning products. They will all have CEU available.

Let me start then with some quotes on Education and Learning.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

Nelson Mandela

 

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King

 

Education is wasted on the young.

Albert Schweitzer

 

The tools of education are bitter but the fruit is sweet.

Aristotle.

 

Education is the movement from darkness to light.

Allan Bloom

 

Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.

David J Boorstin

 

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.

Anthony J D’Angelo

 

And now for our Friday Filosophy.

Change your opinions, keep to your principles; change your leaves keep intact your roots.

Victor Hugo

 

The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.

Eric Hoffer

 

It is not enough to take steps which may someday lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal and a step likewise.

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

 

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

Indira Gandhi.

 

The time is now

Friday Filosophy #2015-32

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Last week I ended with some quotes from Charles Handy.   This week, for Friday Filosophy #2015-32 we will be reading quotes from Peter Drucker.

If any of you would like to send me your favorite quotes we will make a compilation of them for a future post. Thanks for your help.

Doing the right thing is more important than doing the thing right.

If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.

There is nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency something that should not be done at all.

What gets measured gets improved.

Results are gained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems.

So much of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to work.

People who don’t take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.

Meetings are by definition a concession to a deficient organization. For one either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time.

Long range planning does not deal with the future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.

Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.

 

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2015-19

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For our Friday Filosophy #2015-19 we are tacking economic concepts and thoughts from a great thinker.

The Great Depression, like most other periods of severe unemployment was produced by government mismanagement rather than by any inherent instability of the private economy.

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there’d be a shortage of sand.

The world runs on individuals pursuing their self-interests. The great achievements of civilization have not come from government bureaus. Einstein didn’t construct his theory under order from a bureaucrat. Henry Ford didn’t revolutionize the automobile industry that way.

The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

The problem of social organization is how to set up an arrangement under which greed will do the least harm, capitalism is that kind of system.

Many people want the government to protect the consumer. A much more urgent problem is to protect the consumer from the government.

Well first of all, tell me, is there some society you know of that doesn’t run on greed? You think Russia doesn’t run on greed? You think China doesn’t run on greed? What is greed?

The greatest advances of civilization, whether in architecture or painting, in science or literature, in industry or agriculture, have never come from centralized government.

We have a system that increasingly taxes work and subsidizes nonwork.

So the record of history is absolutely crystal clear. That there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system.

Inflation is taxation without legislation.

Indeed, a major source of objection to a free economy is precisely that it …. Gives people what they want instead of what a particular group thinks they ought to want. Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself.

The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem.

The only relevant test of the validity of a hypothesis is comparison of prediction with experience.

The black market was a way of getting around government controls. It was a way of enabling the free market to work. It was a way of opening up, enabling people.

Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes.

And I will close with this one.

And what does reward virtue? You think the communist commissar rewards virtue? You think a Hitler rewards virtue? You think, excuse me, if you’ll pardon me, American presidents reward virtue? Do they choose their appointees on the basis of the virtue of the people appointed or on the basis of their political clout?

A few of the wonderful thoughts from Milton Friedman. We miss his perspective very much, don’t we?

The time is now.

Friday Filosophy #2014-37

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If you are doing your best, you won’t have any time to worry about failure.

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

 

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.

Plato

 

Keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.

Roger Ward Babson

 

Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

Muhammad Ali

The time is now…