Employees Lack in Basic Skills Training, Report Claims

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (7/14, Dresang) – Increasingly, employers need to provide remedial training in such areas as workplace etiquette, conflict resolution and teamwork, said Krueger, president of the Metro Milwaukee Society of Human Resource Management. "You can hire for skill sets, but really it's the interpersonal skills that can derail you in a profession," Krueger said.

Nearly half of the employers in a nationwide survey said they've had to provide readiness training for new employees fresh out of high school or college, and the majority said their programs were only "moderately" or "somewhat" successful.

The report - a joint effort of The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, the American Society for Training & Development, and the Society for Human Resource Management - found companies complaining that new hires lack creativity and critical-thinking skills. But the employers are ill-prepared themselves to handle new workers: rarely screening for job readiness or tracking the cost or quality of remedial training. The report questioned whether such programs are misplaced.