This is Puss in boots and one of my kids stuffed toys. You squeeze it and it says statements like
I have a strange abnormal admiration for the window cleaner guy. Not only does he charge significant coin but now he seems to have an employee to do the dirty work.
Is this train leaving or arriving? I remember it because it was the 8th of 8, 88.
Bob Addison and Dale Henderson took a punt and gave a young, uneducated, skinny bum the opportunity to work at Baycourt theatre.
I had been hanging around the theatre for about 5 years, and looking back I must have been one frustrating young guy. Full of potential but lacking discipline and a little bit strange to boot.
But I got opportunities to clean toilets, learn more about sound and lighting and play with pagemaker on computers (no mean feat in 88).
I learned about creativity, long hours, leadership, communicating with people older than me and doing crap jobs I didn’t enjoy.
I was 18, and I was privileged that Bob and Dale gave me a shot. After a while I moved on and learnt other things from other leaders. But they were some of the first people to see something in me, I didn’t see, even though they never got to see it delivered.
So anyway two key points I considered today.
Remember back to when you were in your early 20’s. Life was probably a little bit simpler and you may not have nailed down exactly what you were really going to do with your life.
[Click Graph to enlarge]
Well 1 in 12, a full 19,300 people, aged 20 to 24 are currently un-employed. If you expand that to 29 year olds there are 29,000 people looking for work.
That excludes the ones that are studying or training. It is the highest unemployment bracket by far (8.6%) and one would assume that these people have already given up on, or finished going to Uni or Polytech and are now in the work force.
I know that many of you would have had experience with this group being unreliable, particularly those who are unemployed. But surely if the transport and logistics industry is going to find people to full vacancies we should be targeting this group.
I know that the transport and logistics industry is not that sexy or appealing to them. So maybe it’s time to really work on creative employment packages for these people. In a previous post on Gen Y, I said that “Our industry will need to be a lot more creative about attracting Gen Y’s. They are not generally going to want to drive a truck for 60 hours a week. They will find pick/pack work dead boring.”
Maybe they would work 10 hour shifts, 4 days a week. Maybe they would want every fourth week off and make it part of their salary. Maybe they want more variety and flexibility.
There are 29,000 people unemployed between 20 and 29. That's 45% of all unemployed people are in their 20's.
What are we going to do to attract them to our industry?
Statistics NZ released there latest employer-employee data last week. He are some interesting numbers I have discovered:
Staff Turnover
The transport industry had a 14.4% turnover for the year to March. This is down slightly on the same time last year which is 15.5%. For the wholesale trade (which includes many distribution centres) turnover is 13.3%
Looking at the stats it is interesting to see that the June Quarter is actually the highest turnover period for the supply chain industry and historically rises to around 17% for transport and 15% for wholesale. Time to keep a close eye on the your staff.
Number of workers
The other fact I found interesting was that since Mar 2002 (when agoge launched) work numbers in this transport category have increased by 15% from 61,000 to 71,000 people.
Workers in the wholesale industry have increased 14% from 96,000 to 110,000.
All in all a growth industry! While it would be nice to reduce the staff turnover I suspect that this will continue to rise. People are no longer committed to long term employment and will move jobs more frequently than ever.
Finally a book from Ken Blanchard that takes more than one minute to put into place. Unfortunately it is still narrative and it would be great to read about a real company that really existed that made these things happen.
I brought the book because I was working on our strategies for the year ahead and noticed it talked about sharing information (something we do OK at) and creating boundaries (something we are currently working on). I hoped it would be something I could read with my team but as a story it is just to slow moving.
It lacks what John Allen calls "intellectual curiosity"
Did I enjoy it, not overly. Did I learn something? I always do.
Below is a summary of the book from a diagram call "The Empowerment Game Plan"
Click Image to see in full size
Book Summary
Empowerment - Takes More than a Minute
Ken BlanchardGenres Management, Empowerment
Pages 135
Readability 2 (1 = Easy, 5 = Hard)
Enjoyment 3 (1 = Never Read, 5 = Remarkable)
To assist in the learning I developed a booklet that people used to stay on track. People would read 2 -3 chapters a fortnight. We would then have a conference call with groups of 5 -7 people, discuss our obersations and learnings from the chapters.
Agoge is a small business with limited funds for training and leadership development and has staff based all over the country. I found that this process worked really well and we learned a lot as a business as a result. A key lesson for us was Candor, which has since become one of our values.
Below is a link to the PDF file. I hope you find it useful. If you would like a word copy please email Andrew Nicol (links in side bar)
OK I admit it; I have been more than a little bit sceptical of the Generation Y buzz that has been around for the last few years. I have openly wondered if it is all just an excuse for a lack of discipline and hard work.
To be honest I didn’t really understand the link between the baby boomers, Gen X (of which I am a member) and Gen Y. My view changed somewhat when I saw this graph from Bernard Salt at The Knowledge Gym.
It shows the net growth in the working aged population over a 100 year period. Bascially there is a decline in people joining the work force over the next 20 years as the Baby Boomers retire. Less people joining the work force and a growing economy simply don’t go together.
Bernard says that Gen Y’s are experiential, ethicists, uncommitted to career and consumerists. They have matured in prosperous times which means they have often received most of what they asked for.
Characteristics of Generation Y
- Born 1976-1991 … now aged 16-31
- Matured to adulthood in prosperous times
- Many live at home with mum & dad
- Very loyal to friends, to workmates, not to employers
- Prefer ‘deals’ not contracts and ‘mentors’ not bosses
- Will Inherit boomer wealth
- Technology savvy; global thinking
- They are the most educated generation to date.
So what does this mean to the Logistics industry in New Zealand?
Get used to immigrants.
Firstly we had better get used to immigrants filling the gaps. Most developed nations, except India, are going to have a labour shortage. A lot of our young talent will move off shore as huge Multinationals do recruitment drives down under. We will be able to attract people to NZ for lifestyle, but that means immigrants from countries where English is a second language.
I think that a lot of logistics and warehousing businesses understand this already, whereas transport companies seem a lot more reluctant to employ immigrants.
Get creative to attract Gen Y
Our industry will need to be a lot more creative about attracting Gen Y’s. They are not generally going to want to drive a truck for 60 hours a week. They will find pick/pack work dead boring. Most of all they will change jobs often and we may not been seen as edgey enough. The majority will head to Uni which will make it hard to attract them into a semi-skilled job.
We can no longer afford to just impose our current standards of employment on them. If we do they simply will not come.
There are a difficult few decades for the Gen X’s, like myself, to adapt and retain and lead the Gen Y’s. We need to take action now or we may not stand a chance.
So you have a goal to build a strong employer brand. Great idea, but as you know that is easier said than done.
How does a medium sized company in the transport and logistics industry compete for great people against what can be seen as more sexy and edgy industries?
Well I am reading Jack Welch's book at the moment "Winning: The Answers". In the book Jack details the six critical factors for getting the best people.
1. Preferred employers demonstrate a real commitment to continuous learning.
2. Preferred employers are meritocracies. Pay and promotions are tightly linked performance, and rigorous appraisal systems consistently make people aware of where they stand.
3. Preferred employers not only allow people to take risks but also celebrate those who do. And they don't shoot those who try but fail.
4. Preferred employers understand that what is good for society is also good for business.
5. Preferred employers keep their hiring standards tight. They make candidates work hard to join the ranks by meeting strict criteria that centre around intelligence and previous experience and by undergoing an arduous interview process.
6. Preferred companies are profitable and growing.
It's that easy! Well maybe? Interestingly enough though, this checklist could be applied to warehouse staff, truck drivers and senior managers. Have another look.
Oh, by the way he says it will take years, if not decades.
If you are interested you can listen to a podcast from Jack & Suzy on the same topic here.
"You employ a new driver who has declared that he has no demerit points, you have checked driver check and his license is valid. Everything thing checks out and you send him to Wellington for an overnighter. At the Ohakea weighbridge the driver is stopped and the CVIU check his license. They find he has 115 demerit points and immediately suspend his license. Your truck and load are at the other end of the country without a driver"
Under the current demerit points system a driver does not lose their license until the Police catch up with the driver and disqualify him from driving. For your business this means you could employ a driver that is about to lose their license while driving your truck!
As a recent article in the Truck and Driver magazine indicated the Driver Check service offer by LTNZ does alert employers when an employee's license has expired or suspended. It offers no help at all to find out if the drivers demerit points are high or even exceeding the limit. The Road Transport Forum are working with LTNZ to resolve this.
In the meantime you can have prospective employees call 0800 822 422 and check how many demerit points they have while they are in your office. One of my team did this recently and found the driver had 115 points. He obviously doesn't drive for us.
Don't think it wont happen to you.
I read an interesting Scott Adams post today. In it he waxes lyrically for what feels like a day about all of his successes. Finally towards the end of what appears to be self-inflated dribble, he writes "To put all of this in context, and before you start to vomit at my bragging, I must confess that I fail miserably about ten times for every one success. (That's an accurate estimate. I've literally kept score.) But interestingly, the failures always involved activities that seemed entirely feasible. I was completely qualified for all of the things that failed."
He fails 90% of the time. Interestingly enough failing 90% of the time is only an issue if your goals are set to low. If you have huge goals and only get 10% of them, you become a huge success.
If you have small goals and only get 10% of them what do you get?
The 10 most common reasons people look for a new job, in order of importance, were:
1 – Seeking new challenges
2 – Lack of career progression
3 – Poor management
4 – Salary
5 – Lack of training or development opportunities
6 – Seeking to specialise in a particular field
7 – Travel time too great
8 – Poor work/life balance
9 – Office politics
10 – Too much stress
The 10 most important considerations when taking a new job, in order of importance, were:
1 – The company's vision, values and culture
2 – Job security
3 – Project-based learning or formal training
4 – Work/life balance
5 – Engagement with the work undertaken
6 – Salary
7 – Hours of work
8 – Closeness to where you live
9 – Benefits
10 – Holiday allocation
This survey was conducted by Hays NZ and surveyed 450 people. I suggest that their candidate base skews the result somewhat, but interesting nonetheless.
Few successful start-ups become great companies, in large part because they respond to the growth and success in the wrong way. They grow exponentially and attract a team of people that love growth and have an entrepreneurial spirit. After a while the lack of planning and systems and good hiring of some systematic people means the company can turn into a very disorganised company. The response is often to bring in veteran managers to rein in the mess.
“They create order out of the chaos, but the also kill the entrepreneurial spirit. Members of the founding team begin to grumble, 'This isn’t fun anymore. I used to be able to just get things done. Now I have to fill out these stupid forms and follow these stupid rules. Worst of all, I have to spend a horrendous amount of time in useless meetings.' The creative magic begins to wane as some of the most innovative people leave, disgusted by the bureaucracy and hierarchy. The exciting start-up transforms into just another company, with nothing special to recommend it. The cancer of mediocrity begins to grow in earnest.”
Most companies build their rules and processes to manage the small percentage of wrong people, which in turn drives the right people away. Getting the entrepreneurial spirit back it would seem means you need to give more freedom to your people.
Agree, disagree, have a question? - Post a comment now.
A timely reminder for people recruiting Drivers and Forklift operators.
Juggler Interview
Circus Manager: How long have you been juggling?
Candidate: Oh, about six years.Manager: Can you handle three balls, four balls, and five balls?
Candidate: Yes, yes, and yes.Manager: Do you work with flaming objects?
Candidate: Sure.Manager: ...knives, axes, open cigar boxes, floppy hats?
Candidate: I can juggle anything.Manager: Do you have a line of funny patter that goes with your juggling?
Candidate: It's hilarious.Manager: Well, that sounds fine. I guess you're hired.
Candidate: Umm...Don't you want to see me juggle?
How often are people placed into work without actually seeing if they can do the job?
Agree, disagree, have a question? - Post a comment now.
These are my ramblings.
© 2006 – 2010 Andrew Nicol. All Rights Reserved.
