Learning the Skills that Match San Diego's Employment Needs

San Diego is a hot and trendy place these days (no pun intended) and draws a lot of motivated young people soaking up good times and seeking exciting employment opportunities. Many of these young people come from different places of the country and the world and have decided to place a shingle on San Diego's coastline. Ensuring that they have the "right skills" to succeed on the local market and feed growing local businesses is important for regional development.

The beauty of young people is that they are motivated and adaptable. A company could take in a fresh face and over time train them to successfully navigate their work environment. Corporate training can instill new knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) to ensure they can operate, build and/or sell new products/services. Young people seeking careers are willing receptors for knowledge.

Outside of corporate training students may come with a college degree that certifies that a level of knowledge has been obtained. That education will come with both general skills and industry specific skills. General skills apply to multiple industries and often focus on skills such as mathematical and writing while specific skills are focused more on those that are most applicable to their chosen industries.

Each regional area is comprised of various kinds of businesses that need their own type of skills. In San Diego you will find industries in blue technology, pharmaceuticals, military, science, micro-manufacturing, hospitality, tourism, and technology making the biggest industry employers readily apparent. Those employers need qualified talent that can fill their needs without adding significantly to their training budget.

The problem of misalignment between jobs and skills is not unique to San Diego. However, by encouraging the development of basic skills in high school and more specific skills in college the gap doesn't need to be as wide. Corporations will be required to train graduates to the specific needs of their company.

Some cities have put in place work oriented programs that retrain displaced and unemployed workers to fill local needs. At other times, corporations may band together and sponsor training programs that help them recruit top talent from the area. A few cities may actively seek specific skills by targeting people from other areas that work in related industries.

Developing skills locally by partnering with community colleges and universities helps in creating a home grown pool of talent. Where gaps still exist training should take precedence that encourages the closing of the skills gap. Feeding San Diego's businesses with qualified talent helps ensure that future investment and growth are possible when the time rises."Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset."- Tom Hopkins

Call for Papers: National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE)

43rd Annual Conference
Date: September 29 - October 1, 2014

Submission Date for Papers: January 31^st, 2014
Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America
www.nsee.org

Conference Theme: Civic Engagement and Global Learning for the 21st Century

Experiential education in the 21st century faces a dual challenge: the necessity of staying connected locally while becoming engaged globally. As such, the traditional connotation of civic engagement once rooted mainly in community service, national citizenship and local careers must today embrace the expanded agenda of global learning capable of producing world-conscious graduates and globally informed citizens capable of broad and effective civic engagement at multiple levels.

NSEE has chosen to align the theme of this year's conference to one of the four essential learning outcomes AAC and U has articulated in its LEAP initiative and 2013 Strategic Plan - personal and social responsibility, which in the language of AAC and U includes the following key learning goals:

- Civic knowledge and engagement-local and global

- Intercultural knowledge and competence

- Ethical reasoning and action

- Foundations and skills for lifelong learning.

A Case Study on Regenerating a Local Economy

Dr. Rosabeth Moss Kanter builds off of her previous research of five American cities of Boston, Cleveland, Miami, Seattle, and Spartanburg-Greenville to find patterns to success economic rejuvenation. It is important for struggling cities to develop concepts, competence and connections. It is also necessary to encourage those who think in the region to work with those who make products and those who sell the products. As an example of success, she focuses in on Spartanburg-Greenville and how it became a world class area of manufacturing that attracted foreign investments from 215 companies in 18 countries. Without visionary leadership, friendly business environment, commitment to training, and collaboration between business and government the success story would have never generated.

Her paper argues that success will come from matching the local needs to that of the global economy. Unfortunately, there is a level of divergence between locals who are aware of local issues and the business leaders who are more aware of global issues. Trying to get the social and business interests on the same page for improved competitiveness is difficult.

A particular problem is local political interests that desire to move into an isolationist stance. Unfortunately, this stance leads to economic withdrawal and estrangement that impacts the lives of those who local politicians profess to protect. At times local political interests will use the fears of workers to create rifts between them and the outside world that manifests itself in worker resentment, a downgraded economy, and “us vs them” mentality.

In the industrial world the location of a company was important because it means they had control over distribution and local labor. However, the global economy requires these companies to think on a new paradigm which includes the ability to harness innovation and knowledge to continually update their products. In such cases innovation can meet manufacturing to compete in the global economy.

A market is made up of three different types of people:

Thinkers: These are the intellectual innovators that create new ways of competing on the market. This may be in the form of new products and services. Such people are adept at creativity and developing new and unusual solutions to problems.  

Makers: Makers are people who are strong at execution. They can use manufacturing abilities to create high value-laden products. Such makers can be pre-existing businesses that are retooled for new products and services.

Traders: These are individuals that can make global connections to other countries and people. They are the ones who foster new business investment, distribution of products, and connect the local area to the global economy.

Spartanburg-Greenville, South Carolina, is a success story even though it is an unlikely place for such global success. They were able to renew entrepreneurship, innovation, teaming, improving awareness of world needs, and connecting local companies to global networks. Despite its textile, automotive, metalworking background it, at present, has one of the lowest unemployment rates, high per capita engineers in the area, and rising wages throughout the region while many other areas are declining.

From her research a successful “come back” requires:

• 1 -Visionary leaders who have a clear economic strategy and recruit international companies.
• 2-A hospitable business climate and positive work ethic that attracts innovative companies to make long-term investments.
• 3-Strong training and upgrading of local worker skills.
• 4-Collaborations between business and business as well as business and government.

Local regions that have suffered from the weight of change often do so because of the perspectives of those within the area and a need for a broader self-perceptive view. To change this perspective requires an expanding of understanding from local to global. The catalysts to this change often include a vision brought forward by leadership, positive business environments, business interaction and partnerships with local government, and the upgrading of employee skills/abilities.  Without putting the right factors in place that change the competitive nature of the area it is likely that such declines will continue if the tendency to be protective outlives the need to grow and develop. Those who do the thinking, are partners with those who do the making and those who sell the products. They are all on the same team.

Kanter, R. (2003). Thriving locally in the global economy. Harvard Business Review, 81 (8)

Global Leadership Skills

Leadership has taken a level of interest among researchers. As organizations become complex, large, and multi-national the leadership team will need to develop and recruit a higher skill set. Global leadership requires the mastery of cognitive intelligence (IQ), personality, and emotional intelligence (EI). A paper by Colfax, Rivera and Perez (2012) helps explore how emotional intelligence impacts the overall ability of global leaders to influence their environments. Their paper sheds interesting light on the concept that global leaders required certain abilities to be successful in their environment. 

Global businesses are complex animals that require certain knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) to manage well. As these skills grow and develop other aspects of human development take precedence. The emotional-social development of people is a main factor that determines those who will succeed with those who will not in the global management environment.

Emotional intelligence is a concept of how the individual relates to both themselves as well as people within the world. It is the ability to manage the amebic human elements of their environment. Through understanding oneself they can better understand the needs of others and thereby create more influence. 

According to Bradberry and Grieves’ (2009) survey of 500,000 people it was found that emotional intelligence accounted for 58 % of performance and was more predictive than standard intelligence. To put the importance of EQ in perspective it was found that those with high IQ outperformed others 20% of the time while those with high EQ outperform others 70% of the time. 

Knowing the importance of EQ in successful global leadership is not the same as knowing how to foster it. Gregersen, Morrison & Black (1999) believes that global leadership is born and not made. In other words, it can be enhanced but not made. Such leaders have certain skills and abilities that when tested within the environment manifests themselves into greater performance. Through awareness, training and opportunity the global leadership skills can come alive. 

Colifax, Rivera and Perez contend that limitations on thinking have damaged the field of global leadership in the sense that too much emphasis on the financial bottom line encouraged an over reliance on analytical measures. The complete and well developed person has emotion and reason to aid them in their cause. In order to deal effectively with the multiple personalities, cultures, and systematic management on a global scale requires the use of IQ, personality and EQ.  Such leaders can stir the emotions to create systematic developments of the environment.

Bradberry, T. & J. Greaves (2009).Emotional intelligence 2.0. California: Talent Smart

Colfax, R., Rivera, J. & Perez, K. (2010). Applying Emotional Intelligence (EQ-I) in the workplace: vital to global business success. Journal of International Business Research, 9.

Gregersen, H., A. Morrison & J. Black (1999, November). What makes Savvy global leaders? Ivey Business Journal, 64(2), 44. Retrieved October 9, 2008, from Business Source Complete database.

Using Path-Goal to Enhance Organizational Performance

Path-goal leadership is a process of helping employees find appropriate paths to meet goals that align with organizational objectives. Leaders who have the ability to inspire their employees and develop these mental connections between performance, paths, and rewards can expect to see higher levels of organizational achievement. Yet defining the right strategies without the right leadership does little if employees are not empowered to act and progress to new levels. 

Path-goal theory has two main objectives such as a) identifying roles and behaviors of effective leaders and b) exploring situational contingencies that modify those behaviors (Barling et. al, 2011). In essence, the leader’s behavior becomes a primer to the situational context in which employees exist. When the leadership behavior is effective and the situational contingencies are positive and in alignment there should be a corresponding increase in performance.  

The theory is often further defined into situational factors and employee characteristics. The situational factors are those that create the right environment for performance while employee characteristics are those qualities that are inherent within the employees themselves. The situational factors are often defined as task structure, role ambiguity, stress, need for autonomy, locus of control, need for achievement and perception of abilities while attributes can be age, gender, qualifications, rank, experience, and length of service (Malik, 2012). 

We may have the desire to discount the nature of leadership and its influence on employees. A previous study concluded that 45% to 65% of total factors that cause success or failure within a company are often directly influenced by leaders (Bass, 1990). This means that leadership has more than half of the influence in organizational productivity and growth. Without the prompting and decision making of leaders employees are left to their own devices as part of the situational contingencies in which they work. 

The management team and the leadership team have important functions within an organization. The leadership team gives direction for the organization and the management team gives direction to employees within their department. Management and leadership both influence organizational members toward goal attainment with management ensuring order and stability (Campbell, 2004). It should be stated that since management is closely associated with employees it is there that many employees take a majority of their behavioral and performance cues. 

At study conducted by Malik (2012) helps further understand how path-goal theory works in terms of how leadership impacts employee performance. A total of 200 employees from four different companies were asked about the perception of their leader’s behavior and their own job expectations. A total of 20 questions were used that measured directive, participative, supportive and achievement-oriented leadership behavior.  The research broke job expectancies into two categories which included 1.) putting forth energy to produce quality output and 2.) the company gives employees recognition for producing strong output.

Results:

-The reward system within the cellular companies gives enough power to managers to reward subordinate behavior. 

-Weak associated between leader behavior (except in the case of supportive leadership) and effort leading to quality.

-When employees perceive that there is no difference between high and low performance in terms of reward individuals stop putting forward effort.

-Subordinate characteristics such as age, gender, qualification, rank, experience, and length of service didn’t impact job expectancies of effort/quality and recognition for quality output.

-Rank and position did have an impact on recognition for quality output which indicates that employees were very aware of job expectations and what they can expect to receive.

-Situational factors such as task structure, role ambiguity, stress, need for autonomy, locus of control, needed for achievement, perceptions of abilities affect effort/quality as well as recognition of quality output.

-Management appeared to influence individual behavior and take cues from management to determine how the environment is responding to them.

Business Analysis:

The study helps shed the light on the concept of participative leadership as an important part of improving organizational performance. Management is seen as the first line where employees learn expectations and rules of behaviors. When management is poor there is also likely to be poor levels of performance. When reward systems are so restrictive and motivating higher performance employees will simply put forward less effort thereby creating equity in effort and reward. The longer employees stay within the organization the more they become engrained into the particular expectations of the position. At times it may be necessary to provide new management teams to create newer patterns of thinking and performance. Employees naturally seek to be stronger masters of their work and when trained appropriately they can increase their autonomy which enhances both performance and feelings of recognition. It is possible to use autonomy as a reward for self-management. Executive leadership influences management which influences employees.

Taking a larger view of this study it is possible to see how complacency kills within organizations. All organizations much change their management structure from time to time to ensure that employees are not moving into a path of complacency. Yet such performance is based upon cues provided by the management team and their expectations. When employees become aware of the reward system they will adjust their performance to create equity. It is necessary to develop strong structure within organizations with enough flexibility to reward performance based upon merit to send the right signals to employees about expectations. All rewards should be based on performance versus loyalty. 

Bass, B. (1990). From Transactional to Transformational Leadership: Learning to Share the Vision. Organizational Dynamics, Winter, 272-273.

Barling, J., Christie, A. and Hoption, A. (2011). Leadership. In S. Zedeck(Ed.), APA Handbook of Industrial and organizational psychology. Vol 1: Building and developing the organization  (183-240). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Campbell, N. (2004) The Practice of Management and the Idea of Leadership: An Overview of Theory and Practice. [Online] Retrieved June 7^th, 2013

Malik, S. (2012). A study of relationship between leader behaviors and subordinate job expectations: a path-goal approach. Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, 6 (2).