Employers cannot find employees and it will get worse before it gets better. The national restaurant trade group recently announced that their industry would need 500,000 more workers just to get “business back to normal.” Where these workers will come from, no one knows.
This blog series will provide a leadership perspective of what your organization can do ASAP to deal with this worsening situation. Since this is likely affecting you, I want to provide you with concrete solutions on what you can do to minimize the damage that this employee shortage can cause. After I provide a high-level strategy, I propose one or two tactics.
Strategy 1: Change Your Expectations
We all hoped that things will get back to normal once the COVID vaccine was delivered. Not going to happen. As long as the virus has hosts to attack, it will and over time it will get stronger and more robust. As of today, states and even the US government are considering using shutdowns again to try to stem the tide of sick patients.
Experts on this virus believe that the impacts of the virus can last until 2023 or 2024! That is a long time of uncertainty and instability.
Leadership SOLUTION – The leadership team of every affected organization needs to spend time thinking about and then implementing plans to rethink their organization and the work that you do. We saw examples of this in the dining industry and how prepared meals got into the hands of customers. We saw it in retail, where a grocery store employee did the leg work for you.
The best thing that the leadership team can do it to perform “worst-case and best-case scenario planning quarterly. Make assumptions like, “our business can only operate at 50% capacity for 6 months.” Then make a list of the worst that can happen and the best or upside of that scenario. Be sure to do the same for possible good news and do the same worst and best case lists as well.
Be sure to assume that the next 12-24 months will be like a roller coaster ride with ups and downs. Keep in mind this adage: “The only constant in life and business is change. Constant relentless change.”
Strategy #2 and another Leadership SOLUTION coming next week – stay tuned!
Ron Rael Leadership Provocateur, is a keynote speaker, consultant, and author.
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