Josh Franklin, Business Growth and Partnership Director, Board Certified of Safety Professionals
In any market cycle, whether boom or bust, talented and highly skilled employees are hard to find and expensive to hire. Safety, health and environmental employees are no different. Hiring talent can cost over four times what the average organization spends on training its current employees. The Society for Human Resource Management found that employers spend $4,129 on average per hire and only $1,000 annually on training.
How can you reduce your average employee costs and retain the best talent at the same time? Here are three strategies to consider for your company:
1. Retrain: The U.S. Air Force, knowing organizational knowledge and company culture often trump technical skills, retrains civilian and military members for careers such as safety and occupational hygiene rather than recruiting directly. They find that jobs requiring high levels of soft skills and human-to-human interaction are best performed by current employees who can be retrained through on-the-job training, education and certifications.
Many education and certification pathways are available remotely. The Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) makes the process of studying and examination more convenient than ever with examCORE, an online, self-paced study program designed to help users retain the safety fundamentals needed for BCSP examination, and by partnering with Pearson VUE, which administers BCSP examinations at sites worldwide. With the availability of online programs like examCORE, and with testing sites readily available, airmen can pursue valuable retraining around the world.
2. Build vs. buy: Adobe has set up the Adobe Digital Academy to train career switchers in web design and user-interface experience skills, which also aligns with the tech giant’s diversity and inclusion values. This apprenticeship program includes a stipend and mentorship, along with full-time work for successful graduates of the program. Adobe is proud of its 96-percent retention rate among the hired academy graduates and of its 50-percent promotion rate within just the first year.
3. Development programs: Grainger has upskilled its international field-safety consultants (FSCs) by enrolling them in certification programs with BCSP. It selected BCSP as its credentialing partner due to the professional recognition BCSP has in the marketplace and HS&E profession. The FSCs earn ANSI-accredited safety and health certifications, such as the Safety Trained Supervisor®, Safety Management Specialist® or even the Certified Safety Professional®, which give further credibility to their hazard and workplace assessments, building external customer trust in their in-house expertise.
Additionally, those holding BCSP certification(s) are required to submit continuing-education credits every five years to ensure they remain educated on the latest trends and updates in the HS&E industry. BCSP has made this process easier with the release of recertPRO, an online program that provides a convenient way for certificants to earn recertification points on their own schedules, rather than attending costly in-person classes or conferences that are subject to scheduling conflicts.
Taking the next step
In your organization, how do you develop your employees while also instilling your organizational value of safety in your clients, customers and employees?
The next step may be to implement a development program by using an accredited certification program, such as BCSP’s ANSI-accredited credentials. As your employees learn about safety and health in their preparation for the credentialing exam, they become better prepared for their work and for the new challenges of changing operations and processes. Perhaps most important of all, they begin to own their personal safety and health responsibilities at work and at home.
Your organization will benefit greatly through increased public confidence and reputation, as well as higher productivity, innovation and overall employee retention.
For more information about BCSP’s program for accredited certifications and workforce development, visit www.bcsp.org/sh-e/workplace-safety-and-certification or call (317) 5930.
