Businesses everywhere are struggling with hiring as an employee shortage is becoming a very real dilemma for many industries, especially hospitality, retail, and food service. If you’re facing a job candidate/employee shortage, you may be looking for ways to do more with less. Here are a few suggestions:
Making the Most of Your Resources
Outsourcing
One way to make the most of limited resources is outsourcing. If you can’t hire additional headcount, there may be other companies that can do some of your tasks for you. For instance, if you wanted to create a gift card program but don’t have the administrative time to do it, consider joining a local currency program that someone else will administer for you.
There may also be some things that a virtual assistant can do for you to help free up your time for other things that you can’t outsource. Many people are turning to the gig economy to find jobs. They have a taste for working from home and it may be much easier to find a virtual assistant these days than one who will come into your physical business location.
Merging
Some businesses have temporarily merged with other complementary businesses so that they can combine their resources. There are some restaurants that are sharing staff and ensuring their hours don’t interfere with one another like a breakfast and dinner restaurant sharing staff. A juice bar may open inside of a gym and they may share employees.
Paring Back
While it’s frustrating to have to cut back hours if you can’t find good help, you may need to. If you can’t limit your hours you may be able to limit other things in order to make the most of your resources. For instance, you may limit services or offerings to reduce time spent creating many options. Keep your best performers and thank your customers for their understanding as you go to a limited services or item menu.
This is an unprecedented time. Many businesses are having difficulty hiring. You may have to continue to do the best you can with what you have. These tips can help.
