Companies share hiring challenges, solutions at Job Center event

A panel discussion about workforce challenges and strategies took center stage April 20 at a scaled-down version of an annual Missouri Job Center event.

Panelists at the ninth annual Momentum State of the Workforce event covered topics such as workplace culture, talent attraction and options in the community to find more employees.

However, a survey that traditionally has accompanied the program was paused this year due to budgetary constraints, according to Job Center officials.

Last year’s survey noted 82% of respondents found difficulty hiring qualified employees over the past year. The workforce panel at this year’s event, which was hosted by the Efactory, spoke about hiring challenges amid today’s tight labor market.

Recruit from within
For Mark McNay, general manager and senior vice president at SMC Packaging Group, the company’s 540 employees, which includes 380 at its Springfield plant, are its best recruiters. He was joined on the panel by Lee Loveall with Creative Modular Construction LLC, Shelly Phillips of Cardinal Roofing Inc. and Katelyn Lenhart of CoxHealth.

“We hope that our benefits, our culture and our code of citizenship help with those recruiting efforts,” McNay said, noting the company provides its employees with free SMC-branded apparel. “We want our name out there as much as we can.”

SMC also emphasizes community involvement, he said, noting company leaders are engaged in volunteer roles with civic organizations and nonprofits.

“We want to be out there to tell our story but more importantly we want to be out there to listen to the stories of others,” McNay said.

Phillips said word-of-mouth is the biggest driver in employee attraction for the roofing company she co-owns. Job site signs and workers wearing Cardinal Roofing clothing draw interest from prospective employees.

“A lot of our employees bring in friends,” she said, noting the company, which employs 37, also participates in Build U, a program offered by the Springfield Contractors Association, and Build My Future, a multigroup partnership that promotes the construction industry at an interactive career day.

Social media also has been a catalyst for SMC, McNay said, as the company uses it to promote hiring events.

“We’ve stepped away from the traditional ‘file an application and come in for an interview,’” he said. “These hiring events are very interactive and very team based. We’ll invite 15 to 20 people from our area. We’ll have them assemble packaging and find out quickly who the leaders are, who the quiet thinkers are that we’d like to be part of our organization.”

McNay said it’s part of the need to find creative ways to boost the U.S. labor participation rate, which doesn’t move much from 62%, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate was 62.6% in March.

According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the rate hasn’t reached above 63% since 2011.

Not just a number
At Creative Modular Construction, the workplace is like a family, said Loveall, the company’s CEO.

“That’s something you can’t fake. People are smart and they know if they’re just a number. They know if they’re just an employee,” he said. “They understand if you really care about them, care about their family and care about their livelihood. It’s love. Love is what creates an environment of excellence in the workplace.”

That’s not to say that work is easy at CMC, which constructs and installs modular buildings for companies such as Fayetteville, Arkansas-based drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew Coffee.

“If you’re coming to CMC to get on the gravy train, you’re in the wrong place,” he said. “You have to be willing to step up.”

The company, which employs 120, also is willing to help people exiting prison reenter the workforce – something it does through the Job Center’s About Persons with Past Legal Issues in Employment program. The APPLIE program includes training for inmates across the region on online job applications, resume development and mock interviews. The city of Springfield received a $3 million federal grant in 2021 to expand the program, according to past reporting.

“Sometimes, you’re taking in guys that haven’t been in the workforce at all. They’re starting from zero,” Loveall said, adding CMC provides on-the-job training for program hires, with the Job Center reimbursing half of the new employees’ wages via the grant for up to 1,040 hours, or six months. “It gives you an opportunity to bring them in at a higher wage.”

Health help
CoxHealth’s Lenhart said the high demand for health care workers is likely no surprise.

“If you go on our website, you’ll see 1,700 openings,” she said.

The Springfield-based health system, which is the largest local employer with roughly 12,300 employees, is investing in registered apprenticeship programs and paid internships to generate interest. It has offered a medical assistant apprenticeship program since 2019, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. The roughly 16-week program includes class and lab time at Ozarks Technical Community College and clinical rotations at a CoxHealth clinic, Lenhart said.

CoxHealth also is set to launch a nonallied health internship program this summer. Officials previously told SBJ there’s no set limit of participants for the paid internships, which are posted on its website. The program is targeting predominantly undergraduate students.

Lenhart said the programs contribute to CoxHealth’s desire to attract people at a younger age into a health care career.

“We are starting to recruit from high schools. Getting them engaged and interested in a career in health care is important now more than ever,” she said, noting the company also provides tuition assistance and student loan repayment help for those who qualify.

Whether it’s people just entering the workforce or those in need of a second chance, McNay said employers need to find new ways to engage, employ and inspire.

“That means probably looking in some areas where we haven’t looked historically,” he said. “I’d say anybody eligible or interested in employment, I bet everyone at this table would be interested in talking with them.”

Job Center spokesperson Katherine Trombetta said the local Workforce Development Board decided against presenting a survey for this year’s event.

“That’s a decision that our workforce board makes every year and a lot of it has to do with budgeting,” she said. “It was on pause this year but in the future if they feel the need, they can certainly bring it back.”

Participation in the survey, which compiles responses from businesses, educational institutions, health care organizations, municipalities and nonprofits within the Job Center’s seven-county Ozarks region, also has been in decline in recent years, according to past reporting. A total of 244 completed surveys were received last year, a drop of roughly 20% from 2021. The 303 survey responses in 2021 was a decline of roughly 25% from the year prior. The all-time high for completed surveys was 576 in 2017, according to past reporting.