The Employment Puzzle Enters a New Age

The challenge of addressing the complexities of recruiting an effective workforce has become more challenging in recent years. Over the last decade many businesses were able to address the issue of job fit by simply doing an end run around it due to the availability of workers. Now the labor force has begun to shrink and employers are beginning to experience not only fewer available workers but a shortage of qualified candidates.

70 million baby boomers are retiring or will shift to a more independent career while businesses and government step up the competition for the 45 million available workers. Now there is an increased need to consider the employment culture of these new workers as the X and Y generation begins to display a much different picture than did their father’s workforce.

Our new world economy is finding it critical that we be more competitive with businesses that we have been insulated from in the past. It is apparent that business will not only need to be more productive but rely on new means of efficiency to insure that businesses prosper. Technology can only go so far in providing the needed savings and the most obvious target to take a bite out of the cost pie is labor. In order to realize these new economies, workers will now need to fit or match their job more closely than in the past.

The newest tools for screening and selection have been available for several years and are only now being viewed with importance as the need for more productive employees becomes imperative. Measuring the needs of each job description is the first step in duplicating results of the firm’s best workers. The process creates a pattern that can be followed which will lead to employees which are similar to those who have performed well in the past. Reviewing work experience and training history provides yet another critical piece of the new labor puzzle.

The element of corporate culture is becoming more challenging as the newest workers bring new lifestyles into the picture. These workers are predicted to be the highest maintenance workforce this country has ever seen and recent studies has found them to be independent, self motivated, less team oriented and resistant to constructive criticism. They will demand ongoing personal development to fuel their career advancement and will display limited company loyalty.

The biggest factor in employee retention will be training and advancement of these employees as they scale the corporate ladder with frequent career changes. The new formula for finding, screening, hiring, training and retaining good employees will continue to evolve but will now need to start by using leading edge job fit technology and effective screening best practices. An ever increasing number of employers are finding success and confidence in 6th generation screening surveys that are more accurate and easier to implement than older first and second generation personality tests. The WorkPerfect Matrix provides job benchmarking and applicant screening at a minimal cost while taking much of the guesswork out of the hiring process. The Counterproductive Behavioral Index identifies potential dependability, hostility, substance abuse, honesty, computer abuse and sexual harassment issues that can reduce liability exposure from employee actions.

Background research has become critical for businesses due to the legal liability which employees may cause through minor inappropriate actions. Researching a candidates criminal history, driving record, credit report and social security number will identify past actions that could come back to haunt a new employer. Business motivation surveys scales are being used to increase productivity and they fit hand in glove with training initiatives.

The SkillBuilder Self Development System offers dozens of training modules which are business centered and can be taken online and off the company clock. It is credited for increasing employee effectiveness in specific job related areas while helping with employee retention. Tools like the Prevue for selection and Managerial Assessment of Proficiency (MAP) are keys to selecting and developing middle and upper level managers. The use of these human asset management tools is made easier and more cost effective by your membership in the Georgia Retail Association which qualifies you for additional discounts and individual attention.

For information on these services contact Bruce King at the PDR/ Performance Technology Group at 678-698-6545 or 1-800-233-7896 or by email at pdrpathway@joimail.com.