Talent Shortage? 5 Ways Employers Fight Back

The increasing talent shortage is becoming a great headache for employers. One argument focuses on problems with the education system.  Others focus on technology advancing faster than employees can keep up. The facts remain that many employers are finding it difficult to solve the talent shortage.

illustration of talent shor skills and job demandstage and the gap betwee
Growing talent shortage
and how to fight back

Five hiring tactics employers can use to fill talent gaps include:

1. Increase contingent workers to minimize the talent shortage

If a business experiences a skills shortage, hiring contingent employees can help close the gap. Following the increased availability that contingent workers now offer, they can work in any environment and deliver according to their areas of expertise.  The strategy has more cost effective benefits and can be done within a relatively small budget. These flexible workers can quickly fill a talent shortage.

2. Partner with schools to mitigate the talent shortage

The growing skill and talent shortage has made it necessary for organizations to partner with schools to find workers. In some cases this has enabled employers to get tailor-made skills specific for a company.  The partnership satisfies the skills mix the talent shortage has left undeveloped and accommodates just what the employer may demand. It will also open the door for skills transfer and industry experience through internship which may result in better distribution and retention of skills.

3. Frequent recruitment strategy re-evaluation

The talent gap can be minimized by re-evaluating how the interviewers or staffing agency conducts the recruitment. Necessary changes are  important to ensure that inefficient recruiting efforts don’t slow down or diminish the company operation.

The move will ensure that you put in place the right practices and employ the most competent workers to overcome a talent shortage. This will also see growth encouraged among employees – better working relationship and satisfaction. Putting better techniques into effect when conducting employee recruitment will lead to getting more of the right skills.

4. Diversify workforce skills and cross-train to bridge the talent gap

Cross training most employees on basic job duties may lead to effectiveness when it comes to work delivery. In the same manner employers need to realign all the potential skills that are already in the company to ensure the employee skills are being optimized.

This will give more freedom to employees to try out what they understand best in different ways. It can easily broaden and improve their skills.

5. Invest in employee training to close the talent shortage

The foundation of any organization is basically the services offered and the skills used to deliver them. You can bridge any talent shortage by encouraging internal and external training. By putting employee training as an important activity, more talented people are likely to join your company and remain as they gain skills and perform better.

The list can even be longer than 5 employment tactics. Consider other steps employers can take to reduce their skills and talent shortage. When focusing on the talent gap, improve your recruiting to avoid making it a growing problem within your company.

Several of these 5 employment tactics will sacrifice some short-term productivity, but will yield longer term solutions.  Research shows today’s recruiting difficulties will not be going away over the next 2-3 years.

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