Guest Commentator: Bill Hunt, Chief Executive Officer, Leonardo Helicopters in the U.S. @LDO_Helicopters
What steps can businesses take to make workforce development a priority within their organization?
Workforce development must be more than just one of several priorities an organization balances, but rather an operational urgency that, if unaddressed, risks its long-term sustainability and the quality of the products/services delivered to the customer.
We’ve heard the trendy catchphrases that describe our increasingly transient workforce: “the Great Resignation,” “The Great Reshuffle,” and of course, the “the Silver Tsunami.” While these trends were not unanticipated, their post-COVID-19 acceleration has most organizations grappling with the results in some form.
With 10.4 million jobs in America currently unfilled, now more than ever, companies need to present their employees with a compelling value proposition that is centered on one fundamental question: how can the company help you grow? The answer is always (though not only) workforce/professional development.
As a manufacturer of helicopters for civilian and military customers, Leonardo has experienced the confluence of all these trends. The highly technical nature of our product means our teammates need specialized skills, though not necessarily specialized degrees. In a competitive market for talent, we realized a while ago that the value proposition to our teammates had to be more than just one cumulative compensation number, which employees will come for and eventually leave for something higher. It had to also demonstrate a clear commitment to the individual that the organization is directly invested in their growth. Here are a few steps organizations can take:
- Invest in people, not just capabilities. Set resources aside annually for professional development/training and give your teammates a chance to provide input on how that’s spent.
- Make professional development a company performance indicator. Ensure all managers are talking with their teams about professional development, setting growth plans, and helping identify the right resources to achieve those goals.
- Identify and eliminate barriers to entry. If there are disconnects between the types of jobs or skills you need and the availability of personnel in those job categories, proactively bridge that gap with training. Look for government or nonprofit partners that can help.
- Build succession plans. When the organization experiences turnover, who’s ready to fill the key positions? Will those people be ready on Day 1? It’s never a bad time to “build your bench.”
- Keep your team accountable to each other. What happens when training ends? Are those skills immediately applied to the organization’s work product, or are they just “nice to haves?”
Training needs to make sense for the individual and the business, so establish standards of measurement to ensure those resources are being allocated fairly and effectively.
Through Recharge & Recover PHL, the Chamber is working with our members to position Greater Philadelphia as the new national model to learn, apprentice, and work in the jobs of the future.
This objective is part of five aspirations of Recharge & Recover PHL with the aim to support not only Greater Philadelphia’s recovery but to also provide a means to differentiate our region for decades to come.
