Three Tips for Responding to Staffing and Skills Shortages
Whether it’s time to expand, or your business has suffered from a sudden loss of key staff members, your response to staffing and skills shortages can be critical to your long-term success. Here are three practical tips for responding to a shortage that can help your business fill the gaps as quickly as possible:
Evolve the role of the business owner: In the event of a shortage, the business owner’s role can change rapidly. Due to a sudden increase in work volume and, often, complexity, it’s easy to succumb to stress and allow work quality to decline. To avoid this, business owners should work to hone their time management and leadership skills, in addition to putting more trust in delegates to perform their jobs correctly, and on time.
Take the time to care for existing staff: Staffing shortages do not always correspond with a decline in business. As such, existing staff members may find themselves pulling extra weight during a shortage and, as such, should be cared for accordingly. Regular and open communication with all team members is critical, as are experiential perks such as the ability to earn extra time off or other accolades for their work.
Hire new team members: Typically, a staffing shortage will not go away on its own, so new team members must be hired. Partnering with an established staffing partner, such as AtWork, can be a smart move in this situation. Staffing agencies have expert recruiters who can help source, screen, and place the right talent into your organization more quickly, and often for less investment, than trying to go it alone.
Staffing and skills shortages can be stressful for both business owners and their employees. However, by taking the right steps to alleviate the issue—and to take excellent care of existing staff in the process—business owners may find that they grow from the experience in the long run.
If you’re facing staffing issues and would like some professional help, visit atwork.com/locations today to find an AtWork branch near you!
