I recently read a report by ManPower Group that stated more than 52% of employers said they were unable to find candidates with the right skills to fit the job openings they have. So let me get this straight, our national unemployment is hovering just above 9% (remember last month I told you that young people ages 18-24 had the highest unemployment rates, around 17%) and we can’t find the right candidates with the right skill set to fit the jobs we have? Something’s not right here! Even worse, employers stated that the two skills many job candidates lacked was communication and simply showing up to work on time. Really?? Showing up to work on time is a skill candidates are lacking?
What are employers looking for?
The types of skills that many employers seek beyond the general occupational or technical skills of a job are called “soft skills”. The top 5 soft skills many employers are looking for according to a survey conducted by NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) in November 2011, include ability to work in a team, verbal communication, the ability to make decisions and solve problems, the ability to obtain and process information, and the ability to plan, organize, and prioritize work.
Is there a solution?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has a theory about why we are seeing candidates lacking in basic skills. I honestly think there are a variety of reasons why we are seeing this issue now. I won’t bore you with my “soap-box” like explanation of what’s causing the problem. We just need a solution. The fact is, for our workforce to be top-notch and globally competitive; we have to be willing to teach these basic skills to high school and college students if they don’t already have them. We have to hold people accountable rather than passing over problems. We need to mentor rather than complain.
Trust me; I know what you’re going to say. Why should we have to teach the skills that should be taught in school, or at home, or at the last job? Clearly there is a problem here and what we have been doing isn’t working. We assume that candidates will come to us ready to go. That’s clearly not the case based on the statistic above.
School and experiential learning should go hand in hand
Remember I’ve said this before…we’re all in this together. As a region, Northeast Indiana employers and schools must be willing to work together to create a firm partnership that allows students to get the kind of “real world” job experience necessary to gain the basic skills we know they will need to be successful. They need strong professionals to model after. Great experiences that can impress upon them the need to learn and become the kind of employee our companies need. Your success depends on them, whether now or in the future.
So what can you do to increase your chances of getting a candidate with the type of soft skills you’re looking for? Hire interns that you can teach and train. Get involved now in programs directed towards mentoring and teaching students the skills they need to be successful. Your reward? A skilled workforce helping you succeed!
The Importance of Career Planning in a Crummy Economy
View more presentations from Jennifer Fisher
This is a presentation I gave last week to High School students at the Wells County Career Expo. It was featured on SlideShare as one of their daily featured presentations.
Will Millennials be Better off than their Parents?
Every generation has the same pressure; to do better than their parents did. We place expectations about job security, financial success, and multiple other factors on up and coming generations. For Millennials, who started with these same expectations, the ability to do better than their parents may not be within their reach.
Things Looked Bright…Until the Recession
Leading up to the recession, Millennials had high hopes, big dreams, and huge expectations. As they entered the workforce, they made ripples that created interesting perceptions about their generation, some of which are probably true, many of which are not. Of course, it wasn’t just their expectations of themselves that were high; we had high expectations about their success.
Their generation has been like no other. Highly entrepreneurial, we saw many of them starting their own businesses and finding a great deal of success. Their sense of community and volunteerism is unmatched. Times were good for the early Millennials.
Then the recession hit. Deemed one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, young adults have been hit the hardest by the Recession. 18-25 year olds have the highest rate of unemployment. 1/3 are underemployed. Many have moved back home with their parents. Research indicates that a large number of them are delaying adulthood activities like buying a house, getting married, and starting a family. While the cultural implications of the recession will be unknown for many years to come, the financial impact has had a detrimental impact on young adults trying to get their careers off the ground.
Years of Recovery
What may be the most unfortunate side effect of the recession for Millennials is the amount of time it may take many of them to recover financially from it. Lower starting salaries can often take decades to overcome, and for those Millennials taking any job they can get; their careers may never fully recover. Even those Millennials who were lucky enough to get jobs at the beginning of the recession aren’t making much more money now then when they started. The financial impact of this may be felt for many years to come as Millennials work to pay off debt with little left over to save for retirement.
One of the biggest problems for Millennials in this economy is they are no longer competing against other young adults for entry level positions. They are competing against professionals with far more experience who are willing to take any position just to keep food on the table. For a young person straight out of college with very little experience, the prospects may seem very grim, and for those who by-pass college altogether, well the question is, what prospects?
No Easy Answer
I wish I had an answer for this problem. I think the issues with the economy are much bigger than I can solve in a one page monthly article. What I do know though, is we need these young people in our workforce. Eventually Baby Boomers will retire, even if they don’t want to. If no plan is place to get young adults into a company and get them trained, the problems of the recession may grow even bigger.
I truly believe our business community needs to be involved now with our colleges and high schools to help students be prepared for the workforce. That means getting students immersed in organizations throughout Northeast Indiana. If local organizations are not working actively with educators to provide young people with skills to help them be successful, then we will continue to see young adults struggling in this economy.
So how can you help? Offer an internship, externship, job shadow, or class tour at your company. Volunteer to speak at local high schools and colleges. Get involved with local Career Services offices for mock interviewing, professional skills training, and other events. Connecting now may help you get your next superstar in the future! For more details on how to get involved with our local high schools and colleges, contact me at jfisher@fwchamber.org.
We have an opportunity to make a difference here but it takes all of us willing to step up to create change!
Follow me on Twitter for more information about this topic and others. www.twitter.com/jenfisherfw
Things Looked Bright…Until the Recession
Leading up to the recession, Millennials had high hopes, big dreams, and huge expectations. As they entered the workforce, they made ripples that created interesting perceptions about their generation, some of which are probably true, many of which are not. Of course, it wasn’t just their expectations of themselves that were high; we had high expectations about their success.
Their generation has been like no other. Highly entrepreneurial, we saw many of them starting their own businesses and finding a great deal of success. Their sense of community and volunteerism is unmatched. Times were good for the early Millennials.
Then the recession hit. Deemed one of the worst financial crises since the Great Depression, young adults have been hit the hardest by the Recession. 18-25 year olds have the highest rate of unemployment. 1/3 are underemployed. Many have moved back home with their parents. Research indicates that a large number of them are delaying adulthood activities like buying a house, getting married, and starting a family. While the cultural implications of the recession will be unknown for many years to come, the financial impact has had a detrimental impact on young adults trying to get their careers off the ground.
Years of Recovery
What may be the most unfortunate side effect of the recession for Millennials is the amount of time it may take many of them to recover financially from it. Lower starting salaries can often take decades to overcome, and for those Millennials taking any job they can get; their careers may never fully recover. Even those Millennials who were lucky enough to get jobs at the beginning of the recession aren’t making much more money now then when they started. The financial impact of this may be felt for many years to come as Millennials work to pay off debt with little left over to save for retirement.
One of the biggest problems for Millennials in this economy is they are no longer competing against other young adults for entry level positions. They are competing against professionals with far more experience who are willing to take any position just to keep food on the table. For a young person straight out of college with very little experience, the prospects may seem very grim, and for those who by-pass college altogether, well the question is, what prospects?
No Easy Answer
I wish I had an answer for this problem. I think the issues with the economy are much bigger than I can solve in a one page monthly article. What I do know though, is we need these young people in our workforce. Eventually Baby Boomers will retire, even if they don’t want to. If no plan is place to get young adults into a company and get them trained, the problems of the recession may grow even bigger.
I truly believe our business community needs to be involved now with our colleges and high schools to help students be prepared for the workforce. That means getting students immersed in organizations throughout Northeast Indiana. If local organizations are not working actively with educators to provide young people with skills to help them be successful, then we will continue to see young adults struggling in this economy.
So how can you help? Offer an internship, externship, job shadow, or class tour at your company. Volunteer to speak at local high schools and colleges. Get involved with local Career Services offices for mock interviewing, professional skills training, and other events. Connecting now may help you get your next superstar in the future! For more details on how to get involved with our local high schools and colleges, contact me at jfisher@fwchamber.org.
We have an opportunity to make a difference here but it takes all of us willing to step up to create change!
Follow me on Twitter for more information about this topic and others. www.twitter.com/jenfisherfw
Don’t Get “Spooked Off” By a Bad Intern Experience
Really, I get it. Not everyone has a stellar experience with their intern. Sometimes, you just don’t get the right person in the right position. It happens to everyone and I would be lying if I told you it will never happen to you. My hope is that the majority of your experiences with interns will be positive but for those times when it is not, there are some things you can do to help manage or avoid a bad experience again.
The Bad Intern (well not really that bad)
Now I’m pretty sure your worst experience with an intern isn’t to the level of a horror movie. No little “Jason’s” running around with masks on ready to chop people up into little pieces. If you’ve had that experience, let’s get together and write a book, which turns into a movie, and we’ll make millions of dollars together.
Typically, the normal story I hear about interns starts with, “our intern is just ____________”. Insert whatever you want there with a sigh on the end. Problems arise when you’re dealing with a new person who may or may not have the type of professional skills you are used to interacting with. Of course, we’ve already talked about how different generations view work and workplace etiquette on sometimes opposite sides of the spectrum which naturally causes conflicts.
Well, we’ll start here. I’d like to share a story with you of one supervisor who had a bad experience with his intern.
“Jeff” (names have been changed to protect those involved) was a younger supervisor who was new to the organization but very eager to have an intern. He went through the interview process and hired what he believed would be a rock-star intern. At first, everything seemed to go well and the intern exceeded his expectations. Very soon however, problems began to arise. The student started showing up late, seemed to have a more relaxed dress code approach, and Jeff felt like she didn’t respect him. As Jeff and I sat and talked about the problems he was having, I realized that this was a familiar scenario that I had heard others speak about. I probed a little deeper to get to some of the reasons for the change in behavior and a few things started to make sense.
It doesn’t have to be a blood bath
By no means is Jeff’s story the worst I’ve ever heard, but it’s a familiar one I hear occasionally from employers. Inevitably there comes a point when employers get an intern who doesn’t work up to their expectations. Sometimes it’s just that the student wasn’t ready for the internship or lacks the maturity to be in a professional environment. Sometimes, the intern isn’t a bad person, just not a very good fit for the job or the organization. And sometimes, it isn’t really the intern that’s bad; they’ve just picked up bad habits from other employees. I’d like to focus on this last one just for a second.
Let’s go back to our earlier story about Jeff. After talking to him, I learned that Jeff had initially created a very relaxed environment in the way he treated his intern. While attempting to be a good supervisor, he blurred the lines for the intern who thought they had become friends. It wasn’t that she disrespected him but rather, she was mirroring his behavior at work. I don’t really think anyone is at fault here but there were definitely some opportunities for both to step back into a professional mode in the office environment and after a few conversations with them, that is exactly what happened.
I’ve had other situations where supervisors have been concerned with a student’s lack of professionalism and it usually doesn’t take long before you understand that the intern is just taking cues from other employees. While employers may want an intern to act a certain way, ultimately they will become what is around them. That’s not to say that this will always be the case and certainly I know that there are times when interns show up with this relaxed attitude first, but there is an opportunity to provide what I like to call “teaching moments” for your intern which can help them become a better intern for you.
If you are having problems with an intern, you have to start with a conversation with them that includes what your expectations are, what the issue is, how they can fix it, and how you’ll monitor their progress. If a young person doesn’t ever receive feedback, they can’t make things better and you will have missed an opportunity to make them better for you and for them. If you have the conversation a few times and it still doesn’t sink in, maybe it’s time to put on the hat of mentor and really discuss with your intern if the job they are doing for you is really a good fit for them in the long run. So often, young people go into a career with no real understanding of what that career involves. It may take getting some experience for them to realize it’s not for them. That’s not a failure but rather an opportunity to save themselves (or their parents) a lot of money. Don’t be afraid to have that conversation with them. It may be a relief for you both.
If none of this works, then you can fire your intern. Please don’t feel like you are stuck with a bad apple. Again, sometimes young people aren’t ready for an internship. You may actually help them mature a little by allowing them to see the consequences for poor performance or behavior. There’s nothing wrong with that at all and you should not feel guilty if you get to that point. Although, I would definitely love to see you try the other ideas before you get to the firing stage. You’d be surprised how far a little direction and mentoring can go to help an intern succeed.
In the end, having a bad intern shouldn’t deter you from getting another one. Interns are like employees. You’ll get good ones and you’ll get not so good ones, but there will be some that will come along and knock your socks off. For those interns that don’t knock your socks off…train them to be good employees and you will still win in the end!
The Bad Intern (well not really that bad)
Now I’m pretty sure your worst experience with an intern isn’t to the level of a horror movie. No little “Jason’s” running around with masks on ready to chop people up into little pieces. If you’ve had that experience, let’s get together and write a book, which turns into a movie, and we’ll make millions of dollars together.
Typically, the normal story I hear about interns starts with, “our intern is just ____________”. Insert whatever you want there with a sigh on the end. Problems arise when you’re dealing with a new person who may or may not have the type of professional skills you are used to interacting with. Of course, we’ve already talked about how different generations view work and workplace etiquette on sometimes opposite sides of the spectrum which naturally causes conflicts.
Well, we’ll start here. I’d like to share a story with you of one supervisor who had a bad experience with his intern.
“Jeff” (names have been changed to protect those involved) was a younger supervisor who was new to the organization but very eager to have an intern. He went through the interview process and hired what he believed would be a rock-star intern. At first, everything seemed to go well and the intern exceeded his expectations. Very soon however, problems began to arise. The student started showing up late, seemed to have a more relaxed dress code approach, and Jeff felt like she didn’t respect him. As Jeff and I sat and talked about the problems he was having, I realized that this was a familiar scenario that I had heard others speak about. I probed a little deeper to get to some of the reasons for the change in behavior and a few things started to make sense.
It doesn’t have to be a blood bath
By no means is Jeff’s story the worst I’ve ever heard, but it’s a familiar one I hear occasionally from employers. Inevitably there comes a point when employers get an intern who doesn’t work up to their expectations. Sometimes it’s just that the student wasn’t ready for the internship or lacks the maturity to be in a professional environment. Sometimes, the intern isn’t a bad person, just not a very good fit for the job or the organization. And sometimes, it isn’t really the intern that’s bad; they’ve just picked up bad habits from other employees. I’d like to focus on this last one just for a second.
Let’s go back to our earlier story about Jeff. After talking to him, I learned that Jeff had initially created a very relaxed environment in the way he treated his intern. While attempting to be a good supervisor, he blurred the lines for the intern who thought they had become friends. It wasn’t that she disrespected him but rather, she was mirroring his behavior at work. I don’t really think anyone is at fault here but there were definitely some opportunities for both to step back into a professional mode in the office environment and after a few conversations with them, that is exactly what happened.
I’ve had other situations where supervisors have been concerned with a student’s lack of professionalism and it usually doesn’t take long before you understand that the intern is just taking cues from other employees. While employers may want an intern to act a certain way, ultimately they will become what is around them. That’s not to say that this will always be the case and certainly I know that there are times when interns show up with this relaxed attitude first, but there is an opportunity to provide what I like to call “teaching moments” for your intern which can help them become a better intern for you.
If you are having problems with an intern, you have to start with a conversation with them that includes what your expectations are, what the issue is, how they can fix it, and how you’ll monitor their progress. If a young person doesn’t ever receive feedback, they can’t make things better and you will have missed an opportunity to make them better for you and for them. If you have the conversation a few times and it still doesn’t sink in, maybe it’s time to put on the hat of mentor and really discuss with your intern if the job they are doing for you is really a good fit for them in the long run. So often, young people go into a career with no real understanding of what that career involves. It may take getting some experience for them to realize it’s not for them. That’s not a failure but rather an opportunity to save themselves (or their parents) a lot of money. Don’t be afraid to have that conversation with them. It may be a relief for you both.
If none of this works, then you can fire your intern. Please don’t feel like you are stuck with a bad apple. Again, sometimes young people aren’t ready for an internship. You may actually help them mature a little by allowing them to see the consequences for poor performance or behavior. There’s nothing wrong with that at all and you should not feel guilty if you get to that point. Although, I would definitely love to see you try the other ideas before you get to the firing stage. You’d be surprised how far a little direction and mentoring can go to help an intern succeed.
In the end, having a bad intern shouldn’t deter you from getting another one. Interns are like employees. You’ll get good ones and you’ll get not so good ones, but there will be some that will come along and knock your socks off. For those interns that don’t knock your socks off…train them to be good employees and you will still win in the end!
Surviving and Thriving in a Multi-Generational Workforce
I had the wonderful opportunity to present this presentation to the Allen County Health Department at their retreat today.
Millennials Don't Disappoint
I had the opportunity to have lunch this week with representatives from the company I mentioned in my previous post. Many of their interns have already started and the excitement at the company over these tremendous young people has been inspiring. I want to share their story because I really think it is a great example of just how incredible Millennials can be if you just set them up for success!
Let me just re-cap for you this company's story. Group Dekko made a decision a few months ago to have a relatively sizable internship program this summer. In a months time they had posted their opportunities on www.indianaintern.net, interviewed and hired more than 15 students, and trained more than 30 supervisors and mentors on how to manage Millennials. That's no small task and I'm sure it took a lot of work on their end. In the last few weeks they have already set up an excellent orientation program for their interns and, as I said, most of their interns have started and are now into their 2nd or 3rd weeks.
I asked one of the women we were meeting with how things were going. I was so excited to hear what she said that I felt that I needed to share it to inspire other companies to follow the lead of Group Dekko and their summer internship program. She explained to me that the students have been far more amazing than they ever thought they would be. She said that the energy they have brought to their company has been contagious and has everyone excited about the possibilities this summer.
I want to share one story in particular she told me that I think is the perfect illustration of just how engaged Millennials want to be with the companies they work for. She told me the story of a young man who had been with their company for just a week who came to her and asked if there was anything the interns could do to help the community know about all the wonderful things Group Dekko is doing. He said the interns wanted to make sure everyone knew how great this company was! He asked this particular person how they could get involved. How amazing is it that this new group of young interns, a week into their assignment wanted to promote their new company to the world. That's the type of loyalty that I think you can get from Millennials when you just let them get engaged with and excited about your company. What a great example of Millennial involvement.
I asked her how the information presented in the Supervisor Boot Camp (we talk about Millennial characteristics and how to manage them) compared with what they were experiencing and she said that it was scary how spot on the descriptions were. Their group of interns has thus far shown themselves to be highly interactive, high achieving, and wanting to make a difference.
I think a big part of the success so far though is Group Dekko themselves. They have a great culture for all their employees and this has translated into a great program for their interns. They are a great example of a company who is doing a great job preparing their interns for a great summer and it really looks like they are going to get high productivity from them!
As I was talking to the company representatives, it struck me that the energy, enthusiasm, desire to make an impact, and ability to share their opinions is what makes Millennials so special but there is a real opportunity that the very things that are so great about them could potentially cause some workplace conflicts because of the different approaches among different generations. I thought of it this way, I think most other generations would never think to come into a job and a week later start offering opinions, requesting meetings with the CEO's, asking for the big picture about what the company is all about, or even asking the employer what they are doing to make sure the community knows about them. But this is exactly what Millennials do. I can see other employees looking at this as over the top cockiness. They might ask "Who do you think you are coming in here and trying to change everything?" I would say most of else feel that we have had to pay our dues in order to have the right to do these things.
The truth is, like it or not we really have to foster this desire to be so involved. We have to be open to the request for the CEO's time in order to share ideas. We have to be open to hearing the suggestions that Millennials have. No longer can we say, "I would NEVER do that". Just because we wouldn't do that doesn't mean it can't be done. Provide the boundaries that you need Millennials to have but don't stifle their ability to bring in new energy and life into your company.
Young people are our future and we have a responsibility to help them grow into great employees. Let them have a voice in your company and follow the lead of Group Dekko by providing them the tools and training to not only be successful, but to really have an impact on your company.
Let me just re-cap for you this company's story. Group Dekko made a decision a few months ago to have a relatively sizable internship program this summer. In a months time they had posted their opportunities on www.indianaintern.net, interviewed and hired more than 15 students, and trained more than 30 supervisors and mentors on how to manage Millennials. That's no small task and I'm sure it took a lot of work on their end. In the last few weeks they have already set up an excellent orientation program for their interns and, as I said, most of their interns have started and are now into their 2nd or 3rd weeks.
I asked one of the women we were meeting with how things were going. I was so excited to hear what she said that I felt that I needed to share it to inspire other companies to follow the lead of Group Dekko and their summer internship program. She explained to me that the students have been far more amazing than they ever thought they would be. She said that the energy they have brought to their company has been contagious and has everyone excited about the possibilities this summer.
I want to share one story in particular she told me that I think is the perfect illustration of just how engaged Millennials want to be with the companies they work for. She told me the story of a young man who had been with their company for just a week who came to her and asked if there was anything the interns could do to help the community know about all the wonderful things Group Dekko is doing. He said the interns wanted to make sure everyone knew how great this company was! He asked this particular person how they could get involved. How amazing is it that this new group of young interns, a week into their assignment wanted to promote their new company to the world. That's the type of loyalty that I think you can get from Millennials when you just let them get engaged with and excited about your company. What a great example of Millennial involvement.
I asked her how the information presented in the Supervisor Boot Camp (we talk about Millennial characteristics and how to manage them) compared with what they were experiencing and she said that it was scary how spot on the descriptions were. Their group of interns has thus far shown themselves to be highly interactive, high achieving, and wanting to make a difference.
I think a big part of the success so far though is Group Dekko themselves. They have a great culture for all their employees and this has translated into a great program for their interns. They are a great example of a company who is doing a great job preparing their interns for a great summer and it really looks like they are going to get high productivity from them!
As I was talking to the company representatives, it struck me that the energy, enthusiasm, desire to make an impact, and ability to share their opinions is what makes Millennials so special but there is a real opportunity that the very things that are so great about them could potentially cause some workplace conflicts because of the different approaches among different generations. I thought of it this way, I think most other generations would never think to come into a job and a week later start offering opinions, requesting meetings with the CEO's, asking for the big picture about what the company is all about, or even asking the employer what they are doing to make sure the community knows about them. But this is exactly what Millennials do. I can see other employees looking at this as over the top cockiness. They might ask "Who do you think you are coming in here and trying to change everything?" I would say most of else feel that we have had to pay our dues in order to have the right to do these things.
The truth is, like it or not we really have to foster this desire to be so involved. We have to be open to the request for the CEO's time in order to share ideas. We have to be open to hearing the suggestions that Millennials have. No longer can we say, "I would NEVER do that". Just because we wouldn't do that doesn't mean it can't be done. Provide the boundaries that you need Millennials to have but don't stifle their ability to bring in new energy and life into your company.
Young people are our future and we have a responsibility to help them grow into great employees. Let them have a voice in your company and follow the lead of Group Dekko by providing them the tools and training to not only be successful, but to really have an impact on your company.
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