Hiring During a Labor Shortage

Teamwork seems to be getting tougher and tougher, and more challenging to manage day by day:

In July 2021, 4 million workers quit their jobs.

Gallup says that only 34% of American workers are engaged in their jobs. (20% globally)

Workers’ daily stress increased to 43% in 2020

Other stats are pretty bleak and can tend to be just as discouraging.

Understanding why this is happening can be a good way to overcome the challenge of hiring the right people for your organization.

There are help wanted signs everywhere and seemingly not enough people that want to work.

Patrick Lencioni has a great book called, “Ideal Team Player”. It is a very easy read. He talks about the 3 virtues of any good employee:

• Humble
• Hungry
• Smart (EQ smart not necessarily IQ smart)

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, I have a presentation I did on this information from a couple of years ago that I would be glad to present to you or your group.

Understanding someone's strengths can really help in the hiring process as well. Making sure you are filling the role based on someone's ability will save everyone time, energy and money. The cost of a “bad hire” has been reported to be ½ to 2 times their annual salary.  

The classic book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins talks about “First Who, then What” … the analogy he uses is “getting the right people on the bus”. Once you have the people who buy into the culture and the team, you can set the direction of the “bus” to achieve greatness. A corollary is once you get the right people on the bus, you have to get them in the right seats. If you get the right people on the bus and in the right seats you will build a strong team that will exceed your expectations. 

Even during a labor shortage, you can find good people for your organization.

Here are a few articles about the labor shortage that I found interesting and helpful:

4.3 Million Workers Are Missing. Where Did They Go?

What Does a Worker Really Want?

Here's why you're having trouble finding work — or workers — during the labor shortage, economists say

The labor shortage is actually 3 mismatches between workers and employers

We will get to the other side of the labor shortage eventually, however by understanding part of why it is happening we can do something to be part of the solution and continue to build our teams.

Coach Dale

[email protected]

Playlists — music can change your mood, enjoy some of the songs that encourage me.

The Identity Key — you can purchase my book on Amazon.