What are skilled workers?
As their name suggests, skilled workers require a specialized skillset in order to perform their jobs. They are essentially the only ones who can do their job, and you cannot replace them with just anyone. Skilled workers have typically studied long and earned degrees or diplomas in their field. Many, such as those working in trades, require a specific skillset and on-the-job training but do not necessarily require educational attainment beyond high school. While others can perform tasks, regardless of skillset or training, as masters of soft skills that span across job titles.
Attracting skilled workers can be made easier by offering a fast-paced environment where workers can leverage their expertise to solve challenges. Skilled workers already show an aspiration to succeed by virtue of their training and experience—it takes an investment of time, effort and money to become truly skilled at something. These workers therefore crave opportunities to use and develop their skillset. They don’t tend to tolerate stagnation and will expect you to invest in their ongoing training and development. This not only keeps skilled workers happy in areas where they thrive but also makes them better at their jobs, which can lead to improved productivity and innovation for your company.
Why is skilled labour important?
In some industries, highly skilled labour is essential to performing the work. Consider the task of building a bridge. You will need specially skilled engineers and architects to design the bridge and draft the plans, you’ll also need skilled construction managers to assemble and deploy the right trades workers to perform the various specialized construction tasks needed to build the bridge to a certain quality and budget. Finally, you’ll need plenty of labourers to help physically build the bridge and an administrative team to carry out the additional tasks that are crucial to the construction process. Without all of these different levels of skill working together and complimenting each other, the bridge could not be built.
Some companies think it’s best to save money by having employees of certain skills perform tasks outside of their area of expertise. Other companies think they can get by if they choose to hire a mass of workers to replace the work that can only be done by individuals with specific, often more advanced, skills. This can negatively impact your organization if it becomes a trend. It takes a group of workers who are not qualified for the job much longer to complete the work, and there is no guarantee that it will be performed at the same quality than if you hired the right candidate. This poor matching of skilled workers to jobs can lead to low morale and high turnover.
Different types of skilled workers
Regardless of their skill level, workers of all backgrounds and levels of training contribute to your company’s bottom line and operations. Even the highest-skilled workers at your company rely on the work of their counterparts to do their job. It is therefore a good idea to understand the importance and role of skilled workers across all capabilities.
Individuals trained to perform job-specific tasks do not necessarily require advanced education to perform. There is training involved and this can look like training in a trade school setting or on the job, such as learning how to operate machinery common to a field and perform various functions on it. These are valuable, highly transferrable skills that can be taught regardless of educational background.
Skilled workers trained in specific tasks, carrying out manual labour or who have mastered soft skills possess skills that are useful in a range of industries, therefore the issue as an employer is less how to attract them but rather how to retain them. Barring a larger economic slowdown or recession, these workers can often find jobs fairly easily. As vital assets to a company’s operations, competitive pay, meaningful work that aligns with their skillset and opportunities to advance is how to keep your top talent.
The importance of hiring the right worker for the job
It’s important to be realistic about the kind of job you are hiring for, and to target the job seekers you hope to reach accordingly. Few things are more frustrating than being hired for a job, only to show up and be told to conduct tasks that do not align with the role you were hired for. Conversely, imagine being asked to handle a number of complex tasks that go far beyond anything you know how to do. Candidates of varying skills can bring unique qualities to your workplace and when matched with the right role, these qualities can greatly benefit your organization. It’s important to create a thorough job posting, ask the right questions in the interview, hire accordingly and offer training opportunities to optimize their production and keep them happy.
The future of skilled workers
As technology becomes more advanced and innovations like artificial intelligence become more commonplace, skilled labour will play a much larger role in the workplace. There will be a greater need for a foundational knowledge of the use, maintenance and repair of these systems. Another potential development is that these technological shifts may even lead to a broader up-skilling of all workers.
Consider when computers became widespread across industries and workplaces. At first, highly specialized workers with computer science skills were required to operate them. Even tasks such as typing on a keyboard were reserved for those with a certain skillset. As the technology became more entrenched across industries, more workers were exposed to it and had to learn to use it on a foundational level. Computer operation was no longer reserved for those with specialized educational backgrounds, training or skillsets.
These shifts occur every decade or so, redefining skills and qualifications, making all workers skilled in new capacities. A diverse workforce built and maintained using skills-based hiring means a productive and engaged team bringing ideas to the table that cannot be replicated. Giving your workers the opportunity to use their skillsets, while offering training and development can make for much more effective employees running a successful operation.
