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Many businesses run into staffing problems at some point, whether it's a high turnover rate, low employee engagement, or simple communication issues. The employees who make up your team are your company's most valuable asset.
Having one healthy team and workplace culture can go a long way in increasing your business's productivity and revenue by preventing many common problems that cost companies time and money. By doing so, you'll have a happier, healthier and more engaged workforce to help guide your organization to success.
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1. Lack of personnel
Understaffing is one of the most common problems faced by businesses and can quickly cause major problems in day-to-day operations, affecting the quality of service you provide to your customers or clients, the amount of work you are able to get or end (and therefore your end) and employee morale. Understaffed workplaces have higher turnover rates because they tend to cause employee burnout as staff have to work hard to compensate. So what is the solution?
I love analyzing our specific task needs and finding ways to automate them using AI or tools in the market. Then, I start a talent search. Unfortunately, many businesses wait until they have an urgent need for new hires before starting the hiring process, but hiring is a process that requires foresight and planning. It's best to start hiring when your team is only working at 80% of their capacity. This will give you time to find the right candidates and have the capacity to train them before you are at a crisis point. If you are currently at that crisis point, it may be a good idea to hire with the goal of reaching that 80% capacity or below rather than a 90-100% capacity.
2. Lack of training and development
One of the most common business mistakes I see is that business leaders fail to invest in their employees by training them. Effective leadership requires you to accept that your employees may eventually leave you for new opportunities because of the lack of growth they have experienced under your leadership. The truth is that high-quality employees want to develop. They want to grow and will feel more satisfied if they are given the opportunity to do so, which means they will stay at their job longer. We provide career opportunities that we share with employees for future growth, which empowers them to advance their professional development. Employees are more likely to leave a position when they feel they no longer have room to grow there.
Additionally, lack of training creates problems throughout the business. Employees who are not adequately trained they won't be able to perform their tasks properly, forcing others to pick up the slack and creating an uneven team dynamic that leads to frustration, burnout, and interpersonal conflict. To have a smoothly running business and a healthy work culture, training is vital.
Connected: 4 The huge benefits of improved employee training
3. Micromanagement
If you were to ask employees what type of leadership they hate the most, many of them would say micromanagers. But the thing is, many micromanagers don't realize that's what they're doing — they're just trying to stay on top of things and hold people accountable. Usually, this is rooted in a lack of trust in employees or an overbearing hierarchical leadership structure. Micromanagement can take several forms, but is characterized by excessive involvement by leadership to the detriment of employee or team performance.
To combat micromanagement in your organization, take a look at your leadership structure and how leaders interact with their teams and employees. If you have well employed, your employees should be fully capable of keeping themselves on track with their work as long as your expectations of them are clear. Give them the responsibility and authority to solve problems at the level they arise, using their expertise in their roles and the freedom to ask for help when they need it.
4. Poor communication
Communication issues are sometimes hard to recognize because they can masquerade as other types of problems—for example, things not being done when they're supposed to or interpersonal conflict. This is why communication should be a priority for every organization. Excellent communication it can prevent and solve many types of problems.
So what does great communication look like? It is more complicated than it may seem because many companies believe they have good communication practices even if they are not adequate. Communication starts with trust: Employees need to feel safe sharing their thoughts and causing problems their leaders to ask for help.
This means that managers need to be available to receive communication and employees need to understand who to talk to about different issues. This means creating clear communication procedures and simple, regular processes around common communication needs. It's also helpful for managers to regularly check in with their teams and individual employees to have an ongoing dialogue and a place to build trust and open conversation about anything that might need to be discussed.
5. Burnout and low employee satisfaction
If you've already addressed the other four problems listed above, you'll have done a lot to improve employee satisfaction and reduce burn out. However, these are major and complex issues that many businesses face, and they are something that leaders need to be aware of and constantly monitor, because it is easy to start to slip even when things were going well before. My best advice is to listen to what's going on within your organization and what your employees' concerns and needs are. Don't assume you know. Remember that each person is an individual and your decisions as a leader affect their well-being, as does the work environment you create.
So where do you start? Ask them! Talk to your employees to find out how they want to be supported. We send an anonymous survey to employees twice a year, then communicate the changes we've made based on the survey results.
By addressing these staffing issues, you can create a healthier and more productive workplace. Remember to invest in your most valuable business asset – your team.