| |
Are You Ready?
November 2003
"The National Association of Manufacturers is forecasting a "skilled worker gap" beginning in 2004."
Is your company ready for the impact of the projected surge in employment next year and for the longer-term demographic changes that will create an unprecedented shortage of skilled workers over the next decade?
Recent economic indicators suggest that the U.S. job market is getting stronger - in particular, the September results of the 2003 Leadership Pulse, a research project conducted by the University of Michigan Business School, indicate that four-in-ten companies plan to increase the number of employees over the coming months, especially in companies with less than 100 employees.
The highest rates of anticipated growth are from Web-based technology and information technology firms, indicating that the technology industry is on the comeback.
As more employment opportunities emerge throughout 2004, this will invariably lead to rising turnover rates. What strategies does your organization have in place to retain your most valuable employees?
Increasing pressure on keeping employees is will not only come from the immediate prospects for the economy but also as a result of longer-term demographic trends. Over the 2000-2010 period, total employment is projected to increase by 15% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with professional and service occupations growing most strongly. As well, eight of the 10 fastest growing occupations are computer-related, specifically information technology occupations.
More importantly, a recent white paper issued by the National Association of Manufacturers is forecasting a "skilled worker gap" beginning in 2004 and growing up to 5.3 million workers by 2010, simply based on the assumption that the economy will return to its long-term growth rate of 3.0 to 3.5% per year.
The primary cause of this upcoming labor shortage is due to the aging of the baby boom generation, since the succeeding generations are not large enough to replace them. The employment shortage is expected to be most severe among management and skilled workers.
With these prospects, maximizing employee satisfaction and implementing effective retention strategies will become even more critical. However, two-thirds of managers are unable to quantify the cost of turnover in their companies. Estimates of turnover costs range from 25 percent to almost 200 percent of annual compensation. Costs that are more difficult to estimate include customer service disruption, emotional costs, loss of morale, burnout/absenteeism among remaining employees, loss of experience, continuity, and "corporate memory."
Knowing the cost of losing and then replacing an employee can help companies determine how much they can afford to invest in keeping them.
Robert D. Gray MBA, President
Insightlink Communications
information@insightlink.com
1-866-802-8095
Insightlink offers a variety of professional services that can help organizations both improve employee satisfaction and evaluate their reasons for leaving. Our services include:
- Insightlink's Organizational Barometer - a comprehensive diagnostic tool to determine how your employees feel on all 4Cs of employee satisfaction: Communications, Culture, Commitment and Compensation.
- Insightlink's Exit Survey System - a powerful online exit survey management tool that provides survey results in real time and the ability to create aggregate summaries as needed.
If budgets are an issue, Insightlink has also recently launched Insightpulse, a self-serve employee satisfaction service offering three levels of service, with prices starting at just $199 for a complete online study.
|
DID YOU KNOW?
Employees at smaller companies tend to be more satisfied with their jobs than employees at larger companies.
The potential savings in reduced turnover costs can easily repay the cost of an employee satisfaction study many times over.
Health services, business services, social services, engineering and management, are expected to account for a higher-than-average share of the projected increase in total employment.
|
|
