Change Agent at Work

South of the Border...

I've been extremely busy the last few days.

Pipeline 4 Progress is gearing up for the first of four Regional Input Meetings scattered throughout the Upstate P4P Region. 

Our first meeting is Friday - March 7th - in Binghamton, NY.

Please feel free to join us and participate in the collaborative discussions.

Earlier this week - on Tuesday...

I was NOT in Upstate NY talking about regionalism and collaboration.  I was in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

Tough choices...

It is a little ironic that my first thought it writing this entry was the title "tough choices"... 

It's also the title of a book - Tough Choices: a Memoir by Carly Fiorina - former CEO of Hewlett-Packard.  I'll mention why later in this post (so keep reading).

The "tough choice" is whether or not I should write on political issues.  But this is very important - and after all - this is mikefullerblog.com - so why wouldn't I talk about it?

Thirst for communication, connection and community

Following up on my entry about talent...  Did you happen to read the opinion page in the Star Gazette yesterday?  Newspapers close to turning page on history was written by a Watkins Glen High School Student - Margaret Amisano - who is a member of the Star Gazette Youth Editorial Board.

Margaret does a great job in talking about the under 40 demographic.  She touched on several issues involving communication and how different modes of communication has changed and evolved with younger generations.

A lesson from Cali and Jody (Workforce of the Future)...

One of the blogs that I frequently read is "Cali and Jody"... "two social visionaries, workplace activists and agents of global change..." read more about them at:  http://caliandjody.com/.

Cali and Jody came up with this concept - ROWE or Results-Only Work Environment.  It's a very real and true concept facing employers today.  Especially in the P4P and NY Pipeline Region.

That's talent...

Today I was on the P4P myspace page... and ran across a new member - an entrepreneur - Round 1 Productions - Beau Kester.  Now here is a young professional - he is 24 - who makes short movies and music videos.  You should check out his work. 

He is located in Horseheads, NY. 

This experience made me think about some of the other talented individuals we have living in the region.  There are many.. I have met a few...

Attracting talent from around the globe...

This morning I was having coffee and watching Headline News...  Iraq's Brain Drain was the topic of one story - then it hit me...

...well didn't hit me because I realize all over the world communities are competing to be "hip" and attract/retain talented professionals. 

But I realized we might be missing something.

Gen X and Y Factor

There is an awful lot of discussion around workforce development and rightly so - it's a critical issue. 

But on the other side and an area that demands our attention - is employer development.

Yes, employer development.

New talent is entering the workforce daily...  recent college graduates are eager, motivated and looking for their first job. 

So how do you attract and retain the new or next generation worker?  By thinking differently.