The Green Tie – The Official Blog of NAEM

Can engaged employees transform the U.S. economy?

November 3, 2011 at 12:54 pm 1 comment

Now that the world population has surpassed the seven billion marker, the “sustainability” word is getting lots of play once again. The call-to-action bugles are again warning us of a pending global catastrophe. What could suddenly create “worldwide peace, global well-being and extraordinary advancement in human development?”

In a new book, “The Coming Jobs War,” author Jim Clifton says a solution is the appearance of a whopping 1.8 billion “good” jobs. These are jobs that provide at least 30 hours of work per week and a steady pay check. Clifton believes that the country that can best achieve job growth coupled with GDP growth will be the dominant world force.

Can the United States be this global force?

Clifton believes the explosion of entrepreneurship that GDP growth requires won’t happen here until the country doubles its number of “engaged” employees: those who are using their talents every day, yielding great results, emotionally committed and are working consistently with high energy and enthusiasm.

This number currently stands at 28 percent nationally. Going from 30 million to 60 million engaged workers will “change the face of America more than any leadership institution, trillions of stimulus dollars, or any law or policy imaginable,” Clifton argues.

But as long as “one in five U.S. managers are “dangerously lousy,” these “high-energy workplaces” will elude us, Clifton says. “Fire all lousy managers today” is an imperative, he argues, because  nothing fixes bad managers: not coaching, competency training, incentives or warnings. In his experience “bad managers never get better.”

What’s your reaction to his analysis? Clearly there is an opportunity for each of us is to contribute to the creation of these attractive “high energy workplaces” where we willingly give our best every day. We just can’t just afford to be a passive observer on this one.

Entry filed under: Corporate Social Responsibility, EHS Management, Emerging Issues, Leadership Development, Safe and Healthy Workplaces, Sustainability, Uncategorized. Tags: business management, careers, Corporate Social Responsibility, csr, economic growth, economic recovery, economy, EHS, Employee Engagement, environment healht and safety, GDP, HR, HR pracitces, human resources, jobs, Sustainability, sustainability management, sustainable economies, workforce development.