Federal agencies are set up for special purposes like management of resources, national security, and financial management of industries. This is why these agencies must create regulations and practices among their employees that will require specialized expertise and close oversight.
A few years ago, the top economic concern in the United States was a lack of jobs. This is no longer a top issue, as there are more vacancies in the USA than job seekers – indeed, a rare occurrence. However, what the majority of these job seekers lack is the top qualification and necessary skills.
When the employees lack the in-demand skills, it doesn’t only affect their own careers but the organization’s economy as well. The unemployment rate in America is 3.5%, lower than what most of the countries in the world have. But still, talent shortages and poor workforce development remain a top concern for US federal agencies.
What Are Some Examples of Skill Gaps in a Federal Workplace?
In simple terms, the skills gap is the gap between the requirements of employers and the training and experience that candidates have. The United States is facing a top challenge, which is a lack of qualified workers. In these times when number of job openings is greater than unemployed workers looking for work, it is important to understand the factors that are contributing to the skills gap. For example, many candidates lack the necessary industry experience. Others never received the basic training. Some candidates will not have the skills to fill the open positions, and others will be unqualified due to an outdated educational system. The skills gap continues to widen continuously, directly impacting the economy, business, and lives of workers.
As the skills gap is the mismatch between the required skills of the employer and the possessed skills of the employees, it is the responsibility of federal agencies and employers to address this issue.
Employer leadership is essential to identify and address the skill gaps in a workplace. A critical example of this strategy is the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This talent pipeline provides the workforce development partners and employers with the tools and strategies to design talent pipelines that connect workers to their career advancement opportunities. The TPM framework is designed to challenge a major workforce issue in the USA, which is skills hap. It utilizes case studies and other resources to make the employers in charge to build partnerships with talent providers.
Employer leadership is effective in closing the skills gap when it is paired with a robust talent pipeline. Experts argue that the best way to close the skills gap is a collaboration between the education, business, and government sector.
Some of the skills gaps that make hiring and workforce development extremely different include;
Greater Job Openings and a High Employee Turnover Rate
It is indeed a matter of debate that the number of job openings in the USA has exceeded the number of job hires. The cross-industry differences between the employer’s vacancies and their successful filling prove that employers are having a hard time filling these positions with the workers they need. Still, many employers fail to identify a skills gap, which can also mean that the persistent job opening is a result of a strong economy, not a lack of unqualified workers.
A high employee turnover rate also contributes to skill gaps. However, modern workplaces are turning towards hybrid models of work, which makes geography a much smaller barrier in the hiring process. But the hybrid workplace also leads to a competitive job market with a high turnover rate, which results from a lack of employees’ practical and emotional attachment to their jobs.
Employers' Requirements and Workers' Educational Attainment
Many studies prove that a potential mismatch exists between the employer’s education requirements and a worker’s educational attainment. Formal education is not the only factor at play here. Formal education may help the workers acquire some skills and indicate to the employers that the job applicant has the necessary skill set required for the posting. However, there are some skills that are not measured by educational credentials. These may include cognitive skills, teamwork, social skills, communication, and the ability of the applicant to pass a background check or other tests of trustworthiness. Employers must assess this mismatch between their demand and the supply of these skills and fill the skills gap with on-the-job training, apprenticeships, or other training programs.
What Is the Reason for the Skills Gap in Federal Workplace?
The skills gap at a national level is dependent on three factors;
A lack of tech training: While automated machines are creating more job opportunities for employees, many organizations fail to offer proper training for these machines.
The retiring baby boomers: As the baby boomers reach retirement age in large numbers, the worker-to-retiree ratio will decrease more than ever. The highly-skilled workers will soon exit the workforce, leaving employers desperately in need of new workers who can skillfully fill the senior roles.
A lack of soft skills: A lesser number of high school students do not develop soft skills like punctuality, teamwork, a service-oriented mindset, etc. This lack of required skills puts them at a disadvantage in finding good job opportunities.
Using the Diverse Talent Pools
A critical way to address and fill the skills gap within an organization is by tapping into diverse talent pools. These talent pools are less traditional but more valuable to the business. For example, an organization may choose to employ older adults as they have more experience and acquired skills as compared to younger individuals. Furthermore, federal agencies can create a fair hiring process for global talent and people with disabilities. Many individuals are waiting for an opportunity overseas, and organizations can use it to their advantage to bring different skills and more competent individuals to fill the job positions. This strategy also gives them an advantage over their competitors.
Read More: How to Identify Skill Gaps That Exist Within Your Federal Workforce
How Do You Fill Skills Gaps in the Federal Workplace?
To address this shortage of skills, employers must practice certain strategies that will make it easier for them to find trained workers and for those workers to find jobs. There are many ways to address and fill the skills gap in their workforce.
The following three important strategies are viable options for federal workforces to fill the skills gaps.
1. Revising the Recruitment Process
When organizations find skills gaps in their workplace, it is time for them to revise their recruitment process. They must focus first on the skills and abilities they require for the position and then on the intangible skills that they demand from the candidates. Afterward, they must give enough opportunities to the job applicants to showcase their stories and personalities. During the recruitment process, value the strong willingness to learn, and identify potential candidates that will guarantee employee retention. Federal agencies must also critically think about diversity and be open to non-traditional talent pools.
2. Outsourcing Workplace Strategies
An effective workplace strategy can fill major skills gaps. These workplace strategies can be outsourced as federal workplaces partner with academic institutions, technical companies, and other organizations. In this way, these third-party organizations will offer valuable insights to employees, such as certificate programs and technical training. This partnership can also offer federal companies with talented applicant pools that are receiving the competencies that they are looking for. Federal workforces can provide partnerships with the materials, funding, and real case studies that are essential for the future employees of the business. In this way, future employees have an idea about the challenges they can face on the job.
3. Training, Learning, and Talent Development
Encouraging learning and development in federal workforces is a great way to address any existing skills gap. The HR department must continuously recommend and encourage the growth and learning of the workforce and provide employees with essential opportunities. These include engaging them in learning and development programs, letting them identify the training programs that are essential for their skillset, and avoiding being too rigid in engaging them in a particular activity.
Training is the most important step to fill the skills gap in your federal workplace. It promotes continual learning and motivates the employees to engage in training that will equip them with skills needed for the organization.
Identifying the Skill Gap
Identifying the skills gap is the most important step in eliminating them. Federal workforces can identify what skills the workforce is lacking by;
- Identifying the goals and objectives of the company
- Considering the skills that are required to fill those objectives
- Deciding which jobs will directly impact the goals’ achievement
- Identifying the skills that the employees already possess
- Monitoring how the employees’ skills match the required skills to complete the goals and objectives of the company.
Identifying the Best Candidates for Training
Leadership training is a cost-effective method for organizations to fill their job openings with the most skilled workers from within their organization. For this, companies need a powerful motivator and leader who will encourage the employees and talent managers to stay in the company.
Investing in a leadership training program is essential to fill the skills gap in your workforce, but how do you select the best candidates for the training?
Here are some factors that should influence your choice of candidates for the training programs;
- Experience: The leaders of training programs must identify and discuss the most critical experiences they have had in the past. Then they can create a training program to expose the trainees to the same experiences, in order to increase their knowledge and skills.
- Identifying similar traits: Identity what traits successful leaders have in your organization. Are they skilled in doing international business, or are they keep communicators or financial analysts? Once you have the list of these key traits, you can select suitable candidates that strongly display these characteristics and then design the training program to cultivate their skills till they move into leadership positions.
- Identify if the candidates have the required drivers: Before you start investing your time and money in leadership programs, identify whether the candidates have the drive to want to handle the hard work and challenges. Their passion and energy are what will fit them into leadership roles, so these candidates shouldn’t just attend your leadership training just because they see it as a step up the ladder.
- Competency of individuals: The competency of individuals to adjust to unknown situations and deal with uncertainty means that they are the perfect fit for leadership roles. The candidates should have the ability to learn from their past experiences and then apply the skills and knowledge to new situations. Other abilities to seek in candidates include trustworthiness, creativity, and leadership skills.
Examples of Leadership Training Programs
Leadership training programs are essential to fill skills gaps in federal workplaces. It helps employees clarify their vision and improve their career prospects and set them up for success. To teach the federal employees new and valuable skills, there are many leadership development programs offered by Federal departments to encourage the development of their employees’ leadership skills. For example;
Choosing the Relevant Training Programs for Your Employees
When federal organizations choose a training program, they must ensure that the content is relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the employees. The training programs must not be too specific or too general. But if the organization is having a problem accessing the right programs, they can break down the skills into smaller elements so that the training can cover a wider range of relevant topics.
The training programs must be regularly updated so that it reflects the latest changes, trends, and development in the industry. The training programs must be engaging and interactive so that the employees will participate and learn as much as possible. The important tools that make learning more enjoyable for employees include group work, case studies, role-playing, etc.
The delivery format of the leadership training programs should be convenient for the employees. This format can include online courses, self-paced learning, or instructor-led courses. If the employees are working full-time, an online course would be more convenient and easy for them.
On the other hand, if certain employees need personal attention and one-on-one sessions, then an instructor-led training course will be a better option. The federal teams should consider the needs and preferences of the employees when selecting the delivery format and location of the training course. The format and location should be flexible enough to allow every employee to reap full advantage of them at a convenient time.
Creating a Customized Professional Development Program
Creating a professional and customized training program can help organizations address the widening skills gaps. To do this, they need a skills development pathway that will focus on identifying existing skills gaps and then lay a groundwork for the organization and employees to fill these gaps.
Conducting an employee skills gap analysis: This includes listing the company’s objectives and prioritizing the skills most needed by the organization. Then breaking down these skills according to the job roles. This will help the organization identify which department needs to possess which skills the most.
Identifying focus areas: When the organization has these necessary insights, they can focus on the skills, as well as resistant competencies that are hard to change, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and analysis.
Co-creating the learning pathways with employees: Organizations need to add employee support to create the most professional training development program. These individuals help collaborate with the organization to craft a personalized learning pathway that focuses on emerging skills gaps, employee career goals, and changing business needs.
Conclusion
At Management Concepts, we believe that federal employees must have equal opportunities to develop their leadership skills no matter which stage of their career they are at. Our personalized and targeted courses and certificate programs can provide an effective and guided approach to professional leadership development within your organization. Contact us now for more information.
How to Fill the Skill Gaps in Your Federal Workplace?
Client:
Federal agencies are set up for special purposes like management of resources, national security, and financial management of industries. This is why these agencies must create regulations and practices among their employees that will require specialized expertise and close oversight.
A few years ago, the top economic concern in the United States was a lack of jobs. This is no longer a top issue, as there are more vacancies in the USA than job seekers – indeed, a rare occurrence. However, what the majority of these job seekers lack is the top qualification and necessary skills.
When the employees lack the in-demand skills, it doesn’t only affect their own careers but the organization’s economy as well. The unemployment rate in America is 3.5%, lower than what most of the countries in the world have. But still, talent shortages and poor workforce development remain a top concern for US federal agencies.
What Are Some Examples of Skill Gaps in a Federal Workplace?
In simple terms, the skills gap is the gap between the requirements of employers and the training and experience that candidates have. The United States is facing a top challenge, which is a lack of qualified workers. In these times when number of job openings is greater than unemployed workers looking for work, it is important to understand the factors that are contributing to the skills gap. For example, many candidates lack the necessary industry experience. Others never received the basic training. Some candidates will not have the skills to fill the open positions, and others will be unqualified due to an outdated educational system. The skills gap continues to widen continuously, directly impacting the economy, business, and lives of workers.
As the skills gap is the mismatch between the required skills of the employer and the possessed skills of the employees, it is the responsibility of federal agencies and employers to address this issue.
Employer leadership is essential to identify and address the skill gaps in a workplace. A critical example of this strategy is the Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) by The U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This talent pipeline provides the workforce development partners and employers with the tools and strategies to design talent pipelines that connect workers to their career advancement opportunities. The TPM framework is designed to challenge a major workforce issue in the USA, which is skills hap. It utilizes case studies and other resources to make the employers in charge to build partnerships with talent providers.
Employer leadership is effective in closing the skills gap when it is paired with a robust talent pipeline. Experts argue that the best way to close the skills gap is a collaboration between the education, business, and government sector.
Some of the skills gaps that make hiring and workforce development extremely different include;
Greater Job Openings and a High Employee Turnover Rate
It is indeed a matter of debate that the number of job openings in the USA has exceeded the number of job hires. The cross-industry differences between the employer’s vacancies and their successful filling prove that employers are having a hard time filling these positions with the workers they need. Still, many employers fail to identify a skills gap, which can also mean that the persistent job opening is a result of a strong economy, not a lack of unqualified workers.
A high employee turnover rate also contributes to skill gaps. However, modern workplaces are turning towards hybrid models of work, which makes geography a much smaller barrier in the hiring process. But the hybrid workplace also leads to a competitive job market with a high turnover rate, which results from a lack of employees’ practical and emotional attachment to their jobs.
Employers' Requirements and Workers' Educational Attainment
Many studies prove that a potential mismatch exists between the employer’s education requirements and a worker’s educational attainment. Formal education is not the only factor at play here. Formal education may help the workers acquire some skills and indicate to the employers that the job applicant has the necessary skill set required for the posting. However, there are some skills that are not measured by educational credentials. These may include cognitive skills, teamwork, social skills, communication, and the ability of the applicant to pass a background check or other tests of trustworthiness. Employers must assess this mismatch between their demand and the supply of these skills and fill the skills gap with on-the-job training, apprenticeships, or other training programs.
What Is the Reason for the Skills Gap in Federal Workplace?
The skills gap at a national level is dependent on three factors;
A lack of tech training: While automated machines are creating more job opportunities for employees, many organizations fail to offer proper training for these machines.
The retiring baby boomers: As the baby boomers reach retirement age in large numbers, the worker-to-retiree ratio will decrease more than ever. The highly-skilled workers will soon exit the workforce, leaving employers desperately in need of new workers who can skillfully fill the senior roles.
A lack of soft skills: A lesser number of high school students do not develop soft skills like punctuality, teamwork, a service-oriented mindset, etc. This lack of required skills puts them at a disadvantage in finding good job opportunities.
Using the Diverse Talent Pools
A critical way to address and fill the skills gap within an organization is by tapping into diverse talent pools. These talent pools are less traditional but more valuable to the business. For example, an organization may choose to employ older adults as they have more experience and acquired skills as compared to younger individuals. Furthermore, federal agencies can create a fair hiring process for global talent and people with disabilities. Many individuals are waiting for an opportunity overseas, and organizations can use it to their advantage to bring different skills and more competent individuals to fill the job positions. This strategy also gives them an advantage over their competitors.
Read More: How to Identify Skill Gaps That Exist Within Your Federal Workforce
How Do You Fill Skills Gaps in the Federal Workplace?
To address this shortage of skills, employers must practice certain strategies that will make it easier for them to find trained workers and for those workers to find jobs. There are many ways to address and fill the skills gap in their workforce.
The following three important strategies are viable options for federal workforces to fill the skills gaps.
1. Revising the Recruitment Process
When organizations find skills gaps in their workplace, it is time for them to revise their recruitment process. They must focus first on the skills and abilities they require for the position and then on the intangible skills that they demand from the candidates. Afterward, they must give enough opportunities to the job applicants to showcase their stories and personalities. During the recruitment process, value the strong willingness to learn, and identify potential candidates that will guarantee employee retention. Federal agencies must also critically think about diversity and be open to non-traditional talent pools.
2. Outsourcing Workplace Strategies
An effective workplace strategy can fill major skills gaps. These workplace strategies can be outsourced as federal workplaces partner with academic institutions, technical companies, and other organizations. In this way, these third-party organizations will offer valuable insights to employees, such as certificate programs and technical training. This partnership can also offer federal companies with talented applicant pools that are receiving the competencies that they are looking for. Federal workforces can provide partnerships with the materials, funding, and real case studies that are essential for the future employees of the business. In this way, future employees have an idea about the challenges they can face on the job.
3. Training, Learning, and Talent Development
Encouraging learning and development in federal workforces is a great way to address any existing skills gap. The HR department must continuously recommend and encourage the growth and learning of the workforce and provide employees with essential opportunities. These include engaging them in learning and development programs, letting them identify the training programs that are essential for their skillset, and avoiding being too rigid in engaging them in a particular activity.
Training is the most important step to fill the skills gap in your federal workplace. It promotes continual learning and motivates the employees to engage in training that will equip them with skills needed for the organization.
Identifying the Skill Gap
Identifying the skills gap is the most important step in eliminating them. Federal workforces can identify what skills the workforce is lacking by;
Identifying the Best Candidates for Training
Leadership training is a cost-effective method for organizations to fill their job openings with the most skilled workers from within their organization. For this, companies need a powerful motivator and leader who will encourage the employees and talent managers to stay in the company.
Investing in a leadership training program is essential to fill the skills gap in your workforce, but how do you select the best candidates for the training?
Here are some factors that should influence your choice of candidates for the training programs;
Examples of Leadership Training Programs
Leadership training programs are essential to fill skills gaps in federal workplaces. It helps employees clarify their vision and improve their career prospects and set them up for success. To teach the federal employees new and valuable skills, there are many leadership development programs offered by Federal departments to encourage the development of their employees’ leadership skills. For example;
Choosing the Relevant Training Programs for Your Employees
When federal organizations choose a training program, they must ensure that the content is relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the employees. The training programs must not be too specific or too general. But if the organization is having a problem accessing the right programs, they can break down the skills into smaller elements so that the training can cover a wider range of relevant topics.
The training programs must be regularly updated so that it reflects the latest changes, trends, and development in the industry. The training programs must be engaging and interactive so that the employees will participate and learn as much as possible. The important tools that make learning more enjoyable for employees include group work, case studies, role-playing, etc.
The delivery format of the leadership training programs should be convenient for the employees. This format can include online courses, self-paced learning, or instructor-led courses. If the employees are working full-time, an online course would be more convenient and easy for them.
On the other hand, if certain employees need personal attention and one-on-one sessions, then an instructor-led training course will be a better option. The federal teams should consider the needs and preferences of the employees when selecting the delivery format and location of the training course. The format and location should be flexible enough to allow every employee to reap full advantage of them at a convenient time.
Creating a Customized Professional Development Program
Creating a professional and customized training program can help organizations address the widening skills gaps. To do this, they need a skills development pathway that will focus on identifying existing skills gaps and then lay a groundwork for the organization and employees to fill these gaps.
Conducting an employee skills gap analysis: This includes listing the company’s objectives and prioritizing the skills most needed by the organization. Then breaking down these skills according to the job roles. This will help the organization identify which department needs to possess which skills the most.
Identifying focus areas: When the organization has these necessary insights, they can focus on the skills, as well as resistant competencies that are hard to change, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and analysis.
Co-creating the learning pathways with employees: Organizations need to add employee support to create the most professional training development program. These individuals help collaborate with the organization to craft a personalized learning pathway that focuses on emerging skills gaps, employee career goals, and changing business needs.
Conclusion
At Management Concepts, we believe that federal employees must have equal opportunities to develop their leadership skills no matter which stage of their career they are at. Our personalized and targeted courses and certificate programs can provide an effective and guided approach to professional leadership development within your organization. Contact us now for more information.
Topic:
Project & Program ManagementMedia Type:
BlogTags:
Federal Federal Workforce professional development professional skills project management training