TODAY WE CHARGED – HEAD ON – WITH MORE THAN 50 OTHER BUSINESS WARRIORS…

TO BEGIN TO FIGHT ONE OF THE TOUGHEST BATTLES WE MUST WIN…

OUR SUCCESS DEPENDS ON OUR VICTORY IN THE WAR FOR TALENT.

 

The ongoing battle for talent isn’t being fought where you think.

Google, Apple, Yahoo, the NSA and many other BIG organizations battle it out every year to attract the best, of the best, of the best. They have amazing offices, outstanding perks, and over-the-top compensation packages. They are new, shiny, sexy. They have it all, and they use it to build their competitive advantage.

Thousands of applications from highly qualified workers pour in every year. Year, after year, after year.

They hire 2% or less of all applicants.

Which begs the question, WHERE’S THE WAR?

Where’s the war for talent when you have thousands of people getting degrees and specialized training just so they can apply to your company? No, this is not a war, it’s a luxury.

The real war for talent is being fought every day in small- to mid-sized companies across the country. In manufacturing companies who can’t run at capacity because there aren’t enough highly skilled workers. In steel companies who can’t find enough highly skilled welders and machinists. In factories that can’t find enough workers to compete because their job times are too long.

This talent gap is a real pandora’s box.

The tinkerers and builders out there – those fidgeters who are great with their hands, and would be the perfect fit for these jobs – are pushed into traditional four year college degrees for a number of reasons.

This pushing combined with the ‘overglamorizing’ of high tech and startup jobs has created a real world mess – four year graduates who struggle to find jobs, and manufacturing companies who can’t find skilled workers.

What about trade schools, technical colleges, and four year technical programs? They are trying their best to help solve this challenge, and they are doing a great job solving HALF of the issues.

Manufacturing companies need skilled workers, which means educated AND experienced, because they don’t have the time or the resources to wait 3-5 years for a worker to be ready to fully produce.

Trade schools, technical colleges, and many four year programs deliver the education, usually at very high levels. Graduates know the steps. They know the basics. They can run the machine…as long as no problems occur. What’s missing is the wisdom and the problem solving ability to do all that needs to be done every day to deliver finished products.

The battles are raging – the talent war marches on and on and on…and it will continue until dramatic change happens. Until manufacturing and building, fidgeting and tinkering regain their glory, becoming as valued as coding and programming, this struggle will remain.

AMEND, and many others, are working towards solutions. Change is on the horizon. Balance will eventually be restored, just in time for a new war for talent to begin.

 

Do you have a people issue, or a process issue? Or both? Not sure how to answer, we can help.