Friday, January 04, 2013
As we enter a new year, we continue to see reports of employee skills gaps throughout most business sectors, even in the face of persistent high unemployment numbers. "The Cornerstone On Demand 2013 U.S. Employee Report" was conducted by Kelton, between Nov-23 and Nov-26, 2012 among 494 nationally representative employed Americans 18 and over. The survey was an effort to gage workers’ outlook and mind-set regarding “performance feedback, training and development, and career management”.
Selected highlights may come as a surprise to some readers:
● Increasing absence of ongoing training and development.
● Misaligned goals/expectations between managers & employees.
● Lack of individual recognition and performance feedback.
● The worldwide skills shortage is quickly becoming a crisis.
Cornerstone offered several solutions:
● Reskilling high-potential employees and filling critical roles.
● Coaching-style performance management.
● Crowdsourcing [360] performance feedback and recognition.
● Just-in-time training and development.
One thing is clear from the survey results, as least from the employees’ perspective; employers are not investing in a renewal resource, i.e., their own employees in an effort to close the skills gap. If employees lack clear work direction and managers are not providing constructive performance feedback and coaching, the organization’s performance will suffer. For the organization to succeed, employees require both monetary and non-monetary recognition coupled with 360-feedback from internal as well as external contacts. While most employers cannot address all aspects of the skills gap; organizations can provide training when and where it is needed, and in a multitude of formats.
● Increasing absence of ongoing training and development.
● Misaligned goals/expectations between managers & employees.
● Lack of individual recognition and performance feedback.
● The worldwide skills shortage is quickly becoming a crisis.
Cornerstone offered several solutions:
● Reskilling high-potential employees and filling critical roles.
● Coaching-style performance management.
● Crowdsourcing [360] performance feedback and recognition.
● Just-in-time training and development.
One thing is clear from the survey results, as least from the employees’ perspective; employers are not investing in a renewal resource, i.e., their own employees in an effort to close the skills gap. If employees lack clear work direction and managers are not providing constructive performance feedback and coaching, the organization’s performance will suffer. For the organization to succeed, employees require both monetary and non-monetary recognition coupled with 360-feedback from internal as well as external contacts. While most employers cannot address all aspects of the skills gap; organizations can provide training when and where it is needed, and in a multitude of formats.
In 2009, The American Society for Training and Development, The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management published the surveyed findings of 217 employers to analyze organizational performance on skills education for recently employed graduates of: high school, two and four-year colleges.
The study found “substantial workforce readiness training gaps exist” in the areas of:
The study found “substantial workforce readiness training gaps exist” in the areas of:
● Critical thinking and creativity skills.
● Awareness of ethics and social responsibility.
● Reading comprehension, writing, and math.
Similar deficiencies were also identified in a 2006 report by The Conference Board: “Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of the 21st Century Workforce”, which established that many new workers were unprepared to enter the workforce.
The 2009 survey also found that organizations are partnering with advocate organizations to overcome some of these shortfalls. Almost 200 public and private organizations are working with Year Up to help prepare individuals for the workplace thorough internships, mentoring, and other programs. The Northrop Grumman Apprenticeship School provides tuition-free and company-paid training in certificate and associate degree programs for shipbuilding trades.
Businesses and individuals can take other actions to use their corporate position and voice to:
● Awareness of ethics and social responsibility.
● Reading comprehension, writing, and math.
Similar deficiencies were also identified in a 2006 report by The Conference Board: “Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of the 21st Century Workforce”, which established that many new workers were unprepared to enter the workforce.
The 2009 survey also found that organizations are partnering with advocate organizations to overcome some of these shortfalls. Almost 200 public and private organizations are working with Year Up to help prepare individuals for the workplace thorough internships, mentoring, and other programs. The Northrop Grumman Apprenticeship School provides tuition-free and company-paid training in certificate and associate degree programs for shipbuilding trades.
Businesses and individuals can take other actions to use their corporate position and voice to:
● Communicate that new workers must be ready work.
● Partner with educators to develop skills programs.
● Adopt systems to document cost of ill-prepared workers.
● Encourage spending of corporate philanthropic funds on readiness.
● Use thier voices on discussions of worker readiness skills.
● Partner with educators to develop skills programs.
● Adopt systems to document cost of ill-prepared workers.
● Encourage spending of corporate philanthropic funds on readiness.
● Use thier voices on discussions of worker readiness skills.
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