Daniel Del'Re

Employers Focus on Worker Productivity

 

Oct. 20, 2005--As businesses demand greater worker productivity, many find their to meet company goals.

A study released today by Softscape, a workforce management consultancy, found that only 35% of 650 companies surveyed plan to add staff to help meet their company's existing goals. The majority expects existing employees to drive growth and development.

Aaron Dun, an author of the study, said that companies have spent the last five years trying to squeeze costs out of operations, suppliers and assets like information technology. Now they are focusing on employee productivity to complete restructuring of the business as a whole.

What's more, companies of all sizes have realized that adding employees isn't necessarily a recipe for growth or a panacea for solving problems, said Dun. And many respondents fear that finding highly qualified employees will be more difficult if the labor market continues to tighten.

But over 60% of the managers surveyed worry that their current employees lack the skill sets and competencies to help the company grow.

"The survey revealed that many managers found a mismatch between the skills their employees have and the skills needed to take the company where they want to go," said Dun.

Survey respondents said that they need to do a better job of embedding company goals and milestones in training programs and performance-based incentives.

For small businesses, Dun said mentoring and individual training are the most effective methods for matching employee skill sets with company goals.