Work Force? What Work Force?

There has been significant press over the past few years about declining labour rates as a result of reduced fertility rates and an aging population in Canada. This article puts a pretty fine point on the extent of the issue and what we might expect in future.

The repercussions can be significant and affect many aspects of a companies ability to conduct business. From servicing customers, order entry to I.T. management - shortages can have major impacts. The business case to start thinking about this looms large:

1. What employee retention strategies are in place? Are there plans to change? This article provides an excellent overview what companies are and are not doing in regards to recruitment & retention strategies.
   
2. How do you plan on adapting recruitment practices to adjust to changing circumstances?
3. How does your organization plan on augmenting skills gaps where talent cannot be readily found?

Outsourcing is one major consideration that has received much attention over the years. Offloading "non-core" competencies sounds great in theory - but history has shown that outsourcing is fraught with peril if not approached pragmatically. Here are a couple of things to consider before deciding whether outsourcing is right for you:

1. Is the process under consideration for outsourcing easily extractable from the organization? An example of "easily extractable" is payroll processing.
2. Is your company experiencing a skills shortage now? Has this resulting in service deficiencies?
   
3. Is there a plan to better use internal resources to achieve business objectives?
4. Are current costs and service levels well understood?
5. Is there an opportunity to add value beyond just dollars and cents?? (improved employee and customer experiences, etc)
6. Does everyone involved understand how outsourcing can improve the organization's performance and their roles in the new arrangement?
   

While outsourcing will prove to be a viable strategy to address skills shortages now and into the future - it will not ever be a panacea for all that ails. This is especially true if organizations do not consider the fine tactical details of the approach. After all, as they say, the devil is in the details.