Where Have All the People Gone?

In our continuing discussions of hiring and retaining the best people, we submit this week’s power idea as evidence of the growing need to hire the right person, in the right position, and then continually develop them for top performance. This is very true today, but will be increasingly true tomorrow. The Millennial Generation has far different needs from the work life than any generation before it. We must pay attention to these trends and be prepared to adjust our hiring criteria, onboarding and continual development of new employees if we expect to keep them. Enjoy this week’s Power Idea and don’t forget to share with us your feelings about this important issue. 

Increasingly, it is becoming apparent that it is now much more difficult to fill open positions within your organization. As predicted, we will begin to feel this shortage in significant ways.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has focused specifically on the growing labor shortage. The Chamber predicts a challenging future for U.S. employers if current economic and workforce trends continue. ”The gap between available jobs and available workers with the skills needed in those jobs could grow to over 35 million in the coming years.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average tenure for workers ages 25-34 is only 2.9 years per position, and is declining.

The Information Technology Association of America reports one in every ten positions will be vacant in large to mid-sized companies.

The United States Department of Labor reports on workers ages 36 to 40, and no less than 36% accepted positions for less than a year, and 72% ended in fewer than 5 years. The lesson? Employees are increasingly mobile and will seek job satisfaction elsewhere quickly if they are not satisfied with their current situation.

Needless to say, companies will begin competing for the best employees, leading to increasing payrolls and other perks designed to woo qualified people from their current positions.

What is the solution? RETENTION! 

Jim Collins, in his bestseller, Good to Great, advises that we must recruit the right people onto the bus and be absolutely sure they are in the right seats (jobs). When people are fully engaged in their work, they are much less likely to look elsewhere. Issues of flexible hours, life balance, feeling in on things, having some control over their own destiny, etc., are far more important than money. That isn’t to say that money isn’t a factor. If your company has not recently evaluated the compensation plan to be sure it is competitive, there exists exposure to your best employees being recruited by others.

It’s also important to make sure that if you have employees who do not fit your organizational culture that you get them off of the bus; don’t settle for second best, because that is what you’ll end up with.

At HPISolutions we are experts at helping our clients understand how to hire, retain and develop the best people. Contact us at info@HPISolutions.com. We will be happy to sit down and develop a plan to protect your most important and expensive assets.

To Your Success!
Jerry

Statistics and data courtesy of TTI Performance Systems, Ltd and the Society for Human Resources Management.