The world is changing. Bust still, some groups of people do not change and stick to the best-known old approach. In such a situation we have people on the market who are not ready to face the challenges leaders want to solve and leaders, who are not ready to compromise with the skills they need. And that creates the magical circle of not getting anyone to do the job, and not being hired because we lack some skills, considered to be crucial from the leader, leading teams.
In this magical circle, everyone is ready to lose, but just a small group of people are ready to try being flexible and adapt to the new environment. Take the people from the service industry for example. In times of crisis, most of the bartenders, servers, pastry shop personnel, hotel personnel, and others have lost their job, but instead of focusing to find some new ways to work and be productive they just sat down and started complaining about the situation they are in. It is the same with the employers. 2020 brought an unexpectedly high pool of potential hires. Some of the recruiters have never seen so many applications comings to their inboxes, but still, there are so many unfulfilled working positions. Leaders have so many choices, that they cannot decide who to hire and wait for the perfect candidate to appear, while still using the shortage of talent as an argument to not accomplish their goals.
Sad situation, but unfortunately true. And it appears to be true for most of the countries and industries in the world. Plans so greatly communicated for hiring people who answer the values of the company, or those who can fit a project with specific skills are on standby or frizzed, because of the same talent shortage communicated. But there is still so much potential on the market. So many people who can answer the needs of each leader and company. The one thing the leaders must do is to forget their pride and start searching and acting as real explorers, finding, hiring, and engaging these diamonds in the rough that can help them achieve global and local goals. But still, the look must be internally and externally focused, so that these same leaders can fill up the empty positions. Here are my 5 ways to do it that made up the company I work for to stand out and continue achieving goals even in the tough situation we face on the market and the economy.
Support for the displaced worker
You know them, you have seen them on the market, maybe you, as a leader even had someone with this fate. In a fast-moving, run by automation world there are many workplaces to be replaced by automated processes and machines |Some of these people are good workers. They just did not adapt so quickly to the new environment. Most employers dismiss them and then forget about them. But still, these people can build up or destroy the employer brand the company wants to build and sustain. A good leader is the one who can invest time and resources to help these displaced employees. This support means to give them some time to adapt while searching for their next employer. In the arsenal of weapons for helping a displaced person, every leader should think of offering some additional qualification, ensuring some money to help the person maintain its standard of life, invest time trough connections and partnership s built to help the person find a new job, give psychological help if needed in form of some coaching, etc.
Creating diverse talent pools
In the 21st century after so many people-oriented international moving, we still discriminate against some groups of people. The sad thing here is that even companies who admit publicly that have policies allowing them to hire without discriminating against people, discriminate against people by race, age, gender, etc. A smart leader uses every potential it can find on the market. There is nothing wrong with hiring a person in their fifties or sixties. Nowadays, people in their sixties work as the people in their forties 25 years ago (according to a Harvard Business Review research, published in 2018). Gender is also still seen as a big issue for some positions. Look at the number of women who code, or the women in C Level positions, or even the people in C Level positions who are below 30 years old. This is why the leader must focus on building a successful team, by using every possible potential it finds, without holding itself back from old school thinking habits.
Upskilling and reskilling in the workplace
Many leaders face this challenge too often. Because of insecurity in their team members, they stop investing in employee’s development. As a result of that employees do what they are hired for, get bored, at some moment and quit to find a “better place to work”. Or maybe you have a different scenario, most of your employees are in their fifties and sixties, you know that they are a bit slower than they used to be years ago. Because of that, you do not invest much than the minimum they need to fulfill their duties. And you do not know what potential you are losing. Instead of making that huge mistake, the leader must think forward. It is its responsibility to find what people in the team are interested in and invest in it, to bring more value, engagement, and effort while trying to reach established and insisted goals. An employee who is doing the same job may need a boost in new skills to become the next best performer in your team, and someone who is already working in a role may be interested and have a talent for a different role in the company. Overlooking these people not only hurts team performance and engagement, but also personal accountability level of the employees
Offer alternative education
Nowadays people often think of completely changing the course of their career. You may see coders who become farmers, accountants, who become salespersons, marketing people, who start working as baristas, etc. People need development, they insist on development. The career they have started years ago is not their life choice. Some of the choices may change during time. And at this moment, the leader must be there, to offer support, to help the person change their view, priorities and life journey, to ensure resources that help the employee to develop in the new area, but still within the same company, and, if possible, with the same team. This simple action boosts team morale and creates opportunities not only for the employee but also for the leader and the employer at the end. That is why the leader needs to follow employees needs and offer what they need to stay productive and successful while delivering great results for the same company
Partnership with community groups
An often-unused channel for bringing fresh talent within the team is the communities in social networks or the neighborhood. The proactive, result-oriented leader must search for diamonds in the rough everywhere. Often the channel most of the leader’s miss are the communities. These communities are created by people sharing the same interest, but often these people have diverse education and additional experience. They are experts in certain areas or even influencers to other groups. A smart leader must overcome its internal inconvenience and look after the communities in the area. For example, from a group of people with disabilities, you may find your next star accountant or coder, from a group of street painters you may find your next talented designer, from a group of local nature activists you may find your next environmental manager, etc. The winning leader is the one who knows what communities live in the area and can maintain positive contact with them to ensure future talents for its team and the company wider long-term goals.
IN CONCLUSION:
Today, most curious leaders are those who succeed. They are active, search for opportunities everywhere, and can allocate resources to grow company results through developing and supporting employees. \others are just managers who think of how to control others and use them as replaceable resources (yes- they still exist). What type of leader do you want to be – the one who can build the future, or the one who sustains the status quo?
The Human place 