SHRM Survey Findings Changing Employee Skills and Education

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve October 3, 2012

Introduction • This is the sixth part of a series of SHRM/Achieve survey findings titled “Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements. ” These results look at post-secondary certificates/ credentials and overall organizational demographics. • The following nine industries were included in the sample. Overall results are reported first, followed by industry-specific results for the following industries: Ø Construction, mining, oil and gas Ø Federal government Ø Finance Ø Health Ø High-tech Ø Manufacturing Ø Nonprofessional services Ø Professional services Ø State and local government SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 2

Key Findings • For which positions are organizations most likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials? Across industries, the positions most likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials are salaried individual contributors/professionals (65%), skilled labor (47%) and management (46%). Health was the industry most likely to require such certificates/credentials for salaried individual contributors /professionals (78%), manufacturing for skilled labor (69%) and finance for management (53%). • For which positions are organizations least likely to require specific postsecondary certificates/ credentials? Across industries, the positions least like to require specific postsecondary certificates/credentials are executives (30%), administrative/secretarial (21%) and low-skilled labor (10%). Finance was the industry most likely to require such certificates/credentials for executives(47%), state/local government for both administrative/secretarial (25%) and low-skilled labor (16%). Construction, mining, oil and gas tied with state/local government on the percentage requiring such certificates for low-skilled labor jobs (16%). • Are there other common certificates/credentials that are not required but are looked upon favorably in terms of hiring and career advancement? Yes. Across industries, such certificates/credentials are most likely to apply to jobs in management (56%), salaried individual contributor/professionals (55%) and executives (32%). Finance was the industry most likely to look favorably on such certificates/credentials for management (62%) and executive jobs (45%), and high-tech for salaried individual contributors/ professionals (65%). SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 3

For which positions does your organization require specific postsecondary certificates/credentials? Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 4

Are there other common certificates/credentials that are not required but are looked upon favorably in terms of hiring and career advancement? Note: Percentages do not total 100% due to multiple response options. Data shown are based on “yes” responses. SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 5

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials Demographics SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 6

Demographics: Organization Industry State/local government 17% Professional services 14% Health 13% Manufacturing 12% Finance 11% Construction, mining, oil and gas 10% 9% High-tech Nonprofessional Services Federal government 8% 6% n = 4, 642 SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 7

Demographics: Organization Sector Privately owned for-profit 45% Government 21% Publicly owned for-profit 18% Nonprofit Other 14% 2% n = 3, 439 SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 8

Demographics: Organization Staff Size 1 to 99 employees 22% 33% 100 to 499 employees 500 to 2, 499 employees 20% 2, 500 to 24, 999 employees 25, 000 or more employees 18% 6% Note: n = 3, 335. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 9

Demographics: Other Does your organization have U. S. -based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization? U. S. -based operations only 75% Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same Multinational operations 25% Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location 30% 70% n = 3, 451 n = 3, 446 What is the HR department/function you responded for throughout this survey? Corporate (company wide) 69% Business unit/division 17% Facility/location 14% n = 2, 465 For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit headquarters, by each work location or both? Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 53% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 2% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices 44% Note: n = 2, 460. Percentages do not total 100% due to rounding. SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 10

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials In collaboration with and commissioned by Achieve Survey Methodology • Response rate = 18% • 4, 695 HR professional respondents from a randomly selected sample of nine different industries in SHRM’s membership Ø Construction, mining, oil and gas = 491 Ø Federal government = 356 Ø Finance = 530 Ø Health = 526 Ø High-tech = 447 Ø Manufacturing = 526 Ø Nonprofessional services = 479 Ø Professional services = 492 Ø State and local government = 848 • Margin of error +/-1% • Survey fielded March 28 -April 30, 2012 SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 11

SHRM Survey Findings: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements About SHRM Research • For more survey/poll findings, visit www. shrm. org/surveys • For more information about SHRM’s Customized Research Services, visit www. shrm. org/customizedresearch • Follow us on Twitter @SHRM_Research SHRM/Achieve Survey: Changing Employee Skills and Education Requirements—Post-secondary Certificates/Credentials and Demographics ©SHRM 2012 12