Employees, especially those who are unskilled and working for modest wages, have a view of their jobs that departs radically from the attitudes of previous generations. Baby boomers are more inclined to see inherent value in showing up on time, working to complete the assigned task, and advancing the ball on behalf of the company. Accept a job and then ghost your first day? They’d rather be forced to binge-watch rap videos. Gen Z and beyond, not so much. They drove by five “Help Wanted” signs on the way to your office and can have several offers by lunch time. They will say yes to every offer, then decide which one they want in the morning when they wake up. Many businesses are so desperate they’ll ask no questions and accept them back, so there is no penalty to the employee. They do it over and over again, changing jobs like Lady Ga Ga changes outfits.
These attitudinal differences have been variously influenced by Covid, the labor shortage, and the whispy variations associated with generational tendencies. Many of our clients, often baby boomers or Gen X’ers, sum it up by saying “nobody wants to work anymore”. Supervisors and senior leaders in our business organizations are often a bit older, and they naturally find these characteristics frustrating. It interferes with hitting goals, increases costs, creates drama, and reduces profit. To some extent we have to recognize these developments as new rules of the game, like it or not. But what strategies are available to help us manage the issue?
At TalentTeam, much of what we know about highly productive staffing strategies we have learned from our 45 years working with our clients. One of the lessons, constantly reinforced by our clients, is the value of a real partnership. A partnership, rather than a vendor relationship, can be seen as a business connection that shares ownership of the desired outcomes. It features high levels of communication and accountability. What are we trying to accomplish? What can you do to help us get there and what can I do? How do we measure progress, and who owns which goal?
We have manufacturing clients that include us in their weekly staffing meetings, usually run by the senior HR leader. We also have pre-scheduled plant leadership meetings, so we hear their advice, guidance and plans. These are often held quarterly and chaired by the plant manager. Serving our clients requires that we have the right infrastructure in place, scaled to meet client needs. We can’t invest the resources necessary to make this happen without knowing what our client needs look like into the mid-term.
Your staffing partner is selling candidates on the value of making a career at your facility. Have you trained them to do a compelling job on this task? Do they know about your culture, your benefits, the opportunity for advancement, the personal growth opportunities you provide, the work you do in the community to benefit others, your core values and mission statement, etc? If not, how will they attract the very best candidates for you, and give you the opportunity to grow them into a highly productive and committed workgroup that will continue to add profit to your business?
This thing we call staffing is harder than ever. And more expensive than ever. A true partnership with your staffing provider is the best way to create the foundation for profitable outcomes.
Steve Pluim is the president of TalentTeam, a Salt Lake City based staffing and recruiting firm.
Steve can be reached by email at [email protected]
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