Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 6, 2017 NEWS 3 New grads face tough road when transitioning to workplace: Surveys Employers' unwillingness to train means colleges will have to do more, says expert BY MARCEL VANDER WIER BOTH employers and educa- tors need to change their ways to combat the widening skills gap if new graduates are to successfully transition into the workforce, say experts. Just 10 per cent of companies are actively working to integrate millennials, despite tensions stemming from perceived differ- ences in work habits and values, found a recent report released by Ontario's Human Resources Pro- fessionals Association (HRPA). at, alongside an unwilling- ness to train employees, will even- tually come back to bite Canadian employers, said HRPA public af- fairs vice-president Scott Allinson in Toronto. "Companies that are putting forward the type of training in- centives that are important to millennials actually have a 23 to 25 per cent higher retention rate than other companies," he said, noting Canada lags behind the United States on this issue. "is could be termed as a competitive advantage from one company over another." Choosing to train millennials can pay off in more ways than sim- ply retention, said Allinson. "This whole misconception that they're lazy… that's really not there," he said. "It's them be- ing motivated. Once they're mo- tivated, you actually have one of the best generations with the skills at your disposal." Training needed While 41 per cent of Canadian employers are actively hiring new graduates — up six points from last year — less than half (47 per cent) are offering training to employees overall, according to a 2016 survey by Hays Talent Solu- tions of more than 4,000 employ- ers and employees. Many graduates don't benefit from continued industry training because identifying career pro- gression can be a challenge for companies, said Travis O'Rourke, head of Hays Talent Solutions in Toronto. And many organiza- tions only have limited room for employees at the next level, ren- dering training unnecessary. It depends on the sector. IT employers, for example, are more willing to train as the industry un- dergoes constant change, he said. "Investing in training is invest- ing in a long-term employee," said O'Rourke. "Organizations who invest in a succession plan, career path and training have a much happier and more productive workforce. Your turnover goes lower and that ex- tends out to the market. More people want to work for your organization." e lack of investment in train- ing across Canadian businesses is a major worry, with the skills shortage deepening and indus- tries such as IT beginning to re- cruit heavily overseas, he said. "If we're not developing the skills at home, and we're having to go offshore to find them, I wonder how long it will be before the work starts to go offshore, not just the recruiting effort?" Two main issues continue to hold companies back when hir- ing new graduates, said O'Rourke — deficient soft skills and a lack of industry experience. "When a new graduate is enter- ing the workforce, it's a very differ- ent environment," he said. "A lot of organizations are un- der pressure for productivity right now, due to a skills shortage. You want to hire people who you can almost set on autopilot, who are going to involve as little manage- ment and effort as possible. And that's a challenge that millennials are going to have to overcome — that integration to the workforce from student life." Students should be introduced to the realities of the workforce even earlier than college, said O'Rourke. Government, educators and industry leaders should urge high school students to pursue appro- priate sectors immediately into their college careers, he said, such as IT, which has one of the largest national skill shortages. "To get a graduate from high school to invest in a computer science or mathematics degree, it's not the sexiest opportunity," said O'Rourke. "And out of the back-end of that, four years later, we have a significant shortage in graduates entering the field and the skills shortage has trickled down from there. We're not doing a good enough job promoting the long- CHURNING > pg. 8

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