Thwarting the Technical Skills Shortage

How do Caterpillar, General Mills, IBM, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, and Schlumberger consistently attract and retain adequate numbers of high-quality technical workers? APQC, a member-based nonprofit specializing in benchmarking and best practices research, studied these organizations to find out.

Four keys to maintaining a quality technical workforce

Following are four key actions for maintaining a quality technical work force. Additional details are available in the study report: Technical Talent Management: Sourcing, Developing, and Retaining Technical Talent.

1. Assign Accountability

The best-practice organizations studied by APQC assign specific individuals or teams with responsibility for attracting, developing, and retaining technical talent. These companies continuously assess technical talent management outcomes against goals. In doing so, they ensure technical talent management receives adequate attention and that objectives are met.

• For example, Schlumberger has a technical talent recruiting team, a manager of technical leadership development, a director of petrochemical expertise, and career leaders for each technical domain (e.g., information engineering, drill and well engineering, geology, and reservoir engineering).
• Caterpillar monitors a range of data on technical employees, using it to improve technical talent recruitment, development, and retention. For instance, Caterpillar monitors the results of employee satisfaction surveys and tracks technical talent attrition by function, region, and demographics. It also conducts exit interviews with departing technical workers.

2. Plan Ahead

Best-practice organizations engage in short-term and long-term workforce planning. They look at their business strategies, carefully consider the implications for skill requirements, and then make and carry out recruiting and retention plans.

• Each spring, IBM establishes a five-year corporate strategy and five-year business-level strategies based on market trends and technological developments. The HR implications of these long-term plans are determined and used to establish long-term work force goals. Critical job roles and skills are identified, and long-term HR priorities are created.

• Each fall, IBM creates short-term corporate- and business-level strategies. These one-year strategies are used to craft headcount plans. The headcount plans factor in anticipated hiring and attrition, quantify skill gaps, and specify how the gaps will be closed. HR programs for developing, hiring, contracting, and/or outsourcing talent over the coming year are outlined, and required investments quantified.

3. Be Selective

Best-practice companies focus on bringing the best talent into the organization. They do so by developing long-standing relationships with sources of top technical talent, such as specific universities. To attract the best talent, best-practices organizations promote employment brands that they believe will uniquely appeal to technical workers. 

• At food company General Mills, for example, a recruiter is assigned to each school from which the company recruits. The recruiter regularly communicates with professors and school career centers regarding personnel needs.                                                                                                                           

• To attract talent, both on and off campus, Schlumberger and IBM brand themselves as offering employees interesting work and a chance to make important contributions to society. Schlumberger’s “One Schlumberger” employment brand conveys that the organization has a diverse, globally dispersed workforce and offers geographic and career mobility. Similarly, IBM’s employment brand invites job candidates to help “build a smarter planet” by developing computer solutions to social and environmental problems across the globe.

4. Focus on Sustainability

Once they hire top talent, best-practice organizations keep it. These companies offer flexible career paths, career planning tools, and on-the-job training. They engage in succession planning for leadership and critical skill positions. They work not only to retain technically-skilled workers, but also to retain technical knowledge, offering knowledge sharing and transfer tools.

• At equipment manufacturer Caterpillar, self-service tools help employees take charge of career development. A competency road map lists potential career paths, while an online tool called CareerQuest details competency requirements for different roles and offers suggestions for ways to build proficiency through on-the-job experiences, mentoring relationships, and formal and informal training.

• To retain technical knowledge, IBM has established an extensive knowledge sharing framework. Helping IBM employees locate and exchange expertise are technical communities led by subject matter experts, an online employee directory, and blogs and wikis. In addition, IBM offers three types of mentors to technical talent. Socialization mentors share information about IBM tools, technologies, policies, and practices with new hires. Career mentors help employees explore career options at IBM and work with them to construct plans for achieving career goals. Expert mentors nurture critical skills in other IBM employees.

Conclusion

It is their commitment to these four areas year after year that sets the best-practice organizations apart. While many organizations are caught in a cycle of filling one short-term talent void after another, the best-practice organizations have moved ahead of the curve. They are experienced at assigning accountability, planning, selecting, and sustaining technical talent and as a result are thwarting the effects of the technical talent shortage.

Elissa Tucker is a human capital management knowledge specialist at APQC. Elissa has more than 14 years of HR research, writing, and consulting experience. Prior to joining APQC, Elissa worked as a research consultant at HR consultancy Hewitt Associates (now Aon Hewitt). She led large-scale quantitative and qualitative research studies and authored research reports, white papers, and presentations. Elissa co-edited and contributed to the book: Workforce Wake-Up Call: Your Workforce Is Changing, Are You?, John Wiley & Sons, 2006.

APQC is a member-based nonprofit and one of the leading proponents of benchmarking and best practice business research. Working with more than 500 organizations worldwide in all industries, APQC focuses on providing organizations with the information they need to work smarter, faster, and with confidence. Every day we uncover the processes and practices that push organizations from good to great. Visit us at www.apqc.org and learn how you can make best practices your practices.