Today’s recruiting challenges aren’t a temporary problem
As I talk to clients and organizations about their recruiting and talent strategies, I often hear the refrain of, “when things go back to normal” or “this is just temporary.” Here’s the thing. Today’s hiring market is not temporary, and organizations must begin to think – and act – differently now in order to be able to attract the talent they need going forward. Basically, the incoming workforce is not as large as the retiring one. That means we will need to rethink how work is getting done in response to these changes.
Here’s what I mean. At a recent roundtable, I saw a slide that showed high school enrollments in the state of Missouri will slightly increase through 2025. After that, there will be a rather steep downward slope. It caught my attention and made me want to know more. So, I did a little research into the numbers.
Overall, high school enrollment in the U.S. is projected to decrease by close to 3 million annually by 2030. (Check out the graph!) Since these projections are based on students already in kindergarten, the chances that they will change much is small.
Closer to my home, the states of Kansas and Missouri are both predicted to follow the nationwide trend, with Kansas losing more than 30,000 graduates a year and Missouri losing 60,000+ each year.
So, what does this mean for leaders who are running and growing businesses? Here are some thought starters:
Invest in your current talent. Develop and build skills among current employees and increase your focus on retention strategies as finding new talent will continue to be difficult.
Invest in future talent. Get involved with students at earlier stages in their studies as they’re exploring careers. Sponsor high school events that help students find the path that fits them (trades, skills, college or other track). We can’t afford for these future candidates to “fall through the cracks.” We will need every one of them! In Kansas City, programs like Real World Learning are a great place to start.
Evaluate your work and how it gets done. Look for ways to automate and utilize people where they provide the most value and are most needed. McDonalds is my current go-to example for this – they have automated their drive-through ordering and placed kiosks in their lobby to help utilize their people more efficiently.
We’re not going back to whatever the old normal was. It’s time to focus on getting ahead of the new normal. As you do, this quote from Josh Bersin sums it up well, “If you’re not transforming your jobs, employment model, employee experience, and benefits all at once, you cannot ‘hire your way out’ of this challenge.”