In Search Of Skilled Workers, Companies Scramble To Fill Needed Positions
By Rodney Tanaka Staff Writer© Pasadena Star-News/The Summitt, March 30, 2007
Unemployment is hovering near record lows and baby boomers are nearing retirement, leaving companies in the San Gabriel Valley and elsewhere scrambling to find skilled workers.
Some employers are finding creative ways to fill the void while others continue to use tried-and-true methods, according to recruitment experts.
“A lot of people who sit on boards of major corporations are nearing retirement age, making succession planning a hot topic,” said Carl Kutsmode, principle in a recruiting solution practice with Capital H Group, a human capital management consulting firm.
“Sixty percent of their clients want planning and strategy to deal with the retiring work force,” he said.
“Some companies are thinking outside the box, leveraging online social networking sites like MySpace.com to target younger workers,” Kutsmode said.
“Others are using the power of Internet technology to become a talent magnet, pulling searches to their Web site,” he said.
“Another area of investment is employment branding, communicating an image to the marketplace of what it’s like to work at the company. This strategy might elevate a company to the status of an employer of choice,” Kutsmode said.
But that type of work starts from within. A company that works employees 16 hours a day and has high turnover will not reach this status.
“Understand your culture,” Kutsmode said. “Make changes to the culture that would attract the talent you desire.”
One of his clients had trouble recruiting and retaining night workers. A survey showed they were looking elsewhere for work because they wanted a hot meal provided to them when they finished their shift so they didn’t have to go home and wake their families while making breakfast.
“This minor insight provided change and significantly reduced turnover,” Kutsmode said. “More clients understand it costs more to replace a good worker than to invest in programs and understand why people are leaving.”
“One renewable resource is hiring students straight out of college. But even that process is evolving. Companies used to target the top schools, but now more companies are targeting schools based on the quality of a specific program and whether there’s a diverse population to meet diversity quotas,” he said.
“Azusa Pacific University has an online career database where companies can post job openings for free. About 50 or 60 new jobs are posted each week and at any given time the database has 400 to 500 postings,” said Holly Holloway-Friesen, APU’s Associate Director of Employer Relations.
APU also holds career fairs and invites employers to conduct interviews on campus for internships as well as full- and part-time positions.
“APU students are required to volunteer 100 per year to graduate, giving them a leg up on attracting interest,” Holloway-Friesen said.
“Most employers want not only education but some experience too, either through an internship, volunteer experience or working experience, and most APU students have that,” she said.
“Other tried-and-true techniques include recruitment advertising in newspapers, trade journals and, increasingly, the Internet,” said Gary Kaplan, President of Gary Kaplan & Associates, a Pasadena-based executive search firm.
Most organization receive a substantial amount of inbound letters, resumes and e-mails. Company websites often link to job openings.
“Very often those sites are not monitored as carefully as they need to be on a real time basis,” Kaplan said. “A fair number of applicants feel they wind up in a black hole. They never hear from anybody. If you’re going to have a job posting site, it behooves you to be on top of it.”
Posting a want ad generates candidate flow, but there’s often no evaluation being performed.
“If they take time to do an effective job, odds are they can make a match last considerably longer,” Kaplan said.
Finding certain job skills requires additional training. The Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board is part of a national workforce preparation and employment system created in 1998. More than 40 one-stop centers throughout Los Angeles County provide free training and job placement assistance.
“Some centers see 3,000 to 4,000 people a month,” said Richard Nichols, Chairman of the Los Angeles County Workforce Investment Board.
The board has hired consultants to determine the needs of employers.
“Hopefully, we will then know what to spend our training dollars on,” he said.
“Having work skills includes being at work on time and being ready to learn and be productive,” he said.
“But the key word is they have to want to go to work and want to get some training,” Nichols said.
