“It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me,” megastar Taylor Swift sings in her recent hit “Anti-Hero.” While she’s probably not referencing the leaders of skilled trades companies, she wouldn’t be too far off if she was. Most leaders understand that companies in the skilled trades are facing an unprecedented labor shortage, but only a few have recognized that the skilled labor shortage isn’t a blip — it’s a persistent, systemic phenomenon, and they might be the problem standing in the way of the solution.
Between record turnover and unfilled positions, the issue is undeniable, and the finger-pointing often starts with “kids these days” or “high schools only care about sending kids to college.” Rarely do the leaders in this market look in the mirror. The situation demands new management practices, modern strategies, and a full-scale reinvention of the systems that support, develop, and recruit a skilled workforce.
White-collar and knowledge industries offer career development models with increasingly sophisticated employee development systems. Business leaders in these fields have made a visible commitment to their employees, but the hands-on, skilled trade workforce has yet to see the same investment. For companies that rely on these workers as their economic engine, that’s a huge oversight. As the chronic labor shortage continues, it could prove to be a fatal flaw for many businesses.
Extend the ramp
What does this radical new system look like? Start with the familiar recruit, ramp and retain model. Our fundamental thesis is that deep investment in the ramp phase can have a transformative impact on skilled trades employers.
When we talk about the ramp phase, we don’t mean the first three months or even the first three years of employment. “Ramp” applies throughout a skilled trades worker’s entire term of employment, because you’re continually upskilling them — effectively ramping them throughout their careers.
Building an effective, continuous ramping program supports success in the recruiting and retaining phases. Recruiting is easier because your company becomes an employer of choice. Word spreads that you invest and develop team members and provide ongoing opportunities to learn new skills that advance their careers.
At the other end of the process, companies that haven’t committed to a system of career path development for employees struggle with attrition. Investing in pathways to advancement improves retention, however, because employees value the visible, tangible career support you offer, and they want to stay in positions that provide opportunity.
Effective skills assessment
The fundamental importance of the ramp phase is central to an emerging maturity model for skilled trades businesses regarding current and anticipated labor trends. We’re coming closer to identifying how specific companies have adapted their workforce development, hiring, and training practices to current real-world conditions and how the success of those new practices is reflected in market performance.
We’re identifying the common failure points. Is it too few candidates, inadequate screening, poor initial skills assessment, failure to create career pathing opportunities, or failure to capture institutional knowledge from retiring workers to ensure continuity? Where are companies falling short in creating a culture of knowledge and learning for their teams?
A persistent challenge for companies seeking to build a comprehensive culture and climate of ongoing learning for skilled workers is the work environment. In knowledge- and information-intensive industries, a variety of proven tools are available to assess what employees know and which skills should be emphasized in training: production, one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, and feedback from managers and peers.
For the skilled workforce, the office is always moving. An HVAC, electrical, or plumbing technician will visit multiple job sites in a single day, performing a wide variety of tasks. Monitoring and correlating their performance is difficult, and reliable metrics are still emerging.
Digital learning platforms with skill-based assessments offer incredible opportunities for these companies to quickly and accurately gauge the skill level of candidates, new technicians, and experienced technicians. Modern training that leverages online simulations, artificial intelligence (AI) powered mentors, and VR allows skilled trades workers to establish job-ready skills and serves as a valuable training solution for rapid and continuous upskilling.
Flexible, immersive, technology-based learning led by experts is a proven, effective method for establishing baselines, building foundational skills, and quickly preparing new workers for the field. Additionally, online hands-on training and VR serve as powerful recruitment tools for a digital-native generation. Because they are digital-first in everything they do, they expect digital career-building solutions. Industries and companies that have not fully adopted online training and learning tools will be left behind. Online and VR training are also foundational elements of the ongoing career support that can help a company become an employer of choice among younger workers who strongly value continuous learning and career development. Digital learning also improves the retention of current employees by supporting their career advancement goals.
A number of major efforts are underway to address the skilled labor shortage. The success of those efforts isn’t guaranteed, and it will be years before most companies see real results. In the meantime, companies must focus on ramping new employees and extending phased training throughout their careers to meet their needs and continue delivering outstanding service to customers. Digital training platforms are now crucial in helping these companies establish repeatable, reliable practices for enhanced ramping that accelerates foundational training as well as improves recruiting and retention.
As Taylor Swift notes, it’s exhausting rooting for the anti-hero. The leaders of the skilled trades industries are facing real challenges. But innovative solutions based on proven workforce and career development practices are available and increasingly accessible. If we’re not taking advantage of them, who’s the problem? And who’s the hero?
Written by Doug Donovan.
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