If your customer is a business, remember that that business wants customers. But just as importantly, that business wants high quality employees to serve those customers. This is a key that any Business Retention & Expansion (BRE) executive knows – if you want to keep your local businesses, their local life blood is often their employees.
The article NKY Boost promotes employee retention notes how the local BRE personnel worked with a large food processing firm to improve the transportation options for staff to get to/from work. But later on in the article, a broader and equally important point is made – Sales are growing, “but it doesn’t do much good if the employers – manufacturers, in particular – can’t find qualified people to hire. More than 40 percent of companies told Tri-ED they face recruiting issues, and 57 percent said they have workforce training needs.”
I’ve heard these stories and related statistics from other BRE professionals as well, so it begs several questions:
- How are you identifying employee needs and job openings at your local businesses?
- How are you identifying high-demand skill sets at your local businesses?
- How are you identifying people with those skills in your community?
And maybe – most importantly – What are you doing to be a matchmaker between local employers and prospective employees?
Is there a jobs clearinghouse, a web portal for exchange of job listings and resumes, or training partners in community colleges and elsewhere tailoring programs to meet those high-demand skill sets?
Your businesses need high performing employees to ensure efficiency, quality, customer service, and growth.
Make sure you’re being a matchmaker.
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