Local employers respond to workforce skills survey

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Results of the new survey have been passed on to the school superintendent and will direct Chamber offerings of professional skills training workshops in the community. (Press photo by Jayna Felder)

By Molly Moser

The Guttenberg Economic and Industrial Development Committee has released the results of a skills survey created by the Chamber of Commerce and administered by GEIDC to a dozen local businesses of different types, from retail to healthcare to service and manufacturing.

“This survey was created with the goal of determining what skills are present or lacking in Guttenberg's workforce, what employers are looking for in employees, and any struggles employers may have in hiring or keeping employees,” said survey developer and Chamber Director Emily Sadewasser. 

The 15-question survey probed into the difficulties of finding, hiring, and retaining employees. Local employers reported unwillingness to accept offered wages, criminal records, inability to pass background checks, unwillingness to accept work conditions, and lack of soft skills as common issues with employees and potential employees. 

Soft skills include things like interpersonal skills and teamwork, written and oral communication, emotional intelligence, social skills, self-management skills, reliability, problem solving, personality traits/positive attitude, leadership, flexibility, ability to work well under pressure, organization and multi-tasking, professionalism/integrity, and creativity/innovation. Employers pointed to reliability and attitude as the most likely to result in disciplinary action when missing from an employee’s skillset. Businesses surveyed believed parents, the education system, and employees themselves are responsible for developing the necessary soft skills. 

One employer responded, “Some of the other things that are frustrating to me when trying to hire new employees are failure to be able to pass a drug test; inability to fill out an application or write a resume; work doesn't seem to be a priority to many of the younger employees, and somewhere they have lost sight of the fact that you need to prove your worth in order to get a raise, not just show up occasionally; lack of respect for management and experienced employees.”

Employers reported their efforts to educate the workforce include in-house and on-the-job training, seminars and conferences, online training, working with community college programs,  private vendor training and apprenticeship programs.

Local businesses surveyed have positions open to employees with a variety of skillsets and educational backgrounds, including caregivers, CNAs, LPNs, RNs, and radiology professionals; CDL drivers, mechanics, welders, forklift drivers, and auto body technicians; management, finance, marketing, and office workers; sales associates, cooks and waitresses, and housekeeping. Employers surveyed use a variety of resources to attract new employees, and believe they offer competitive pay, good working conditions, flexible schedules, career growth opportunities and other benefits.

The most desirable skills employers listed for such positions included honesty, reliability, compassion, loyalty, effective communication, troubleshooting and teamwork skills, high energy, hard worker, positive attitude, ability to work independently and quickly, and willingness to learn, as well as appropriate educational and work experience. However, employers most often reported a lack of technical skills and soft skills in the hiring pool.

On the other end of the spectrum, local employers have been pleasantly surprised to find job applicants bringing eagerness to work locally, willingness to learn new things, computer skills, and even personal experiences such as first aid training or volunteer work for organizations like the fire department. Most employers desire new employees with computer skills.

“We hope this survey will be helpful in showing the skills students may need to be successful in the workforce and in determining possible partnerships with local educational resources and businesses,” said Sadewasser, who delivered survey results to Clayton Ridge superintendent Shane Wahls. “We plan to investigate resources that are available for education and the workforce so we can hopefully offer trainings to businesses and residents to develop professional skills. Ideally, we could also form partnerships with local education providers to address issues and get students/residents prepared to be successful in the workforce.”

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