So, like all leaders, you’re trying to build your team—to hire great people and build a strong team for the future.
Why does it seem so hard to find great people these days?
As a leader who’s been building teams for a few decades now, I understand the struggle.
Finding people is one thing. Finding great people is quite another. Talented people with skills, energy and character are the kind of people who build great organizations.
Making poor hires is a more costly mistake than you might think.
Some studies put the cost of employee turnover, with conservative estimates of $50,000 every time you have to replace an employee because you either terminated them or they left. That’s expensive.
Better to hire a great person and create an environment they love than settle for hiring whoever and hope they work out.
So—back to the original question—why are great people so hard to find?
Well, in a changing workplace and culture, here are 8 reasons you might find yourself searching longer and harder for great people than ever.
After all, it helps to know what you’re up against. Diagnosing the problem is the first step to solving the problem.
Finding people for your team is one thing. Finding great people is quite another. Click To Tweet1. There’s a talent war going on
It’s not just your imagination. There actually is a talent war going on.
A few things are fueling this.
First, with the unemployment rate profoundly low, it’s a full-employment economy. As a result, people looking for work can find it.
Second, there are generational shifts happening. With Baby Boomers leaving the workforce rapidly and Gen X not far behind, Millennials are by some estimates now 50% of the workforce. By 2025, Millennials will be 75% of the workforce.
Third, there appears to be a skill shortage. Colleges just aren’t pumping out qualified graduates fast enough to meet the needs of the market. Just ask any talented computer engineer, who likely gets multiples job offers a month.
In other fields, there’s simply a shortage of leaders. In the church world, for example, the average age of the senior pastor has crept up to 57, and seminaries are not producing a groundswell of young, capable leaders. As a result, it can be difficult to staff for the future.
Organizations that don’t have any competitive advantages simply won’t be able to compete for top leaders.
Organizations that don't have any competitive advantages simply won't be able to compete for top leaders. Click To Tweet2. The Internet Happened
If you go back a generation or two, people were much more likely to stay put longer because they didn’t see a lot of other options available to them.
Then the internet happened. Suddenly, you could discover new careers, new cities, and new options for free any time, anywhere.
So people did.
If you hire someone and they’re not happy, they’re on their phones in minutes looking for other options.
The power that used to belong to employers has now shifted to the employee. The higher the skill set you’re looking for, the more true that is.
The power that used to belong to employers has now shifted to the employee. The higher the skill set you're looking for, the more true that is. Click To Tweet3. The Gig Economy
Highly gifted people are increasingly working for themselves.
Estimates now put say that by 2023 almost 50% of American workers will participate in the gig economy to some extent.
73% of Gen Z report already having participated in it.
While you can argue all day long about the challenges associated with the gig economy (no benefits, lack of job security), it appears to be here to stay. The gig economy gives people freedom in a way traditional jobs historically haven’t.
While “self-employed” used to signal that you couldn’t find a job at a company, it’s now increasingly seen as a status symbol.
While being self-employed used to signal that you couldn't find a job at a company, it's now increasingly seen as a status symbol. Click To Tweet4. Entrepreneurship
One study revealed that 63% of twenty-somethings either own their own business or want to one day.
This trend will likely only escalate with the next generation of digital natives coming into the marketplace who realize you can launch almost anything you want online.
Just because the majority of new businesses and startups fail doesn’t stop people from trying.
All of this means they’re far less likely to want to work for you.
Just because the majority of new businesses and startups fail doesn't stop people from trying, which means they're far less likely to want to work for you. Click To Tweet5. Your Workplace Isn’t Nearly Flexible Enough
Entrepreneurialism and the gig economy give leaders flexibility that traditional employers don’t.
A survey of 900 leaders I recently undertook confirmed that young leaders are increasingly tired of being chained to a desk or to set hours, or working for a boss who’s closed to change and innovation.
The future workplace is a flexible workplace.
Flexible hours, remote work, and giving freedom and autonomy to talented employees aren’t the exception to the rule anymore, it’s the new rule.
The future workplace is a flexible workplace. Flexible hours, remote work, and giving freedom and autonomy to talented employees aren't the exception to the rule anymore, it's the new rule. Click To Tweet6. Your Culture isn’t Defined (or Healthy)
The list of expectations prospective employees has for their future workplace increasingly includes a healthy workplace culture.
That’s a good thing.
It’s not just toxic cultures that employees (with options) are rejecting. They’re also rejecting boring cultures.
Creating a great culture—one with minimal politics and where people love to come to work—is going to become an ever-increasing competitive advantage.
If you want to get a quick jump-start on creating a better culture, you can download the 5 Great Questions Every Leader Asks—a free guide I created to help make your one-on-one meetings healthier and more engaging.
It's not just toxic cultures that employees with options are rejecting. They're also rejecting boring cultures. Click To Tweet7. They See Who You Are, Not Who You Claim You Are
It’s getting harder and harder to pretend you’re someone you’re not as an organization.
Thanks to blogs, social media, and organizations like GlassDoor and LinkedIn, prospective staff members have a far easier time these days seeing who you really are, not who you claim you are.
That can work against you, of course, but it can also work for you.
In 2019, GlassDoor voted Life.Church the #1 best place to work among small-medium-sized businesses. Right underneath a profile explaining why Life.Church won the top workplace award is a list of current job openings at Life.Church.
If you’re a healthy employer, transparency works in your favor.
If you're a healthy employer, transparency works in your favor. Click To Tweet8. Your Mission Isn’t Compelling Enough
All the studies say the same thing: Millennials really do care about mission and purpose.
And no, growth or a profitable bottom line simply isn’t a compelling enough purpose anymore.
Even in a church or non-profit context, it’s easy to lose sight of the mission. Survival isn’t a mission. Neither is growth.
It's easy to lose sight of the mission. Survival isn't a mission. Neither is growth. Click To TweetIncreasingly, employees are looking for organizations to do good in their communities, care about the environment, and have a deeper sense of social responsibility.
In a world with a million whats, young leaders are looking for why. If your organization can’t show them a compelling why, they’ll keep looking.
In a world with a million whats, young leaders are looking for why. If your organization can't show them a compelling why, they'll keep looking. Click To Tweet
