Will You Have Qualified Employees in 2020?

Until most recently, the word friend was referred to as a noun. However, courtesy of this next generation, "friend is now a verb. In addition, this generation has reshaped communication with tweeting, IMing, Facebook, and texting becoming standard modes of communication. 

As convenient and efficient as these communication methods are, they have created some unsavory side effects. Basic workforce readiness skills such as communication skills, critical thinking and professionalism have diminished, leaving employers struggling with how to manage an employee's lack of readiness.  

Because many business leaders have been distracted by the recent economic downturn, the disruption of retirement benefit plans and the increase of baby boomers delaying retirement, they have lost focus of the impact caused by these skill gaps. In general, human resource professionals and business leaders are reporting a lack in readiness skills among the applicants entering the workforce today. Just recently, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) and the American Management Association (AMA) conducted a survey of top executives that revealed that communication skills, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity will be identified and measured as development areas during the annual performance appraisal. In addition, 75 percent of the respondents reported they believe these skills will be more important to their organizations in the next three to five years.

In short, as baby boomers exit the workforce, businesses may face a talent shortage. And a shrinking workforce combined with unskilled applicants could mean that businesses that choose to wait on the sideline may soon find themselves out of the game.

Understanding the need to enhance these skills is the first step in reshaping the future workforce. The first step will be to increase training and development funds to include basic communication, critical thinking, independent problem resolution and presentation skills. 

In an in-depth survey conducted by the Society of Human Resources (SHRM), The Conference Board, and Corporate Voices for Working Families and the P21, employers reported major deficiencies in the following areas: written communications, professionalism/work ethic, critical thinking and problem solving. In addition, businesses viewed the responsibility for providing that basic knowledge should be with the K-12 educational system. The irony, of course, is that career and technical education programs throughout NH are losing resources due to budget cuts, employers' resources are being stretched thin, and federal and state funding to support workforce readiness is threatened.

So what is the solution? Integration of the business community and the educational community is a good place to start. If we wish to prepare our future workforce, we need to become involved before they become employees. Students need and want to hear from business leaders about the skills they will need when entering the workforce and they certainly want to meet employer expectations. 

New Hampshire has several human resources professional associations that collaborate with the local high school and college career and technical coordinators developing programs that bridge the gap between current skill levels and those needed to gain employment or hold a job. Mentoring, job shadowing, workforce preparedness training and business/student roundtable discussions are just a few of the efforts taking place between the HR/business community and the academic community.

Recently, three of NH's Society for Human Resource Management chapters-Manchester Area Human Resources Association, Greater Nashua Human Resources Association and the Greater Merrimack Valley Human Resources Association-partnered with Pinkerton Academy in Derry to conduct workforce readiness training for 550 of its students. There are many other partnerships, but success in developing more of these is impeded by the lack of the business community's involvement. 

What's worse, more and more HR professionals are reporting that top business leaders are not volunteering for workforce readiness initiatives. This lack of support to improve this significant problem is short-sighted. Rather than viewing volunteer work as an expense, business leaders should consider this as an investment in developing future employees. Even just a few hours a month meeting with students as part of their curriculum can have a lasting effect on their development. Opening windows of opportunities for students to have a sneak peek into the future will not only help the students, but in the long run help businesses everywhere close today's skill gap.

Laurie Glaude PHR, is practice leader and vice president of Human Resources for Clark & Lavey Benefits Solutions Inc. and Workforce Readiness Chair for NH State Human Resources Council. Doug Cullen of Pinkerton Academy, Gayle Esterly of Londonderry High School, and Sam Backus, an account executive with Robert Half Management Resources contributed to this article. The website for the Human Resources State Council of NH is nhstatecouncil.shrm.org/local-chapters. It lists all chapters around the state.