The Average Employee at Work Is Just Average

Average is No Longer Good Enough

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Average is No Longer Good Enough

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The Average Employee at Work Is Just Average

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The Average Employee at Work Is Just Average

Thomas Friedman wrote about the effect that the ever increasing use of technology and the increasing global competition is having on unemployment in the U.S. His conclusion is that average is no longer good enough for American workers.

Friedman says “In the past, workers with average skills and employee performance, doing an average job, could earn an average job, could earn an average lifestyle. But today, average is officially over. Being average won’t earn you what it used to be.” Technology and foreign competition has been eating away at our manufacturing base and it will continue to do so. So we have shifted to an information and service economy. Yet Friedman gives an example of technology eating away at the service economy as well, with Ipads replacing servers in many restaurants. (See E la Carte) Because of this, the value of a degree in IT is become increasingly more valuable.

To me what Friedman means by average is mediocre. I think we need to eliminate the use of the term “average”. There will always be an average regardless of how good workers are. Average moves up. What we have fallen into is mediocre work and mediocre is not going to help us in the future.

Americans, Unemployment, and Education Level

Friedman reports the latest unemployment figures for American’s over 25, by education level.

Less than a high school degree-              13.8%

High school but no college-                     8.7%

Some college or associate degree            7.7%

Bachelor or higher                                     4.1%

Average = Mediocre = Unemployment

He then says “… the one thing we know for sure is that with each advance in globalization and the IT revolution, the best jobs will require workers to have increased performance and better education to make themselves above average.” Friedman ends his piece by saying we need to pass “some kind of GI Bill for the 21st century that ensures that every American has access to post high school education.”    This will only work however if people realize the value of that education and I am not sure how much this message is getting across. There are mechanisms that exist today for people to get education and improve their skills yet I know many people who are not taking advantage of those opportunities. They continue to look for jobs that require the same set of expired skills they have. What is that old definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Whatever the solution, we need to get the message to people that “average” is not going to make it anymore. To be better than average as Friedman suggests it is going to require technology and education. Employers need to be as aware of this as do employees. We need to make sure that we are educating our workers. We need to make sure we are letting them know that their continued employment requires ongoing education and an ever greater understanding of the use of technology.

 

Michael (Mike) D. Haberman, SPHR is a consultant, writer, speaker and co-founder of Omega HR Solutions, Inc.  He has been in the field of HR for 30 years as both practitioner and consultant. He specializes in compliance issues for his small business clients. He is the author of the blog HR Observations which can be found at www.omegahrsolutions.com and he has been writing blog posts on a full spectrum of HR topics for almost seven years. He is an active user of Twitter and can be found at @mikehaberman or @HRComplianceGuy. He has been an instructor in HR for 14 years and has helped many people achieve their PHR or SPHR during that time.

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