|
|
May 12, 2008 - your reputation is a recruitment strategy
Submitted
for Publication in the Douglas County News Press on May 15, 2008
The numbers tell the story. Some 80 million Baby Boomers were born; 40
million Gen-Xers.
A 2004 report from Colorado's Library Research Service made several
predictions:
-
More than 20 percent of responding Colorado librarians expect to
retire within the next five years. Of all responding school librarians,
about half indicate plans to retire within five years—more than three
times the proportion for public librarians and almost five times the
proportion for academic librarians.
-
Many librarians who responded to this survey are not waiting until
age 65 to retire. Almost 30 percent of those who expect to retire
within the next five years are ages 45 to 54.
-
Retiring librarians will take with them substantial administrative
skills. Of these prospective retirees, one out of five expects their
job to be combined with another or eliminated. Almost one out of five
expects to be succeeded by someone with less education.
Of course, these kinds of findings are not unique to the library world.
Many organizations are looking around and noting that there's more gray
hair in the room than there used to be. Not long after that, leaders
realize that there are likely to be FEWER people with gray hair in the
not too distant future.
This may be seen as more of a problem by old-timers than young
professionals. It is the conceit of the old to imagine that they've
learned something. It is the conceit of the young to imagine that they
can do twice as much as their seniors. There's some merit to both.
But what can libraries, or any other organization, do about this
demographic shift?
-
recruit new talent. It's clear that there may be something of a
bidding war for the best and brightest. There are at least two pools of
candidates: young people just starting out, and older folks unhappy
with their current jobs. The strategies for those target audiences are
a little different. But it's clear that an investment in tuition
assistance is smart in either case.
- retain the best. It's a truism in retail that it's easier to hold on
to a customer you've got than to find a new one. Likewise, once
organizations latch onto promising employees, it makes sense to define
some growth paths for them -- to move them into leadership positions
sooner rather than later.
One way to do this is through the creation or adoption of leadership
development programs. Here at Douglas County Libraries, thanks to the
good work of many bright staff members (Missy Shock, Art Glover, Pam
Nissler, and others), we have developed a "Leadership Journey" project.
It's focused on working with a series of employee cohorts to help them
grow as individuals, and as leaders. The "curriculum" identifies skills
we know matter: personal productivity, an awareness of various social
styles, emotional intelligence, thriving on change, creative problem
solving, and more.
Along with that is an important commitment: to give our people the
opportunity to use those skills. We'll need them.
Another factor in holding onto good people is understanding what drives
them. Librarians report some consistent things about why they love
their jobs, with just two things topping the list: service to others
and intellectual challenge. Another big factor is something the studies
call collegiality: we genuinely like working with each other.
One of our Board members, David Starck, told me not long ago that in
any customer survey, there's really only one question that matters:
would you recommend our services to your friends? That gets at another
quality that might be the strongest recruitment and retention policy
around: your reputation as an institution.
That reputation today will have a lot to do with your reputation
tomorrow.
©
2008, James LaRue |
