Closing the “Skills Gap.” Here is how to do better.

The United States has been branded “the land of opportunity.” It carries this title because it has been able to develop elite, wealth generating talent. But as time inevitably rolls forward and the marketplace changes with technology and culture, traditional methods of developing talented employees are waning.

40% of American companies are struggling to find people with the skills they need, including entry level jobs.

60% of American companies report that the people they hired to do a job weren’t sufficiently prepared for the task at hand.

Business today moves at the click of a button. Speed is everything in the marketplace and showing up before the competition can mean success or failure. Companies need to be able to have talent available and they need to be constantly developing talent in order to work at the speed necessary to survive. They are faced with a gap between the skills they want employees to have and what they bring to the table on day one – which sometimes isn’t much.

There isn’t a massive “talent pool” of affordable, talented and trained employees for hire floating around for any company to scoop up on demand. Without proper tools, onboarding new hires and getting them up to speed adds a lot of time and confusion to business operations. The problems of onboarding manifest differently between various industries but examples are poor handling of clients and bad customer service. The “skills gap” between veteran employees and the newly hired can create frustration and low morale. Veterans who have been around awhile may have to carve precious time out of their day to not only get their work done, but also handle the mistakes of newly hired staff.

These issues aren’t limited to technical skills. Soft skills are equally relevant in today’s workplace. Communication style, emotional intelligence, social and teamwork skills can be invaluable. 44% of executives report that soft skills are lacking in the workforce. 93% of HR executives find technical skills are much easier to teach than soft skills.

If companies are going to succeed in today’s marketplace, they will have to figure out how to onboard new employees and rapidly help them acquire the skills needed to perform.

How Mentor Resources can help bridge the “skills gap.”

Mentorship is usually thought of as a close relationship between a younger professional and a more senior employee. The mentor can help the mentee grow by offering a sound board, guidance and advice on the travails the mentee will inevitably encounter. The mentor has lived it and the stability he or she can offer is invaluable. This close knit relationship, if cultivated properly through a mentorship program, can also facilitate the onboarding process and drastically close the “skills gap.”

Mentor Resources uses modern software to monitor and execute the entire mentoring process. Employees learn best when the information comes directly from people who have already been through similar circumstances. Mentor Resources offers proven tools which enables mentors to “pass on” both technical and soft skills that are essential to success.

Top level executives and managers are often too busy to step in and develop skills in new hires. Mentor Resources enables companies to leverage an asset they already have to solve this problem – their own employees and veterans. Our platform can be tailored depending on what the company needs. It is easy for us to connect mentees with the most appropriate mentor, no matter where they are in their career.

With our proven system, the “skills gap” will close on its own as relationships and connections are built throughout your company.