The Skills Gap And Why We Need A Modern Rosie

Why aren't there more women in manufacturing careers? This IMPO article talks about how the manufacturing industry could fill in its gaps by hiring and training women in this field.

IMPO

Women make up half of the U.S. population and almost half of the workforce, but only 24% in the manufacturing sector.

The manufacturing field is full of opportunities on the cutting edge of technology and innovation. Manufacturers in the United States perform two-thirds of all private-sector R&D. Manufacturing is the backbone of the American economy—according to the National Association of Manufacturers, the industry supports an estimated 17.4 million jobs and has the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector, adding $1.32 to the economy for every $1 spent.

Manufacturing offers good compensation in salary and benefits, with the average manufacturing worker in the U.S. earning an average of $14,960 more than the average worker in all other industries in 2013. Manufacturing is an extremely diverse field offering careers at practically every socioeconomic level and dealing with practically every product you can imagine.

Continue reading this article here. 

8 Ways To Hire, Nurture The Best People

The best companies are made up of the best employees, and sometimes, the most qualified person on paper isn't right for the job. This Total Landscape Care article discusses how to find - and keep - the right employees for your company.

Total Landscape Care

Any smart business-person knows people are the heart of an operation. Employees can make or break you, bring in business or drive it away, and cause your company to thrive and grow or wither and die.

But finding the right employees – and keeping the good ones – isn’t the easiest task.

“Unquestionably, employees are our greatest blessing and our greatest challenge all wrapped into one,” says Mark Halla, owner of The Mustard Seed Landscaping and Garden Center in Chaska, Minnesota, and a TLC Landscaper of the Year finalist.

Finding employees that are a good fit for your company is key. Sometimes the person who seems the most qualified for the job isn’t necessarily right for the position.

 “Like any relationship, it takes a long time to get to know each other,” Halla says. “We used to hire based on skill sets, but we learned that was the wrong approach for our company. It’s really more about personality and character for us. If they’re willing to learn, we can teach them anything.”

Whether you are looking to hire seasonal workers or full-time staff, here are eight ways to find, nurture and invest in long-term relationships with your employees.

Continue reading this article here.

A Guide for Driving Sustainable Innovation Throughout a Construction Organization

There are two major types of innovation: Sustaining - smaller, incremental changes and Disruptive - game changing moves. Both types of innovation are discussed in this Construction Business Owner article. Learn what inhibits and inspires innovation in the construction field. 

Boegh, Flickr.com

The world is witnessing a new Renaissance. Just as Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo and Titian defined a generation of classical painting, sculpting, mathematics and literature, a new revolution surges in the world of business. For the last few decades, innovative business leaders have dramatically altered the landscape with groundbreaking ideas that have forever changed how the world lives.

Inventors and entrepreneurs toil tirelessly to invent the next big thing, while the iPhone, Facebook, Google, Instagram and Zynga dominate the headlines and inspire savvy businesspeople to create. Some of these creations, such as the iPhone and Facebook, have morphed from simple conveniences to necessity. What may sound frivolous—a platform people use to share every detail of their lives with their friends, for example—has managed to reshape the business world we see today. Imagine that 20 years ago someone told you that a firm such as Kodak would no longer be around.

Today’s innovative businesses managed to supplant many legacy giants that most likely had the same impact when they themselves began as fledgling start-ups. This phenomenon shows us that innovation and evolution are in some way linked.

Innovation in Construction
On the continuum of innovation, few construction firms would be confused for the likes of Apple or Google—comparing a construction firm to Apple is, well, apples and oranges.

However, the flawed thinking is not in comparing Apple and ABC Construction Inc., but rather, in failing to recognize that—regardless of the industry—every contractor can take a page out of the Google handbook. Consider the following questions.

To read the full article, follow this link.

The Four Keys to Igniting Employee Potential

"Engagement doesn’t happen by accident": a quote from Roxana Hewertson's article from Construction Business Owner. The base of any good working environment comes from productive and engaged employees who will champion your brand and your services. That's why it is so important to improve in this area and learn how to create a work culture that welcomes and rewards high-performers. 

Taki Steve, Flickr.com

When do you feel truly engaged at work? Chances are it’s when you believe in what you are doing, you are actively involved and you enjoy the people you work with. You are truly engaged when you are fully present, committed to the task at hand and enjoying what you are doing.

Research has long proven that engaged employees lead to more successful and profitable businesses. In 2012, a Dale Carnegie study found that of the 1,500 employees studied, only 29 percent were fully engaged, 25 percent were disengaged and 45 percent were only partially engaged. These results reflect many other credible studies conducted during the last ten years that show that, time after time, 50 percent or more of employees in all industries are dissatisfied at work and less than fully engaged.

Employee engagement is often lumped into the bucket of “soft, touchy-feely” human resource topics, but the “hard reality” is that flawed management practices and failed leadership contribute significantly to employee disengagement—and disengaged employees are unproductive and unprofitable employees, resulting in a negative financial impact. Engaged employees are more productive and deliver better customer service and higher quality work, all of which result in better branding, reputation and financial success for their employers. Every drop of discretionary effort impacts your bottom line. Whenever an employee contributes beyond what he or she must do to keep the job, you get more time and productivity than you are paying for.

Continue reading to find the 4 main keys: click here. <

Job Outlook Improving For Construction Industry

This is an excerpt from a todaysfacilitymanager.com article.

Gradual improvement throughout 2012 and into 2013 offers construction job seekers some relief, according to a new report by CareerCast.com. Commercial construction has improved over the past year with indicators pointing to continued growth.

“Newly created jobs in the construction industry provide opportunities for candidates with a diverse range of qualifications and skill sets,” says Tony Lee, publisher, CareerCast.com. “A construction manager/site superintendent is one such career, and one of the most lucrative in the sector with a median annual salary of $82,790.”

The construction manager/site superintendent oversees the day-to-day operations on-site, which is also important to the overall profitability of a project. Particularly skilled candidates for this job need to make sure projects “avoid hiccups” to prevent further cuts into those profit margins.

In recent years, construction workers with specialized trade skills have been the most in-demand amid the industry’s tumultuous times, Department of Labor statistics show. BLS projections suggest most specialty trade careers will grow over the national average in the next seven to 10 years. That means 20% to 25% more opportunities for carpenters, electricians, and plumbers. Contributing to the growth of these fields are the options they offer. Some skilled workers are independent contractors with whom construction companies employ on an individual basis. Other companies choose to staff their own, full-time skilled trade workers.

The full article is available on the Today's Facility Manager website.

Hone Your Hiring Skills

This is an excerpt from an article in Construction Business Owner. The magazine conducted a survey to find the most pressing workforce management challenge that its readers are facing. 

... More than half of those surveyed stated that finding skilled employees was their greatest hurdle. Another 20 percent of readers stated that effective hiring was their top challenge.

This issue takes on even more importance considering that the need to hire employees is on the rise for most companies. According to the “SMB Hiring Outlook Survey 2013” by Sage construction software, a third of small- to mid-sized construction companies reported an increase or plan to increase the size of their workforce in 2013. With such growth comes immense pressure on business owners to make smart hires. CBO interviewed three business management experts to glean insight into how to create an effective hiring process.

Recruiting is the First Step 
The consensus among the experts is that if you wait until you have a position to fill to begin hiring, you have already failed. Jack Daly, a widely recognized sales management consultant and the author of “Real World Management Strategies that Work,” drives this point home: “Sports teams are quite frankly run better than businesses.”

Would Nick Saban or Rick Pitino ever entertain the thought of filling their roster without active recruiting years in advance? Surely no coach, even a less successful one, would consider selecting replacements only as their senior players are preparing to graduate. Yet, business owners often do just this. “There are businesses that aren’t spending any time recruiting good people to come into their company, and then they wonder why their performance is suffering or lacking,” Daly says.

He encourages business owners to act as if their companies are never fully staffed, principally because waiting until you have to find someone often puts you at the mercy of the pool of active job seekers. Stan Davis, founder of Standish Executive Search, concurs: “Active job seekers are maybe 20 to 25 percent of the people you want to attract.” Since no smart business owner would reasonably choose to ignore 75 percent of the talent pool, the need to prioritize recruiting is undeniable. “You’ve got to go where these people are, and you’ve got to dig them out. That’s what good search firms do—they build a network,” Davis says.

The full hiring and recruiting article is available on the Construction Business Owner website.