Four ways to Staff your Business!

July 26, 2023

The problem with labor shortages is all the “free money” that is currently being given to young people. There are 7-9 million young people that have dropped out of the labor participation workforce. Most are at home playing video games.

But businesses are getting smarter and innovative. To completely staff your business, you have 4 options often called the “4 B’s.” Buy-Borrow-Build and Bot.

Buy-pay high wages, provide huge signing bonuses, allow work from home, lots of PTO, premium pay for off shifts, annual bonuses to all, and mega relocation allowances. Of course, you will have to raise product/services prices to pay for all this. Or, cut the workforce. This approach is often called “a race to the bottom. “Unsustainable!

Borrow-temps, contractors, travelers, interims, rent-a bosses, and outsourcing. All of these approaches carry administrative costs. My experience with temps is poor. They are not top performers. In the service industry, outsourcing can be tricky, especially if workers are outside the US. In manufacturing, outsourcing requires surveillance. On site audits must occur. Never outsource a critical part.

Build-train up. Hire employees with aptitude and train. BMW has been training their technicians for years. Hire certificate people and train for higher levels of work. Create pathways for employees to reach more responsible jobs. Many industries like IT, have their own “colleges.” Those with the skill set advance. In education, new teachers must have damn good mentors, and a proven process for support. Building your team works and I support this approach with one exception. If an employee is not capable do not retain.

Bot-short for robots. Examples include ATM’s, kiosks, self-checkouts, website services like scheduling appointments, home test kits and monitors, Zoom calls, mechanical arms, robots used for hazardous or dangerous jobs, driverless vehicles, test dummies, all terrain rovers, and drones. This is the future. High upfront cost, but ROI is excellent. AI will be the game-changer.