There is no hiding from the recent headlines that there is a general shortage of workers at most levels.
This is particularly no surprise for those managing current open roles and who have been searching for sometime.
So how can you survive and accelerate out of a tight labour market?
Here are a few tips and ideas which may help you not only survive but also accelerate out of a tight labour market in Australia;
- Business wide skill check to plan future skill and job shortages. You may be surprised to find what skills exist in your employees which have been overlooked as they were initially hired for a particular role only.
- Start 'developing' rather than continually 'buying' replacements from the labour market. The number one reason employees leave companies is usually because of the lack of development opportunities. This can be simple as wider exposure or a stretch assignment rather than expensive training programs.
- When recruiting from the outside market, move quickly through your recruitment process to the offer stage, then provide a proper and thorough induction when the employee starts.
- Introduce, if possible, a flexible working policy. You may not be comfortable with this but your competitors could be getting the pick of the limited applicants because they are offering work flexibility. Candidates are still hunting for workplaces which offer flexible work locations. To support them they need access to modern and reliable ICT. Don’t forget there are also different ways to engage employees including casual, part-time, contract, or even through an employment agency.
- Introduce or adjust bonus programs, particularly around key staff, sales and operations.
- Survey your workforce to assess levels of employee engagement (the glue that keeps employees from leaving), and commit to improvements from the survey outcome. Focus particularly on employees with 2-4 years of tenure as these are the employees most likely to leave.
- Adjust your employment policies, procedures and practices in line with the plethora of recent and pending workplace rules changes. An opportunity to demonstrate to employees that you are actively managing the workplace in line with the changing legislative landscape.
- Keep employees informed as to what is happening across your industry and how your business needs to perform. This can be through internal written or video updates, State of the Nation type addresses, or even site visits.
Those companies which manage to provide development opportunities for their employees, who manage to retain their key talents, are able to provide some level of flexible work arrangements, increase the number of employees engaged with the business, manage ahead of the many workplace legislative changes, and keep employees informed, have the best chance to not only survive any labour shortage but accelerate out the other side. Easier said than done of course.
Linq HR are Australian employment specialists who can assist with any aspect of employment. Ph 1300234566.