“We cannot continue to prepare today’s children for tomorrow’s world with yesterday’s education.”

That statement from the DuPage Area Education to Careers/Tech-Prep (ETC) organization kept popping up in my mind as I wrote about the Glen Ellyn-based non-profit and the 19 other deserving recipients of the Business Ledger’s 2007 Business Excellence Award.

Virtually all of these successful companies and organizations named customer service as one of the most, if not the most crucial component of business excellence. Other factors were mentioned as well, but for most customer service stands out as the differentiator separating successful companies from the ones that just struggle along or finally give up entirely. And there is no question that exceptional customer service is a trademark of this year’s class of winners profiled in this special section.

But I began to ask myself what might happen to customer service in the years ahead if all organizations don’t take seriously the concerns about the shortage of skilled workers and the dearth of competent people who will fill new or changing jobs as technology becomes even more complex, as American manufacturing continues to decline and as constant job training becomes a necessity.

I’ve written about this topic previously on these pages and so have many others, including Ledger commentator Sandra Westhead-Deenihan in the April 30 issue. She calls the current workforce shortage “a crisis,” and asks public policy leaders, businesses and educational institutions to find solutions.

A reason this issue doesn’t grab headlines very often is because most people have great confidence in the historic flexibility of the U.S. economy and therefore see worker shortages as temporary blips on the radar. “When this country is short on teachers, we get more teachers; short on lawyers, we get more lawyers, so don’t worry about it,” one business executive said to me a few years ago. The subject of workforce development also has a reputation like the weather: Everybody talks about it but nobody can do anything about it.

But they are mistaken on both counts. Our economy is a different creature than in the past. The hammer and screwdriver jobs that once employed millions of Americans have dwindled to a precious few. High school graduates don’t get jobs at the factory like their fathers and mothers did because there aren’t many factories. The flexibility argument pertaining to professionals also loses merit because Americans are being outnumbered in science and engineering careers by highly skilled people from other nations. Many I’ve talked to in the engineering profession are deeply concerned about America, once the designer and builder of the world’s greatest and most innovative engineering marvels, losing its edge to the point of no return.

It is unconscionable that a large percentage of freshmen college students need remedial courses in math and English before they can handle the demands of higher education. The test scores in many high school districts should make employers nervous about the ability of future employees to write a standard business letter or figure out the correct percentage amount of a customer’s discount. I recently gave a store clerk a $20 bill and 17 cents in change for a purchase totaling $15.17. He had no clue why I gave him the change and had even less of a clue when I asked for a $5 bill in return. He had a nice smile and a good service mentality, but not much between the ears.

What businesses are failing to recognize is that the cost of training young people to perform skilled jobs and to deal with the public efficiently is being shifted from the education world to the business world. In other words, businesses can’t expect to hire people ready-made for the jobs anymore. Big dollars will have to be spent by businesses to give them basic training.

John Brining, of the Oak Brook-based Construction Industry Services Corp.(CISCO) and another 2007 Business Excellence winner, spends a great deal of his time working with schools, parents and students to help them understand the opportunities in the construction trades, where virtually every skilled position is crying for people. Contractor employers and trade unions are equally involved in worker development programs.

He pointed out in a conversation that if Chicago does land the 2016 Olympics, will there be enough carpenters, electricians, roofers, equipment technicians, etc., to erect the buildings, venues and infrastructure necessary to serve the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city and the other local areas that will host the games? Sure we can import some workers, but many will take the money earned in our area and then return home.

To those who say workforce development is like the weather, they should know that DuPage ETC and CISCO are doing something about it. ETC conducts programs for local high school students to explain what the real world of work is like. Students often learn the hard way that what they learned in school doesn’t match the new demands of employers. CISCO produces an excellent guide with information about careers in construction, wage scales, benefits and other insights that kids rarely get from other sources.

Since companies invariably say that knowledgeable, resourceful, skilled people are the backbone of customer service and, therefore, of business growth and profits, employers need to take a hard look at how exceptional service can survive if the people entering the workforce don’t have the necessary knowledge, resourcefulness and skills.

First, businesses can support the programs of organizations like ETC and CISCO. Second, they can work with teachers and school administrators to make sure that math, science and English courses reflect today’s real world of work. Many groups of professional engineers do their part by participating in grade and high school science fairs. Third, they can encourage local high schools and colleges to provide more information to students on the wide range of jobs and careers available in our diverse, multi-tiered economy. Kids are generally unaware of careers other than what their parents do and what they see on prime time television. Fourth, they can meet with their own professional or peer groups to discuss workforce shortages and develop a strategies to address the issues locally.

Customers want more than empathy and a friendly face. They also want results. If the shortage of skilled workers continues to spread, one has to wonder if the aura of exceptional customer service can live up to its present billing in the future.