JOBS: How the US Can Reach Long-term Full Employment

JOBS

HOW THE UNITED STATES CAN REACH LONG-TERM FULL EMPLOYMENT

Dr. T. William Hefferan

Smashwords edition, copyright 2014

Copyright © 2012 Dr. T. William Hefferan All rights reserved.

PRINT ISBN: 0615598366 ISBN-13: 9780615598369 LCCN: 2012937145 Sarasota, Florida

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

NOTE TO READERS

On a late September afternoon in 2008, in a small friendly village just outside La Romana, Dominican Republic, I decided to conclude day 77 of my 10 month expedition in the Caribbean. After dinner, my new friends described the horrible conditions that exist as a result of long-term unemployment in their country. Their real-life stories came the same day I experienced poverty stricken Haiti. From these people, I learned what the depths of despair really means. These real-life stories reflect the feelings of the unemployed in the United States.

At the time I was in the middle of a company expansion from the United States into the Caribbean. I had assembled a 10 month expedition that was the first step of my complicated undertaking. In spite of the long journey that was ahead of me, I kept thinking, I had to do something about helping the people who do not have access to jobs. In the book you will read about a life changing event that stopped me dead in my tracks. It was like a lightning bolt hit me. As a result of that life-altering event, I became dedicated to and passionate toward finding ways to get people to work in meaningful jobs. I felt ready to do this. I was the person to do this. I realized I am supposed to write this book.

I also considered my experience of over 23 years as president/ CEO of a 100 employee organization, and four advanced degrees that focus on all aspects of business and economics --including the focus of my doctorate, organizational psychology and social science research. These are the ideal ingredients that equip me to be the one who attacks this critical issue. I also felt I was in the right space personally and emotionally to tackle our nation’s biggest problem--too many people not able to find employment.

I have always enjoyed research and writing. I have written three books and over 200 doctoral research papers. I was confident I could create comprehensive national strategies so people always have access to meaningful jobs. With Day 77 still fresh in my mind, my plans coalesced, my excitement grew, and I launched the project. Day 77 was the genesis of my book, JOBS: How the United States Can Reach Long-term Full Employment.

My confidence for the project continued to build as I thought about how many people will benefit from this book. I would write the book to provide meaningful information to students, job seekers, employees, employers, human resource leaders, researchers, economists, scholars, politicians and members of the media. Big audience, I know. I just felt I needed to write the book in an entertaining way yet provide the solutions to unemployment, information that everyone can relate to and use. Each audience member will clearly see how they can participate and do their part in reaching long-term full employment while personally benefitting along the way.

I designed and conducted an 18 month peer reviewed research study (229 pages, published in 2010) aimed at creating strategies so the U. S. can reach long-term full employment. During 2009 and 2010, I personally interviewed job seekers, employees, employers, HR professionals and CEOs across the United States using unique questionnaires I designed. These questionnaires were aimed directly at discovering new ways to solve our countries employment related issues. The research participants opened up with heartfelt personal stories concerning how they established mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationships.

From the findings of my research study and my ground-breaking new theories and models, I created 10 comprehensive building blocks that show how the U.S. can reach long-term full employment. These strategies are for job seekers/employees and employers to initiate and implement in concert with other stakeholders. These strategies don’t rely on government help beyond what is already in the pipeline.

In the book I explain how we can experience the continuing evolution of our society into the knowledge economy as we create brand new kinds of jobs. Innovation becomes widespread and once again drives our nation as our new discoveries launch new industries and careers we have never before considered possible or even conceived. The way we think about work evolves, meaningful knowledge work becomes the norm, companies expand, hiring increases and the United States becomes intensely competitive, cementing its status as the world’s leader.

CONTENTS

Note to Readers

CHAPTER ONE

What Is EMBER?

CHAPTER TWO

Passion For Work

CHAPTER THREE

Finding An EMBER Job

CHAPTER FOUR

Connecting With EMBER Employees

CHAPTER FIVE

Creating An Ember Environment

CHAPTER SIX

Behaviors And Personality Traits

CHAPTER SEVEN

Interviewing And Testing

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ethics And Authenticity

CHAPTER NINE

Personal Branding

CHAPTER TEN

Online Social Networking

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Leadership For Difficult Times

CHAPTER TWELVE

Education And Retraining

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Innovation And Entrepreneurship

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Wisdom In The Streets

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The White House

APPENDIX

The Research Study

ENDNOTES

CHAPTER ONE

WHAT IS EMBER?

By working faithfully eight hours a day, you may eventually get to be boss and work twelve hours a day.

—ROBERT FROST

Remove your shiny bling or you’ll get clubbed on the head and robbed the hard way, commanded the heavily armed gunman. This was the only command, actually the only words spoken in the last twenty minutes by anyone in the car, as the four of us zigzagged through the city center of Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. Some kind of bazaar going on, or whatever Webster calls this explosion of people, animals, clothing, food, commerce. Absolutely no room to drive. Like there’s no street. My two bodyguards and my driver friend were frightened, as they knew they couldn’t stop—couldn’t hit anybody— but had to keep our speed up at all cost. It seems like a live movie set where any second our rusted-out Honda will surely get hit by a mortar shell. Thinking I was in a movie was the only way I could keep my sanity.

I’d better back up a bit. That particular scene took place just a few years ago, near the start of my sort of expedition to investigate potential projects for my company. I’ll introduce you to the company and our projects as we move along through the book. Early in 2008, I set out from Michigan to investigate the feasibility for potential projects on the islands in the Caribbean. Soon after locating in Puerto Rico as my home base, one of my new friends, Edgar Ramirez, volunteered to be my guide during the expedition. Turns out, he was a valuable asset during this excursion. Born and raised in The Dominican Republic, Edgar knew the islands of the Caribbean very well, which is why he required that I hire two bodyguards to accompany us at all times. The tourist areas throughout the Caribbean, for the most part, are very safe. He worries about areas outside of those safe areas, including some parts of various cities on certain islands.

One after the other, the adventures I had during my expedition, are important parts of the complete story that unfolds in the book. My research study establishes the data and real-life stories that build my conclusions in the book, as do my experiences as president/CEO of a one hundred-employee company. I also bring in thoughts from other researchers, scholars, authors, and experts on the topics I discuss throughout the book. In chapter 14, I talk about incidents during the expedition that infused in the depths of my soul the passion to find ways to put people to work. One such incident stopped me dead in my tracks and serves as the basis for that chapter. My challenge in the book is to keep from telling too many adventure stories as I illustrate the critical topics I am excited to present to you throughout the book. This chapter is aimed at describing what is in the book and how it is organized.

The Great Recession isn’t a normal recession, in which things are bad for a few months, then go back to normal, and we all forget the somewhat bothersome economic dip. This time it’s different. This time, high unemployment just won’t go away, even though Fortune 500 companies and the like are flush with cash. Revenues are up. Banks have cash to lend. They tell us they are ready to lend to qualified people. This recession is a homeless recession, due to the bursting of the housing bubble. But that shouldn’t be a problem, surely everyone will quickly take advantage of the almost 40 percent discount on homes (given the historically low mortgage rates available) and snap up every single foreclosed home on the market. Warren Buffet and other business leaders have said residential real estate is a very good investment right now for a qualified individual. And we can count on construction and related jobs will quickly springing back to life. Right? These jobs have always been important in leading us out of previous economic downturns. But what about the financial crisis and that bubble? Where did that come from? Oh yeah, the new regs will fix that. I don’t see where the big problem is.

As we look deeper into our current conundrum, we need to consider where our government fits into the solution to this downturn. Our government is out of money. In fact, they (who are they anyway?) are significantly in the hole. How are we fixing that? China—actually all of Asia and Southeast Asia—is rapidly growing while intensifying competition and taking our jobs. Globalization continues to spur more competition, different kinds of competition, in which certain governments can wave a magic wand to do whatever they want because, well, China doesn’t need to hear from its people, which allows it to move quickly and nimbly to accomplish many things we cannot do here in the United States. I don’t mean to complain, but I think many of these issues are going to plague us for quite a while unless we make some substantial changes; and I’m not talking about idly sitting back watching American Idol reruns while we wait for solutions to emanate from Washington, D.C.

These are just a few of the new pressures we face in this recession, compounding those issues and problems we always have to deal with during the good times and the bad. Should we really just wait it out and hope unemployment will mysteriously settle in at around 4 percent forever, as in the good old days? Never happen. We need long-term solutions that address the massive waves of headwinds that have simultaneously paralyzed our country in today’s situation, in ways they never have before. These headwinds have been lurking in the bushes waiting for just the right time to join forces with a really big event to ensure our economy is paralyzed.

We need to face the obvious fact that ongoing globalization and the accompanying competition will continue to intensify. China’s wages are increasing ever so slightly, while South Vietnam undercuts even those wages, making cheap labor a continually growing abundant global resource. The global labor arena is one in which we can never again compete, as we once did when our labor rates were much lower. We can come closer given efficiencies and robotics, but there will always be a country with employees willing to work for food to assemble iPhones by hand. Miami just announced that it is deepening its harbors to 50 feet, joining other global coastal cities that are able to accept the new larger container ships, each carrying 6,000 containers. Even with oil increasing in price, I can’t see shipping costs quickly eliminating the low cost labor advantage we lack in the U.S. We can either adopt new strategies, or we can magically adopt robotics to do everything imaginable to produce our products without people, and increase the emptying of our once grand manufacturing cities.

I am calling this confluence of these economic events our country’s Black Swan, an event so remote that no one could have predicted such an economic occurrence. What we have experienced is such a profound event that it has the potential to change our society entirely. And I posit that it can be for the good. We just need to do the right things as we put things back together.

The Great Depression was worse, and it was different. We learned from that event, and we learn from each economic event. Yet this time it’s just so different it is difficult to find an easy way out of it. A quick way out just isn’t in the cards. Who’s going to pay for fixing this massive problem that has been building for years and which will only grow worse unless something really big fixes things? Sounds costly. It isn’t. The solutions to reaching long-term full employment do not need much help from Washington, D.C. I am not in favor of waiting for solutions from Washington either, because we, ordinary citizens, can and should carry the lion’s share of the workload to put things back together. We can do this.

Please let me add that I am not going to focus on political diatribe in the book, even though I devote an entire chapter to Washington, my favorite town. The solutions really are within our grasp—outside of the political arena. Describing the solutions and the accompanying implementation strategies is what this book is about. In this chapter, I will outline how this book addresses solutions to our most significant problem, lingering unemployment, which is the critical component of the quagmire we call the Great Recession. As we bring people back to work, housing will parallel that recovery, which then drives job growth even more. In this chapter I will outline the building blocks that show how the United States can reach full employment for the long term.

I still need to identify who my audience is. You are from a broad and disparate group of concerned people who all want solutions to our country’s biggest problem. The most concerned of this group are the millions upon millions of unemployed and underemployed who want to know how and when they will get a job. A good job, not just a job in which they merely get by. This book discusses how to go about making your work life meaningful and rewarding. The book’s audience includes employees who have jobs and want to know about their future and how they can make their work life better. Employees are troubled about the many changes in employment such as the loss of employer paid retirement and other benefits, even the loss of job security itself. This book will advise you how to approach working with your employer to establish a mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationship that I refer to as EMBER.

Employers, another critical audience group, want to pitch in and help solve concerns of job seekers and employees while still meeting their mandate to focus on maximizing shareholder wealth. Employers also want to know how they can hire and retain the best and the brightest, so they too can weather the stormy competitive future. Job seekers/employees and employers are what I refer to in the book as the two groups. Job seekers/employees—group one, and employers—group two, are the two sides of the employment equation who establish a mutually rewarding and beneficial employment relationship.

Politicians are probably among the most interested group in my audience. They want to know about these easy solutions, so they can help promote them. Then when we reach full employment their reelection will be assured. Economists and scholars already know the solutions, but they are among my audience because they notice that my solutions are based on my 2009—2010 research study, which uncovers startling new ideas. They are curious that I have new solutions that they do not know about; and I do. Students of all ages, let’s say over the age of fourteen, need to consider this book as a must read and a tool to prepare them for their working life and career. I want them to start learning about this early, and I will convince parents to lead that charge, as I describe in detail in chapter 12.

The last group that comprises my audience is, I hope, the media. They, too, will want to read this book and talk about it through their growing plethora of media outlets. Self-serving, I know, but I would like to make sure more people will benefit and at least talk about the solutions I discuss throughout the book. I am excited about the composition of my audience, and I am excited for you to read this book. There is plenty of great information and entertainment in every chapter, to meet everyone’s needs and desires. Thank you for being a part of this adventure that began on Day 77.

Now that I’ve touched on the problem the book addresses and the audience, I will define EMBER --that’s straightforward. I created the acronym, EMBER, from the phrase: establish a mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationship. Because I wanted a sort of catchy, easy to remember acronym, I hand-picked the words in the phrase to form a word people could actually say, like an actual word. Personally, I use very few acronyms, and when I do I like them to be simple. EMBER actually sounds like the name of something and that makes it easy to remember. The meaning of EMBER is more than just the words in the acronym. EMBER is comprised of the ten building blocks described in this book that form the basis for the U. S. to reach long-term full employment. Perhaps equally important is that I will show in the book how every member in the two groups, job seekers/employees and employers, can help the United States achieve long-term full employment while at the same time experiencing significant personal benefits from their participation in solving our nation’s biggest problem.

This book is based on my peer-reviewed research study that I designed and conducted from 2009 through 2010, in which I interviewed job seekers, employees, human resource professionals, CEOs, and employers across the United States. I report on exactly what they told me during each of the one-to three-hour revealing interviews I personally conducted with each research participant. I combine these diverse thoughts and opinions into valid conclusions that reveal relevant findings regarding the contemporary employment environment in the United States.

The important and unique distinction with my approach in this book is that I discuss solutions to the problems based on authentic real-life experiences and feelings of job seekers/employees and employers. I expose both sides of this employment equation as a result of my in-depth interviews from my research study. We get the real, honest opinions right from the horse’s mouth and relate the collection of those opinions to real solutions to reach long-term full employment.

The following is the abstract from my research study:

This qualitative, phenomenological research study is the exploration of the theoretical disparity in communication strategies used by job seekers and employers in their attempts to establish mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationships. Rapidly expanding technological advances, globalization of commerce, and the growth of contemporary social groups are among the challenges for leaders to consider regarding communications strategies that will effectuate optimal hiring practices. Postmodern individuals continue to create new social groups including developing innovative ways to communicate, and changes in society are expanding existing social groups. As job seekers, the members of these social groups have different needs and expectations regarding employment, and the variety of communication strategies makes it challenging for employers to optimize their human resource contingent.

This qualitative, phenomenological research study is the exploration of the theoretical disparity in communication strategies used by job seekers and employers in their attempts to establish mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationships. Rapidly expanding technological advances, globalization of commerce, and the growth of contemporary social groups are among the challenges for leaders to consider regarding communications strategies that will effectuate optimal hiring practices. Postmodern individuals continue to create new social groups including developing innovative ways to communicate, and changes in society are expanding existing social groups. As job seekers, the members of these social groups have different needs and expectations regarding employment, and the variety of communication strategies makes it challenging for employers to optimize their human resource contingent.

I discuss the research process and the research design I use in the study in the Appendix. I find research exciting, particularly considering the findings from my candid interviews with interesting people from across the country. In the Appendix, I illustrate how research works and why research is so important and useful. Readers familiar with the scientific method of research will agree with my plea for everyone to become familiar with the research process. In the Appendix you will read why I feel so strongly about this. I not only inform you what the study set out to accomplish and the interesting findings, but I also reveal facets of the scientific method of research.

The unique approach I used in the study was to look at the viewpoints of each of the two groups, job seekers/employees and employers, and compare and contrast their responses to my interview questions. The clarity and interpretation of conflicting opinions is revealing and startling. The research design I use involves one-on-one interviews in which I create a storytelling dialogue from the participants, sort of akin to reality television. They speak from their hearts and souls with real-life experiences and personal stories. I also use authentic personal stories as examples throughout the book, as a way to bring the solutions I discuss to life. You will read about how each group listed above feels about the long-term unemployment issue and how they would solve it, including what they need and want from each other to ensure the solutions work. And by that process, EMBER is created. This is the genesis of EMBER. The following diagram encapsulates the process of EMBER in a nutshell.

Job seekers/employees and employers strive to establish a mutually beneficial and rewarding employment relationship, in which each side of this relationship is as satisfied as is possible. The optimal results of good negotiation occur when each side gets what it wants, but is not 100 percent satisfied with the outcome. However, in an ideal EMBER employment relationship, each side is 100 percent pleased with the relationship, because each side began the negotiations fully and authentically informed regarding exactly what the other side needs and wants, in order to be 100 percent fulfilled. In addition, because the EMBER employment relationship is ongoing, each side promises to work hard to make necessary changes and adjustments to the relationship, to maximize the results. This philosophy is mutually beneficial because when the employee is fully satisfied, he or she maximizes performance—including that of the organization. The employer works hard to reach 100 percent satisfaction so the employees achieve maximum performance and are retained for the long term, and this preferred employer attracts more of the best and the brightest as a result. Organizations with EMBER employment relationships and philosophy have a competitive advantage and increase their market share, followed by expansion and more hiring.

The personal stories from the research participants in my research study provide rich support and content to help illustrate how these solutions in each chapter can lead to full employment for the long term. Throughout the book, I also include examples from my own twenty-three years of experience as president and CEO of my commercial investment real estate design and development company. Considering a company that averages from eighty to one hundred employees, I see every day what issues job seekers, employees, human resource professionals, managers, and CEOs engage in to create working environments in which everyone can work harmoniously together, have fun, and still maximize the performance of the organization. Presenting the findings of my research study in this book and relaying the opinions of the experts, scholars, and authors I discuss is exciting for me.

Passion for work relates to the feeling you might have toward your favorite hobby. In chapter 2, I explain what passion for work feels like and how it is defined. I provide research study results that focus on passion for work, and I relate how employees who have passion for their particular job improve not only their performance on the job and for the company, but also significantly improve their work life and job satisfaction. I discuss how job seekers and employees can develop passion for work and how employers can help employees develop passion for work. Employee research participants in my research study, who work in an EMBER employment relationship, all feel passion for work is critical for an optimal work life that provides them fulfillment in their jobs.

I refer to passion for work in several other chapters because once employees understand what this means and how they can relate to the concept of passion for work, they can improve their search for the right career path and reach greater success in that path. Chapter 2 includes illustrations and examples from other authors and experts, so employers understand how to recognize passion in job seekers and employees and how to use this knowledge in their hiring practices. I discuss the importance of students beginning to think about what type of work or field of study interests them, and of starting to think about this earlier than their senior year in high school. It goes without saying that if all employees in an organization had passion for their jobs that organization would far outperform one in which most of the employees were disengaged at work. I describe research studies that focus on passion for work in relationship to organizational performance. This chapter includes discussions relating startling facts such as that approximately 76 percent of employees in the United States are disengaged at work. One single step, to hire only employees who are passionate for their work, would improve the performance of any organization and would significantly improve overall hiring in the United States. Passion for work represents an EMBER building block that will help the United States reach full employment for the long term. Chapter 2 demonstrates how.

Finding an EMBER job is the focus of chapter 3, and serves as another building block for an EMBER relationship. My focus in this chapter is straightforward regarding finding a job. However, in chapters 4 and 5, I include contemporary opinions from the research participants in my study relative to employment environments that are ideal. Participants use personal stories regarding how they find the perfect job and ideal employer. They tell us what is the perfect job in their eyes, and they describe what they want in the ideal employer. Employee participants describe what methods they use to secure their perfect job and what their successful resume looks like. I also rely on experts who have published books on optimal job search methods. I include the unique approach I speak of, regarding my research study, which emphasizes precisely what employers today want in a resume, for example. Employer research participants discuss with me everything about their interview process, including those techniques that work the best to hire the perfect EMBER employee.

Tried-and-true methods that help job seekers connect with employers will continue to be important, but our contemporary employment environment requires job seekers and employees to adjust how they employ these standard methods. The advantage found in my study shows up when I ask job seeker/employees and employers the same or similar questions. Each side has an opinion regarding what they feel the other thinks. I report on interesting results in which employers think an employee wants a certain employment benefit as their first choice, when employees think much differently. Many of these misinterpretations of the needs and wants of each group by themselves represent robust savings potential for organizations, as well as improved working conditions for the employees. Each of these discoveries provides opportunities for job seekers/employees and employers to make slight adjustments in the way they communicate and connect with each other, in order to optimize the path to establishing EMBER employment relationships. When every organization can communicate in ways that bring to light these authentic needs and wants of each group to reach EMBER, performance improves, organizations expand, and more hiring results.

While I do not consider it a building block, chapter 6 focuses on understanding behaviors and personality traits to augment chapters 3, 4, 5, and 7. Each of those four chapters focuses on optimizing the way job seekers/employees and employers communicate and connect to establish an EMBER employment relationship. When you read chapter 6, it will become clear that with a better understanding of personality traits and associated behaviors, employees and employers will be better equipped to communicate more effectively to create harmonious and rewarding working environments.

I discuss how understanding behaviors helps job seekers during the interview process. Deeper understanding of how to best perform in an interview, including knowing exactly what today’s human resource professionals are looking for, will help the best job candidates secure the optimal jobs for them personally, jobs that they otherwise may have missed if they were not skilled in handling the interview properly. I discuss behaviors that relate to improving interview performance and communication. (For example, one particular behavior almost guarantees a job offer.) Chapter 6 is important for leaders in an organization, and is a precursor to chapter 11, Leadership. Even though both sides of the employment equation, job seekers/employees and employers, feel they understand the other, understanding behaviors and personality traits provides insights that help both sides better relate to one another to ensure optimal communications. Authentic communication is critical to establish an EMBER employment relationship.

Chapter 8 represents a critical component of EMBER and is the fifth building block, Ethics and Authenticity. Communication between our two groups, job seekers/employees and employers, has to represent the authentic feelings of each and represent the high ideals and ethics of the organization. This applies to both sides of the EMBER relationship, applying to everything from the resume through the interviews and the final negotiations for the job, salary negotiations, and subsequent promotions. Employers and employees need to know that both are communicating authentically and honestly, because both careers and the performance of the company are on the line. I discuss in the chapter how these qualities are particularly important considering the impact that globalization and the accompanying infusion of diverse cultures into the organization have on organizational performance. Employers and employees need reciprocal trust in order to establish and maintain an ideal employment environment and to create EMBER. Chapter 8 provides the necessary strategies for both sides of the EMBER employment equation.

Much has been written about personal branding, and I consider it an important building block of EMBER. In chapter 9, I discuss the origins of personal branding and offer the opinions of experts on this important movement. Ethics and authenticity flow into the personal branding concept because employees and job seekers need a way to represent to potential employers what they are all about, similar in concept to product branding. When you read about a product, you hope the actual product you purchase is what it says on the container. In the chapter, I demonstrate what happens when employees fail to authentically portray themselves in their personal branding efforts.

Employers need a way to read both employees and job seekers beyond a resume and beyond work performance. Personal branding can give an employer insights into an employee that may help position that employee for a significant promotion. Employers are also promoting employees’ use of personal branding to benefit the organization. Just like the other chapters that represent major components of an EMBER strategy to maximize employment relationships, the chapter on personal branding can demonstrate how to optimize the process that connects the best employees with the best companies.

I do not necessarily need to introduce you to the topic in chapter 10, Online Social Networking (OSN), as it speaks for itself as an important building block of EMBER. While I relate to how job seekers/employees and employers engage OSN, this continuously emerging phenomenon will be more integral to employment growth than we have previously imagined possible. I discuss how, in this chapter. I also relate the various social groups and their growing effects on the employment environment. How generation Y employees work with baby boomers, for example, can make or break careers or vault organizations to success or failure. Harnessing the diverse abilities of contemporary global virtual teams, while maximizing the EMBER working environment, has a critical impact on maximizing the performance of an organization. OSN is at the center of an exciting adventure that captivates all of us in the employment environment.

Any employee, regardless of position or title, can be a leader. Chapter 11, Leadership, describes the importance of leadership, especially in our global business environment. Seventy six million baby boomers are retiring relatively soon, and the leadership talent is not yet there to follow in their footsteps. I discuss leadership training offered by contemporary organizations, and show job seekers and employees why leadership training is critical for career advancement.

Globalization brings together the benefits of diversity in organizations, especially important when considering maximizing team performance. The global leader understands how to bring diverse teams together and to lead them in ways that engage followers to enjoy the process of working together to accomplish big things. Leaders are skilled in discovering the vast talent that otherwise goes unnoticed if organizations are unaware of how to motivate hidden talent. Leadership talent is the critical building block that provides a competitive advantage to employees in the job market and to any organization that strives to build a strong leadership bench.

Chapter 12, Education and Retraining, includes discussions concerning a significant building block critical for the United States in order to maintain its leadership position in the world economy. This chapter focuses on the importance of education to job seekers/employees and employers if they are to remain viable. Almost all the participants in my research study feel that education and training offered by employers is one of the most significant employee benefits that attract and keep them with a particular employer. Unemployed factory workers need retraining if they ever hope to secure a viable job that will support a family.

Globalization and advances in technology and science have made continuous education and training mandatory. This chapter includes discussions of the profound importance of improving education and retraining in the United States as well as discussions of how organizations can benefit by creating their own unique contemporary education and training strategies that establish a competitive advantage.

Perhaps the most significant EMBER building block of all ten, I saved for last. In chapter 13, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I discuss the critical elements that will catapult the United States to its rightful position as the global business and education leader. This chapter discusses how innovation leads to more employment once our workforce understands how to engage in the innovation thinking process. Organizations need to create viable innovation processes, so innovation is a constant occurrence. I discuss ideas that show how to accomplish this. This chapter also includes important insights regarding how