Tag Archive for: remote work challenges

Addressing Employee Scarcity as an Employer

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These days, we can’t go anywhere or browse the news without hearing about employee scarcity. Job vacancies are peaking across Canada, the United States and elsewhere, in all industries, and employers are deploying immense effort to attract new talents. At Intuity, our take is that retaining your existing resources is at least as important if not more than addressing employee scarcity by hiring new talents.

Trying times for organizations

Let’s face it. Organizations are facing trying times.

If skilled resources and labour were already hard to come by before the pandemic, the situation in which they find themselves right now is far from easy. The future remains blurry, immigration is at a standstill, competition for candidates has increased thanks to remote work and abolished geographical restrictions and employees want more safety and flexibility and are ready to leave their employer to find what they’re looking for elsewhere.

With staff turnover and increased consumer demand requiring additional staff, focusing on measures to attract talent can seem to be a valid solution. But hiring is not an end-all-be-all. In fact, staff retention is the key that will then allow for attracting and hiring to take place more naturally and easily.

Instead of spending time developing new coop partnerships with educational programs that are struggling themselves, spending time screening candidates who have already found jobs elsewhere, establishing virtual hiring protocols and so on, why not devote your time and effort to those who are already on your team?

Remember how Arnold said he was ready to take on a new challenge? Now is the time to give him the opportunity! Help your team find meaning in their work, challenge them, equip them for the future and ensure their wellbeing, and you’ll have addressed at least a portion of your employee scarcity problem by preventing more departures.

After all, employee recognition is something many organizations lack at, and what better way to do it than providing advancement opportunities to the faithful individuals who have helped your business thrive all this time?

This in turn will help you attract more people, inspired by the culture you’ve created and the feedback of existing staff, therefore making your recruitment processes that much easier.

The ideal employee

Start by reflecting on the fabric of your existing team. What are the characteristics of the people you’ve employed so far? What makes them assets to the organization?

Now, how does your ideal candidates differ from this profile? What additional qualities or skills do they bring to the table?

Can you work with your team in place and help it get to where you’d like it to be? What tools and resources can you offer to better support them? Are there trainings, courses or coaching opportunities that would help them get them closer to your ideal employee?

And what about you? What can YOU do to improve as a manager and leader?

Retaining and attracting talent beyond compensation

Let’s not kid ourselves: if employees appreciate feeling they can grow and contribute meaningfully to the organization, it’s not to say that pay and benefits aren’t important.

If you haven’t done a comparative analysis in a while, now is the time to do it. Evaluate how you are compared to other organizations in your industry. Also, evaluate each position in the more global context. How are you faring in terms of salary, vacation, pension and other standard benefits? Do you find your business to be at par, below or above?

Although being above is a definite asset, it’s not the only thing that matters. What are other perks that make you stand out or that could help you stand out?

If you listen carefully, your staff will tell you what they want. You might be surprised to find out that a higher pay is not always at the top of the list of priorities.

Perhaps they’d like you to contribute to their RRSP. To develop partnerships to allow them to take care of their physical health at a discount or to receive an ergonomics specialist in their home office. Maybe they’d appreciate PD days, like those enjoyed by staff at numbercrunch. Or an opportunity to unwind in a dedicated, quiet space of the office.

Our solutions to employee scarcity

In alignment with organization goals, Intuity Performance offers a variety of services to help you address employee scarcity and increase team engagement and collaboration – from strategic human resources planning to HR infrastructures, policies and performance systems, to culture alignment programs.

The sky’s the limit. Find what it is that makes your people tick, respond to that need, provide them with a positive atmosphere and the proper resources and opportunities, and you will increase your likelihood of keeping them – while also attracting the right people to fill those vacancies.

5 Questions To Ask Yourself To Become A Better Leader

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When stepping into a new leadership (team) role, there’s often a lot to take in. You are now responsible for your team’s productivity in addition to the myriad of other responsibilities your new role requires of you.

While you may not be brand new to the workforce, learning how to lead and manage people can be daunting. Pulling from our experience working with growing start-ups, we’ve compiled the top 5 questions emerging leaders want to know.

1. How Do I Motivate My Team?

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to motivated teams, but there are some key ingredients to success.

First, what are the goals of the organization? Think about the company’s vision and what it’s looking to achieve. Clear expectations help people to feel invested by letting them know what they are working towards. This encourages teams to work collaboratively.

In addition, if you can follow the vision piece with clear and measurable goals it will allow your team to track their progress in a measurable way.

Next, consider how each member of your team fits into this equation. Is there something in particular that makes each person excited about the work they do? If so, how can you use those interests in alignment with desired outcomes? When we look at the work we do from the human side we can better understand why 2 people with the same training/skills perform differently within a role.

2. How Much Work Should I Delegate vs. Execute Myself?

Delegating effectively means assigning work to people that align with the desired outcome of the task/project – by evaluating synergies you can then capitalize on your team’s skills while simultaneously motivating them as we previously touched on.

Delegation also means giving people the autonomy and the trust to make decisions and overcome obstacles.

Some leaders are reluctant to delegate out of fear of being “out of the loop”. Others have difficulty relinquishing control over work historically they were responsible for.

But delegation isn’t about letting go of control; it’s about gaining perspective and providing your team with the tools and a safe-to-fail environment in order for them to grow and succeed.

3. How do I Have Difficult Conversations With my Team Members?

It may sound obvious, but it’s important to be honest about your concerns and expectations before you start a conversation with a team member. If you’re not being clear about what’s going on, then it’s harder for them to respond appropriately.

Communicate in person. It’s always better to talk face-to-face, but that’s not always possible — especially if you and your team work remotely. Emailing or messaging back and forth can create misunderstandings, which could make reaching a resolution difficult. Having a flexible goal in mind will give the conversation direction – the solution to a problem isn’t always immediately clear but if you discuss and can openly brainstorm a resolution it will go a long way in building trust with your team members/team.

4. How do I Build Trust and Accountability Among my Team?

Show up as your best self; as a leader, you set the tone for organizational culture and performance, so if you are perpetually late, push deadlines, or don’t acknowledge your own mistakes your team will see this as an acceptable way to conduct themselves.

In addition, teams need feedback; if behaviors or outcomes surface that don’t align with organizational objectives, there is a good chance there is a lack of clarity around expectations. Communicate with your team to try and identify where you can help close the communication gap to realign your team.

And, most recently…

5. How Can I Get The Most Out of A Remote/Hybrid Team?

Working remotely has presented new workplace challenges for leaders. Still, with some flexibility and the utilization of some great networking and organization platforms, leaders can find themselves successfully leading dynamic and organized teams from the comfort of their living rooms.

By adopting a flexible mindset, leaders can benefit from shifting focus from hours to outcomes. A stellar Q1 report remains stellar regardless of when it was sent/received.

Flexibility filters into team interactions as well. No longer are we meeting at the copier or popping into an office for a quick chat; setting up weekly team meetings and one-on-ones helps keep your team on the same page and allows the human side of your remote team to stay in focus.

In many cases, new leaders jump into the role and react to the challenges they face, learn from (hopefully) good managers and evolve their leadership skills with time. But what if there was a way to practice PROACTIVE LEADERSHIP?

Proactive leadership aims to eliminate or reduce the impact problems have on your team by implementing measures based on identified risks.

Want to know more? Using a coach-approach Intuity Performance can be your bridge from knowledge to actions so that YOU can become an effective human-centric leader.