Recruiting and training employees for the NSWMA – a paradigm shift
THE NATIONAL Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) has a big problem on its hands. A great number of its employees born between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s either have reached or are nearing retirement age. As these individuals age out of the workforce, the organisation will continue to experience an inevitable downturn of knowledge, experience and talent.
The proof is in the numbers. According to our files, 60 employees, representing approximately 11 per cent of our employees spread across our corporate and regional offices, will be eligible for retirement within the next one to five years.
The burning question is, who is going to step in to replace these employees? And once they’re hired, what’s the best way to go about training them to safely perform their job tasks?
Technology could be instrumental in addressing both of these pressing issues. Over the past two decades, the Internet and other forms of technology have changed the way information is accessed, gathered, stored and used. The numbers vary from source to source, but just 20 years ago there were roughly 25,000 websites and only about 45 million Internet users. Today there are more than three billion Internet users and almost one billion websites worldwide.
With such vast amounts of information available at the touch of a button, the average 20-yearold entering today’s workforce thinks about information and education very differently than a baby boomer who is on the verge of retirement. People born between 1980 and 2000, commonly referred to as millennials, grew up with the Internet. The majority is always connected, thanks to mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets and is accustomed to accessing information on demand and in multiple formats. This is a trend that is only expected to grow.
RECRUITING THE NEXT GENERATION
As the NSWMA attempts to find new employees to fill the gaps left by retired workers, we are finding that traditional recruiting
techniques are no longer as effective as they once were; they take too long and cost too much to produce qualified candidates. The recruitment problem is compounded by the negative view that the wider society has on solid waste management.
So, how do we recruit the next generation of employees without spending a fortune, hoping we will find qualified applicants? There is no magical formula, but the following options, when used in combination, make for an incredibly effective marketing and recruitment tool.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Millennials have been the pioneers of the social media movement, and the majority has some kind of social media presence. Today, finding ways of communicating the benefits of practising proper waste management and the importance of working in this industry via websites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram would be used to great effect.
All three social media sites are being used to post job openings, but while LinkedIn is being used to actively search for candidates, employers turn to Facebook and Twitter to showcase their brands, which helps to build connections with applicants before direct contact is even made. An employer’s brand matters, particularly to millennials, and it is important for companies like the NSWMA to highlight company culture to attract top talent.
We need to keep in mind that building our online presence is about more than having a logo and providing a company history
and contact information. We need to know our audience, be creative when posting, and share interesting content. Not only will this attract the attention of current job seekers, but it will help to ensure top-of-mind awareness with future job seekers as well.
JOB FAIRS
When considering whether to attend a traditional four-year university or seek education elsewhere, young people are actively researching the amount of debt they will incur versus their potential earnings in their
targeted career. As a result of ever-rising college tuition costs, skilled trades are now seeing a slow but steady increase in interest, which means it is a perfect time for the NSWMA to participate in job fairs and related events, taking the opportunity to meet and pre-screen prospective entry-level employees and build personal connections with them.
A PARADIGM SHIFT
As the NSWMA becomes more focused on being mission-focused and results-driven, do we think they will relate to more traditional methods of delivering training? It is unlikely. The old paradigm of one source distributing knowledge to multiple students in a fixed location has shifted; one student can now gather information from multiple sources, including faculty, other students, podcasts, blogs, online databases and wikis at just about anytime, anywhere. Mobile devices continue to replace the stationary desktops that have dominated training facilities for the past 30 years.
The Human Resource (HR) Department will need to take all of this into account when building new training programs or updating existing ones. Training that is based on active learning, in which students engage in activities related to the information being presented has proven to be more effective in terms of knowledge retention than lecture-based training.
VIRTUAL TRAINING PLATFORMS
How do digital-based training methods support the proficiency requirements of our organisation? While hands-on, on-the-job training will always be a critical component of employees’ education, and online learning management systems can help to make the job of training employees and documenting their activities both easier and more effective.
Video conferencing programmes, such as WebEx, GoToMeeting and Skype, give instructors a virtual presence across multiple locations while drastically reducing or eliminating travel time and related costs. Employees can access training whether they are at home, in the office or at another location/site, provided they have Internet access.
CONTINUING EDUCATION
Continuing education is a mixed bag of emotions for safety and training managers and their employees. While it is not mandated by law, it is an industry best practice to deliver this type of education to employees, and it is one area in which new technology continues to excel. Annual compliance training and certification can also be more easily deployed and documented through the system. This is especially helpful for our organisation which has multiple locations.
BRIDGING THE GAP
Reflect on this, roughly 10 years ago, the Nokia 3310 was one of the hottest cell phones on the market. Let’s say our organisation adopted the Nokia 3310 as part of its training programme and made sure every employee had one. Now it is a decade later, are employees still being trained on how to use the Nokia 3310? No. The probable scenario is that Nokia 3310 training has been phased out and replaced by training that reflects the current use of smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy.
Delivering consistently dynamic training is challenging. It is much faster and easier to stick with the same programmes rather than putting time, money and effort into updating training. But both history and research have demonstrated that in order to be a safe, successful, sustainable organisation, we have to periodically modify our training in order to suit our organisation’s needs, adding and subtracting pieces of the programme when necessary.
In closing, HR will have to take advantage of new technology by applying it to our existing recruiting efforts and staff training programmes. It can bridge the gap between generations and pass on essential knowledge and skills. We must remember, however, that no amount of technology can replace face-to-face meetings and hands-on training. Even as technology evolves and offers the industry more ways to deliver information, we must make sure that employees receive the appropriate amount of on-thejob education for their safety and the safety of their co-workers and the public.