How To Deal With A Looming Labor Shortage

ByJohn S. McClenahen The U.S. is headed for a serious labor shortage and companies are not prepared for it. So says Roger Herman, a business futurist at the Herman Group, Greensboro, N.C. The attitudes of workers will shift, with their primary focus being on having a life and only secondarily on having a job, he says. For management, this means creating a place for human resources at the strategic table today. "If your senior human resource professional isn't sitting at your company's strategic table, you will be a serious disadvantage -- in the competition for the limited available business and in the competition for a highly competent, stable workforce," asserts Herman. "In fact, if your chief human resources officer (CHRO) is just sitting at the strategic table, you have other problems. If this vital team member isn't actively participating in serious strategic decisions, you have the wrong CEO or the wrong CHRO," Herman contends.