How we can tackle the shortage of skilled workers with four levers

In the previous newsletter articles, I focused on the topic of leadership and what it means to lead a team and company in times of digitalization. In the next two articles, I would like to deal with a topic that concerns many managers: How do I find the right people for my company despite the shortage of skilled workers?

There are two aspects that are particularly important: On the one hand, there is the question of recruitment. And on the other hand, how I can keep the right people in my company. Today I would like to talk about the first aspect.?

The labor market is changing fundamentally

For most companies in Switzerland, it is currently difficult to fill their vacancies with suitable employees. Be it craftsmen, service staff in the catering sector or IT specialists in companies like Swisscom. The same picture emerges everywhere: the labor market has developed from an employer's to an employee's market in recent years. Whereas in the past employees had to apply for a job, the reality is now often that companies have to look for suitable candidates. Companies must try to convince the skilled workers of themselves and present themselves as an attractive employer.?

New thinking is needed in the recruitment process

The situation will continue to deteriorate: the Swiss ICT Vocational Education and Training Association estimates that there will be a shortage of 30-40,000 ICT specialists in 2030 in Switzerland.?At Swisscom alone, we already have an average of 200 to 300 vacancies – every month. The occupation sometimes takes six months or more and the costs of recruitment increase massively. The more specific the profile of the candidates, the more difficult it is to recruit.

I exchange ideas a lot with other entrepreneurs and executives. In most industries, the situation is similarly difficult. This is a challenge for companies. This requires new thinking and new approaches. For Human Resource managers as well as for all managers involved in the recruitment process. And the most important thing first: Even the best recruitment will not help us if we want to have the best professionals in our company.?

One-size-fits-all no longer exists

But one thing at a time. Let's look at how we, as leaders, can support getting the best people on the job market. In the past, it was simple: a manager defined the requirements, HR placed the ad, the dossiers came in and "only" had to be viewed. University marketing – if it was done at all – was a trade fair stand with general information about the company. Today, you might still meet with a weary smile with such an appearance.

Professional recruiting uses tailor-made campaigns to search for candidates. It is no longer just university fairs that are visited, but many professional events. And everywhere the messages are adapted to inspire the target group for their own company. But as mentioned above, optimized recruitment alone will not solve our shortage of skilled workers in the future. I see four levers, which I would like to explain.??

Four levers against the shortage of skilled workers

1. Lever: Employer Branding

Employer branding helps us to position our company in the market in a targeted manner. It supports the competition for the skills of the future. This is because potential new employees get a clearer picture of which working methods, values and culture are lived and promoted in a company. In an employee market, employees will be very specific about whether a company is in line with their own ideas and values. We notice that "purpose" and a responsible approach of the company in social as well as environmental matters are becoming increasingly important for our candidates.

It is important to me to emphasize that employer branding must be based on the overall positioning, the brand and the culture of a company that is actually lived. This is because whitewashing or even just an inconsistent presentation of one's own company is judged critically. However, if this is taken into account, we can more easily convince the best, most motivated and committed employees through excellent employer branding.

2. Lever: Developing young talents

Yes, the "boomer generation" is leaving the workforce and as mentioned at the beginning, most industries are suffering from the fact that there are simply fewer workers available. This is a fact that we as a society have to face. I'll get to that later. Another fact is that companies must not let up in training, developing, and promoting skilled workers. I am firmly convinced that we, as entrepreneurs, do not always take on this important responsibility.?

I'll give you an example from Swisscom. With around 540 trainees per year, we are certainly one of the most important ICT training centers in Switzerland. That's good and important – and of course we take our responsibility for the industry and Switzerland seriously and train beyond our own needs. And yet we do not manage to offer the great talents among the trainees a longtime connection with our company as consistently as we would like. This is where we must and will continue to work on to give our learners a better chance of getting started into their working life. By keeping them in the company immediately after the training. Or by staying in touch with them to bring them back to us after a subsequent course of study.

By better retaining our apprentices, we can not only retain talents, but also save massively on recruitment costs.

I am firmly convinced that we only learn through mistakes – and rarely through our successes!

Lever 3: Talent Management

Training and attracting new talents are important tasks that we all have to face. If we now have such talents in our company, it is important to promote them and offer them development opportunities. From my point of view, so-called junior programs are a good way to develop young talents internally. With a clear focus on "learning by doing", we can offer them experience and promote their confidence in their own strengths. However, it requires a culture of error in the company. Because I am firmly convinced that we only learn through mistakes – and rarely through our successes! This is exactly what we must grant our talents – regardless of whether they are young apprentices or talented managers in the company. Such a culture of learning from errors is the basis for successful development promotion throughout the company. ?

Lever 4: The entire economy and politics are needed

We have an important responsibility when it comes to tackling the shortage of skilled workers. By "we" I explicitly mean us as leaders. Because all three levers mentioned above are not pure HR tasks. Every single manager (and all employees in general!) is a figurehead of the company. We represent our company every day. Be it with our team, be it at external events. Or on social media like here on Linkedin. Together, we shape the corporate culture and determine how we deal with our apprentices.

However, as already indicated above, I believe that socio-political adjustments are also needed. I would like to mention just two points that are particularly close to my heart.

An essential point is the compatibility of family and work. We need suitable structures so that both parents can continue to work to a large extent. This requires sufficiently affordable crèche places, but also an adjustment of school hours to fixed full-day school hours. After all, having to look after school-age children with different school hours per kid and day can hardly be reconciled with the working life of their parents. But it is also about promoting part-time work and flexible working hours on the part of employers. Here, too, there is still a lot of catching up to do in many places.?

We also need to ask ourselves how we can keep older people in the work process for longer. Politically, this is a very debated topic resulting in a lack of traction to create the necessary framework conditions. However, we must have this socio-political discussion, because the ageing of our society will force us to do so. A look at Japan shows that one in two pensioners is already working there by the time they reach 69. I am convinced that such an expansion of employment must take place in a socially responsible manner. And the economy must actively reach out and create working models that meet the needs of employees.

The shortage of skilled workers is a challenge for companies and slows down economic growth. With the levers described, companies can improve the recruitment of talent and actively counteract the lack of suitable employees. We also need a socio-political discussion when it comes to family and the duration of employment.

What are your thoughts on the shortage of skilled workers? And how do you recruit the right people?

In my next article, I will take a closer look at the topic of how we can retain talent in the company. Until then, I look forward to your comments, inputs, and discussions on my thoughts.?

Christoph Aeschlimann, CEO Swisscom. I am passionate about the latest technologies such as 5G, cloud, AI and everything to do with software. Because they have a massive influence on how our society and our interaction with the environment develop. I am also fascinated by modern forms of collaboration and how they challenge us as leaders.