"Someone call 911. . . the traditional workplace is dead!" The trouble is that most managers don't know it yet. No matter what industry you find yourself in, you are feeling the difficulty on attracting, keeping, and motivating your workforce.

Businesses today not only have to compete against other companies, but now must compete for the best workers.

In Breckenridge, Colorado there is more help wanted signs than workers. Because of a worker shortage, many businesses there are forced to close their doors early. An equipment dealer in Ohio can't find a person to fill a secretarial job. One Atlanta company lost 420 of the 431 employees they hired this year.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, the great thing in this world is not where we stand, but what direction we are heading."

Today's changing business environment resembles a roller coaster more than anything else. We are in a global marketplace that is placing tremendous pressure on all businesses.

Zig-zagging market conditions, gray-market equipment, changing consumer demands and sky-rocketing technological advances are giving owners and business managers non-stop headaches.

The truth hurts. There are fewer qualified workers available in today's job market. With unemployment down to 4.7 %, job seekers can afford to be more selective. For the first time in decades, businesses are trying to attract and recruit college grads with computer and business degrees.

They are giving them signing bonuses, gifts and treating them like professional athletes. For high-demand career fields, the employee is driving the employment train.

Today's crazy environment requires new ideas or face becoming roadkill.

Why do we need to change? The answer is simplesurvival. Successful businesses of the future will only be those that provide the best benefits and the best work environment that attracts,

Intellectual capital is the fuel that powers today's economy. They call those people "Gold Collar" or knowledge workers. Their knowledge brings gold to the employer. Generation X, those 45 million people born between 1965 and 1977 represent the group of today's educated young American worker.

Fortune magazine says this group is about self-fulfillment. They want jobs that are fun, cool, and let them discover who they are.

Generation X is temperamental, more demanding and picky. They grow frustrated with the traditional path of advancement that many of us followed. This younger generation is and is far more likely to jump ship for a pay raise or for better benefits.

To keep their technicians, one computer company allows workers to bring their pets to work. In Atlanta, computer programmers are in such hot demand that one company leased BMW Z3 roadsters for their 40 programmers.

The CFO realized that leasing a BMW is probably cheaper than pay a headhunter $70,000 to find a replacement. Now employees will think twice about leaving the company because they must turn in the car.

In order to attract and keep good workers you may have to forget what worked yesterday and only focus on what works today.

Gregory P. Smith is the President of Chart Your Course International, a

management consulting company located in Conyers, Georgia. He helps organizations solve problems and build more productive work environments.

For further information please call (770)860-9464 or send E-mail to greg@chartcourse.com. You can find free advice, articles and business tips at http://www.chartcourse.com