Everyone could see the writing on the wall. The workforce is experiencing a massive exodus as 10,000 Baby Boomers reach 65 daily. Since 2010, the Boomers’ workforce share has decreased by an average of 5,900 per day. This leakage won’t be stopped anytime soon since all Baby Boomers are expected to reach 65 by 2030.
Many people have missed this trend and are now paying for it as there is a shortage of workers who want to fill the vacancies. This problem is even more acute for companies looking for employees with specific skill sets.
Bridging the Skills Gap
McKinsey’s research shows that over 40 percent of companies already have “skills gap” issues in their workplace, and 90 percent of CEOs believe their organization will face them within five to ten years. This has led to a forecast that 375,000,000 workers may have to switch occupations to keep up with the needs of companies worldwide in the coming decade.
Looking at the details, you will find that companies report a lack of “hard” skill areas. These skills go well beyond traditional skills. Companies struggle to find qualified employees in hard-skill areas such as data analytics, mobile management, and web administration. Businesses have difficulty finding staff with “soft skills,” such as frontline and executive management, or those with “professional” abilities, like financial/risk, mobile, or web management.
Hiring only will not be enough to bridge the skills gap. Robots aren’t the only solution. More and more companies are looking to “reskilling,” a method of training their current employees, to solve the problem.
What’s most telling, however, is how they direct their efforts to reskill.
True Skills Shortage
More and more businesses are focusing on developing new leaders in their organizations by cultivating a deeper understanding of business.
A McKinsey study found that the area most commonly targeted by companies in their reskilling initiatives is “critical thinking” and “decision making,” not CAD or programming languages. Leadership, continuous learning, and adaptability are also in demand.
More and more businesses are realizing the importance of creating a team of entrepreneurs to bridge the skills gap that could limit their future growth.
First, you can open your books and teach your employees how they should think and behave like owners.
Plan Strategically from the Bottom Up
You can attend the SRC High-Involvement Meetings, held in October and June, or their “Sales & Marketing meeting” in Springfield, Missouri.
In these three-day meetings, the 10 divisions of the firm present their plans for the coming year and their five-year plans to the firm’s board of directors and their co-owners.
These meetings are primarily designed to gain “buy-in,” or agreement, from all employees about the direction they want to take together. The goal is to build confidence and trust in your plan and any contingencies you may need to implement if an unexpected event occurs, like a pandemic.
SRC has also survived multiple recessions and even “Black Swans” over the last 40 years. They have done this by constantly upgrading their associates’ skills and teaching them to make informed decisions and think critically with The Great Game of Business. This is how they plan from the bottom to the top.
Silos being torn down
The Great Game of Business teaches business literacy and helps people identify strengths and weaknesses. The Great Game of Business is about breaking down walls and silos in the command and control area and leveling playing fields between frontline workers and managers. To compete with the competition of the future, organizations will have to make use of the contribution of every associate. Why not give them the same access and skills as owners and managers? Why not invite them to help create the plans for the company?
Businesspeople or Robots?
How will organizations address the labor shortages which are expected to persist? Some might invest in robots or new technologies. It’s time to pose the following question: Wouldn’t you prefer an army of robots or entrepreneurs working for you, a business made up of people?
