We’ve all heard the phrase “green is the new black,” but what about “CIVETS as the new BRIC?” Unlikely. Until now.

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, the so-called CIVETS group of countries—Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa—are being touted as the next generation of “tiger economies.” But why?

1. These nations all have large, young populations with an average age of 27. This means these countries will benefit from fast-rising domestic consumption.
2. They also are all fast-growing, relatively diverse economies, meaning they shouldn’t be as heavily dependent on external demand as the BRICs.
3. HSBC Global Asset Management points to rising levels of foreign direct investment across the grouping, low levels of public debt—except for Turkey—and sovereign credit ratings moving toward investment grade.

However, critics say CIVETS countries have nothing in common beyond their youthful populations. They also say, liquidity and corporate governance are patchy and political risk remains a factor.

So let’s break it down by country and see what is happening:

Colombia: Colombia is emerging as an attractive destination for investors.

Indonesia: Indonesia weathered the global financial crisis better than most.

Vietnam: Vietnam has been one of the fastest-growing economies in the world for the past 20 years.

Egypt: Revolution may have put the brakes on the Egyptian economy but analysts expect it to regain its growth trajectory when political stability returns.

Turkey: Turkey has major natural-gas pipeline projects that make it an important energy corridor between Europe and Central Asia.

South Africa: Rising commodity prices, renewed demand in its automotive and chemical industries and spending on the World Cup have helped South Africa resume growth. Many see the nation as a gateway to investment into the rest of Africa.

(I just wish CIVETS rolled off the tongue as easily as BRIC.)

Corporate Board Member recently interviewed Edie Weiner to get her outlook on the economy, jobs, and emerging issues for directors.

Here are some highlights from the interview (click here for the entire article):

When do you foresee the recession ending?

I don’t, because I don’t consider it a recession. I think that this is a fundamental transformation, and it [has been] coming for a long time. It started before the financial crisis, and the financial crisis exacerbated the speed with which everybody felt the transformation.

There has been an evolution of economies. We’ve been through the agricultural era, the industrial era, the post-industrial era, the emotile era, and what we’re moving into is what we call the metaspace era. And none of these go away. Each succeeding [era] is built on the one that came before. But what you used to make money on becomes commoditized because technology allows it to become so inexpensive that you just can’t get the same margins you used to on it, so you have to move up to the next value proposition.

The thing to understand is that we were in the agricultural era for tens of thousands of years, the industrial for 200, the post-industrial for 45, and the emotile for about 20 to 25, and we’re still there, but we’re moving into what we call the metaspace. So the real story is the collapsing of the time that it takes for technologies to come together and create enormous efficiencies in the way we do things. The problem is that we can’t grow new businesses fast enough to satisfy the labor that’s been displaced by the efficiencies, and that’s why we feel so much pain, and that’s why we’re not going to see those jobs come back.

What do you think boards should be concerned about, looking a few years into the future?

I think they need to be concerned about a couple of things. Number one, are the products and/or services that they’re offering or that they count on going to be around in the next three to five years, or will they be disinter-mediated by new players with completely new business practices, technologies, and delivery [methods]? There’s such a rapid replacement effect taking place now. So you have to wonder whether what you’re doing now will still command the dollars that you’re projecting for the next couple of years.

That’s an extremely important concern. That’s the core of your business. And that’s a real worry that I would have if I were a director. I would really want to know what game changers are out there that could completely disrupt the services and products that we’re currently offering, and I wouldn’t necessarily trust that I could get all that information inside the company. I would want to know from experts who are looking outside what is going on that could change the world of this company the way it exists.

And I would also be concerned about whether I’m doing the right things in order to get the best talent because in the end, whatever it is that [you] do, it’s about your people delivering to the marketplace.

Speaking of talent, do you foresee a time in the future when American public boards will be more diverse?

There’s no question about it. That’s already happening, and will continue to happen. However, it’s interesting when we think about what diversity means. If you declare diversity as being people who look different, speak different languages, or come from different parts of the world, if that’s your idea of diversity, then that is not stepping up to the business case for diversity. That’s the public relations case for diversity.

The business case for diversity is to have different ways of thinking on the board, different viewpoints. And that’s not an easy thing because much of what the board is about is having a comfort level with each other. I’m not concerned about diversity that you can see from the outside. Where I’m concerned is will the board step up to the need for diversity from the inside, and how comfortable will [directors] be with those voices that don’t track with what the CEO wants to hear or what the majority of the board wants to hear?

It really depends on the kind of company you are, but if you’re saying that you want to be a global company and you’re saying that one of the concerns is that you’re really not sure where your competition is going to come from in three years, why would you want people on your board who know the last 20 years and not the next 10?

On the Job Experience:
Hiring Managers Want It, But How Can You Obtain It??
(Taken from a guest blog piece I wrote for the Career Advisory Board — posted on DeVry University’s President’s blog on 11/3/2011).

In the context of today’s rapid technological and economic change, both job seekers and employers alike are faced with a daunting set of challenges. While many individuals and organizations see an economy in and headed for another recession, the recent economic downturn, in fact, represents a fundamental transformation and restructuring of the economy.

The Career Advisory Board, presented by DeVry University released a new Job Preparedness Indicator Report that brought to light how this period of transition is not only impacting employment and unemployment, but it is also affecting future professional competencies and skill sets.

To many employers, the serious gaps that exist between educational credentials and actual individual competence are becoming all too clear. What many job seekers are now faced with is a “catch-22”: Hiring managers stress the importance of needing prior work experience, but job seekers struggle to find actual opportunities to gain that critical real-world knowledge.

According to the report, 66% of employers agree that job seekers often find themselves applying for jobs that require skills and experience that can only be acquired after being hired. Job seekers are aware, too, of many prospective employers’ reluctance to hire someone without experience – in fact, 78% of job-seekers agree that too many positions in today’s job market require skills that can only be acquired after being hired.

So when it comes to valued workplace skills and competencies, what can job seekers do to get their skills more in line with what hiring managers are looking for and gain that all-important on-the-job experience?

1) Seek New Ways to Gain Real-World Experience. Paid or un-paid internships, apprenticeships, traineeships and volunteering – are great ways to learn valuable analytical and critical-thinking skills and boost business acumen.  These experiences allow employers to see how proactive a candidate is. It will be crucial for job seekers to clearly demonstrate how these skills can be transferred to the workplace.

2) Behold the Power of Staying Connected. Secondly, job seekers should leverage and tap into peer-to-peer and alumni networks, as these are becoming increasingly valuable tools and resources.  It’s important to build a strong network and equally as important to maintain it. While social media tools such as LinkedIn provide an opportunity to do so, taking the relationship offline is vital – make a brief phone call or meet for a cup of coffee. By fostering strong relationships ahead of time, you will have the confidence to reach out in the future to take your career to the next level.

3) Seek a Mentor and Be a Mentor. Having a mentor can help job seekers gain critical workplace knowledge that will support career growth. But on the flip side, for young job seekers, being a reverse mentor is also important as it teaches communication skills and demonstrates a depth of knowledge in a particular area(s).

Clearly, for job seekers, the competition for many jobs is intense.  A reexamination of the current workforce will be critical, especially as job seekers increasingly face a greatly perplexing world of differences in hiring styles and processes.