Skills shortage

It’s top of the list for many of my clients.

And it’s keeping business owners awake at night.

Yep, you’ve guessed it, the skills shortage.

And it’s tough, your clients expect you to deliver, and you need a team you can rely on.

Down a staff member?

⛔️ Everyone else has to take up the slack.

⛔️ People start to feel overwhelmed/

⛔️ Service levels drop/

⛔️ And it all comes back to you – the owner.

Tough, eh

But what to do about it❓❓❓

The experts (who know much more than me) believe this is a long-term challenge driven by a shrunken post covid workforce and unfavourable demographics.

But, as with all trends, there will be winners and losers, so how do you make sure you win?

I’m not talking about pool tables in the office; this is about going deeper, so your team can thrive at work and home. Where to start? Well, how about gauging the team’s mood now with an employee engagement survey – I’m always amazed at how few firms measure the team’s happiness.

💡💡 Top tip – Measure team engagement and act on the results

2.  𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆.

So, if you’re trying to deliver ten things, you need ten skill sets, ten experts, ten processes and so on… And guess what, automating and standardising this is hard – yep, really hard. So unless you’re a huge firm – do less, do it better and more efficiently.

💡💡 Top tip – Work out which products and services deliver the most profit and focus on these

     3. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲

Map the customer journey, the processes and skills you need to deliver and simplify and automate. Why? Because the more of your processes are done by tech, the less reliant on expensive labour you’ll be.

💡💡 Track revenue per employee hour worked – overtime this should increase if you’re taking the right actions.

Ok, thanks for the tips, Ben, but I’m busy. I need a plan and, if I’m honest, some help and accountability…

If that’s you, give me a call.

We’ll work together deep dive into your business, figure out your must-win battles, and we’ll build a plan to deliver.

I’ll walk the journey with you, and now and again, with your permission, I’ll give you a friendly kick up the butt to keep us moving forward!