"War on talent" as employers seek workers

"War on talent" as employers seek workers

Employers are having a hard time finding good people, and all employers are competing for the same shrinking pool of well-qualified employees.

That competition—a “war on talent”—has gotten worse over the past two years, said Theresa Carik, an organizational psychologist with Development Dimensions International, who spoke May 8 at the Manufacturers’ Resource Conference, sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce and Elgin Community College.

This marked the second year for the conference, which invited 313 Elgin-area manufacturers as well as those from the ECC college district. Participants ranged from those with “only a few employees to the very large,” said Ginger Knapp, director of corporate training at ECC.

“We wanted to bring together business, educators and the community,” to discuss the issues affecting all groups, Knapp said. “We are all in this together, and we all have a stake in the community.”

Knapp and Pat Hayes, president of Fabric Images and economic development director for the Elgin Chamber, developed the manufacturers’ conference to address a need for both workforce and economic development.

The concept of workforce development has been around for awhile, Hayes said, but hasn’t been directly addressed as an issue in the Elgin area.

Neither, he said, are Elgin manufacturers getting what they want or need from employee candidates.

Keynote speaker Edward E. Gordon, author of “The 2010 Meltdown,” discussed the lack of well-trained employees coming from U.S. secondary and post-secondary schools.

Small group speakers focused on issues including doing business in China, immigration and customs enforcement, and “green” technology.

Carik’s luncheon address focused on how businesses fill open positions, whether the functions they are using to fill jobs actually work for them, and how to retain those new hires they just spent so much time and energy to get.

In a joint study with DDI and Monster.com, they found that 51 percent of employers believe they are finding fewer qualified candidates than just two years ago, Carik said, adding that the same percentage feels they must “sell” the job to the candidate.

And after all of the work to get an employee in the organization, 53 percent expect to lose a direct-reporting employee within six months, Carik said.

Once candidates are found, the hiring process isn’t any easier, either, she said.

Between 46-86 percent of respondents said they only use interviews to screen candidates, 53 percent said they don’t use consistent practices for those interviews, and 44 percent said their hires are based on instincts and intuition, Carik said.

To hire and retain good people, businesses must use good screening and testing, use targeted questions in interviews and provide the candidates with real-world simulations to screen out those who may interview well, but don’t have the needed skills.

After all of that, the employee can’t just be dropped at his desk or work station, Carik said.

“Now that you’ve gone through the process, the new employee will be more productive and an faster producer for you,” if the employee is effectively “on-boarded,” she said.

People who are effectively trained once they get to a company are more likely to stick around, Carik said.

“It reduces the frustration people feel on the job.”

The mishmash of hiring systems isn’t necessarily the fault of bad leadership or poor planning by a company, Carik said. Often, it’s the result of a business growing quickly.

“They don’t get the right processes from the get-go. Then, it’s hard to get it in after you’ve been around for 5-10 years.”

Often, it takes a string of bad hires for a businesses to get serious about profiling potential employees. She warns businesses to look closely at the testing they set up, and to not just go for an easy answer.

“There is a lot of garbage out there—$5 tests on the Internet,” claiming to help filter employees, Carik said. But, tests need to be not only legally defensible, but designed to a business’s needs.

As much as testing candidates can help find managers, it can also help fill jobs on the production line, Carik added.

“If you don’t care about the process, and hire whoever walks in the door, you will have to replace them quickly,” Carik said. “It takes a minimum of six months for an employee to really know the job—but turnover rates show many employees leave in the first 90 days.

“You are constantly in the red,” with human talent, Carik said.

Establishing a testing system and all the other steps needed for successful employee retention can be painful, Carik said. “But, it is short-term pain for long-term benefits. And in a couple of month, you will start having the right person for the job.”

Janelle Walker, Contributing Writer

Posted on Wednesday, June 04, 2008 (Archive on Wednesday, June 11, 2008)
Posted by jstoltz Contributed by jstoltz

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