Kevin Williams of FutureDecisions LLC and Kit Stookey of Practical Matters Consulting will be presenting their workshop on Social Media at the September 15 meeting of the Sacramento Chapter of ASTD.

This popular workshop originally presented to the Sacramento Chapter of the Organizational Development Network is an overview of the world of Web 2.o and how it impacts how we manage, train and interact with our employees and clients alike.

If you would like further information on this workshop or other services offered in conjunction with this workshop please contact Kit at: kit@practicalmattersconsulting.com, she will be happy to inform you of how we can assist you and/or your organization in capitalizing on social media in the workplace.

The Sacramento Area Human Resource Association here in Sacramento is presenting a “Lifelong Learning Showcase” on July 15, 2009.

FutureDecisions is proud to support this showcase by offering one of our numerous workshops to a lucky winner in a raffle to be conducted at the event.

If you are in Sacramento and have a chance to join us at the event we would love to see you. The Sacramento Area Organization Development Network will have a table there as well, I mention this as Kevin is the current president of this terrific organization.

Again, if you can attend we would love to see you. For more information check out the SAHRA website at:

http://www.sahra.org/LLS_Attendee_Info.htm

Did you know that we here at FutureDecisions corporate headquarters have written a book on workforce/succession planning? Well we have and the amazingly clever title is:

” FutureDecisions: Workforce Succession Planning for the Perpetually Busy”

The book is a comprehensive guide for creating a complete workforce and/or succession plan for your organization. We will share more about the book as we get closer to having it available for distribution. It should be in the publishers hands within a couple of weeks and available for purchase on our website and elsewhere within the next couple of months!

Stay tuned to this blog for additional information over the coming weeks.

The Harvard Business Review recently ran an article that was the outcome of a survey that was conducted with 140 coaches and a handful of “experts”.
The top three reasons coaches stated they were engaged:
1. Develop High Potentials within an Organization
2. Act as a Sounding Board
3. Address “Derailing” Behavior

Here at FutureDecisions we would agree with 1 and 3 and not so much number 2. Our experience has led us to believe that the top reasons a coach is engaged are more related to preserving a valued employee and assisting them in being successful in what may be a difficult situation. After all, it is much less expensive to hire a coach and save an employee than to lose that employee and incur the cost of replacing them.

While acting as a sounding board is a great reason to hire a coach and can be a very valuable tool for a leader it is not one that seems to be very compelling, at least not for those clients that contact us.

Finally, if you happen to read the HBR article please know that the rates FutureDecisions charges are considerably less than the median of $500.00 quoted in the article. Not sure if we are undercharging or the individuals that were surveryed are overcharging….

Here is an interesting tidbit of information that our friend and colleague Kit Stookey of Practical Matters recently brought to our attention!

According the U.S. Census Bureau by 2050 the population of those 65 and older will have tripled (that is 1 in 6 people)!!! The news for the US is even more dire, 1 in 5 people will be 65 or over by 2030!

The country with the highest aging population, China where almost two-thirds of the population will be 65 or over by 2050.

Given these numbers it should give one pause, who will take care of all these individuals, will the infrastructure be in place, who will be around to work? The questions go on and on and no one seems to have answers.