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We are off to a flying start in 2018, as our businesses continue to grow and we expand our client partners in event management, marketing, and customized training solutions! And, despite a more volatile stock market of late, the overall outlook for our economy is very positive.
As we reap the benefits of low interest rates and lower taxes,
we are seeing signs that organizations across a wide spectrum of business sectors are starting to shift their focus towards developing their people in this "full employment" economy.
In our February newsletter, we review major trends in training that organizations are embracing to improve productivity and create a more engaged, enthusiastic and effective workforce.
We hope you enjoy our monthly newsletters, and look forward to hearing from you about topics you would like to see us cover in future editions. As always, we will post this newsletter on our
HRG In the News
and
HRG LinkedIn Group
pages, and invite you to comment on them.
Wishing you all the best for continued success!
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Robert O. Sanders Jr., CMP
Partner
Hospitality Resource Group, Inc.
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Michael Lattari
Partner
Hospitality Resource Group, Inc.
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Booming Economy Leads to Workforce Reinvestment
The continued economic expansion has started to impact businesses in many positive ways
. One of the key outcomes is that companies are likely to reinvest windfalls from higher profits into training and development of their people.
This
recent article in Training Industry
described how companies have started to create "brand/buzz agents" from these investments. In one study, a 10 percent increase in investment in employee engagement led to an increase of $2,400 in profits per employee per year.
According to our research, we can expect to see a renewed focus on growing organizations from within, and an increase in investment in workforce training in 2018 and beyond.
Here are some of the key issues and opportunities to look for in the months ahead:
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Promoting Cultural Diversity and Awareness
Our society has been moving forward in our appreciation of cultural diversity, and this is trickling down into the workplace. According
to an article in
The Job Network
What's in Store in the Workplace, "we can expect to see most companies enhancing their efforts to ensure that their workplaces reflect the rich diversity that exists in our increasingly globalized world." According to Amy Cooper Hakim, an industrial-organizational psychologist, "more companies will hold training classes (both virtually and in-person) to ensure that all members of an organization treat others with respect. This respect is vital for interactions with employees, employers, stakeholders and clients."
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The Aging Workforce Will Impact All Generations
This article in Forbes Workforce Trends You'll See in 2018, reviews the impact on the aging workforce, with baby boomers living longer than previous generations and retiring later.
About three in every four Americans plan to work past retirement age, and almost two-thirds said they will continue to work part-time.
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As baby boomers maintain their leadership positions, it will be harder for younger workers to rise up in their organizations and could lead to higher turnover, stress and frustration.
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Leaders Will Need to Encourage Human Interaction
Companies will be looking to design workspaces to facilitate interpersonal relationships between employees.
One study
found that moments of conversation between co-workers increases performance by 20% and
another study
revealed that 72% of employees who have a best friend at work are more satisfied with their job.
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Full Employment Impacts Economic Expansion
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There are currently
6.2 million
job openings in America that are unfilled - up from 5.6 million in 2016. Companies can't find the right workers with the right skills, at the right time.
According to The National Federation of Independent Business, 45% of small businesses were unable to find qualified candidates to fill job openings, and
60% of all employers
have job openings that stay vacant for 12 weeks or longer. This costs them $800,000 annually in lost productivity and advertising fees! As the half-life of a learned skill is a mere
five years
,
companies need to evolve their approach to maintain and grow their workforce effectiveness and productivity.
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Growing Emphasis on People Skills
Living in a technologically-driven world has led to a breakdown in basic communication skills. There is less and less human interaction occurring in business today. Soft skills such as emotional intelligence, collaboration and negotiation are growing more important as organizations become more global and diverse.
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Companies to Focus on Upskilling and Retraining Workers
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As the classroom size continues to shrink, the role of the instructor is changing from a facilitator for a large audience to a personal coach or tutor. Instructors are moving beyond traditional facilitation skills to encompass a range of storytelling and coaching skills as they personalize the learning experience and place learners at the center of the training experience.
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Training Spend to Increase
Many refer to our economic situation as "full employment". With record low unemployment, companies have turned to investing in their existing workforce to improve productivity and job satisfaction. According to Training Industry Magazine-
training budgets appear to be on the rise, and they expect a 2-5% increase this year.
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Workforce Investment- The Big Payoff
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As we move into a new era and businesses recommit to developing their people, a growing number of companies are pursuing innovative strategies to help them build pipelines of future talent. Prominent examples include Amazon Career Choice, McDonald's Archways to Opportunity, and Starbucks/ASU. These companies are working to "enhance their employer brands and provide their employees a framework for lifelong employability".
Their motivation? Not as altruistic as some may believe. Actually, the key factors that drive companies to invest in their people include:
- Revenue Generation- The Amazon Career Choice program helps their employees develop skills for their best next job in growing fields like health care, computer-aided design or machine tool technologies, and they return the investment in loyalty as brand ambassadors.
- Cost Reductions- Creating educational pathways and investments in employees keeps them in the organization longer, reduces costs, and offsets their investments in training. There are three areas where investments in frontline worker development can reduce costs to the organization:
- Cost of turnover
- Cost of recruiting
- Avoiding costs from lost productivity (e.g. from errors and mistakes)
- Risk Mitigation- Two important areas of risk that learning leaders have started to target are competitive risk and market risk. In considering competitive risk, organizations that are not proactively investing in their workforces are not building their skills capacity and will not be seen as employers of choice by potential employees. Building a pipeline of skilled talent improves their competitive positioning in their market.
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Workforce Training Solutions
Here are some important considerations in creating an effective worker development program in your organization:
- Define your objectives - Reduce turnover? Improve recruitment? Build talent pipeline?
- Develop consultative partnerships with clients
- Identify key stakeholders for the discussion
- Review top organizational priorities and identify gaps in skills and experience
- Identify the policies and processes that you need to change to make the program successful
- Determine the needs of your employees to advance their skills and facilitate their career paths
- Define and determine sources for funding
- Establish performance success metrics
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Workforce Development: Delivering Innovative Training Solutions
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Based on these findings and a growing body of research on the dynamics of today's workforce, organizations have started to invest more in their people through professional development and customized training, to help them fulfill both personal and career goals, and to improve their bottom lines.
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Survey Question
Are you planning to participate in, or manage any new training programs at your organization this year?
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At
HRG's Strategic Training Solutions, we are working with a growing number of clients who are looking for new ways to engage and retain their employees. Over the past year, forward-thinking organization leaders have reached out to us to help them in their efforts to promote professional development.
Strategic Training Solutions works with organization leaders to help them realize the untapped potential of their entire workforce. STS offers interactive workshops that help employees and managers increase their individual contributions to their organizations, and further establish and enhance the link between work satisfaction and job performance.
Think your Workforce Development and Performance Management strategies needs a fresh approach? The HRG Strategic Training Solutions team is here to help you! To learn more about our custom designed workforce training and staff development solutions, call Hospitality Resource Group at (914) 761-7111 or email Laura@hrginc.net.
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About Hospitality Resource Group
Hospitality Resource Group, Inc. (HRG) is a group of vertically integrated companies, with over 20 years of experience developing innovative training, marketing and event programs for businesses, education institutions, not for profit organizations and municipalities. HRG clients benefit from our proven ability to develop effective management solutions to expand their markets and engage their companies to
build brand equity, increase sales and improve productivity.
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| The HRG family of companies includes:
HRG has earned widespread recognition from leading industry organizations, including: |
Corporate Office: 237 Mamaroneck Avenue, White Plains, NY - Phone: 914.761.7111 - Fax: 914.761.7854 -
info@HRGinc.net
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