In the past couple years, there has been a paradigm shift in the job market. Positions that were once easy to hire now seem impossible to fill. And while there isn’t the type of skills gap we’ve seen in the past, the new skills gap is simply not being able to hire talent with necessary skills due to the hiring crunch.
According to a study by Lorman, while 59% of employees say they’ve not received workplace training and obtained self-taught skills, 74% of workers are willing to learn new skills and attend training to remain employable. Moreover, 74% of workers also said due to lack of development opportunities, they haven’t reached their full potential. These trends offer an insight into what leaders can do during the hiring crunch caused by the Great Resignation.
With the talent shortage affecting businesses across all industries, organizations need to look toward upskilling their employees to meet workforce and production needs.
Identify the Needs of Your Team
Every team has specific skills that are required to achieve organizational success. From logistical and succession planning to project management and skilled trades needs, the roles your organization finds difficult to fill are not necessarily always industry-based, but strategic to your goals. Look at where the gaps are in your business and what’s needed to fill them. It’s also important to look at your short- and long-term goals and identify the skills needed to achieve them.
Find Employees Interested in Upskilling
Once you identify the internal skills gaps within your organization, it’s important to look for employees who are not only willing, but eager to learn new skills with the possibility of taking on more responsibilities or a different role with the company. Without specifically surveying your employees, it may seem difficult to identify such growth-centered employees. However, one simple way to do this is to look at your star employees who are self-starters and have the desire to expand their role and have a meaningful conversation about their career goals and if upskilling could help both them and the company.
Offer Ongoing Development, Cross-Training
After choosing talent who are willing to take on new roles, decide the most efficient avenues to help develop the needs your company require. While larger organizations may be able to offer third-party training and development through tech and trades schools, smaller business may need to look internally to develop these skills. Cross-training may be the most reasonable solution for some organizations. By having employees shadow their skilled peers to offer onsite training, you’re able to double the amount of professionals with the skills needed to take your company to the next level of success.
Maintaining productivity during a hiring crunch can be stressful and demanding. However, by training your employees to meet the everchanging demands of the market, you not only set up your organization for success, you also develop a team ready to take on any future challenges.
How do you handle the hassles of a hiring crunch? What do you do to help train and develop employees? Let us know in the comments section below!
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