9 Quick Fixes to Attract the Best Workers
Biz Coach Terry Corbell explains why it’s hard to get great workers and he gives you 9 quick fixes to attract the best workers.
Some things never change.
In 2006, I wrote a Biz Coach column about an exhaustive study that showed 69,000 employers in Washington state were frustrated over their inability to find the right workers – 51 percent of companies complained workers were unfit. As I recall, employers were concerned about a lack of workers’ skills, poor education and weak soft skills.
(To see the data in my column published by www.king5.com, click or Google this headline: HR study reveals weaknesses in WA workforce or scroll down. Note: I recently checked with the source of the study, Mike Hudson at the Association of Washington Business, www.awb.org,, and he says there has been no change.)
Since then, most U.S. companies have enjoyed a boom time and suffered in a downturn.
But one human resources problem remains – a shortage of skilled labor. That’s right, published reports indicate businesses have problems recruiting good employees.
But employees complain about a lack of jobs. Labor unions would have us believe companies are not paying enough in salary and benefits to attract workers. Not true.
There are countless unfilled jobs in the U.S. because of the economic climate and the structural gap between job requirements and worker abilities. Taxes are too high exacerbating a tepid economic climate and jobs are outsourced abroad. Meanwhile, too many American workers are not flexible enough in developing the right skills, getting the right training, and studying the right courses.
Why do many laid-off workers fail to have the right skillsets?
The high-school graduation rate is too low. Only a quarter of high-school students graduate from college. Technology needs math and science-educated workers. There will always be a need for good accountants. And there will always be a shortage of great salespeople and managers. But too many parents are not paying attention. Their children should be strongly encouraged to study and develop strong work ethics. The same is true for adults.
Most government agencies are bemoaning their revenue problems. But it is not a revenue problem. It is a spending and payroll problem that’s hurting the private sector. Not to mention the government infringement of the private employers’ economic and political freedoms. And the cost of labor is the single biggest expense of any enterprise – public or private.
Not to bore you with countless statistics, but the public sector is unrealistic. It used to be a problem for the public sector to compete with private enterprise in hiring productive people. But no more. Many government salaries and pension plans are much higher than the private sector. And the pension plans are grossly under-funded – in the aggregate – by billions of dollars.
So, how can a business compete?
True, the short-term solution is to offshore your needed services and products. You’ll temporarily solve your HR needs. It’s also an economical approach. And sad to say, employers say work ethics abroad are often stronger than in the U.S.
Meantime, it will be necessary to analyze your company’s strengths and weaknesses, anticipate your needs for talent, focus on training of your staff, recruit effectively, and develop and implement a strategic plan.
Here are the nine quick fixes to attract the best workers:
- Strengthen your brand. Differentiate from your competitors by enhancing your company image, innovate your product and service utility, become convenient as possible for your customers, and operate more efficiently. You will also learn that such steps will help attract the best employees.
- Performance management. Invest in training, mentoring and education – tools and resources to help your employees succeed.
- Succession planning. Retain and attract leaders for your firm, and develop a strategy to help your most talented employees ascend to senior levels.
- Talent development. Help your managers to evaluate your company’s HR strengths and weaknesses. Eliminate any gaps in your workforce and establish a harmonious environment for company growth.
- Promote diversity. It’s good business to consider and implement policies to recruit workers who are from other cultures. Add disabled applicants, and part-timers – such as stay-at-home parents and retirement-age workers.
- Recruitment. Target employees with the three A’s of hiring – attitude, appearance, and ability. (Note the priority of attributes. Both you and your customers will be pleased.)
- Compensation and benefits. No boss wants to over-pay employees, but if you do your best to provide for employees, they’ll deliver stronger performances and take better care of your company’s assets. Costco is a great example.
- Productivity. Reduce your skills gap by investing in technology.
- Adapt. Anticipate and respond to dynamic marketplace changes.
If properly implemented, you’ll see strong results. As they say in Hollywood, break a leg!
From the Coach’s Corner, remember you can increase profits with a strong focus on your employees.
My research shows about 52 percent of a customer’s buying motivation depends on what perceive about you and your employees.
What are the so-called soft skills of your spokespersons, customer service, finance and salespeople? Your customers want value, good service and to be treated well.
For more on this subject, visit “How to Fine-Tune Management of Your Staff,” http://www.bizcoachinfo.com/archives/690
HR study reveals weaknesses in WA workforce
How business and public sector agencies are partnering to solve problems
08:00 AM PST on Tuesday, February 7, 2006
By Terry Corbell
Although Washington is enjoying surging payrolls and declining unemployment, a soon-to-be published study has staggering news about workforce quality, which has resulted in lost profits for more than half of the state’s employers last year.
An estimated 69,000 companies, or 51 percent of statewide employers, had significant trouble finding qualified workers last year. In 2003, 45 percent of companies had difficulty in locating qualified employees.
Moreover, the reasons for the shortages are even more alarming: Employers said a high percentage of workers is ill-prepared for employment.
That was true in every region of the state, according to the new study by the Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. Its mission is to develop a “skilled and educated workforce.” The survey includes the responses of 2,100 employers from a broad cross-section of industries last fall and summer.
In my preliminary look at the data, the study didn’t quantify in dollars and cents how costly the problems are, but the firms that reported recruitment challenges pinpointed six obstacles to their profitability:
- Lower productivity, 57 percent
- Reduced sales, 57 percent
- Reduced product or service quality, 50 percent
- Prevented expansion of facilities, 27 percent
- Prevented development of new products or services, 21 percent
- Caused companies to relocate operations away from Washington, 1 percent
Employers said workers are deficient in two basic categories: 1. Soft skills, the ability to interact with others. 2. Hard skills, being able to perform their necessary job functions.
Companies finding it a challenge to hire qualified employees said the following percentage of workers is deficient in necessary skills:
- English as a second language, 76 percent
- Teamwork, 70 percent
- Communication abilities, 68 percent
- Problem-solving or critical thinking, 65 percent
- Computer literacy, 63 percent
- Acceptance of supervision, 56 percent
- Positive work habits and attitudes, 53 percent
- Occupation-specific skills, 43 percent
- Math, 42 percent
- Writing, 41 percent
- Reading, 24 percent
- Ability to adapt to changes in duties and responsibilities, 17 percent
As bleak as the data is, some of the skills, such as reading, have actually improved since the last study was conducted two years before.
The study also reveals more than six of 10 Washington employers hired new workers last year. That was an encouraging increase over the 55 percent of companies that hired new employees in the previous study.
Meantime, the companies experiencing difficulty in hiring workers said they’ve been forced to take extraordinary measures:
- 62 percent say they had to settle for under-qualified job applicants
- 52 percent intensified their recruiting efforts
- 49 percent were forced to boost their overtime payroll
- 40 percent of the jobs went unfilled
- 28 percent raised their wages for recruits
- 20 percent outsourced their projects
The problems seem to getting worse with entry-level workers: 63 percent of them fail to take responsibility for learning; 57 percent are unable to solve problems or make decisions; and 46 percent fail to observe critically.
There is a silver lining in the unwelcome news. I learned strong action by outstanding people is being taken to implement solutions.
By way of explanation, I was able to preview the data before its release when I interviewed Mike Hudson on “Washington Business Weekly,” the public affairs radio program sponsored by the Association of Washington Business (AWB). Hudson is working with the state agency as the executive director of The Institute for Workforce Development & Economic Sustainability (IWDES), a non-profit affiliate of AWB.
“IWDES operates as an intermediary between the public and private sectors making sure that agency heads and employees know and understand the needs and expectations of the business community,” said Hudson. “In addition, we try to educate the business community to all of the services that are available to them, and how they can access them.”
The five salient IWDES functions include workforce development, competitiveness, technology preparation, customized training and workplace safety.
“In 2006, IWDES will continue to work with the Community and Technical Colleges, the K-12 system and the four-year colleges and universities to improve the development of Washington’s workforce,” Hudson added. “We are working with the Employment Security Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs on the issue of returning veteran’s re-employment and training.”
IWDES has other missions, too: “We are assisting the Workforce Training and Education Training Board on the roll-out of the Work Readiness Credential and the update of the state’s workforce strategic plan, ‘High Skills, High Wages,’” Hudson said. “And, there is a possibility of working on projects with both the Gates Foundation and Microsoft.”
How did IWDES originate?
“In 2001, AWB President Don Brunell, a 20-year friend, approached me about an idea he had for creating a not-for-profit affiliate of AWB to focus on workforce and economic development issues,” Hudson said. “Workforce and economic development have been passions of mine for quite some time and the thought of creating a completely new organization was very appealing to me, along with the opportunity to work with Don again, AWB’s members, staff and the amazing array of politicians, policy makers and bureaucrats that inhabit the state capital.”
If you want more information, the workforce study is expected be published online: www.wtb.wa.gov. However, now, you can listen to the Hudson interview by visiting www.awb.org and clicking on the link, “Washington Business Weekly Radio Show.”
In my human resources experience, the study’s negative results are not a surprise. Thankfully, business and public sector agencies are working strategically to improve the workforce.
From the Coach’s Corner, here’s a tip on recruitment and insuring success with employees. It starts with what I call the “Four A’s of Hiring.” Hire workers based on attitude, astuteness, appearance and ability. Note that ability is the least important quality. A worker with a great attitude and intelligence can be easily trained.
Otherwise, missed profits are inevitable. Left unchecked, it leads to organizational conflict, of which there are 11 symptoms:
- Worker negativity
- Communication problems
- Failure in strategic planning
- Inefficient organizational structure
- Power plays or politics
- Lack of alertness or dexterity
- Unattained goals
- Lack of cooperation
- Lack of resources
- Inordinate uncertainties
- Failure to bridge cultural differences
Troublesome employees who cause conflict tend to have basic seven undesirable traits:
- Arrogance
- Breaking of commitments
- Creating environment of fear
- Deceptive behavior
- Self-denial
- Disrespecting of others
- Lack of conscience
Ninety percent of such problems are solved with quality human resources training – if you have a focused, resilient trainer. And, yes, it’s hard work.
About 10 percent of employees usually aren’t trainable and they qualify for substance-abuse treatment or a 12-step program. Incidentally, even promising employees can slip into substance abuse a few times after treatment or participating in Alcoholics Anonymous, www.alcoholics-anonymous.org, or Narcotics Anonymous, www.na.org.
Al-Anon, www.al-anon.alateen.org, is designed for those affected by alcoholics and Nar-ANON, www.naranon.com, is for people impacted by drug addicts.
Take care of business and you’ll maximize revenue.
