By Helene Geiger
With 70 million Baby Boomers preparing to retire, and only 40 million workers from Generations X/Y/Y to replace them, organizations face crippling worker shortages. According to Business Week, the US can expect a shortfall of 8 million workers, as soon as 2010.
Numbers like these send HR Directors scurrying to update their Recruitment and Retention strategies. To compete for workers in a buyers market, they will need to use every one of their HR assets strategically. And that includes their Training assets.
Here are some ways that Training can be used to offset the effect of worker shortfalls:
Sweetening Your Recruitment Offer
If workers are scarce, salaries and benefits will rise. But that's not all that organizations will need to compete for Generation X/Y/Z workers. History has taught these generations that “lifetime employment” is a myth. Studies show that Gen X/Y/Z workers are looking for jobs where they can learn, grow, and amass resume-enhancing credentials. They specifically seek out companies who promise robust training opportunities. Organizations with strong curricula and well-thought-out development programs will enjoy a distinct competitive advantage in attracting Gen X/Y/Z workers.
Speeding Up Your On-Boarding Process
Once you hire, how long will it to get your employee productive on the job? No matter how qualified, new-hires need to learn the organization's culture, safety and compliance requirements, and work practices.
A well-planned New-Hire Orientation training program can speed up the on-boarding process and make it more consistent. See 10 Tips for Online Orientation for techniques on how to set up this type of program.
Raising the Bar on Retention
Losing an employee is costly. Losing an employee during a worker shortage can be devastating. How can you prevent your workers from walking out that door?
Exit interview data tells us that many employees quit their jobs due to some variation of, "My boss is a jerk." They blame their managers' poor communication skills, lack of feedback, lack of recognition, dictatorial management style, you name it. Studies of Gen X/Y/Z workers tell us that they prefer a more open management style and better two-way communication with their managers.
That's why many HR Managers think of Supervisory and Management Training as part of their retention strategy. Supervisors and Managers need to learn how to communicate clearly, give feedback without turning the employees off, provide meaningful recognition, delegate successfully, and inspire employees with a sense of loyalty and common purpose. Managers need to learn what motivates – and what demotivates – their employees, and they need to learn how to adjust their managerial style to accommodate different employees' needs. In addition, because the nature of your workplace is likely to change radically during a worker shortage, managers need to learn about leading through periods of change.
Fostering Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty
Just like you, employees want to belong to an organization that believes in them and invests in their growth. Training is a win-win approach to fostering employee loyalty. The organization wins when employees learn to work better, faster, more accurately, or more synergistically. And employees don't send resumes if their current job is providing them with opportunities to learn new skills or advance to a higher position.
Boosting Productivity and Performance
Worker shortages mean leaner organizations. With fewer people doing the same work, each worker will need to become more productive, just to stay even.
How will you boost on-the-job productivity? Assume that the organization will invest in new systems, new technologies, new work processes that expedite worker tasks, just to stay even. But technologies themselves won't increase productivity. Your people will need to be trained on how to use it, how to maximize its potential, and how to incorporate it into their evolving work processes.
And don't forget the need for cross-training. Especially in organizations that are forced to run a bit leaner than they would prefer, cross-training is a proactive way to protect yourself so the inevitable vacations or maternity leave won't bring your organization grinding to a stop.
Protecting Your Intellectual Assets
Remember those retiring Baby Boomers? They possess important knowledge, knowledge that newer employees could benefit from learning.
Before they walk out the door with all of that knowledge, consider assigning key Boomers to serve as Subject Matter Experts or Content Reviewers on training development teams where they can share that knowledge with current and future employees. Boomers enjoy the "expert" role. Who knows? They may even be willing to postpone retirement for a while to take on the new challenge!
To offset the effects of a worker shortage, HR will need to deploy each of its assets creatively. Training can be an important part of an overall strategy to keep your organization staffed and productive, without breaking the bank.
Helene Geiger is President of Prometheus Training Corporation.
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