1

“The Changing Workplace”

Team B

Neil James, David Knight, Kenneth Milton Jr., Chenista Straubel

GEN 300

3/25/2010

SUMMARY

“The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for

themselves.” -- Ray Kroc, Founder, McDonalds.

Career opportunities are as broad in today’s global marketplace as is the

competition. Gone are the days when employees can “count on receiving a gold

watch and a company pension when they retire[d].” (Carlson, June 2002, p. 42).

In the past, “womb to tomb” (p. 42) employers promoted employees up through

the ranks based upon their loyalty (length of service) and job knowledge,

experience, or technical expertise. Specific technical expertise was viewed as

essential as the knowledge of how the organization conducted its business and

employees were encouraged to learn all the functions of their specific department

and if they did so satisfactorily, they were promoted or given greater

responsibility. Change was not encouraged and the ability to maintain status quo
was viewed as the primary management function. If you were able to perform

your job duties satisfactorily, employer’s rewarded you by offering you employ

for your lifetime. Employees were hired at early ages and often entire families

worked for and retired from the same employer with 50 years (p. 42) of service or

more!

Today’s market requires that employee’s greet the challenges of a more

competitive environment by creating their own “competitive advantage” through

offering a unique set of skills that may or may not be related entirely to the

“technical aspects of the job categories they manage.” (p. 42)

Employers must realize also that while the talent base may be global, a war for

talented individuals exists creating unique opportunities for employees who are

armed with vision, motivation, and a solid management skill set. Nicole Strata,

President and CEO of Deploy Solutions explains in her online article “Strategic

Workforce Management: Special Forces” published by KnowledgeStorm, The

Upshot, “only the swift will survive” her reasoning continues “new resources are

required to fill the talent gap.” Individuals specializing in management become

empowered when they can combine their formal management education with

knowledge acquired from various positions they have held within competing

organizations. When management individuals realize that their skills (which are

in demand) become invaluable to existing employers, the war for talent begins

and ends with the employee who has taken the time and effort to build a solid
“competitive advantage” that compliments and enhances the organization for

which they are employed. In placing emphasis on their own competitive

advantage, management employees can place themselves at the “head of the

pack” and write their own retirement plan while sporting their Graves, Packard, or

Caliber 89 pocket watches.

RESOURCES

Carolyn Carlson, Ph.D. “The Changing Workplace,” Workplace Monthly. New

York: Millenium Publishers, June 2002, pg. 42.

Strata, Nicole. (Volume 1, Issue 2. October 2002). Strategic Workforce Mgmt:

Special Forces. KnowledgeStorm, The Upshot.. An electronic publication URL:

http://www.knowledgestorm.com/info/user_newsletter/092402/strategic.jsp

[Retrieved September 27, 2002].

Education and Training Categories. URL: http://stats.bls.gov/emp/empedtn.htm

[Retrieved September 27, 2002].

High earnings without a college degree? URL:

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/sept/wk1/art01.htm [Retrieved September 27,

2002].

Mariani, Matthew. High-earning workers who don’t have a bachelor’s degree.

Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 1999. US Department of Labor BLS.