I have already written about HR work several times. Today I would like to take it a step further and build a bridge to corporate strategy. In my opinion, this should be much more in the foreground of personnel search than is often the case. You can find out why in this blog post.
When employees retire or resign, the company grows and more people are needed – at the latest then it is time to think about personnel work again. Because in view of the repeatedly described shortage of specialists and workers, job advertisements are not enough.
Where will your company be in 5, 10 or 20 years?
Of course you don’t have a crystal ball, but some future trends are foreseeable. For example, the boomers are retiring – and you can consider in which key skills you might soon have a shortage. Perhaps there are employees in your company who could fill foreseeable gaps, but you don’t spontaneously think of them. This is where you need to discover potential – a topic I already wrote about in 2016.
When you go looking for staff, consider how long you expect to fill the position in question. In some industries, machines, robots, digitalised processes or artificial intelligence will make one job or another obsolete. If you take this into account, you can start looking for employees today who have skills for tomorrow – or push ahead with investments in modernisation.
Finding skilled workers without thinking twice
The frequently mentioned shortage of skilled workers mainly affects the so-called MINT professions and professions in the health sector. This is where the gap between the supply of vacancies and applicants widens the most. Skilled workers from abroad can fill gaps. But which employees from which countries are most suitable for your sector and field of business? How meaningful are the respective educational qualifications? Who can help you look for qualified staff directly on site? Here it is worthwhile to do more intensive research.
But other models of thinking are also possible. Suppose a certain qualification is only needed for a definable period of time: What is the argument against outsourcing this activity, for example to freelancers, start-ups or scale-ups that have these skills? Or to professionals in (pre-)retirement who can contribute these qualifications. Many people would like to remain professionally active even in retirement and can take on corresponding projects or train new personnel in a qualified manner.
Quiet Thriving – Courage to enjoy your work more
The most important resource that companies have is motivated employees. But this often does not seem to be the case. Currently, reports on quiet quitting are piling up in the media – in other words, not quitting, but only doing what is contractually agreed and no more. In my view, this is a resigned attitude that advances neither companies nor professionals.
I like “Quiet Thriving” better, which encourages finding the positive in an activity as a counter-design. If this way of thinking were to prevail, much would be gained: In my experience, more appreciation and praise alone leads to less staff turnover. What you need, on the one hand, are committed leaders who are burning for the cause and can inspire their teams. For these employees, it is worth investing in training and coaching. On the other hand, you can offer all employees further training and thus express your appreciation.
Would you like to reflect on the interaction of your corporate strategy and human resource planning and need a critical view from the outside? In a first – for you free of charge – meeting we can talk online for 45 minutes about your situation. You can find more information about my new hybrid consulting offer at mypeople-and-results.
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