Uncertain Times Call For Reinvention

Uncertain times call for…

reinvention? By Tina Barton

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Value of commodities and international trade is fallinG,

markets are in turmoil, and newspapers are churning out daily tales of gloom and doom. But until the recession catches up with you, it’s easy to turn the other cheek. Until, that is, you hear that dreaded rumour or official announcement that layoffs at work are pending. Will you be caught on the back foot? How up-to-date are your skills? It may come as a surprise, but if your last degree or program of study has reached its fifth anniversary, it’s already out of date, according to industry professionals. And that lifespan falls to as short as one and a half years in the technology sector, says Hamid Rahbar, president and chairman of Vitesse Re-Skilling Canada and president of the Ottawa Talent Initiative. “At the end of that (period), it means reskilling. If you don’t reskill, you’ll be out of the workforce,” he says. Unlike “up-skilling,” which typically refers to the process of updating and expanding existing skills, “reskilling” involves learning within a completely new area. “People need to reconsider their careers and skills development and accept the fact that in the new economy, people need to experience different career paths during their career life,” Mr. Rahbar advises. While not everyone needs to make a dramatic career change to find a job, the concept of re-skilling becomes more important during hard economic times when there’s a mismatch between supply and demand. “We need to take care of this oversupply, (and) what we can do (about that) is see which other sides of the economy are growing.” Some industries are expanding rapidly, despite the downturn: clean technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, mobile technology, video gaming, social networking

and social media to name a few, he says. But people shouldn’t wait on these and other industries to grow by themselves. “It’s not just one-sided. We should create the skills they need to grow,” adds Mr. Rahbar. The market for reskilling and career transition has grown more than 60 per cent in the last few months, Mr. Rahbar says, adding people need to actively take responsibility for keeping their skills updated and learning new areas of specialty – particularly as employers demand more knowledge and competencies from employees. “Employers expect, for example, mechanical engineers to be designers too. To be familiar with the end-to-end process, not just one area.” But it’s not enough for employees simply to update their skills on their own. Some think employers should support reskilling and up-skilling initiatives, as well. But thanks to the recent shorter job life cycle, many say employers no longer invest in their workers to the extent they once did. “If companies will not invest in up-skilling or re-skilling, they will suffer … this will result in losing our technological and economic competency and consequently (cause) job losses from one side and business decline from the other side,” says Mr. Rahbar. Travis Lindgren, president and general manager of Learning Tree International Canada, agrees. “For the relationship between employers and employees to improve, employers must invest a longer time in people and people must commit to a longer time in the company,” he says, adding research in the U.K. has shown firms that don’t make meaningful investments in training are two-and-a-half times more likely to fail than those who do. The problem is that the recession has caused, in many cases, knee-jerk pennypinching measures. “Specifically, companies are more

If your last degree or program of study has reached its fifth anniversary, it’s already out of date.

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| OTTAWA HR | SPRING 2009 | OTTAWA BUSINESS JOURNAL

conscious of the dollars they are spending and are looking to be certain that each dollar they spend has a high return on investment,” he says, comparing current training trends to elements within the dot-com bust of earlier this decade. “Some companies are just in pure ‘contraction-mode’ and have ruthlessly cut training and development across the board. The ones that have processes and values that look beyond the short-term are investing in their key personnel now so they can retain them through the entire cycle.” In today’s market, Mr. Lindgren says, the focus is on the most talented employees who are or could be integral to the company. “These are the employees that are going to help steer the company through troubled times and these are the employees that are going to be loyal and provide additional leadership when the market improves.” It’s a good idea for companies and organizations to be training employees now, from productivity and employee satisfaction standpoints, he adds. These were reasons why Mxi Technologies hired Learning Tree International to train staff last summer. “We invested in training in order to increase the technical capabilities of our people and, in the end, help make Mxi more productive,” explains Randy Baker, director of human resources. “We provided the specific training to approximately five to eight per cent of our organization. The areas of focus were purely technical. “As a technology organization, improving the technical capabilities of our people is akin to investing in new tools and processes.” Fred Nesrallah, program manager for ITO 2.0 and a labour market consultant and analyst, says technology workers are increasingly required to have standardized industry certifications. ITO 2.0, an Employment Ontario program, has for the past 10 years helped displaced technology workers find employment. “Our clients are usually from Nortel, Bell, Mitel, Dell and several other mid-sized companies. We’ve helped people successfully find employment within the tech sector, government, security and defence and other industries.” Mr. Nesrallah emphasizes that it’s not academic certification, but industry certification that some people lack. Vague job descriptions such as “computer experts” and “network specialists” have

now been replaced with more stringent certification requirements, he says. Mr. Nesrallah points to the growing popularity of MCP certification from Microsoft and A+ certification for computer technicians. Mr. Lindgren also notes that enrolment in Microsoft.Net courses has increased twoto three-fold in the past year, while project management certifications have increased by 40 per cent and SQL courses by approximately 60 per cent. “If you don’t have certification, you can’t move forward in the selection process … There is lots of responsibility on workers and job seekers to continue to train and learn,” adds Mr. Nasrallah. A trend that’s currently creating confusion for job seekers is that companies often advertise one position, but are looking for multiple people to fill different positions. “When a candidate sees they need to fill 35 requirements, they step back,” Mr. Nesrallah says. Instead, job seekers should be aware they may need supplementary training in order to understand areas outside of their specialty. Job seekers can also help companies identify how and where they would fit, he adds. “Sometimes companies don’t know what they’re looking for. What we’re trying to do with a candidate is help them to research the company first and try to pre-match as much as possible because this approach helps the company identify where they might fit there.” But some companies sometimes point out that when an employee is only with them on average for two-and-a-half years, why invest? “In a knowledge economy, the nature of the economy is against itself,” Mr. Rahbar says. One solution he points to is a skills development tax in Europe and Asia, where companies either put money into training their staff or lose that money in taxes. Canada needs a similar set of policies and regulations enforced and supported by government and industry, he says. But while unemployment is never a positive experience, Mr. Nesrallah says there are more opportunities today than during the tech wreck. “2001 was a more difficult time because we had manufacturers closing down, which accounted for layoffs for hundreds. Because then we had a lot of people with little jobs to go to … There are more opportunities now in other industries with lots of interest in candidates.” n

Microsoft.Net courses has increased twoto three-fold in the past year, while project management certifications have increased by 40 per cent and SQL courses by approximately 60 per cent.

OTTAWA BUSINESS JOURNAL | SPRING 2009 | OTTAWA HR |

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