By John Bishop

What can a championship poker tournament teach you about your employees?  Everything!  In short, it is a microcosm of today’s young employees.   Young people under 25 years of age feel they are entitled to representation at the final table at World Series of Poker (WSOP) championship, and in the executive suite at your company.  Based on the recent WSOP finals they might be right.

 The World Series of Poker is the largest poker tournament in the world.  For the last four years it has been won by someone under twenty-five (25) years of age. Where were all the Baby Boomers? Gen X and Gen Y entrants? Poker Hall of Fame players? The winner was a 22 years old college dropout who bet $64.7 million on an Ace – Queen high hand and nothing else.  Would you have had the courage to make that bet at twenty-two?

Almost seven thousand contestants entered this year’s tournament hoping to win the $8.7MM grand prize. They each paid $10,000 to play Texas-Hold’em poker for five months to determine the winner.  Visually, the final table can tell us a lot about your rapidly changing world.  The table had only one person over 45, a 36 year old, and seven contestants less than 26 years of age.  The twenty-two year old winner learned how to play poker over the Internet, but he beat at least ten past WSOP champions and Hall of Fame poker players.

At the WSOP Final Table the young players earned the respect of the poker world by their overwhelming numbers (78%) and their aggressive play.  They can be disrespectful, cocky, self-centered, tattooed and have body piercing in places you don’t want to know.  But, they can also be talented, focused, intelligent, and ready to meet new challenges.   You may not be hiring high risk-high reward employees like these poker players, but don’t miss the point that today’s new employees are bringing different tools to the workplace.  They are ready to challenge their WSOP elders, and they are ready to do the same in your company.

The I’m a Good Judge of Character management style and the That’s the Way We Have Always Done It style may not be dead, but they are on life support.  Communication and decision making in the future will harness the power of we.  There will always be a need for leaders and decision makers, but how we gather, review, communicate and act upon information is changing dramatically.

We can’t stop change, but we can formulate a plan to deal with it.  By breaking old fashioned stereotypes in poker and in business, today’s youth are becoming change leaders.  They are forcing change.  If you doubt their effect look at the changing fortunes in the book publishing, news gathering, marketing and public relations businesses.  Young employees may not fit your preconceived notion of what a new employee should look like, and they may be frustrating at times, but they are very talented and capable.

The goal is to incorporate your company’s current formula for success with new ways of thinking about your business model, your industry and your customer base.  This means developing a comprehensive talent management and communications plan with realistic action steps and timetables.  This means putting the right people in the right jobs, breaking down internal business unit silos, minimizing managerial ego and position status constraints on effective communications.  It won’t be easy, but it will be rewarding.

Fearless twenty-somethings are entering the workforce.  Are your managers ready to identify, select, train, and motivate these new young employees?  Are your multi-generational employees communicating effectively?

Tony Blair

(Could the same be said about a company?)

By Judy Martin

updated 1/16/2012 12:09:41 PM ET

December’s employment numbers blew analysts expectations out of the water. Perhaps the news rustled the moat around the corporate kingdom’s C-Suite. (Ok, maybe just a ripple) We’re certainly not out of the waters of a struggling economy. But with unemployment falling for the fourth month in a row, talent retention concerns might make more of an appearance.

Most employees are glad to have a job these days. There’s this unwritten mandate that has reigned since the recession; corporate is king, companies are doing more with less and underlings just have to deal with it and eat porridge. But if the C-Suite ignores improving economic data, might they be dethroned in a workers rebellion?

“I think 2012 is the year of the payback, meaning that all the slashing and burning of the workforce has severely wounded the ability to motivate employees,” says Irwin Kellner, Chief Economist for Marketwatch.com.

While corporate profits are doing well, Kellner says the numbers can’t grow at the same rate if companies let go or use fewer workers. He warns there will be consequences, such as lower productivity, less engagement and talent fleeing to competition, if management doesn’t launch incentives to retain skilled workers and take the 24/7 stress down a notch.

“Workers are afraid but it doesn’t mean they are going to work their tails off to come up with the next I-phone,” adds Kellner.

The numbers
If current economic data is a harbinger of things to come, perhaps corporateAmerica might be a bit more concerned about retention, instead of burning workers to a crisp. Let’s break down the numbers:

• Unemployment fell for a fourth time in a row to 8.5 percent, it’s lowest point in nearly three years.
• There’s been an uptick in the number of Americans quitting their jobs since the recession began in December of 2007, according to the Labor Department.
• The BNA Annual Economic Forecast, (BNA tracks and analyzes legal, regulatory and business information) shows theU.S.economy improving, albeit with limited job creation, expected to increase in the second half. Also, modest gains in private sector workers’ hourly compensation.
• The rate of layoffs is lower than anytime before the recession.

The uncertain economy
While conditions remain tenuous due to the European debt crisis, the mortgage meltdown, wages not keeping up with inflation and the unknowns of numerous political footballs, including the payroll tax cut debate — it is an election year. A factor that Kellner says is cyclically positive in nature. Election years are generally good for the economy. Both camps tend to play better together in Washington.

While there’s a cautious air of optimism, more than 13 million people are still unemployed and more than half of them have been out of work for more than six months. Kellner says uncertainty across the board can sway the economy either way in 2012 as he writes in his Marketwatch.com column, New year’s surprise for the economy? But the slight uptick in the “quit” rate is very much on Kellner’s radar as he says it’s an indication that employees are gaining more confidence that they can find a job elsewhere.

“The rising quit rate may be the first sign that the balance of power is changing in corporateAmericabetween the executives and the underlings,” says Kellner who adds, “The grandiose plans that the corner office has in terms of creativity might have reached a limit.”

Incentives to the rescue?

Fringe benefits like work-life initiatives, retraining, education or wellness programs (like stress-reduction), are already on the radar of more progressive companies. But perhaps such incentives should be shouted from the corporate kingdom’s bell tower in a call for better employee engagement and wellness in a stressed-out working culture.

“In the final analysis, it doesn’t matter how much technology you have, if workers are exhausted and hanging on to their jobs by their fingernails,” says Kellner.

Is all this economic news indeed a harbinger of things to come? Kellner says it’s the job of the prognosticators to figure that out. But where there’s smoke there just might be fire. The C-suite might do well to wake up and smell the coffee. If they don’t, it might be the smell of their employees burning out instead.

© 2012 Forbes.com

Economists and labor experts say that in some industries, there is a legitimate talent shortage: There simply aren’t enough workers with the skills needed to do the jobs available.

But some also think there are other factors that are making it difficult for employers to connect with the right employees.

“Employers have been spoiled by the recession,” said Melanie Holmes, a vice president with Manpower Group.

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Dominic C.

Dorothy K., advice from a college Dean of Women

Amit K.

Dave O’D

John B., advice from grandfather

At best, we can slow it down a little. But, change will be coming from all directions and at speeds we have never seen before. If rapid change is inevitable then how can we prepare for it?

Seven Ways to Look at Change:

1. Today’s change is tomorrow’s norm.

2. Change is as good or as bad as you make it.

3. If you are a change oriented leader expect others to paint a bull’s eye on your back and then shoot arrows at you.

4. Substitute the word “growth” for “change.” It will revolutionize your perspective about new things.

5. “When patterns are broken, new worlds emerge.”…..
Tuli Kupferberg

6. “Change is a challenge and an opportunity, not a threat.” ……
Prince Phillip of England

7. If you can’t control the changing event, change how you react to it.

By changing our attitude toward it and insuring that the changes make things better and not just faster.

By changing our attitude toward it we can make the change in our section of the world better – not just faster.

Our personal attitude toward change will ultimately determine our destiny.

Question for discussion: How is Michaels’ life an example of determination? How can you use this principle in your life or in your education?

You won’t always be thrilled about every task life presents you, but your imagination, desire, and determination will power you to new and exciting successes. Don’t let excuses hold you back from reaching your full potential. When the door is closed – find the opened window.

Question for discussion: Thinking about today’s activities – did you make any excuses for lack of effort on your part?

Janis G.