This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Companies have focused so much on downsizing to contain costs that they've largely neglected a looming threat to their competitiveness: a severe shortage of talented workers. The general population is aging and with it, the labor pool. People are living longer, hea...

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. They make up more than half your workforce. They work longer hours than anyone else in your company. From their ranks come most of your top managers. They're your mid-career employees, the solid citizens between the ages of 35 and 55 whom you bank on for their loya...

When it comes to workplace preferences, Generation Y workers closely resemble Baby Boomers. Because these two huge cohorts now coexist in the workforce, their shared values will hold sway in the companies that hire them. The authors, from the Center for Work-Life Policy, conducted two large-scale surveys that reveal those values. Gen Ys and Boomers are eager to contribute to positive social change, and they seek out workplaces where they can do t...

As life expectancy in the West increases and companies can no longer promise lifelong security, many businesspeople will need to make major changes during middle age, embarking on a second life and a second career. They must start by getting beyond two pervasive and opposing myths. The first is that midlife marks the onset of decline. Problems do arise during middle age - concerns about health and finances, for instance - but one's life force doe...

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. Companies have focused so much on downsizing to contain costs that they've largely neglected a looming threat to their competitiveness: a severe shortage of talented workers. The general population is aging and with it, the labor pool. People are living longer, hea...

This article includes a one-page preview that quickly summarizes the key ideas and provides an overview of how the concepts work in practice along with suggestions for further reading. They make up more than half your workforce. They work longer hours than anyone else in your company. From their ranks come most of your top managers. They're your mid-career employees, the solid citizens between the ages of 35 and 55 whom you bank on for their loya...

In the last 20 years, business has become the dominant institution in American society, in many respects usurping the role once played by religion. As such, business has infiltrated every aspect of our lives--including the hearts and minds of our children. For many, it is an unsettling force. The wild competitiveness of business today compels managers to be constantly available for customers and colleagues, inevitably reducing the time and energy...

Surveys the French pension system, its particular institutional characteristics, and some of the critical challenges and opportunities facing French reformers. Like almost every other industrialized country, France has a large pay-as-you-go public pension system that is beginning to run into serious financial trouble. Ever-increasing longevity, the impending retirement of the baby boomers, and intense public pressure for a lower retirement age ar...

Always a thorny issue but it had to be asked. Who was next in line? Management succession is a significant issue in many firms. Executives put all their energy into the business. But how much time is spent on bench strength planning? And what happens if the CEO is not ready to hand the reigns over and begin a life outside the office? This case presents transition challenges that many companies currently face—the retirement age of baby boomers and...

Fundamentally, feedback is a good thing. But most managers say they dislike giving feedback and don't think it's as effective as it could be. Those on the receiving end say they don't get enough feedback they can actually use. This article distills the wisdom of management experts into specific suggestions for creating positive and effective feedback sessions with your direct reports. Maintaining a focus on business results rather than personalit...