A company’s capital is not its product, but the employees who create it. If positions remain vacant for too long, this jeopardizes the company’s success. The balance of power on the labor market has shifted, and this painful fact must clear the way for new visions.
The job market is changing more than some would like
According to a survey by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce, more than half of all companies are already affected by staff shortages.
At first glance, the reason for this seems to be quickly identified: the baby boomer generation, high in birth rates and hard-working, is beginning to retire. Subsequent generations with low birth rates, for whom their private lives are more important than their jobs, are not able to compensate for this. However, if you take a closer look, it is noticeable that the following generations are well educated, see work and family as equal and want to make a difference. Perhaps for the first time in history, workers are in a position to make demands, however uncomfortable and painful that fact may be for companies. As is well known, whining is not a business model; rather, the focus must be on improving all those internal structures that make a company so attractive for workers that it remains successful and sustainable.
companies as applicants
Companies that have until now relied on brand appeal or innovation to attract and retain talent need to reconsider this stance in a timely manner. Employees are a company’s most important asset and at the same time its most volatile. Personal priorities are shifting for employees at all levels. Your personality, competence and motivation are the engine for the company’s success, your progress endangers it. Companies are now competing for workers. How this is achieved is outlined below.
The composition of the workforce is changing
People who previously had little chance of a career must be included in order to alleviate the shortage of skilled workers. Despite good training, these people often fall short of their potential because their living conditions mean that they have to rely on flexible and digital options
job opportunities are required. Companies should not miss the opportunity to unearth this treasure.
Leadership as a task instead of as an end in itself
In this context, good leadership is becoming increasingly important. Managers must lead. This core task of personnel management is often thwarted by corporate structures.
Some leaders cannot lead. They became managers because they had been the best at fulfilling the technical tasks or because it was time for a promotion without being personally suited or prepared for it. Others are not allowed to lead because they are prevented from doing so by the heavy workload of everyday technical activities. Still others lose themselves in the micromanagement of their team, which not only eats up a lot of time, but also demotivates technically outstanding teams. Executives in highly hierarchical organizations, in which a lot of value is placed on status symbols, are particularly at risk.
Recognition in professional work
Some of the leadership deficits described can be prevented by rewarding professional success not only through hierarchical promotions, but above all through appreciation. Appreciation is not just an empty phrase when professional and disciplinary competence are of equal importance to the company in terms of recognition and remuneration. Managers and specialists then work in their respective specialist area with full force, unhindered, independently and fairly remunerated. Incidentally, this idea of self-responsibility and equality is also based on modern, very successful project methods and promotes a positive error culture.
And what does that mean in everyday life?
Companies need to take a critical look at themselves and their beliefs. Do we find status symbols, hierarchies and face-to-face work important, or can we put the costs for previous structures and status symbols into our digital equipment so that processes become more efficient and people can work for us without moving and long commutes? Can we become so attractive with flexible working time and contract models similar to those of freelancers that specialists from all over the world want to work for us? Do we trust in the creativity, knowledge and motivation of our employees and pave the way for them to fully exploit this potential for us? Do we continue as before, endure the associated pain or do we break up the conventional structures with visions? The answer is simple. Or not?