Recruiting in Kindergarten? YOU BET!
Dr. Wade Larson
Workforce Evangelist, International Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur & All-Around Good Guy
The talent shortage is critical - and it's here to stay when we're talking about skilled labor. For those in manufacturing, highly skilled positions will feel the shortage for the next generation. As Stephen Covey said, "You can't cram the harvest." When we didn't plant a crop in the spring, we cannot expect to harvest it in the fall. We don't have a big supply of students in high school or trade schools coming out with technical certificates or degrees, and it won't change overnight.
This means that while employers figure out their "short game," they must ALSO take care of the "long game." We must plant the field today to harvest tomorrow. When it comes to hard to fill careers such as skilled positions, a big reason for the lack of current students is the lack of early exposure. Without knowing about career options or gaining an interest earlier in their lives, how can or should someone know that is what they want to do when they grow up?
We've come to recognize that a key to success is early exposure. If a student can try things out earlier, they can come to know if it might be of interest. If not, great...they can try something else. If they do like it, this opens to door to ask more questions, try more things out, or move to the next step of learning what it takes to advance into that kind of a career.
Just as in the pictures, we introduce kids to welding as early as possible. By showing up to events and offering them the opportunity to try it out, we can give them the chance to see it, feel it, smell it, touch it, and experience it. Welding is no longer a mystery - instead, it's something they can come to know and understand. We think it's cool...and they can experience the "cool factor" when we say that in manufacturing, we do cool stuff. We can begin to influence them earlier to try new things that may pique their interests.
As employers, here are a few things you can try to begin to play the "long game" as you begin to participate in longer-term workforce development:
Go to Job Fairs
Schools love it when employers come to their job fairs, show students what they do, and help them get to know different career opportunities. When possible, do something interactive that helps students to engage. Help them to experience your jobs rather than just read a brochure or get a free pen.
Come Into the Classroom
In most cases, you can find teachers who want businesses to come in and share information about careers. This includes high schools, middle schools, and grade schools. Of course, the content needs to be age appropriate, so bring in your best people to connect at the right age groups. The sooner you can make them interested in your line of work, the sooner you can help them identify a career path.
Join a Committee
There are employer committees in most school districts. Career and Technical Education (CTE) committees exist in most schools where you can lend your support or provide guidance about activities, curriculum, or ideas to give students real world experience. Your support and service can also help schools ensure they teach concepts that best align with what employers are looking for.
Hire an Intern
When you hire kids and give them real world experiences, they will learn more than anything else they can possibly do to prepare for their careers. They will learn things at work that they cannot learn anywhere else. Don't be afraid to hire them! You may need to complete paperwork for a minor work permit from your Department of Labor, but you can easily hire kids under 18...even as young as 14 without a problem. Manufacturing? You bet! There are some things they cannot do, but there is a much longer list of what they can do. Let's get them to work!
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Be a Mentor
Many schools have mentoring programs that allow you to be matched to one or more students. Mentor programs typically allow you to work with students as a guide to discuss careers, opportunities, and how to best prepare for their future. Reach out to your high school or middle school to ask about opportunities to mentor.
As you begin to work with schools and youth, you will find many ways to make a difference in your community, with your schools, and with your youth. You may consider programs as widespread as the Manufacturing Institute that we've worked on for the past few years. We bring together many employers to provide a comprehensive experience for kids who want to explore manufacturing as a career. This program has helped dozens of kids so far, and we're looking forward to offering it to many more in the years to come.
The key is to start somewhere and to start now. It doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be something.
Here’s to your success.
Dr. Wade
More on HR 3.0:?www.tinyurl.com/transformhr
Have an incredible week out there!