Companies and organizations are dealing with talent shortages. In the United States alone, there are roughly 7 million job openings. The number of people actively looking for jobs stands around 6 million. Translation, there aren’t enough people to fill the vacancies that exist. And it’s nothing new. 40% of employers in 2016 were struggling to find talent to fill available jobs.
On top of that trend, employers are seeing more and more potential hires lacking the skills needed to fill those jobs. This is often referred to as the skills gap.
Where is the most significant need when it comes to bridging the skills gap? It’s most evident, according to SHRM, is in the trades, middle-skilled positions and highly skilled STEM positions.
- Carpentry, plumbing, welding and machining are the technical abilities most lacking in the workforce.
- Data analysis, science, engineering, medical and finance are other areas in short supply.
Knowing that, how are HR professionals addressing the talent shortage? Most are expanding their advertising efforts and outsourcing recruiting. Other strategies include:
- Providing onsite training to employees (seminars and training programs);
- Starting or expanding training programs to help improve skills of new hires;
- Providing offsite training to employees (workshops and development programs);
- Increasing compensation.
Even with all of that said. There is a critical piece of the strategy missing.
Employers want and need employees with certain skills to stay relevant and competitive. Employees don’t have them. Why and what can organizations do to future proof their teams and ultimately their company?
External hiring is usually the first place organizations look, but it’s time-consuming and expensive. There is power in devoting time to internally solving the skills gap. Benefits include a more skilled and competitive workforce and employees with longer tenure. Successful CLOs realize that their employees are a competitive advantage, and they deserve the same (if not higher) investment than what we put into our products. So what can those leaders do? For starters, they should begin looking for ways to measure workers’ skill-sets so they know where gaps exist.
Degreed will explain how to do this in a free HR Exchange Network webinar scheduled for May 15, 2019. The presenter will be skills operation manager Jessi Roesch.
Roesch is an energetic self-starter with a passion for working at the intersection of technology and people. As the Operations Manager for Degreed’s Skills division, she works daily consulting clients on how to uncover information on the skills they have and the skills they need next. She is a savvy operations expert with 10 years of experience leading teams, building relationships, coaching others and delivering results in enterprise settings. Prior to Degreed, Jessi put her skills to work in retail, social services, financial services, and technology organizations including Fifth Third Bank and General Electric.
Three benefits from Roesch’s presentation include:
- Understand the symptoms of misplaced skills in your company and the labor market at large
- Understand the business case for correcting misplaced skills in your company
- Learn a framework for putting the right skills in the right place at the right time through talent management and upskill plans that align with company objectives
To register for this free webinar, click here.