TORONTO, December 19, 2006 — 62% of Canadian private companies polled in the latest PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Business Insights Pulse Survey agree that the shortage of skilled workers is slowing the growth of their companies. Regional differences are evident across the country, with the figure rising to 65.9% for companies with operations in B.C., 70.7% in Quebec and 75% in Alberta. Companies in Alberta and B.C. were most likely to strongly agree. The province least hit is Ontario where only 56.8% of business leaders polled report that their growth is hampered by labour shortages.
“There is a skill shortage across the country with variations by industry and geography,” says Eric Andrew, national leader for private company services with PwC. “In this environment, aligning performance with strategic direction, career development, training and succession planning is very important. Workforce management and retention is not just about employee satisfaction, but rather about business sustainability, productivity, and the advancing of organizations.”
However, on a positive note the Pulse survey of 277 private company CEOs also found that private companies are taking steps to retain their skilled, trained workers. 85% of companies polled will be increasing their focus on retention in the coming year.
Andrew adds, “There is a real challenge for Canada’s private companies to attract, develop and retain the right talent necessary for a productive, fully-engaged workforce.”
PwC recommends three areas of focus for private companies to address the skilled worker shortage:
- Business process and structure. The way work is undertaken by employees should support the desired outcome. Look at the nature of the work, the policies and procedures that accompany the work, the systems and resources that people have to do the work, and overall company-wide communication and collaboration issues.
- People development, reward and retention. Understand if the company has the proper people management procedures in place, and administers them consistently.
- The work environment itself. How suited are people for the work environment? Do you have the right work culture or environment that encourages collaboration or teamwork?
“The highly-engaged employee wants to pursue or apply discretionary effort to business outcomes. Having this type of employee can help organizations create sustainable business differentiation and be competitive,” notes Andrew.
This it the first in a series of Business Insight Pulse surveys from PwC that aims to provide snapshots of the current business environment and sentiment for Canada’s private companies. For more information please visit www.pwc.com/ca/pulsesurvey or contact:
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