Another October is upon us and I couldn’t be happier. My favorite of the “ber” months is here, something I personally wait for! What makes this month so amazing? The change in weather, being officially “soup season”, pumpkin spice and of course the big one: Halloween. But in business, it isn’t just another month. Nope! In fact, isn’t October the time for scary stories?
But if you own or lead a business, some of the scariest things probably aren’t hiding in a haunted house. They’re hiding in your workforce. The most unsettling part? You probably don’t know that they are there or they don’t look like problems (at first).
Your employees are showing up. Payroll is running, your customers are being served, the business is moving. So, everything must be fine…right? (I’m glad you asked)
Not necessarily!! Some of the most expensive workforce problems aren’t crystal clear and they certainly don’t announce themselves. They quietly build until they show up as turnover, missed deadlines, frustrated managers, hiring challenges, culture meltdowns, declining productivity, or a great employee walking out the door with very little warning. Here are some of the biggest ones I’ve seen:
Problem 1: THE GHOST EMPLOYEE
I’m not talking about someone literally disappearing (this isn’t a dating app, although there are employees who truly do ghost). I’m talking about the employee whose role has become unclear. Maybe their responsibilities have changed, but their job description hasn’t. Maybe they’re doing the work of two people. Maybe they’re spending most of their time on tasks that weren’t part of the original role. Maybe nobody has stopped to ask whether the position still makes sense for the business.
Eventually, people become frustrated because expectations aren’t clear. And when expectations aren’t clear, performance usually isn’t either.
Problem 2: THE ZOMBIE PROCESS
Every company has one. Everyone follows that process because…”That’s how we’ve been doing it and it works just fine.” Nobody remembers who created it or knows why three approvals are necessary. Everyone knows it’s inefficient, but nobody has taken the time to fix it. Zombie processes are dangerous because they consume something businesses never get back: time. And when inefficient processes pile up, your employees spend more time working around the business than working for it. Sometimes the solution isn’t another employee. Sometimes it’s fixing the process that is making five employees work harder than they need to.
Problem 3: THE CULTURE MASK
Your website says you’re “people first”. Your leadership team says your door is always open. BUT your employees may have a very different story. Honestly, in my opinion this is one of the hardest workforce problems for leadership to see because employees don’t always tell you the truth about their experience. Not because they’re dishonest, but because they’re worried about what happens if they do.
Culture isn’t what gets printed on the careers page or on your LinkedIn post. It’s what happens when someone makes a mistake, or how managers handle conflict. It’s whether people feel heard and whether high performers are recognized or simply given more work. And it’s whether employees believe leadership will do something with the feedback they provide.
Problem 4: THE OPEN-POSITION GRAVEYARD
You have a position that’s been open for three months. Then six months. Then the job requisition starts feeling like part of a black hole. You blame the market by thinking “There just aren’t enough qualified candidates.” Yeah, I guess maybe. But many times, the problem isn’t the candidate pool. It’s the job. (GASP)
A few things to consider if you have openings that you can’t fill:
- Could the compensation be out of alignment with the market?
- Are the requirements unrealistic?
- Does our hiring process take too long?
- Is the job description current or from 5 years ago?
- Do I have strong external resources to support our team when we truly cannot fill a position?
Problem 5: THE BURNOUT VAMPIRE
Every organization has people who consistently save the day. They take the extra calls, stay late and pick up work when no one else will. They train new employees, solve problems and never seem to say no. So naturally, the organization keeps giving them more.
Until one day…They’re done.
Burnout doesn’t always look like someone falling apart. Sometimes it looks like your best employee becoming completely disengaged, or perhaps they are bringing fewer ideas to the table (with less enthusiasm). They start to use more sick days and when asked, they reply with “I’m fine.” Then BOOM: a resignation letter that seems to come completely out of nowhere.
It wasn’t out of nowhere. They’ve been leaving for months. You just didn’t see it because you weren’t paying enough attention.
Problem 6: THE FLIGHT RISK
Here’s an uncomfortable question: Do you know which of your employees are most likely to leave? Not who’s unhappy, or who’s complaining more. But who’s at risk?
Because sometimes the person most likely to leave is the employee who has stopped complaining. They’ve mentally checked out, responding to recruiters and updating their resume. They’re quietly waiting for the right opportunity.
By the time leadership learns about it, the decision has already been made. Retention isn’t simply about throwing more money at people. It’s about understanding why people stay, why they leave and what obstacles are getting in the way of doing their best work. That requires conversations, data and sometimes an outside perspective.
Problem 7: THE LEADERSHIP BOTTLENECK
If every important decision must go through one person, you don’t have a high-performing organization. You have a dependency and dependency is expensive. The owner must approve everything, the VP must solve everything, or the manager can’t decide without someone’s permission.
This often starts innocently, but it quickly becomes a monster that is out of control. A company grows. The founder wants to maintain control. A trusted executive becomes the person everyone relies on.
But what worked with 15 employees will not work with 150. Growth requires structure, clear roles, delegation, trust, accountability and leadership development. And sometimes, a hard look at whether the organizational structure you have today is built for where you’re going.
SO… WHAT’S HIDING IN YOUR WORKFORCE?
Ready for the scary part?
Most of these problems don’t look like emergencies that would cause someone to wave the flag or pull the fire alarm. Revenue might still be growing, people are showing up and business appears to be operating.
That’s precisely why they’re dangerous!! By the time a workforce problem becomes obvious, it’s usually already expensive. A bad hire costs more than a recruiting fee and turnover costs more than a replacement salary.
Poor processes cost more than the hours they consume. And losing a great employee can cost far more than what it would have taken to keep them!! Trust me, I’ve seen it more times than I can count.
Here is the good news: You don’t have to figure it all out alone.
You want to look at the workforce from two sides of the same equation: Do you have the right people AND do you have the right environment, structure and processes to keep them successful?
Recruiting and hiring someone into a broken system doesn’t solve the underlying problem. Sometimes you need to hire, sometimes restructure. Sometimes you need to fix a process, or you need to train your staff. And sometimes you need someone from the outside to tell you what your team won’t.
The goal isn’t simply to have more employees. It’s to have the right people, in the right roles, with the right support, doing the right work.
TIME TO TURN ON THE LIGHTS.
If you’re wondering what’s really happening inside your workforce, start with a conversation. If you need external support, TTG offers a complimentary one-hour HR Audit to help identify potential gaps, risks and opportunities within your organization. You may discover everything is exactly where it should be. Or you may discover something hiding in plain sight.
Either way, it’s better to know.
Visit us at www.ttgway.com to learn more about how we can support your business.
If you’re ready to take the next step, email us at sales@ttgway.com to discuss how we can tailor our solutions to your organization’s needs.
Join me next month when I discuss part 2 of this series, with a checklist that you can use to self-assess, as well as some follow up ideas and info that I hope you find helpful.