Strategies to Help Overcome a Labour Shortage

Canadian businesses have been facing a labour shortage for many years due to the aging workforce and the Covid-19 pandemic only worsened it.  As people move on, or the aging workforce retires, companies just can’t seem to keep up with hiring and training to replace the staff they have lost. Upon facing the current labour scarcity economic condition, companies have been forced to re-evaluate their total compensation in order to attract staff to power their business.  Attracting staff remains competitive as so many companies are in the exact same situation. Finding and retaining good staff is number one on each company’s to-do list. After all, your business cannot grow without the manpower behind it. Prospective employees are now on the lookout for an improved work-life balance, flexibility, higher compensation and a strong, positive company culture.  With inflation on the rise and employee positions remaining vacant, companies are trying harder to attract the right people for the job that will stay.

Ultra Shine’s Established Recruitment Committee  Ultra Shine was not one of the businesses left unaffected by the current labour shortage. Filling positions in remote positions where public transportation is not accessible has not been easy for us. The re-implementation of temporary foreign workers provides hope that Ultra Shine’s labour shortage struggles will soon be behind us.  While facing the labour shortage, the conversation of how we can recruit and retain the right staff was a popular topic for discussion for Ultra Shine’s Recruitment Committee.

Create A Plan Using What You Already Do Well  One of the first things Ultra Shine’s recruitment committee took on when facing the labour shortage problem was to stop for a moment and brainstorm what we already do really well.  We came up with these 4 main points:  We are built on a foundation of mutual respect  Ultra Shine staff love who they work with  Leadership spreads the Ultra Shine culture wherever they go  Our work is steady, reliable and consistent  Using this, we then took our goal and started to formulate a plan to overcome the labour shortage issue we were facing.

Anticipate Challenges  No new project or process without its own unique challenges. The best way to respond to challenges is to be proactive which means anticipating challenges that are likely to arise.  Ultra Shine knew that there were a couple of challenges we would face while trying to accomplish our goal:  We have a high turnover in light-duty cleaner roles at some locations. This means that site supervisors can spend too much time on  “on the job” training of new staff. When this is happening they do not have time to invest in themselves and receive upskilling from our area supervisors, blocking the pipeline.  We have some current supervisors who are comfortable where they are and do not want to advance to the next supervisor level, again blocking the pipeline.

Plan to Address Those Challenges  After coming up with the challenges you are likely to face when trying to recruit and retain staff during a labour shortage, it’s important to find ways to address them.  Here are ways Ultra Shine found we could address the labour shortage challenge we were facing:

Recruit Staff 

Update Job Postings  The best way to attract the right candidate for the job is to ensure job postings are as up to date as possible, especially when it comes to their duties. Ultra Shine has chosen to add what is called “Job Specifications”. Rather than just a list of duties a person would carry out while working, the job specification is a detailed description of the knowledge, skills, and abilities a person who would be successful in that role would have.  For example, one of Ultra Shine’s Area Supervisor postings would look like this:  “The Area Supervisor is responsible for ensuring their accounts are up to Ultra Shine’s standards. The successful candidate will demonstrate a high level of organization, and time management skills. They are a self starter. An Area supervisor needs to have great interpersonal skills, and be confident in their dealings with internal and external customers. The successful area supervisor will not be shy in communicating, coaching and holding their staff accountable. A successful candidate will have a passion for problem-solving and a strong work ethic.”  Making this small change to our job postings has resulted in a 9% increase in applications from the right fit candidates. By adding job specifications to the job posting, it motivates applicants who are the right cultural fit to apply. A potential applicant may choose not to apply when seeing a technical skill posted that they don’t have and we lose out on a potentially great applicant who has the right attitude needed to do the job.

Highlight Success Stories  Prospective employees want to see what’s possible if they work with you. Help them envision a good, long-term fit by highlighting the success stories of other employees within your organization.  Many of our employees have come to Canada through the foreign worker program and we have helped them get Permanent Residence and some even Citizenship. Our leadership team has many individuals who started out as a light-duty cleaner and have worked their way up.  Host In-Office Career Fairs  In- office career fairs are a great way to bring people into your office and let them experience your company culture first hand. Prospective hires get to meet members of the team and see the career progression they can take if joining the company. It helps recognize a right-fit applicant sooner than the traditional hiring process does.

Retain Staff 

Communicate Well  One of the main reasons for losing new-hires early on is a lack of communication. At all stages, aim for open and consistent communication with all levels of staff. New employees are taken through our onboarding process where they get a formal introduction to our company,  processes and programs, as well as our Shining Start program which checks in on them regularly throughout the first month to ensure onboarding and training is going well.

When issues arise and a solution may not be immediate, it is extremely crucial to update staff and communicate updates with them as a solution is found. When in the know, people are much more patient. Take a delayed flight for example, one flight is told that their arcraft is delayed and is given many updates and the other is told nothing. Understandably, the latter group got much more upset, demonstrating the importance of communicating.  Experience the Onboarding Process Yourself 

Onboarding is the process of integrating someone into your company, moving them from being an “outsider” to an “insider”. By experiencing this yourself you will be able to identify any gaps that may exist in the process, such as in the training or initial onboarding process itself that could lead to frustration and turnover.  Another important thing to keep in mind about your onboarding process is the consistency. Is the onboarding process the same every single time, or are shortcuts sometimes taken by certain staff. These shortcuts could create gaps that lead to frustration and ultimately higher turnover in your company. Encourage all members of the organization to act as brand ambassadors, being welcoming and helpful as the new hires get integrated within the company.

Sometimes a labour shortage is inevitable but you can implement practices that help your organization to attract and retain the best fit for your company. By creating a plan that utilizes your skills to address the challenges your organization is facing, you can be better prepared to overcome the obstacles associated with a labour shortage, drawing people to your company and encouraging them to stay.