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5 Ways to Overcome the Labor Shortage

2021 has been a whirlwind for sure. Coming off of the 2020 COVID 19 pandemic, a lot of businesses began to feel the effects of the labor shortage that ensued. While at first, affecting the restaurant industry, the shortage quickly began to spread to other industries, including even the construction and landscaping industries. With no slowing in sight for this shortage, and nobody entirely sure when the trend will shift, it’s important to recognize that all organizations now are operating in a “seller’s labor market.”

The important question then becomes, what can you do as a business owner or recruiter to overcome this new labor market and sustain your business with the top talent it needs to remain competitive?

Adapting is going to be the key to overcoming this labor market challenge and we’ve got some tips on how your business can adapt and change to fit this new market without skipping a beat.

Get Creative
For any business, especially those most affected by the labor shortage, recruitment and retention are some of the biggest challenges to face. In the face of this new labor market, they have been multiplied by ten. Our first tip: Get Creative with Recruitment and Retention.
Look beyond traditional job postings which can be dry and boring and make your job descriptions stand out and leave an impression. Make your job ads playful and fun.
Hit on different aspects of the job that might attract beyond the traditional benefits highlights. Is the job flexible, is the boss approachable and fun to work with, how’s the work environment? Do you do training that most other businesses dont?
Consider offering an employee referral bonus and leverage your existing staff to recruit for you.
Partner up with local organizations, high schools, collages, etc to post jobs or look out for recruits for you
Leverage social media to put the word out, not just on the job boards, but in local marketplace or neighborhood groups
Look at ways that you can beef up your employee offer
Keep clear communication with employees and periodically check in with them. It is hard to gauge employee satisfaction if you never ask and it’s hard to fix problems you don’t know exist. Make sure to be accessible to your employees so they know they can voice their concerns and make sure to be proactive with your employees as well.
Create the right culture for your employee type. This often can be found through employee surveys to understand what type of culture they want/need, what factors are important to them in a position and workplace etc.

Trim the Fat
Take stock of your organization and assess what your company really needs. Trim the overhead fat on spending where it isn’t necessary and you can trim not only the needed revenue but also the needed manpower to get you the profit margins you need. With less employees needed, the stress of filling open positions lessens as well and then you can turn attention to retention.

Perk Up Employee Benefits
What can you offer that your competition can’t or what can you offer to be competitive in this new marketplace?
Can you offer flexibility? Remote work options?
Can you beef up pay rates to be more competitive?
Can you add in any additional benefits, better rates, more PTO, company car, gas, toll fees, bonus structure etc. Get creative, ask current and potential employees what would be important to them and reassess your benefits package to help your company stand out.

Change up Your Management Style
Recent studies of today’s workforce show that employees want a more transparent management style. Traditionally management styles kept employees at a need to know level only divulging information that was necessary for them to know. However, today’s workforce wants more. More information, more communication and more transparency and feel this goes a long way in strengthening the relationship between you and your team and fosters a culture of empowerment.
Have senior team members weigh in on recruitment decisions so they feel included in who is working alongside them
Divulge some of the reasoning behind why changes or shifts are happening within the business rather than just making the decision and letting your team know
Ask your employees for suggestions on factors of decisions that need to be made. For example if you’re looking to trim the fat, asking your employees for suggestions on how to curb spending or correct areas where they see inefficiencies can help your team feel more included in the business and its success
Share the good and some of the bad. Sharing your company goals for the year and periodically throughout helps your employees know what they are working for, and makes them feel a part of the team. Sharing how you did as a team working toward those goals and the successes and misses can also be good. Just be careful to not overshare.

Open up To Your Network
Recruitment can be hard for a lot of businesses and sometimes you may have a hard time finding the right candidate for your own business but may come across a candidate you know would be a good fit for someone else. Opening up your network and leveraging their talent pools alongside your own can prove to be mutually beneficial. Network across different industries as well as in your own. Share your struggles, share what’s working and share your talent pool and let your network know that you’re open and they will be too.
Openly network and host or attend networking events
Host or attend talent fair’s that span different industries
Reach out to your network via email or phone call when you come across a candidate that might work for them or share their info with that candidate
Share social media recruitment posts/events from those in your network and ask them to do the same

This new labor shortage is challenging to navigate for all small businesses. The truth is that we are not able to predict when the labor market will shift, or if it ever will. Adaptability in your recruitment processes and offerings is key and will open up the pool of people that you’re able to attract in this new labor market and possibly improve your business overall. Trust in your business, it’s concept and utilize these creative solutions to find ways to enhance your overall offering. By evolving your business to better meet this new labor market you’ll find you evolve your business to be more sustainable through this shift and beyond.