The employment landscape now is vastly different and yet looks the same from three years ago. Before the pandemic, many employers had difficulty finding and keeping good employees because of the low unemployment rate. That has not changed much today; finding and retaining highly skilled and knowledgeable workers is more complex and harder, but for many different reasons.
Today we are focusing on technology solutions that can help organizations intelligently address the labour shortage by providing quicker, more straightforward ways to onboard new employees, collect and share data, and monitor processes and performance to make crucial adjustments that enhance operations and productivity. A younger generation of workers who are already proficient in technology and anticipate using it at work find technology appealing. 91 percent of Gen Z job hopefuls think that if they were to choose between several job offers, the technology provided by a company would play a role.
With the majority of signs suggesting that the economy is turning around, staffing will remain a difficulty as talent rivalry heats up and the amount of unfilled positions creates a market for job seekers. Companies must adopt digital technologies to boost productivity and capacity in order to address personnel shortages. Here are three helpful tactics.
Automate Processes
By optimizing workflows and removing redundant work and menial activities, digital automation solutions can help you do more with less money and time. By easing the workload on the employees, it can also help lower the risk of burnout, stress, and low morale which can lead to employee churn.
For instance, using Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to keep an eye on machinery and procedures can cut down on the requirement for human supervision. Or, automating time-consuming and onerous manual or redundant operations, such as maintenance requests or job tracking, can help keep things moving forward. By allowing staff to concentrate on duties that are crucial to the purpose, both of these can improve HR efficiency. 43% of HR professionals are optimistic about the introduction of automation to their industry. They feel it will make it better.
Measure. Track. Plan.
Peter Drucker said it best “If you can’t measure it you can’t improve it.” Reporting with clearly outlined Key performance indicators (KPIs) can provide you with real-time insight into what’s happening and open up a world of possibilities for improving processes and efficiency. Implementing a digital KPI management plan will help you better understand operational and individual capability by illuminating critical data like as absenteeism, material flow, and cycle times.
A KPI plan will assist you in determining what is working and what is not by establishing a baseline, defining a benchmark or objective, and then monitoring performance as you make improvements. It may be possible to identify the root causes of process inefficiencies earlier or later than you initially believed. You now have concrete proof to show where problems are located and the ability to simulate remedies before fully committing to modifications that might not work thanks to the creation of this “digital thread” of information.
Streamline Training and On-boarding
It’s critical to move as soon as possible to train and onboard the people you do have when talent is in short supply. To maximize the resources you now have, start by evaluating the talent and skills you already possess. Perform a talent inventory and compile a database of the people who can perform which jobs or fill which positions. In order to fill in any gaps, create new programs, or cross-train existing staff, you may then compare this to your present training programs.
Then, in order to make it as simple as possible for workers to learn useful new skills, install digital training solutions that enable staff to access learning at any time and from any location. Employees can learn at their own speed and even on their own time with the help of digital learning management solutions. To illustrate proper methods, you can even include video analytics records of work in progress.
Although it is simply the first stage, on-boarding and training, digitizing HR is the start of a cultural shift. HR is, after all, the first contact someone has with an organization. The panic button that businesses click far too frequently and far too late is reduced when technology and analytics are used to estimate labour needs and skill gaps.
In closing
Despite the fact that personnel shortages may be particularly difficult at the moment, it is always a wise move to be ready for the inevitable ups and downs of the workforce and the economy. To combat labour shortages both now and in the future, firms can streamline their processes and increase efficiency by implementing digital technology.
If you are looking for assistance with implementing any of the recommendations or want to learn more about how your enterprise software can do more contact us today. Do make sure to subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay up to date on the latest IT and business trends and news.
