Leading with Less: Navigating Staffing Shortages and High Turnover in the Modern Workplace

Over the last few years, the staffing questions on our Employee Opinion Surveys have been sitting in the lowest-rated questions for a lot of our clients. One contributing factor is the hot employee market causing people to change jobs at record highs.  During the pandemic, we had people out of the office quite frequently for illness, quarantine, etc. In 2023, there have been several rounds of layoffs, especially in the tech industry, causing a real or perceived staffing shortage. The result for most employees and managers is the pressure of having to get more done with less, i.e., get the same job done with fewer resources.

Some leaders are struggling with how to cope with the added pressure.  Other leaders are thriving in this environment. To help our leaders learn to thrive vs just survive, we have assembled a list of ideas, behaviors, and characteristics below that we have seen help leaders thrive in this new environment.

1. Develop a positive attitude

Successful managers accept that today is dramatically different than yesterday’s business environment. These managers have realized that if they fight the new environment…they will lose. Instead of fighting the change, successful managers are excited, not frustrated, about adapting to the challenges the new environment presents. They are focusing on what they can do, not what they cannot do, to maximize their success.

2. Work on proactive activities (planning) each day

Successful managers realize that if they are going to be successful in the new environment, they will have to plan for change.  If all you do during your day is put out fires, you will probably spend tomorrow doing the same thing all over again.  Some managers never realize that, because of their lack of planning, they are the pyromaniacs who are actually setting their own fires. 

3. Create a list of “things to do” each day

Successful managers realize that they will never get all the tasks done they would like to.  These same managers realize that certain activities must be accomplished if they are going to be considered successful in the eyes of their customers, employees, and boss. To facilitate getting the critical items accomplished, these managers create a daily “things to do” list and then prioritize the list.  They do the highest priority, most urgent item first.  If you get the most important items done each day, it will minimize the fires.

4. Review time management skills with your people

As a manager, you are only as successful as your people.  Your employees must be accomplishing what you consider to be the highest priority, most urgent items.  The successful managers we have observed have supported their people with knowledge about time management and then assisted them in assessing the priorities on a regular basis.

5. Delegate…Delegate…Delegate

Successful managers have high trust in their people’s abilities and delegate routine and ordinary tasks…even though they know their people are already busy. When you delegate, you are developing your people and freeing up your own time to work on more strategic tasks. The more you learn to delegate, the more bandwidth your team will have. 

When all five points are considered, the most influential is the first point.  When your attitude about the changing environment accepts the fact that you and your employees are going to have to make personal changes to adapt, the other four points will be easy to implement, and you will be on the path to successfully doing more with less.