There is a talent shortage in America. Not only are we being told that in the media, from our community leaders; we are experiencing it. I know many business owners who can barely meet the needs of their existing customers right now because of this shortage. Equally important, they cannot grow and we all know that to not grow is to watch your business decline.
So what do you do when everyone is experiencing the same problem? Will you shrug your shoulders, sigh and say, “everyone else has the same problem so there is nothing I can do.” Or, will you look closely at the issue and develop a solution, execute that solution, and succeed?
So what do you do? These steps will help you succeed:
- Develop a complete recruiting and retention strategy.
- Develop and challenge your employees.
- Continuously look inside and outside your business for new talent.
So now you know what to do but what about the details, what do these things really mean.
Develop a Strategy: Ask yourself “what will create interest in my business?” “What can I do to attract the kind of people I need to succeed?” I am talking about finding the root causes of your recruiting and retention issues and then finding solutions for them. Here is an example; I had to address a serious nurse shortage for a company. Their turnover was high and they could not attract enough applicants. Patient care was suffering. I researched the source of nursing candidates that were being used, addressed the recruiting brand the business was using, interviewed nurses who had left the company and developed a plan that focused on combining fit with skill. Not only were vacancies reduced to less than 3% but the retention rate of nurses climbed to almost 96%. A major part of this issue was that we were not recruiting for our actual culture. Rather, we were promoting a culture the exact opposite of what we were. Once we balanced that with our recruiting and retention efforts we became successful. This model was then applied to every other job group within the company.
Develop and Challenge: As you want your business to grow your employees want to grow too. Provide training and development to them that compliments the needs of your business. Ensure that they grow their Knowledge Skills and Abilities. Look at training as an investment instead of a cost. Once they have these new KSA’s challenge them to use them in solving your business problems. Your employees are your competitive advantage so invest in them. All too often businesses look at training and development as a cost or as something they give to their employees and then watch that employee take those skills elsewhere. Invest in them and they will stay with you.
Continuously Look for Talent: Talent is all around us. All you have to do is open your eyes and mind and find them. Don’t just look in the traditional places either. The Assistant Manager may not be the right person to make a Manager but they very well could be the best choice for a Vice President position. Sometimes you need change and looking outside your business for new and fresh ideas is the right resource. The key is always look for new talent and when you find it, seize it.
These three things cannot be done separately, they are all intertwined and must work together. Trying to use them independent of one another will not resolve the problem and in fact, may actually amplify the problem.
An easy solution is not always the best one but a simple solution will always beat a complex one. Too often I have observed business owners and leaders literally throw money at problems instead of offer true solutions. The reason was simple – money was an easy problem solver. However, that was often short lived because the root causes were not uncovered. When we don’t find root causes all we do is put band-aids on wounds. Finding the root cause is a simple execution of a basic six-sigma tool; the 5 Why’s.
Benefits of the 5 Whys
- Help identify the root cause of a problem.
- One of the simplest tools; easy to complete without statistical analysis.
When Is 5 Whys Most Useful?
- When problems involve human factors.
- In day-to-day business life.
How to Complete the 5 Whys
- Write down the specific problem.
- Ask Why the problem happens and write it down.
- Ask Why again and write down.
- Do that for a total of 5 times. Keep going beyond 5 if necessary.
Once you find the answer to the final why you have uncovered your root cause. Now you can work on developing a true solution.
Understanding these simple steps will help ensure your overall success in winning the Talent Shortage Wars.
Want to know more? Ask me, I’m here to help.
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