More Jobs than Jobs Seekers. How to deal with it?
The US Department of Labor reported a record of 9.3 million vacancies last April.
But, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the last State Employment and Unemployment Summary, released on Wednesday, June 23, 2021:“Unemployment rates were lower in May in 21 states and the District of Columbia, higher in 1 state, and stable in 28 states, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. All 50 states and the District had jobless rate decreases from a year earlier. The national unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point over the month to 5.8 percent and was 7.5 points lower than in May 2020.”
Have you ever asked yourself, why do we care so much about our customers and sometimes, so little about our employees? The experience of one should be the reflection of the experience of the other. Take a look to your team and pay close attention to each member's talents. Do you really know them?
How to attract Talent?
Even though the situation has shown improvement compared to the rates a year ago, and the vaccination process has considerably advanced, many businesses have encountered an unexpected problem: they cannot find candidates to fill their vacancies. It is not a perception but a reality, and it is not a matter of the hospitality or food service industry exclusively.
How is this possible if the unemployment rate is still far from the 3.7% of May 2019?
It is confusing to say the least. And as expected, depending on the glass used to observe and make a diagnosis, the causes vary a lot and we have heard of them very frequently lately. Some people think the Federal Government has given too much help and this has made the country less productive because there are incentives for not working at all. On the other hand, other people think that having no access to day care services, schools, elderly care services, etc make it impossible for people to seek for a job, and having no job, how are they going to pay for such services? Others think the salaries are still too low and some jobs are too risky for the pay received.
But the fact is that having a business, you have to deal with this reality. Many restaurants find no experienced people to work in the kitchen. When they do, these people expect to be paid much more. Therefore, the costs of your workforce will rapidly rise. So, what can we do to navigate in such a difficult situation?
Retain, retain, and retain! you cannot afford to lose the most important people working with you! The working force is a key factor in our industry and especially now that it is being so hard to find someone to fill the vacancies. You have to consider not only if they are people with more experience, who know the job best, but even more important is their character; if they are true team players and their commitment to their job. You also have invested time recruiting and training them to do things the way you need them, right? So, for all these reasons and more, you have to find a way to Retain your personnel. This is a premise that if it wasn’t in your mind, it must be from now on. So, think of their “pains”; what would they appreciate more? What do they need most? Talk to them and find out. What would motivate them to stay with you? Is it a more flexible working schedule? Studies? Training in specific areas? Flexible dates for vacations? More responsibilities and a promotion? Do they have kids? How old are they? Are they going to school? Do they have elders to take care of at home? What are your employees’ expectations in life, and how could you help them to accomplish them? What about the incentive plan? Do your employees even have one? Is it really coherent with your business principles? Does it really promote the kind of objectives you are pursuing? Remember there is a new world after the Covid-19 whole “experience”... we just haven’t realized yet the dimensions of the impact, and all the changes it has produced and keeps producing in every aspect of our lives, whether we like it or not.
You might even want to share the profits with employees and contribute to their wellbeing, happiness and engagement with your business. So, be creative and flexible when thinking of the tasks, salary and benefits for your employees!
You still need more people, but you cannot either afford the costs or find the appropriate candidate. Does it sound familiar?
You are not alone in this scenario! Unfortunately, there are many businesses in this situation right now, and not just in the United States, but in many other countries as well. Have you been asking yourself, “how am I going to do the same or more with fewer people?” How? What can you do? Here you have some ideas:
Are you sure you have to keep doing the same things? Are you?
Do you have to do things the same way? Do you have to?
Frequently, innerce, habits, and everyday rush play an important role in things we do and the way we do it. The crises are usually seen as an unstoppable avalanche of problems but entrepreneurs know that they also might be an ocean of opportunities to deep dive too! So, a stop once in a while to Rethink might be quite beneficial for the future of your business -see blog "How to Reduce Costs? The Path to Profit Improvement" for more detailed explanation on Rethinking and 7R’s Model.
Analyze your menu.
Are all the items high labor products?
Is there someone who can make such high labor products for you?
Can you substitute any of them for a simpler, low labor product?
If your menu is too complicated, then you will definitely need either very experienced or highly skilled people, or a lot of supervision and/or your own participation in preparing the dishes. Is that feasible? For how long? Is that the way you want/need to run your business? If the answer is “NO way!” Well, it is time to make some changes, and make your operations easier and your life a little bit simpler.
Take a look at your processes. You need to generate efficiency and effectiveness. Do you know the difference between these concepts?
Efficiency is the ability to produce something with a minimum amount of effort and/or resources.
Effectiveness is the degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result; success.
In order to do so, you need “Lean processes”. To give you a very general idea, a lean manufacturing process is a method for creating a more effective business by eliminating wasteful practices and improving efficiency.
As we mentioned previously in our blog, making things easier reduces and optimizes time. Therefore, the person whose time has been liberated can invest it on more added-value tasks for your customers and your business.
Regarding distribution of tasks, it might be an opportunity not just to reduce costs, but to promote someone in your team! Assigning more responsibilities or more added-value tasks to someone who has earnt it, is an extraordinary way to motivate people -and retain him/her! And you can always use outsourcing when regarding, for example, more operative or repetitive tasks.
Try to always maximize employees skills and to do so, you have to train them and give them opportunities to make mistakes, and learn.
Think out of the box when redesigning your processes and assigning tasks. Listen to ALL your team members' ideas, even if not all of them have “the experience” or if their ideas sound crazy at first! We would say you should pay as much attention to the observations of the more experienced people as to those of the inexperienced one. Why? Because even though there’s no discussion that knowledge and experience are priceless, they usually come with certain paradigms. Innovation requires to be truly open-minded to questions such as What if…? And get rid of many “it won’t work!”. So, the “raw, inexperienced, outsider point of view” is very helpful as well to keep you “in the mood of the wind of change”, while taking advantage of the wisdom of experience.
Businesses need employees just like employees need businesses. So the logical thing expected is that there is always a win-win relation between them, right? But in such a competitive world and such difficult times, we need “the best” talent possible. How do we attract Talent? Let’s be honest! It is not a one-day task, but more like preparing high quality puff pastry dough; it requires good ingredients, “the recipe”, patience, dedication, time, temperature and conditions.
We think there are a few, simple but stone-printed premises that owners and team leaders should always remember:
The immense and contagious power of gratitude and recognition.
No one can transmit what they do not feel or carry inside.
Happier and more engaged workers have higher performance, and are more productive and less conflictive.
The better the employee's experience at their workplace, the lower the possibility of leaving the company.
Keeping these premises in mind, and that every business has its own formula and “style”, there are a few elements that constitute a key to attracting talent. These are:
Offering competitive Salaries. This is the basis. Even though there are many different aspects that employees can value about a job, attractive salaries and conditions according to the responsibilities of the job are the least expected. Keep in mind that there is also what is called the “emotional salary”. This term refers to what makes the employees feel happy, valued, satisfied with their jobs. It is a value added that makes stronger the relationship between the employees and the organizations, that somehow guarantees the employees commitment and feeling of belonging.
If your business offers your employees some social benefits, flexible remuneration program, it would be positive to properly communicate it, so other people know -like your future candidates- that you care about your team.
Flexibility: now more than ever before this is an attribute every single business owner has to offer in one way or another. Many paradigms have fallen apart with Covid-19, and many needs and expectations regarding this matter have risen and been installed. Therefore, work shifts with more flexibility, shorter duration, flexible schedules are at the top of the demand. People need the jobs, but they also have to take care of their children or their elders at home, and family logistics are not easy to deal with if everybody has strict schedules to meet, long distances to run, and very tight budgets to manage.
Training and Development. Some people have no experience but are still eager to work, and learning a new occupation or profession is highly motivating. Also, acquisition of knowledge and developing new skills related to their own occupations help employees grow and develop to their full potential. Usually, a talented person wants to prosper and looks for a place that offers the best conditions to achieve that objective. Having partners that give you support on keeping your team up to date or training the best way possible to do their job is fundamental in your business. Think of the skills they need and help them to develop them.
Working Climate. What is it? It is how people feel in their working place. To attract talent, it must be a positive working climate. It means that people feel comfortable working there, because it is a place where they feel respected by their bosses, peers, and in general, by the people they work with. It also implies promoting teamwork, a sense of belonging and something very important: recognition (of good ideas, contributions made, achievements, etc). If your employees feel happy working in your business, with you besides Covid and everything else, then that is what they are going to transmit to customers and outsiders (friends, relatives, etc) and candidates will come to your door, but not any candidates, some will be even “pre-selected” by your own employees, because they will want to take care of what they have built together.
Conscious Leadership. Companies managed through conscious leadership that take into account the differences, motivations and emotions of employees become attractive companies for the most talented. Listening and understanding employees is fundamental to make added value and personalized offers to attract the desired talent.