Planning for the Approaching Shortage of Skilled Workers
April 6th, 2007Tamara Erickson, one of the authors of the Harvard Press book Workforce Crisis: How to Beat the Coming Shortage of Skills And Talent
- The workforce is older, and limited in availability. There will be a shortage of skilled workers of traditional work age to meet corporate needs.
- Because of the demographic shifts, the workforce will lack key skills. Some highly skilled worked are already in short supply.
- The workforce will be increasingly diverse in just about every way – race, gender, age, religion and cultural identity.
- Corporations are not adjusting to radically shifting values among their workers. “Hierarchical structures, rigid job designs, unilateral employment relationships, and cascading decision-making are at odds with the idealistic values of the Baby Boomer cohort and the independence of cohorts to follow.”
- There’s an “engagement” crisis. – Fewer workers are fully engaged, many are minimally engaged, and some are dangerously and actively disengaged. To be competitive and successful, companies will have to rethink their relationship to their number one asset: their people. “Today’s workforce already experiences alarmingly low levels of engagement in work…. Only 20% of the U.S. workforce is currently significantly engaged in work.”
- Resulting trend: “Retirement” will end as we know it, “to be replaced by a more flexible view of work, intermingled with periods of leisure throughout all of adulthood. Already, 34% of all U.S. workers say they never plan to retire.” Phased or part-time work will have to become an option.
- Resulting trend: “Fair, but not equal” treatment of employees will become standard. “Customized deals will be the norm.”
I’m not sure about that prediction on intermittent periods of leisure throughout adulthood. We don’t even talk about the four-day work week anymore.
Still, a widening class divide does suggest that at least some people will have those kinds of options. If the skilled workers of the future workforce can “write their own ticket,” salary alone will not be enough to retain them. Your rewards should be targeted (not wasteful, not generalized).
What can your company do right now? Hiring right the first time, mentoring and development, talent retention strategies, employee satisfaction and engagement planning, and a good dose of recognition will go a long way.
At Data Dome Inc., we offer our clients simple, effective tools and strategies to optimize the workforce now. You might be surprised by how much more you can do with today’s tools.
- Develop detailed, accurate descriptions of job behavior requirements.
- Prepare to interview in a more probing and precise manner.
- Evaluate your training capabilities against job requirements to insure that training supports and develops the type of job behaviors necessary for successful performance.
- Evaluate progression paths to make sure that lower level positions develop the talent more senior jobs demand.
- Conduct more informative, job-focused career planning discussions with employees.
- Improve productivity by removing conflicting behavioral expectations from the job.
- Determine how management systems and processes affect motivation, communication and job effectiveness.
- Identity how the work environment affects performance.
- Use objective behavioral style communication methods to meet the demands of diverse styles and identities.
Attract, develop and retain your talent: small investments now will save large costs later. Not only will you be more competitive in the future, you will become a better company now.
