“If You’ve Ever seen the Look on Someone’s Face the Day They Get a Job” – My takeaways from The Coming Jobs War

fictional President Dave (Kevin Kline) at his press conference to announce his jobs program

I’m initiating a program to try to find a decent job for every American who wants one. 
Why start here?
Because if you’ve ever seen the look on someone’s face the day they get a job — I’ve had some personal experience with this – – they look like they could fly.  And unless we start tapping into that kind of spirit again, there’s no way we’re gonna fix anything in this country.
So… Let’s get to work.
(Dave – the “substitute for the “real President,” from the movie, Dave, 1993)

A business is worth more than the price of its stock. It’s the place where we earn our living, where we meet our friends, dream our dreams. It is, in every sense, the very fabric that binds our society together.
(Andrew Jorgenson, played by Gregory Peck, from the movie Other People’s Money, 1991)

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The fictional president Dave owned a “temp agency.”  He knew something about the need for a good job.  And his press conference, quoted above, was dripping with emotion.  Getting a job really does change everything for the better

Last Friday at the First Friday Book Synopsis, I presented my synopsis of the Jim Clifton book, The Coming Jobs War:  What Every Leader Must Know About the Future of Job Creation.  It is an important book.  Mr. Clifton, the Chairman of Gallup, presents a compelling diagnosis of the number one problem facing our country, and the entire world. We need more jobs – good jobs!  And the countries that provide the most good jobs will be the countries that ”win” this war.

What is a good job?  According to Mr. Clifton,

A good job is a job with a paycheck from an employer and steady work that averages 30+ hours per week.
 (Informal jobs are jobs with no paycheck, no steady work).

And, just how big is the need?  According to Gallup’s research, there are are 3 billion people in the world who are ready, able, and willing to work at a good job, and only 1.2 billion good jobs available.  That is a shortfall that is massive!

The book is great at diagnosis, and offers some very good long-term solutions.  These long-term solutions involve some significant upgrades in our education system, and a much more overt commitment from cities, (especially the “tribal leaders” in cities), and universities, and businesses and business leaders, all working together, to create more good jobs.

But there is no easy, quick fix.

This is a book that leaders – corporate leaders, business leaders, government leaders, city leaders – should read.  Because when there are no jobs (from the book):

Going broke is what happens when there aren’t enough good jobs. 
America goes broke when its GDP falls and jobs can’t be found. A country goes broke one company at a time and then one citizen at a time. It grinds down. And it’s happening now.
and
Joblessness is the strongest core driver of national hopelessness. 
People who have been out of work for 18 months or longer lose engagement in their network of friends, community, and families. The worst things in life start showing up when people experience extended unemployment. But that’s not all. These wounded will probably never fully recover. Every job loss permanently changes the relationship every individual has with his or her city and country — and subsequently, the culture. 

Here are 10 Important Findings, directly from the book:

1. The biggest problem facing the world is an inadequate supply of good jobs.
2. Job creation can only be accomplished in cities.
3. There are three key energy sources of job creation in America: the country’s top 100 cities, its top 100 universities, and its 10,000 local tribal leaders.
4. Entrepreneurship is more important than innovation.
5.  America cannot outrun its healthcare costs.
6.  The American public school dropout rate is approximately one-third — 50% among minorities.
7.  The United States must differentiate itself by doubling its number of engaged employees.
8.  Jobs occur where new customers appear. For that reason, the science of customers, often referred to as customer insight or customer centricity, is more important today than ever before.
9.  Every economy rides on the backs of small to medium-sized businesses.
10. So go exports, so goes the coming jobs war.
 

And here are my takeaways:

1. Let’s start here – begin to care about the jobs issue. (This really is a business success issue).
2. Get serious about creating more customers. (maybe we need to increase our respect for folks in sales).
3. Get serious about investing your energies into your city.
4. Get serious about upping the levels of true employee engagement – significantly! 
(Clifton calls for doubling these levels).
5. Think about creating a little more (a lot more!) intentional peer pressure– towards a much greater focus on job 
creation, and the wellbeing of our city, our people, our organization, our own physical bodies.

Job creation may be the most patriotic thing we can do.

I have been asking for a long time on this blog “where will the jobs be?” This book says that this question is the question of the era.  It is a question we need to answer, a problem we need to solve!