INSIGHTs & INTUITION

What’s the most important factor you consider when hiring a new employee?

Tena Lawrence Executive Vice President University of Jamestown Jamestown, N.D.

One question I always ask when considering hiring an individual is, “Can this person lead?” Regardless of the position that is being filled or what the responsibilities of that position are, if you find leadership characteristics in your candidate you can check off a whole list of desired attributes. Leaders are not always the person in charge, they are the people who can unite a group and create dedication to your mission.

Being a big fan of servant leadership, I find looking for leadership traits such as honesty, empathy, commitment, ethics, and resilience will identify a candidate who is worth investing in. Skills can be learned; if you find a candidate that has the personal traits of leadership you will find someone you can trust to work to achieve your organization’s mission.

Asking questions about how the individual uses personal time to support the community, how do they define leadership, and what characteristics they value in coworkers, can help identify leadership traits. I feel looking past the resume, into personal values, will identify a long-term, committed employee.

Usually when we are looking for pilots, we are expecting to see experience and qualifications. The experience can come in the metrics of flight time on manned and unmanned aircraft. We also like to see the number of missions or flight operations a pilot has successfully executed because there is a significant difference there in the drone world versus the manned aviation industry.

The qualifications can come in the form of a bachelor’s or master’s degree in UAS from one of the top schools, safety audits, or ratings for aircraft in the defense sector as many of our pilots are ex-military. We really prefer pilots from the University of North Dakota, Kansas State University, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University if they are not veterans.

These credentials will get a candidate in the door for us and we then really look to see in our interviews if the individual is a team player and would fit the professional culture of our organization while being an asset in the attainment of SkySkopes’ vision and mission.

Matt Dunlevy Owner SkySkopes Grand Forks, N.D.

At Dakota Carrier Network, our focus is to hire new employees that are willing to embrace our three core values: responsiveness, reliability and valuing long-term relationships. We all know that hiring can be a timeconsuming process and training new employees is an investment. So, while it is important to find people with the right skills for a job, being a good fit for the organization is just as important if they are going to stay.

For a business to succeed, everyone must be working toward the same goal with the same set of values.

To help us identify potential employees that understand and will live out these values, DCN has utilized People Analyzer to help us ask the right questions during our interview process. This has lessened the subjectivity of an interview and assisted with more clearly identifying if someone is a fit for the seat we are looking to fill and our organization’s culture. After all, we value long-term relationships with both our customers and our employees.

Nancy Bjorndahl Business Manager Dakota Carrier Network Fargo, N.D.

Tom Shorma CEO/President WCCO Belting Wahpeton, N.D.

We believe that anyone can build a rewarding career in manufacturing, and you don’t need experience in our industry to find success. What a candidate does require, however, is a willingness to learn. WCCO Belting’s products and processes are extremely unique, that’s why we’ve invested in a robust internal training program. Employees start on a level playing field and train side-by-side regardless of past experience, age, gender or first language, which improves their assimilation into our culture.

Since we train job-specific hard skills, WCCO’s recruitment strategy is focused on identifying candidates with soft skills. To be willing to learn they must also have the ability to listen, communicate – ask questions, collaborate, and carry a positive attitude. Our Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is, “Loving where you work begins with the people you work with,” so we encourage and financially reward employees for referring candidates they know and trust. I’ve always told the team, “I’d rather pay you to recruit family and friends than pay to place an ad.” We’re fortunate that strategy continues to bring in great people with the willingness to learn and soft skills we are looking for.

U.S. AIRLINES PASSENGER DATA

U.S. airlines carried 96% fewer scheduled service passengers in April 2020 than in April 2019, according to preliminary data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics by 24 airlines that carry 99% of the passengers. The decline in the number of passengers is the largest year-to-year decrease on record, larger than the 51% decline from March 2019 to March 2020. The large airlines carried 3 million passengers in April, the lowest monthly total in BTS records dating back to 1974. The previous low was 14.6 million passengers in February 1975.

Freight Shipment Services

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI), which is based on the amount of freight carried by the for-hire transportation industry, fell 7.7% in April from March, falling for the third consecutive month, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. From April 2019 to April 2020, the index fell 10.0% compared to a rise of 2.7% from April 2018 to April 2019 and a rise of 8.0% from April 2017 to April 2018.

April 2020 Freight Shipment Index

From previous month: -7.7%

From same month of previous year: -10.0%

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics

Civilian Unemployment

Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 2.5 million in May, and the unemployment rate declined to 13.3%, according to recent data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it. In May, employment rose sharply in leisure and hospitality, construction, education and health services, and retail trade. By contrast, employment in government continued to decline sharply.

Productivity And Cost

Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 0.9%t in the first quarter of 2020, according to the most recent data by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as output decreased 6.5% and hours worked decreased 5.6%. From the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020, productivity increased 0.7%, reflecting no change in output and a 0.7% decrease in hours worked. Source:

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor