BUILDING A QUALITY TEAM IN A SKILL SHORTAGE: 3 PART CASE STUDY

Doing business in a challenging world can be stressful and no more so than building a quality team in a skill shortage. In one of the most isolated places on earth.

On the other hand, it is a great opportunity to look at the business and do something exponentially different in terms of how and where great teams are built in times of a skill shortage.

Kiikstart has had the pleasure of working alongside a diverse range of clients, in far flung parts of Australia. None more so than the hospitality and tourism providers located in the outback.

For those not familiar with the Australian outback it is like nowhere else on earth, hugely beautiful as it is vast and widely isolated. A place not for the faint hearted.

This article is a three-part summary that highlights the thinking and insights that helped shape the business become a place that builds great teams year after year. And builds the bottom line as a result.

A word of warning – it will challenge commonly held beliefs you have about attracting talent and the role of business location.

Happy reading and thanks to the Outback Leaders who dared to do different.

HOW DO YOU BUILD A GREAT TEAM IN A SKILL SHORTAGE AND IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ISOLATED LOCATIONS?

PART 1

GET STRONG FOUNDATIONS IN PLACE THAT WEATHER CHALLENGE AND CRISIS

1. Employers need to be able to create a strong value proposition for employees before even considering how they will recruit and develop their workforce.

Step outside of your own head and into the mind of a prospective employee to shape a meaningful proposition.

What’s changed about employee’s values and behaviour and how do you design a business to be reflective of that?

To be able to create an impactful, relevant value proposition you must be able to define the following key areas from a bigger picture strategic perspective:

·        Who you are currently as a business?

·        What you want to become as a business in the next two years?

 ·       How you want to live/ what matters to you in terms of lifestyle – this also considers what your workforce values in terms of health and lifestyle.

When you can define this, you need to be able to craft a personalised plan for the business – not a template.

As  Owner and General Manager Jo Fort likes to say, “you don’t positively change business cultures just using a template”.

2. Before we considered how we were going to recruit and build the team we worked closely to do the following:

-        We redesigned all roles from General Manager, Hotel Manager across the entire business including kitchen and front of house staff.

It was key to reflect on what needed to change in terms of focus and how these roles interacted with one another.

Note existing staff worked with Kiikstart to co-design these roles so they had buy in and accountability from the first step.

It was also important to be clear with the workforce on how the roles were going to be reviewed over time and being flexible and open minded with how these roles would change over time.

3. To attract diverse, talented staff there was a need to invest in deconstructing the business.

This ment looking at current and potential skill gaps, threats and risks, really understanding why these exist and designing sustainable solutions.

4. Understand that recruiting is a two-way process – you must be able to answer clearly and back it with real workplace evidence “What is the benefit of employee’s working with you?” What do you offer that will appeal to people – today?

5. Create fans – staff that have worked with you and who are willing to talk about their experience within their own networks.

This has been key to securing a consistent supply of great people that are the right fit for each other, the client and the business.

PART 2

SET UP THE BUSINESS MODEL DIFFERENTLY

Covid made the business stop/reflect and plan differently in terms of how the end-to-end guest experience was delivered. This is turn has created extra time for the team to rest during quite trade periods.

There is now a smart pacing of the team which allows for a solid mix of work but also lifestyle. 

In real terms of key changes this has ment closing the bar to allow a rest day for staff in the off season but having one person on call to let people into rooms, provide a drink or a meal.

Feedback from visitors has been positive as they are still able to be serviced while ensuring the wellbeing of the team.

Covid made the business think about how it wants to come out the other side and ask what will it look and feel like for the team?

The overall, long-term experience of the team is everything and pacing workload has been given serious consideration by leadership in creating a different business model.

PART 3

FUTURE PLANS

The business now only plans a month or two ahead due to uncertainly around covid restrictions and the impact of high fuel prices across Australia – and in particular in the outback.

Changing circumstances now requires the business to be able to react quickly and have plan B and C in their pocket.

The last two years has also taught the business that no one person is in charge in terms of being the keeper of all the knowledge and intelligence the business has.

Management needs to share this with the team and makes sure that it does so risk to the business and the team is reduced.

There is a continual focus on the emotional wellbeing of staff as well as the financial and the team lives by the mantra that if your people are well the rest falls into place.

Moving forward the business will continue to review its recruitment strategy and invest the time and money required to curate a great team that is well and delivers quality experiences to its visitors.

The business knows that you cannot expect to put a couple of ads on Facebook and think you will draw great people to your business.

Written by Ali Uren – Founder of Kiikstart® Developing Teams Making Opportunity From Challenges. Without the Burnout.

I also create original OD content to share, save and refer to later. Please follow or connect with Ali Uren ♻️ to keep up to date with a practical, truthful take on OD.