Employment Trends . . .
Exodus: Retirement for the
Baby-boomers
by JD Harvill CPC
For several
years now it has become increasingly difficult to identify
talent that can fit both a companies technical specifications
and the personality profile they have become accustomed to
seeking.
There are lots
of explanations for the increasing hiring challenges, and many
of them are connected to a single important fact:
The baby-boomers are retiring!
Many companies
seek to replace their outgoing baby-boomers with new talent
educated in best-practice system and process skills, but forget
to offset the loss of business savvy and people skills.
Then some
companies compound those simple hiring mistakes by failing to
implement mentoring programs that might give their new managers
a fighting chance to learn those hard to teach people skills.
Technical
skills are important, but often communication and motivation
skills ultimately decide the success or failure of a team.
Be creative
with mentoring programs, and try to keep some outgoing managers
in part-time or contract roles as trainers and motivators.
These programs can help lessen the voids left by strong
managers.
There will
still be vast differences in the methods and styles of the new
generation x managers.
Be prepared to accept and manage change moving forward,
otherwise new troubles will arise.
JD Harvill CPC,
jd@psa-recruit.com
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Professional Search of Atlanta, with an industry focus of
manufacturing and logistics, is the premier recruiting firm for
technical managers, engineers and supply chain executives in the
Southeast.
A member of the Georgia Association of Personnel Services
(GAPS), our president has been active with the local
professional associations; APICS (The Association for Operations
Management) and ISM (Institute of Supply Management) for over 15
years, and provides each association with Career Center
Assistance.
Our consultants, with decades of experience, provide candidates
for: materials management, engineering, production control,
supply chain management, logistics, distribution, warehousing,
high-tech manufacturing, purchasing, start- up projects,
turn-around projects, human resources, maintenance, validation,
documentation, quality systems (including ISO 9000 and Six
Sigma), research, design, telecommunications, as well as many
other aspects of general business management.
Our mission is to help build quality organizations, not just
fill "open req's" -- by recruiting top performers. We do
this by making your goals our own.
Because we network with professionals in companies across your
industry, we can provide you with:
Advice on salaries & benefits;
Vital industry contacts; and,
Access to candidates not on the open market.
Other Articles of Interest:
Building A Quality Organization
Factors Affecting Staffing...
Contingency vs Retained
Balancing Recruiting and Retention
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Dear Steve and
Jon,
I have taught math and science
for 8 years and want to move into a commercial job as an
inventory control analyst or purchasing agent. How should I
structure my resume most effectively
Signed: Ready for a Career Change |
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Steve Hines, consultant, career coach and
author of
Atlanta Jobs
http://www.ajobs.com/
Dear Ready,
If I am doing my math correctly, that makes you around age
30, an excellent time to change careers. Be aware that the
first question from a recruiter will be “Why do you want to
go into inventory control [or purchasing]?” You need to have
substantial reasons for your decision and then show that you
understand how your skills fit into that career path. For
now, forget about your resume and start attending the
meetings of Professional Associations in inventory control
(APICS) and/or purchasing (ISM). Learn as much as you can
about your chosen field, even taking courses either at a
local college or through the association. Develop a Job
Network through these groups, to help when you begin your
job search. Then when you construct your resume, you can
refer to the classes and the association, thereby proving
your intentions... |
Jon Harvill CPC, consultant with
Professional Search of Atlanta
http://professionalsearchatlanta.com/
Dear Ready,
In a ‘functional’ resume you have the opportunity to
elaborate on the ‘Qualifications’ and ‘Accomplishments’ that
will support your candidacy for the Inventory Analyst
position. Detail only those items that can be clearly
adapted to an Inventory position, such as math skills,
leadership skills, work ethics, computer skills and people
skills,. Upon reflection, you may come up with examples from
your previous part time work, volunteer organizations,
military service, sports, community or church work. These
could be as a bookkeeper, or a storekeeper or maintaining a
budget, or possibly teaching computer or business classes.
Finally and briefly, document your employment history. |
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Candidate Number One is clearly
brilliant. With degrees from the best institutions, his vocabulary
is liberally sprinkled with words that make you want to reach for
your pocket dictionary.
Candidate Number Two has a degree from a
second-tier school. While he's more plain-spoken and street smart,
you actually like him more. But, you think hiring the candidate
with the Ivy League sheepskin is the better bet because you just
assume that smarter is superior.
Not necessarily, says Jon Harvill, Managing Director
of Professional Search of Atlanta. “Both human resource experts and
social scientists have begun to recognize that while a candidate's
cognitive intelligence is important, his 'emotional intelligence'
quotient, or EQ, provides a better indication of how well he will
actually perform on the job,". Or, as Time magazine recently put it,
"It's IQ that gets people hired, but EQ that gets them promoted."
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The changing nature of the workplace has made a
worker's EQ more important than ever before. Today's company is often
less a hierarchy than a network of professionals, each with different
strengths and weaknesses. Assignments are carried out by teams of
individuals who pool their talents to get the job done. Many times the
most important accomplishments require more than just a team, but also a
catalyst person with EQ skills, with or without the hierarchical
authority over the other members, but with the ability to get the most
from the team as a whole.
As a result of this shift to team functionality, the
ability to understand one's own reactions to problems and stresses and
to take into account the attitudes and issues of others has become one
of the most valued business skills.
Emotional intelligence isn't placating your peers or
schmoozing your sales prospects. It's about personal discipline and
coping skills, as well as the ability to empathize with others and
enlist their cooperation, and to get things done within a specific
political environment.
We used to call it street smarts. We all know people
who just intuitively seem to know when to talk and when to keep quiet.
They fire up people's enthusiasm, and keep their head when those around
them are panicking. People like that are valuable assets to any
organization.
Staffing professionals, within internal HR staffs or
external recruiting professionals, make it a point to evaluate a
candidate's EQ just as they would any other workplace skill. While EQ
is a subjective measure, experienced recruiters include interview
questions and scenarios that are specifically designed to provide
insight into a candidate's ability to handle stress, empathize with
others, and work in a team. Effective use of behavioral interviewing
techniques can facilitate this evaluation of a candidate’s EQ.
Unlike cognitive intelligence, however, it may be
possible to increase your EQ. Older workers are often more self-aware
and self-motivated, and have better social skills. That has led some
researchers to believe that emotional intelligence is a learned behavior
... a skill that can be enhanced through proper training. Clearly, it
is an area worth exploring.
Some people achieve success without people skills, but
it is safe to say that a candidate with a high EQ often is the more
valuable employee in the majority of employment situations. In the end,
the ability to self-evaluate, steer clear of people's emotional
minefields and build an enthusiastic team can be far more important than
a couple of IQ points.
Jon Harvill CPC,
jharvill@psa-recruit.com
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