ARE YOU READY FOR THE STORM?
By: Craig Mitchell
President, Robroy Industries Enclosures Division
?
How many of you are having difficulty finding quality professionals to fill vital jobs within your business?
The question is rhetorical.?
I know the answer.
Most of you.
Me too.
Current statistics indicate that there are 8.2 million job openings in the U.S., but only 7.2 million unemployed workers (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Sept. 27th, 2024).
That makes it tough.
But if you think it’s tough today, think about this:
One in five adults currently employed are already 65?years of age or older.
More than 40% of all workers in the trade sectors are 45 years of age or older (U.S. Bureau of Statistics, Aug. 29th, 2024).
As senior, highly experienced professionals retire, they?create a potential shortage of qualified workers. Of equal significance, the exodus of Baby Boomers will take with them more than 30-years of industry knowledge, resulting in a brain drain and a serious talent gap.
What are?YOU?doing to prepare for this coming storm?
What CAN you do?
Only you can answer the first question.
领英推荐
I have some suggestions for answering the second.
1.) Skills?and Talent?Gap Analysis
To know what you need to succeed in the future you need to know?what you have today. It is necessary to gain an in depth, objective perspective of where your organization is weak and?where it is?strong in terms of human talent. Building “muscle” in your business before a crisis occurs is your first line defense. But you need to know exactly where to build.?Techniques for achieving an accurate understanding of needs include standard gap analyses, surveys, assessments, employee interviews, and evaluation of feedback from performance?reviews.?Being proactive about shaping your organization for future success absolutely depends on being completely honest about the skill and talent needs of your business.
2.) A Recruiting Strategy That Understands True Needs and Desires
Do you have an actual, proven strategy for recruiting? Or do you just fish for professionals as the need arises? Today, more than ever, it is critical to recognize that employment incentives and motivators are changing. What used to be true in years past is no longer true. To be competitive you need to analyze your wage, benefits, and work/life balance?offerings to attract and keep the types of quality professionals your business demands.?Instead of living with frequent panic attacks when needing to fill an unexpected job vacancy, you need to approach job recruiting with a proactive PLAN that anticipates?and fulfills?needs instead of responding to repeated crises.
3.) Precision, Meaningful Training Programs
As we all know, bringing the “right” people into our enterprises is only step one. Retaining them, over the long-term, is an entirely separate challenge. A major part of responding to that?challenge is ensuring that training is customized by individual job, is flexible as a means of helping each individual advance in his or her career and is ongoing to accommodate changing workplace needs.
4.) Create A Learning Culture
Culture is what holds everything else together. To avoid skill and talent gaps it’s essential to create and nurture a corporate culture that values continuous learning and professional development. This needs to include ongoing opportunities for continuing education but must also meet human needs by providing a foundation for every-day mentorship.
5.) Understand And Optimize Technological Advancements
Maximizing human talent goes hand-in-hand with staying current with every-changing, ever-improving technological tools that make a company more efficient, more competitive, more successful.?Don’t turn your back on new technological opportunities because you’ve always done something one certain way. Be open. Evaluate. Educate yourself. Learn how new methodologies can help fill skill and talent gaps and optimize the efforts of all within your organization.
A wise person once told me:
“The technology you put in place 10 years ago to solve a problem, is literally the problem today.” The world is changing that fast. We will need to accomplish more with less.
It has been said that:
“A wise person?sees the storm coming before the cloud appear.”
Don’t wait for the clouds to show themselves.
Plan today for what you’ll do tomorrow?if?the wind and rains begin.
?
Helping manufacturing execs keep projects on time, profitable, and enjoyable | Executive Coach | Getting you unstuck
3 个月Great writing Craig and a real challenge is coming. Like others have said, I think the clouds are here, maybe even rain. Heard someone say recently "Don't make the talent come to you and bend to your approach - go to the talent and bend to their approach" Obviously there's a point you can't bend anymore, but we're no longer in a market where employers can say "here's the offer, take it or leave it"
Founder and CEO at Spirited Business?
4 个月Thank you Craig . As always , Thoughtful and very insightful.
Such a big challenge spanning multiple industries. I contend the wind and rain has already started.
Vice President Eastern Region at BURRUS & MATTHEWS, INC.
4 个月Always on point Mr. Mitchell.
I help transform high-potential teams into high-performance cultures using battle-tested leadership principals from College and NFL Football, Special Operations, and Municipal Administration || Professional Speaker
4 个月Well written Craig Mitchell ?? an issue, but as you eloquently said, it’s an issue that can be solved for. We reference this as the Silver Tsunami. 1. There is an executive talent shortage looming…it’s here. 2. Less-experienced workers will have no choice but to step into decision- making roles. 3. Traditional talent development solutions are low yield. 4. Millennials will leave your company, but they don’t want to. How are you developing your current and future leaders/managers? #develop vs. #training