Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment

Employability Skills (Q15-Personal Characteristics)

The 2015 survey asked respondents to rate 22 Employability Skills (work ethic characteristics) by Importance and for
Needs Improvement in the workplace. Is there a specific need for improvement in personal characteristics among your
current employees with the following, AND how important is each for successful employment in your company? Respondents
used a 5 point Likert scale. For the sake of analysis, characteristics were categorized into 3 groups: Interpersonal Skills-

Green, Behaviors-Blue and Personality Traits-Purple.

The following scatter diagram was developed by looking at the top 1/3 of importance and top 1/3 of needing to improve
(Items 1-15 are the importance ranking). The horizontal red line refers to the top 1/3 of importance rating (approximately
82%) and the vertical red line refers to the top 1/3 of the need improvement (approximately 69%). The purple line is the
line of best fit for the correlation between the two variables.
1.

Attention to Detail (blue)

9.

Cooperation (blue)

2.

Attendance / Punctuality (blue)

10.

Problem Solving (green)

3.

Attitude (purple)

11.

Communication, Verbal (green)

4.

Dependability (purple)

12.

Judgement and Decision Making (green)

5.

Character (purple)

13.

Active Listening (green)

6.

Customer Focus (blue)

14.

Initiative / Self-Direction (purple)

7.

Respect (purple)

15.

Critical Thinking (green)

8.

Productivity
y (blue)

Green: Interpersonal Skills

Blue:

Behaviors

Purple: Personality Traits

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Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment

From the chart, the following observations were concluded:
x

Personality Traits as a group rated high in Importance with a majority of the data points being above 85% for
importance. This group had a smaller range for Needs Improvement.

Behavior Traits are mostly rated high Importance, with most of the data points being 80% or greater. This group had
the large range for needing improvement and importance rating.

Interpersonal Skills rate high in Needs Improvement, with most of the data points more than 60%, but they rate
lower in importance. This group had the largest range for needing improvement and importance rating due to an
outlier.

The information provided by the data can conclude that local businesses found that:
x
x

Specific Personality Traits are essential for their employees to have.

Personality Traits as a group, rated as high importance with a majority of the data points being above 85% for
importance. This group had a smaller range for needs improvement and importance rating.

Punctuality, customer focus, dependability, respect and attitude ranked as the most important personality traits by
the employers.

Attitude of the employees ranked high with importance and most in need of improvement.

Behaviors, the second category of characteristics, are rated with high importance for employees to possess. The
majority of the data points being 80% or greater on the importance rating scale. This group had the large range for
needing improvement and importance rating.

Attention to Detail, found in the category of Behaviors, ranks as the most important characteristic for employees to
possess, yet also requires the most improvement amongst employees.

Interpersonal skills, the final category, rated not as important to businesses but do require improvement with most
data points being above 60%. This group had the largest range for needing improvement and importance rating due
to an outlier.

Public Speaking was the outlier and was deemed least important and least in need of improvement.

System Support Skills (Q16)

The surveyed businesses were asked to evaluate personality traits of their employees. Please rate the importance of each
of the following "System Support" skills for successful employment (skills such as safety, environment, basic quality tools,
financial, self-development, computer skills, etc.). Respondents rated the following by Importance:
x

Computer Skills (Calendars, Email, Spreadsheets, Word Processing, Presentation Software)

Quality Skills (Histograms, Check Sheets)

Safety Skills (Chemical, Physical, Ergonomics)

Financial Skills

Organization Skills (Information, Workspace)

Environmental Awareness Skills

Time Management & Planning Skills

Self-Development / Learning Skills

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The responses were rated in three different methods to account for some non-participation in the study.
1.

Method One: A tally of the Essential and Important responses only.

2.

Method Two: A Gross Score based on a point value by # of responses each rating: Essential = 5, Important =4,

3.

Method Three: The Gross Score divided by number of respondents.

Moderate = 3, Nominally = 2 , Not = 1

The information provided by the data can conclude that local businesses found that Time Management and Planning
were crucial for the employees to have. With the three different methods for responses, it rated the highest in all of them.
Self-Development and Learning Skills rated as the second highest rating with method two and three and third in
method one. The other three skills that ranked with third, fourth and fifth in the three methods were: Safety Skills,
Organization Skills, and Computer Skills. Since the survey was sent to different businesses whose organizations differ
on industry, the skills could be valued more in one setting than others.
The findings emphasize the importance of these skills for successful employment among both existing workforce and
future workforce, therefore validating the work of and suggesting opportunities for improvement, among secondary and
post-secondary education curriculum and continuing education courses.

Emerging Knowledge (Q18)

When asked the open ended question, Please indicate EMERGING KNOWLEDGE that will be required of your future
workforce, that education partners should be aware of, 49 responses were received, with 40 unique responses and 16
survey takers providing multiple responses. The top 5 topics by frequency of comment were:
1.

Technology

2.

Machine Controls / Automation

3.

Computer Literacy / MS Office

4.

Basic Math / GED

5.

Customer Service / Phone Etiquette

Emerging Skills (Q19)

When asked the open ended question, Please indicate EMERGING SKILLS that will be required of your future workforce,
that education partners should be aware of, 51 responses were received with 37 unique entries and 20 respondents
providing multiple comments. The top 5 topics by frequency of comment were:
1.

Interpersonal / Teamwork

2.

Computer Literacy / MS Office

3.

Technology

4.

Quality Techniques

5.

Work Ethics & Mechanical

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Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment

Emerging Attitudes (Q20)

When asked the open ended question, Please indicate EMERGING ATTITUDES that will be required of your future workforce,
that education partners should be aware of, 52 responses were received with 32 unique responses, 21 with multiple
responses (i.e., one response has 11 attitudes listed). The top 5 by frequency of comment were:
1.

Change / Cooperation

2.

Team Player

3.

Customer Service

4.

Self-motivation / Management / Direction

5.

Respect

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Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment

The results produced an analysis of 4,665 unduplicated positions by occupation and by year. (See detailed report in
Appendix B, along with methodology for GDOL statistics).
Bartow County Anticipated Jobs 2015 - 2020 Summary
From 2015 Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment Survey and Related Economic Development Research

4,624
1,783
856
521
194
484
240
664
916
930
1,024
896
2,181
1,252
951
3,568
9,895
100
2,476
1,791
6,146
4,425

26,580
22,430
9,640
7,630
1,120
2,970
2,660
26,880
3,110
22,710
9,220
8,860
48,050
14,140
8,020
54,550
78,990
170
16,670
20,020
31,170
32,380

45,917

447,970

$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$
$

48.29
29.16
41.66
33.69
28.53
20.80
30.01
20.30
22.29
35.32
15.93
21.52
10.72
15.08
14.10
24.70
16.50
11.72
18.19
20.78
15.72
14.74

Summary of Bartow Anticipated Jobs by Year+++

2015
69

2016
62
13
90
37
2
1

2017
136
12
30
13
2
1

2018
16
11

3
6
10
2
5

11

18
3
1

11
3
1

5
3
1

268
5

3
5

3
5

3
5

32
4

27
2

4
1

9
436
37

7
230
32

6
112
25

20
10

81
63

200
322
4

3
16
539
106

3
17
442
57

1,039

1,894

583

340

4,665

$ 192,965,194

1,894

2000
1500
1000

1,039
625

583

500

340

184

Totals by Career Cluster:

2015

3,090

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Jobs Coming Online by Career Cluster

456

23

184

Jobs Coming Online by Year

Totals by Year:

3500
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0

284
57
120
84
13
5
280
26
59
456
54
150
371
103
6
255
2,081
261

Potential Annual
Payroll Impact of
New Positions
2015-2020
$
28,527,498
$
3,457,337
$
10,398,563
$
5,886,634
$
771,578
$
216,280
$
$
$
12,982,343
$
1,910,074
$
$
2,641,480
$
10,169,603
$
1,693,411
$
4,398,309
$
19,062,908
$
3,535,646
$
$
226,974
$
11,021,916
$
68,063,824
$
8,000,817

2020

1
10

31
454
43
150
207
23

625

2019

New Positions
2015-2020

Bartow LDA
Average
Wage

GA Career
Clusters
Bus, Mgt & Admin
Finance
IT
Arch/Constr
STEM
Human Srvcs
Law/Safety
Educ/Training
Arts/AV/Comm
Health Science
Health Science
Law/Safety
Ag/Food/NR
Ag/Food/NR
Hosp/Tourism
Marketing
Bus, Mgt & Admin
Ag/Food/NR
Arch/Constr
Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Trans/Dist/Log

Bartow LDA
Employment

Standard Occupational Code

(SOC) Categories
Management
Business & Finance
Computer & Math
Architech & Engineer
Social Science
Social Services
Legal
Education, Training & Library
Arts, Design, Ent, Sports & Media
Heathcare Technical
Healthcare Support
Protective Srvcs
Food Prep & Serving
Bldg, Grounds, Cleaning, Maint
Personal Care & Service
Sales & Related
Office & Admin
Farm, Fish, Forestry
Constr, Extraction
Install, Maint, Repair
Production
Transportation

Bartow LDA
Active Applicants

Summary or Averages from

Detailed GDOL Report

387

371

280

261

150

120

90

59

57

26

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Bartow Workforce Needs Assessment

Assessment Tools (Q10)

When

asked,

What

employment

Employer Assessments Tools

assessment tools are used to evaluate

potential employees? more than 83%
of respondents overwhelmingly utilize
employer-created

(76.1%)

and

industry specific (7.0%) assessment

5.60%
5.60%
7%

4.20%1.40%

Employer-Created
Industry Specific Tests

education,

Work Keys

specific skills tests) when evaluating

Interviews

tools

(i.e.,

healthcare,

potential employees. The nationally

76.10%

known WorkKeys assessment and

Other

Bloomberg Aptitude Test (BAT) were

noted (5.6% and 1.4% respectively),
and although that is a small percentage, they collectively represent over 3,440 employees currently making those
assessment tools worth noting. While educators should have a familiarity to WorkKeys and BAT, the fact that most
Bartow companies have their own assessments makes it all the more important that companies communicate their
specific skill needs with educators.

Hiring Location Preferences (Q12, Q8)

A majority (61.4 %) of Bartow employers have a

Hiring Bartow Preference

strong preference in hiring qualified Bartow County

candidates (based on the question, Do you prefer

No
Preference,
26, 37%

to hire Bartow residents if possible? Although one

respondent indicated they did not prefer to hire a
Bartow County resident, the response is likely due
to internal business needs that are specific to that
Yes, 43,
62%

No, 1, 1%

company, based on indicators in that specific

survey. 37.1% of Bartow employers indicated no
preference pertaining to the Bartow County

Yes

No

No Preference

residency of potential employees.

Per the data collected in regard to What percentage of the following categories both live and work in Bartow County? and
representative of approximately 13,900 Bartow County employees represented in the survey, 57.6% of management and
67.1% of their workforce live and work in Bartow County.
This data is an indicator that community campaigns such as the Chamber of Commerces Buy
Bartow, Work Bartow, are having a positive impact, and a testimony to the quality of life in
Bartow that so many both live and work in the community, and that Bartow employers have
experienced good results in securing talent from within Bartow County.

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