Dan Campbell Talks About Solving Skills Gap Issues in Technical Education Magazine By Hire Dynamics CATEGORY: News POSTED: January 27, 2016 Solving the Two Most Common Struggles of Filling Skills Gap Positions By Dan Campbell, CEO of Hire Dynamics Do you recall the first time you heard someone refer to the “job skills gap” – you know, the former buzzword turned industry-wide problem? By now, undoubtedly, most of us are tuned into the discussion around the skills gap. When we talk about filling a gap, it usually means that something needs fixing or correcting. Or for business, it requires an analysis to determine how to get from where you are to where you want to be. But what does it mean for employment and finding talent? Thirteen million people are looking for work while three million jobs go unfilled. In other words, this gap we are referring to is the space between the skill set of prospective workers and the skill set a company requires to not only perform the job, but excel in the role. When the dialogue around this disconnect first began, it left business leaders caught between agreeing with the concept, knowing this is a reality, and also wondering to what degree it is affecting their own companies. What we have come to find is that it is prevalent among the skilled trades such as manufacturing and construction. And what’s worse, the gap seems to be widening. Since the discussion is at such a macro level, we thought we would break down the two most common struggles business leaders experience when working toward filling skills gap positions. Problem #1: A Lack of Urgency We know that the skills gap indirectly impacts the HR mindset and how people recruit for certain jobs, namely the positions where training is required before placement of the professional, such as welders, CNC machinists and bilingual contact center reps. Because the skills gap plays a role in how long a position is open, hiring managers have grown more comfortable not following through with a sense of urgency to capitalize on a candidate. It’s important to pinpoint which positions take longer to fill in order to plan ahead and implement solutions, such as using temporary staffing, to keep key functions covered until the right candidate is found. You may even find that your temporary fix is a viable full-time employee – according to the American Staffing Association, in 2014 72 percent of temporary employees were offered positions with the employer whom he or she temped for. Read the rest of the article.
