The Aging Workforce and Role Reversal Trend Influencing Workforce Management

Diversity in workforce is a key trend in recent times. This diversity is being implemented not only in terms of race, ethnicity and gender, but it also includes people from different age groups. The companies are making an effort to hire experienced professionals as well as young and fresh talents. Businesses are also approaching placement consultants for the purpose. While this is one aspect of recruiting people in higher age bracket, there has been a rising trend of aging workforce for other perspectives as well. The uncertainty related to the retirement income, recession and financial hit in retirement investments are also influencing the higher age group to be employed for longer duration. The percentage of working people above the age group of 65 years has risen by 40% in the past decade. This shows that the older age group is trying remain employed for a longer period of time. This has influenced the recruitment scenario as a whole. There are many job roles wherein people from younger as well as older age group are applying which posses to be a difficult scenario for the placement consultants.

The challenges faced under such conditions are as follows:

• The first and foremost situation rises with the older people being managed by younger managers. This gives rise to a significant role reversal in comparison to the traditional structure which might result in conflicts.
• In terms of recruitment, in majority cases, the younger fresh talents are preferred more than the older people. Despite the fact that these people are many times more experienced and appropriately fit the profile, they are not considered.
• When younger managers have some older people under their management, they face issues regarding communication and feedback due to lack of knowledge.

With these evident challenges, there are certain measures that can be taken to address the issue.

• First of all, it is very important to change the perspective of hiring. A candidate should be evaluated and selected based on knowledge and other required parameters rather than age.
• The workforce management should not be restricted to the younger or the older age group. The management should consist of people from both the categories in order to discuss and take strategic decisions for the betterment of the business.
• There should be a clear communication channel between the employees and management. The scope of feedback and suggestion should be maintained in order to facilitate the flow of ideas and creativity. In this manner, every employee gets the chance to speak their mind despite the age group they belong to.
• The performance standards for specific roles and responsibilities should be decided before commencing the recruitment process.
• Lastly, the room for rewards and recognition should be kept open in order to boost the employee engagement, morale and brand loyalty.

The placement consultants can be very beneficial in taking up such measures for companies in order to manage the aging workforce scenario and its challenges.

Competitive Analysis Vs Competitive Intelligence – The Distinguishing Factors

Competitive Analysis refers to the process of identifying the competitors within a segment and analyzing their strengths and weaknesses in reference to the company’s product or service line. It forms a fundamental factor towards development of the brand’s marketing agenda. It will aid the identification of unique characteristics of the company offerings and finding the weak spots which can be strengthened using proper measures.

Competitive intelligence refers to the activity of gathering and analyzing information related to customers within a market, products and services as well as competitors which is directed towards aiding management to perform strategic planning and decision making.

In many cases both these elements have been considered similar. But competitive intelligence covers more area than competitive analysis. While the former is associated with research across various components of a business like customers, products, behavioral pattern and such like, competitive analysis is restricted to analyzing major players within the same segment. Hence it is important to discuss the process of performing both which is beneficial for every business.

Competitive analysis initiates with professional market research which includes focus groups and questionnaires. This approach gives valuable information regarding their product profile and marketing techniques. Information can be gathered through advertisements, brochures, annual reports and such like. The next important step is analyzing the gathered information. It is directed towards gaining insight through product evaluation, understanding the market share of the competitors, their business objectives and goals and identifying their strengths and weaknesses. The last and most significant step is determining the own business position in comparison to the competitors. This should be directed towards understanding the product and services line and its attractive features along with the negative pointers.

Competitive Intelligence is a different prospect from the former process. It looks in to the information of the competitors, customers, market trends and such like in a logical manner to predict the future initiatives. It has a different style of approach and analysis. It starts with a research regarding the objectives of conducting the process. After determining the objectives it is essential to look in to the existing data collection strategies related to competitive intelligence. After that the new strategies are developed related to the process. Then the access and integration systems are set up to gain benefit from the practice in future as well. The analysis and the reporting processes are initiated and dissemination is planned. The entire information collected and analyzed is presented systematically.

Therefore, it is quite evident that competitive analysis is similar to a part of competitive intelligence. The latter covers more strategic areas. With this it is also essential to note that both these processes require a high level of expertise and management for conducting. Currently the HR consultancy has broadened its service basket and ventured in to such specialties. Partnering with such firms not only make these processes effective but also streamlines the outcome. The level of assistance in conducting both the processes can also be regulated as per the contract.