The irony of the subtitle of my new book FULLY STAFFED: The Definitive Guide to Finding and Keeping Great Employees in the Worst Labor Market Ever (releasing Monday, April 20th) is obvious. After all, if the COVID-19 pandemic has force millions to file for unemployment, could this STILL be considered ‘the worst labor market ever?’ 
The answer is a resounding, YES! But that’s now true for a completely different reason than it was when I was writing and researching this book (and recorded this video in February) with unemployment in the U.S. below 4% and employers everywhere screaming for workers.
Okay, so the balance of power between employers and employees has dramatically shifted. The labor market, which was all but barren 45 short days ago, is suddenly chock-full of laid-off or furloughed workers who are now – or very soon will be – looking for jobs.
But as the shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted and businesses attempt to reestablish themselves, employers are going to find that their trolling nets will have transitioned from nearly empty to bursting at the seams with job applicants. Thus, the race will be on to sift through the sucker fish misfits to find and hire the ‘right fits’ before they’re reeled in by the competition.
And it won’t be the big companies who beat out the small in the hiring Olympics, but rather the employers who are prepared to recruit, screen, interview, hire, and train quickly that are going to crush those that are unprepared or slower on the trigger.
You see, having more applicants does not mean there will be a surplus of the right applicants you will need to get your business back on track. Faced with all the many arduous tasks and details that lie between being locked down and getting back to 100% operational, you are going to need a well-trained staff of front line people who know what to do and how to do it, who love your culture, and who are loyal to your cause. Turnover will be your archenemy, so you’re going to need to staff-up fast, and staff-up right!
And finding those very key needles in what will be a massive haystack is going to make this a ridiculously difficult and challenging labor market unlike any you’ve ever encountered.
THREE STRATEGIES THAT WILL GIVE YOU AN EDGE
1. Do everything possible to hang on to your people, especially those you consider your ‘top performers’. Do whatever you can to help your people navigate these turbulent seas, even if it means making calls to employers who need people and moving your people to the very top of the applicant pile for temporary employment. If your people are having trouble filing for unemployment, do what you can to help them navigate the process.
2. If you must furlough people, do this on a one-to-one basis, not via mass email or text, God forbid! Keep the lines of communication wide open and let your workers know that you value them, feel for them, and that you want them back as soon as the circumstances allow. This critically important messaging should not be delivered through a mass email or group text, even if it comes from the President and/or CEO. This will be much more effective if this is communicated via one-on-one calls from their direct supervisor or department manager, and each call should begin with a sincere “How are you doing?” followed by a long enough silence to listen to the response on the other end. You can’t fake genuine concern and compassion, and your workers are going to know whether you actually care about them, or are simply going over your to-do roster and checking boxes. Remember this; The way you’re treating your current employees through this pandemic is being recorded for future playback by all the candidates you want to recruit when this crisis is over!
3. Examine, refine, and recalibrate your hiring process. There’s never been a better opportunity to get really good at recruiting and onboarding new people. I’ve included dozens and dozens of best practice examples from clever employers in my new book. I invite you to download this FREE 3- chapter sample featuring the chapter on what onboarding should look like in your organization.
Don’t wait for the pandemic to end to focus your attention on staffing. Plan ahead; it wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark!
Visit Fully-Staffed.com for details about the new book.
