In a recent conversation with a business owner, the idea of rating their team members came up. The concept is pretty simple: determine who is a definite keeper, who does OK, and who merely does the minimum. It was an interesting concept given the tightness of the labor market recently, but honestly a very timely one given our probable economic future. That spawned the thought for this blog post.
If you are like many employers, you’ve had difficulty finding enough workers over the last few years, not to mention enough well-qualified individuals. You likely were able to secure some incredible A-players, but you also likely had to settle for some with either less-than-desirable qualifications, or less-than-desirable enthusiasm for the job. Now is the time to plan for some upgrades.
One of the economic targets the government is attempting to adjust is the number of job openings per each current job seeker. They are trying to lower the ratio. In other words, the government is actually trying to slightly raise the unemployment rate, but still keep it in a relatively safe zone. At a minimum this will mean that employers will have less competition for the same workers, and possibly even more available workers than needed depending on how close the government comes to their target unemployment rate. So how can a small business take advantage of this opportunity? That would be by starting to analyze your current workforce.
No matter what tool or rating system you use, now is the time to start to look at who are the definite keepers, and who you would potentially upgrade if given the chance. That may sound cold, but ultimately that rating is under the employee’s control anyway – they choose how much they learn and how much effort they put in. It is merely your job to manage the business, and therefore the team, for ultimate efficiency.
So as we enter this engineered downturn in the economy, begin looking at your workforce and where you would make changes if given the chance to make some improvements that will help your organization run at a higher level. The time is coming when those opportunities will start to present themselves.
As always, I wish you the absolute best in your business. And if we can be of assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Mark Goldman
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