Last week, Scott Kaspar addressed the
"skills gap" that concerns high-tech manufacturers
with state-side production facilities. But manufacturers need
employees with more than mere technical skills. Workers should be
able to solve problems, respond to change, work in teams, and
innovate. To find employees with these "Next-Generation
Dimensions," run-of-the-mill recruiting techniques—
including stacks of resumes and basic interviews—simply will
not cut it. Unless more sophisticated tools are implemented
appropriately, they can expose companies to considerable legal
liability.
Traditional job interviews are a deeply flawed method of
selecting employees, and they rarely reveal if a candidate
possesses Next-Generation Dimensions. This is true for a variety of
reasons, including the fact that interviewers are often unprepared
or not trained properly. More important, many interviewers, and
even companies' management, do not understand which attributes
are the most vital.
