So here we go again with another economic downturn! No matter where we are in the economy; yesterday, today or tomorrow, almost all businesses will struggle at some point with acquiring staff talent. We have not heard of one company yet that is above 10 employees that have not had an issue with one staff member. They either didn’t work out, that staff member quit, was not the right fit and so on. We could be wrong, but to our current research, it does not exist. So, for the staff out there, if you don’t like your job or you are the best fit for your business that they have ever had, the business has always had issues with staff.
So why does business place so much emphasis on staff? Because those staff members make the business profitable. Economy off to the side and all things being equal, if a business has issues with staff, they have an issue making money.
Where does a business find reputable staff? Everywhere and anywhere! Place an ad or use your network to find people. Head-hunters, online advertisements, word of mouth and so on are all great places to find people. Acquiring talent takes a massive effort. If you treat staff good or bad, you will have reviews online where most people today check before they accept roles. If your culture is good or bad, staff will see through it once they get inside the organization and either look to change your culture or leave because the effort is not worth the reward. Our simple theory is this, treat staff the way you would want to be treated or the impacts of that treatment can impact you forever.
Once you have obtained the proper talent inside of your business, what are you doing with them? Yes, you hired them for a role, but that staff member wants more, and how are you as an owner giving people options. We have gone into too many businesses where they tell new hires that they are growing or want to grow, yet 2 years later and nothing. Then owners have a hard time understanding why people leave. First, when you hire staff you have to be upfront with them and your business model. If you are or want to grow you need to tell them the challenges you face in doing so. If you want to stay the same and there is very slow or stagnant growth, you need to let them know that as well.
Once all the formalities are out of the way, you need to build succession planning. That planning can impact the owners all the way down to the new hire. How is the current organizational chart structured and how are people going to fit into it over the coming months and years. Build a plan and let people know how they fit.
Succession Planning. Does it exist or are people leaving it until the last minute and fail miserably? There needs to be a proper schedule and timing for bringing someone new into the mix.
What do you do as a business? Is it a service or a product? What is your business strategy for success and how do people fit within the model? Staff expect from leadership a resource plan. Owners are needed to plan out how all staff will be used to achieve success. A very important aspect of resource planning is collaboration. Some things to consider when conducting resource planning:
Today’s blog is written for leaders, owners and staff on any level in a business. Staff is the greatest resource in a business. How that staff is treated will define how the business moves forward. Get it right and how the owners want to grow will be the only issue in the company. Get it wrong and you deal with turnover, bad online reviews, terrible work culture and so on.
Get in touch with us at Future To Now Consulting to help with staff and the process forward for any business, with our leadership coaching and consulting.
