Attracting and retaining good staff is a massive issue right now with many businesses finding it very hard to get staff amidst the well-publicised staff shortages and those that do are finding that salary requirements have increased substantially. With the prospect of further interest rate rises and inflation showing no signs of reducing, the current situation is unlikely to change significantly for some time, and so now, more than ever, it is vital that businesses retain valuable staff and where necessary attract good new employees. So how is this done and where should the focus be placed?

There can be few business leaders who are unaware of just how difficult it is to hire staff right now. Not only do we have record low unemployment (around 3.5% currently but in practice actually much lower since there is always a small cohort who have no interest in finding work anyway), but there is also a recognised skills shortage in many business sectors, e.g. construction managers, early childhood teachers, ICT (information and communications technology) and others connected with the hospitality sector. Yet, despite this, hiring of new staff is universally poorly done which is costly enough ordinarily, but given the situation today can actually be downright damaging. Here are five common mistakes:

There have recently been a number of articles that focus on the post-pandemic work environment with many pointing to a significant increase in staff movement. The past Covid-19 lockdowns have given staff time to think seriously about their roles, what they enjoy, what they don’t and what they want to achieve out of their vocation.

While many in the travel, hospitality and retail sectors have already been forced into pivoting into different industries, it is anticipated that many more will be looking for new roles even within the same sectors spurred on by the increased flexibility that now exists through remote working or simply the opportunity of new challenges as organisations struggle to find candidates.

According to the Fin Review (June 2022) Australian businesses are crying out for more workers as the country copes with one of the largest labour shortages yet seen. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that there were 423,000 job vacancies in June and it seems to be no better at the time of writing in August.

With the unemployment rate at a 48-year low and sitting around the 4% mark, businesses are reporting some alarming statistics: 59% of job applicants do not have the right skills and 79% reported a lack of applicants entirely!

I have recently spoken to two CEOs with a remarkable amount in common – they are both business owners with the same number of staff, have similar revenues, both mange blue collar workers, each have two children between the ages of five and nine and both have “no time” for a number of key things:

· Spending quality time with their wife/partner

· Spending time with the kids

· Spending time on hobbies/personal interests/catching up with mates

· Thinking strategically about their respective businesses

· Being a CEO

Although often credited to Stephen Covey or Tony Robbins, the BE-DO-HAVE Model is likely to have been around longer than that (I recall hearing about it in my mid-twenties so it must be old!). Fundamentally, it is a simple framework that provides perhaps a non-intuitive approach for success. Let me illustrate with an example to start:

Suppose you want to be the best golfer in your club. It might be tempting to think that to be the best golfer, you need to have the best golf clubs or have the best golf instructor. Is this likely to make you the best golfer? Of course not!

Those of you in business that are currently looking to hire more staff would already be well aware of the present difficulty in finding great people. With the unemployment rate in Victoria at around just 4.5% (and bearing in mind that there will always be a percentage of the working age population that are either not willing or not able to work), there is bound to be a shortage of talented people.

Why is it that some people seem to be able to squeeze much more into their lives than others? Afterall there are 24 hours in a day and 7 days in a week for all of us, but when you reflect on the achievements of people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson, Gandhi and Winston Churchill, you have to wonder how on earth they managed to squeeze so much in?

What was your least favourite subject at school: English? Physics? Music? Chances are that many of you will have said Maths which is a pity since not only is this a fascinating subject, it also lies at the heart of much of what we need to do in day-to-day living, e.g. paying bills, budgeting etc. Since many people naturally shy away from mathematics these things are often avoided but in business, it is essential to ‘know your numbers’ if you are going to make your business a success.

Have you heard the term ‘The Great Resignation’? The phrase refers to the well above average number of American workers that left their current roles around March 2021 and continued to do so into the latter part of 2021. In fact, in August 2021 a staggering 4.3 million US workers left their jobs across all types of roles, and research at Microsoft indicated that around 40% of workers globally are thinking about quitting as well.

While the economic recovery in Australia was disrupted by the Delta variant of the Coronavirus in 2021 and the impact of Omicron is hitting hard now, there is still reason for business optimism in 2022.

We saw employment drop 2.5% in the second half of 2021 however job creation is strong at present with Indeed seeing job postings and vacancies at a record high.

Hiring the right staff is the most important decision a business can make, bar none. If you are a business leader or manager that has managed staff, you will know exactly why this is - great staff make your life easier and enjoyable and toxic staff can cost a huge amount of time and effort, not to mention possible damage to teamwork and customer relations alike.

It was the Scottish poet Robbie Burns (1759 – 1796) that once said:

“O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!”

which in modern English simply states ‘if only we could see ourselves as others see us’…..

I remember being told at a management training session held many years ago that ‘In business as in life, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate’. It turns out that this is the title of a book by Chester L Karrass …..

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Do you consider yourself to be a perfectionist? If so, do you see this as a strength or weakness? 

If I were faced with the situation of being able to provide just one business support session to a client, I would choose to do this on company culture. Why?…

Take a minute to think about your business’ greatest successes and learning experiences to date. Chances are that these will be very much related to great (or poor) staff…