Did somebody say 'skills shortage' - again?

Careers Expo 2012 at The University of Adelaide - one of the world's pre-eminent sources of future managers and leaders.  Agribusiness nowhere to be seen - again.  Why do I mention this?


Went to the Blue Print for Agriculture Forum hosted by the National Farmers Federation the other day.  The issue of an emerging skills shortage was raised a few times - again.  Also noted that the future generation of the agribusiness industry was not in attendance - again; as per many of the other information-rich agribusiness events that are held for their express benefit. 


Can anyone give me a decent explanation of what a skills shortage is?  Since this topic started hitting the rural headlines I've yet to see one.


Also, exactly where in the industry value chain is it occurring?  

Whilst reading through today's Google Alerts and various other e-updates, the 'looming skills shortage' continues to feature regularly in many articles.  The term 'skills shortage' is now being used so often, I wonder if it is still understood what the term is actually referring to.


Has the issue been sloganised for the benefit of attention-grabbing negative headlines and lost the strength of it's original meaning.  How many people entering the discussion know what they are actually talking about - including me?

I think skills are one element of a much broader people-challenge facing the agribusiness industry.  The other two are labour and talent.  People might think of others.  I think the three are separate elements occurring at different points along the industry value chain.  


The complete issue could then be called workforce capacity, workforce potential or workforce quality.

I recently attended a lunch for the MBA Alumni Association of The University of Adelaide.  Call me crazy but I've started my MBA.  The guest presenter was Mr Philip Morton; a seasoned campaigner in the recruitment industry.  Topic - 'Is there a skills shortage in SA?'  Excellent presentation.


Note to Chesser Street Cellars: when someone is making a presentation in the downstairs room where everybody is already sitting elbow-to table-to elbow, don't have your staff bumbling around in front of everyone trying to clear all the tables.  Doesn't work and no one cares.  I spent half the presentation staring at the back of one of your employees.


But I digress.  Philips comments made me realise that a lot of Australian organisations think the skills shortage (forgetting about definitions for a moment) is some phenomenon heading towards them.

Reality: the skills shortage is already here and has its origins inside many of the same organisations (including agribusiness) that will be complaining about it for years to come and how it ruined productivity and profits - and even some organisations altogether.


How did this beast grow to a size that now captures constant headlines around the nation?  What is it feeding on?


Indifference.

In line with that, Philip's other take-home message was that Australian organisations keep clinging to traditional methods of recruiting and resourcing and it is killing workforce productivity.  Other countries are miles ahead of us with their ability to adapt.  I've actually spent the last few years looking into this and it is true.


When considering which assets we will use to grow, why do we always focus on the productivity of our land and not the productivity of our people?


So come on agribusiness industry; the pioneering, innovative lot that we are - another perfect opportunity to show-case our adaptive qualities and show some leadership.  No more talk-fest and constant articles with no real direction.  Let's at least unite on one thing - our collective future.  Everyone put their thinking cap on.