August 2, 2021

If you are one of thousands of employers struggling to fill your workforce skills gap, you are not alone. According to an early 2020 study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, 74% of hiring managers noticed a skills gap even before the pandemic shocked the economy. Today, it’s expected to be even worse.

Despite these challenges, workforce innovators like the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) and Gulf States Toyota have remained committed to tackling the skills gap and building a more sustainable workforce. Using their experiences, we have pinpointed three key steps other employers can take to overcome the challenges of today’s labor market and access a fresh pool of qualified talent.

1. Evaluate your workforce shortage causes and impacts.

To address your workforce shortage head-on, you must take a clear look at your situation. Why aren’t people pursuing your industry’s careers? How is the labor shortage impacting your industry?

In 2018, the NKBA sought to answer these questions when they released its annual Workforce Development Report. For years, NKBA members had reported a workforce shortage that was raising labor costs and delaying projects and after further research assessing attitudes about the skilled trades, NKBA identified the following root causes: a lack of young people pursuing the trades, an aging workforce, limited recruitment strategies, and a negative perception of the skilled trades.

Last year, Gulf States Toyota (GST) was up against a similar reality when the company realized its Career and Technical Education (CTE) outreach in schools was solving less than half of its overall labor shortage. Even though the company had long supported CTE programs, thousands of viable jobs were still unfilled. Diving deeper, GST realized there was a prevailing misconception that the automotive industry did not offer stable, well-paying careers, often causing high schools to deprioritize their automotive CTE classes.

To solve workforce shortages, it’s not enough to notice the problem. Employers have to get in the weeds. Through research and introspection, NKBA and GST were able to pinpoint precise areas to improve recruitment and make a clear case to invest in attracting job seekers.

2. Invest time and resources into a new candidate pool.

After identifying why your skilled labor shortages are occurring, you must devise a new recruitment strategy. Traditionally, companies have launched initiatives targeted at upskilling existing employees, activating networks to reach new qualified candidates and changing hiring practices to be more inclusive of candidates who possess needed competencies but lack credentialing.

While these are all viable workforce development options, they often do little to widen the recruitment pipeline and address the untapped potential present among recent high school graduates, an especially vital resource for industries experiencing an aging workforce.

Thankfully, high school graduates’ perceptions of four-year degrees have been changing, with many ready to embrace a career in the trades. However, due to a lack of industry connections and school systems’ emphasis on four-year degree pathways, youth looking to begin a trade career often don’t know where to start. To reach these young “would-be” professionals, NKBA sought to increase high schoolers’ awareness by exposing them to myriad industry opportunities through the BridgeYear/NKBA Career Tour. In doing so, NKBA is exciting a new generation of kitchen and bath professionals, ensuring the longevity of a growing industry.

Traditional hiring practices that rely on existing networks often leave out this pool of young, motivated talent. Reaching these young people not only presents a chance to diversify and strengthen your workforce, it also allows young people access to a stable career pathway to build a successful future.

3. Reach your future workforce in a new way.

After identifying your gaps and zeroing in on a new labor pool, next comes meaningful outreach — the hardest part. Some companies volunteer at career days, host job shadowing opportunities or launch marketing campaigns. These strategies work to varying degrees but often fall short in the race to manifest genuine inspiration and action among future employees.

To motivate job seekers and combat negative perceptions, NKBA recommends to considering your company’s capacity for deeper involvement in non-traditional recruitment methods. Your employees are perhaps the most qualified stakeholders to address misconceptions and help shape your workforce. The dilemma is in how to leverage their expertise and passion to inspire the next generation of employees.

Through its Career Test Drive (CTD) program, BridgeYear helps employers translate employers’ most in-demand skills into an industry-aligned and educator-designed career exploration activity. Utilizing custom-built activities that engage and excite students, the CTD program dispels misconceptions that stunt industry growth. In partnership with Gulf States Toyota, BridgeYear dove into a months-long collaboration with GST’s Workforce Development Manager to create a brand-new, hands-on simulation that highlights the automotive industry’s most recent technological advances. Now, instead of sitting in lectures, students are able to participate in an authentic career exploration experience that honors the necessity of the skilled trades and inspires the next generation.

By leveraging BridgeYear’s ability to create an accurate, student-friendly activity alongside the expertise of your team, the NKBA can help you fill the labor gaps that are most critical to your industry. Your most dedicated employees are doers. They don’t stifle their passion with a brochure.

The time has come to be bold.

When it comes to filling your workforce shortage, there isn’t enough time to wait for the education system to catch up to your industry’s demands. Meaningful workforce change comes from the companies who are boldly committed to ensuring that today’s youth are equipped with the skills and connections needed to confidently launch their careers. Your future employees may be sitting in a classroom right now, unsure of what their next step is, looking for that spark of inspiration.

This article originally appeared on the NKBA website.