How to Win BIG in Labor Shortages

I’ve been calling it for months. The labor shortage is here to stay and only getting worse for business owners. Business Insider calls it “the forever labor shortage.” Between the Silver Tsunami (75 million boomers retiring in droves) and millennials and Gen Zers refusing to work hard, the labor shortages continue to stunt businesses across the country. While the shortage is great for employees, employers worry about:

• Higher labor costs
• High turnover rates
• Lower quality of labor
• Difficulty finding qualified talent
• Fierce competition for best employees.

Hiring is going to slow down because all that stuff scares business owners. A survey from the Wall Street Journal says that 50% of small businesses expect to expand their workforce in the next year, that’s the lowest it’s been since June of 2020.?

A majority of business owners are slipping into a “contract and preservation” mindset. And the primary culprits are labor shortages and economic concerns. But retreat isn’t an option for you, not if you want to grow your business and be wealthy.?

When everybody else contracts, that’s the perfect time to expand . When others retreat, it leaves a vacuum that you can fill to dominate your market. But to expand, you need more people. Because there’s only so much you can do without bringing on new hires.?

But that’s the whole problem, right??

Even when there’s not a labor shortage, hiring great employees is the second biggest problem business owners complain about. So during a labor shortage, it can only get harder, right?

Wrong. Because during a labor shortage a couple interesting things happen: 1) most business owners stop trying to find new talent because they’re afraid of the increased cost of labor. 2) employees can be more picky and demand greater compensation for their labor.?

Both of these create a massive opportunity for you to attract all of the top talent to your business.?

How?

While most businesses contract, you should fill the void by becoming the loudest voice in your industry. You need to get the most attention from potential hires. That means creating the right message to your ideal employees and promoting it everywhere.

On a side note, I'll be covering crafting the right message, hiring, leadership, culture, and other strategies that can help add $10 Million to your business's revenue on September 30th. I'll be going more in-depth on how you can expand in today's economy so make sure you sign up so you don't miss it.

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Now, back to hiring.

At a basic level, you need three things. First, you need to show you and your company's success. Good employees won’t work for a bum.

Second, you need money.? Good employees want more money for themselves, so if you don’t have it, they won’t work for you. That doesn’t necessarily mean paying them a crazy amount right off the bat. But you can structure compensation deals with them that let them grow with the company. And you can promote the opportunity in your business for an employee to write their own ticket.

Third, you need to fashion the ideal employer brand image and promote, promote, promote.?

Spend time identifying what the best employees want and how you will help them get it. If you want happy, excited, enthusiastic, and highly engaged employees during a labor shortage, here’s what you need to do:

Demonstrate that working for you allows employees to achieve all of their goals in life. Or as my business partner Brandon Dawson puts it:

“Align the company’s mission and goals to your employees personal, professional and financial goals.”?

Almost no employers do this. In fact, Brandon used this strategy in over 4,000 interviews with potential employees and 98% of them say no other employer has ever done anything like it.?

But I promise as soon as you introduce this concept into your company culture, two things will automatically happen.?

First, you’ll filter out small-thinking, entitled employees who just want a paycheck.?

Second, you’ll attract high-quality employees who want to grow, increase earnings, and excel in their careers.?

Aligning goals with your employees is the secret to getting and keeping exceptional talent for the long haul. This is exactly the culture you need to cultivate and advertise during a labor shortage, because employees, more than ever, will want to work for a winning team. Make clear to everyone that when people work for you when the company wins — the employees win as well.?

Show the marketplace that you’re aggressively hiring top talent to build a team that wants to grow a thriving company as a means to achieve their own dreams, instead of toiling away so rich execs can achieve theirs.?

To make this even more concrete, I’ll explain how to conduct your interviews to convey this culture early on. That way, every new hire comes into your company with a growth and success mindset. A mindset of showing up every day and bringing their absolute best. Because the more value they bring to the company, the more the company wins, the customer wins, and they win. They can make their dreams a reality by growing your company.

But before you can even do that, you need to set your company’s culture and lead by example. If you’re anything like most employers, you need to think bigger.?

When it comes to hiring, most employers think about hiring a “worker” to do a “job.” But that’s thinking too small. When you think small as an employer, you attract potential employees who also think small. If you advertise, “just a job” you’ll get applicants looking for “just a paycheck.” They won’t be interested in growing the business, they won’t be engaged in your mission, they won’t see helping you succeed as a path to their own fulfillment.

Once you’ve shifted your mindset to think bigger, you need to turn it into action. Get your leadership on the same page. They need to be focused on success, growth, and a purposeful mission. Make all of your employees feel like teammates instead of subordinates.?

Be willing to do what so few employers are willing to do: Overpay your employees. Research the market value and go above it. Let your employees enjoy a bigger piece of the pie that they help create. This is exactly how I hire, and I’ve built a business empire that’s practically indestructible. I make more than anybody in my company, but I have no problem paying my employees massive amounts when they produce.?

I’ve got employees making $300k, $500k, even $700k and more. Some of them were previously earning minimum wage at clothing stores before I hired them. I saw potential and offered to let them share in the company’s massive success, and now they have no reason to leave.?

Once you’ve got the culture in place, you need to market it like crazy. You want your target audience to see that you’re hiring and that you’re a winning team looking for the best talent in the market.

But let’s get down to the details. Your hiring process is critical. You need to quickly weed out the losers, all while conveying that you’re the type of employer the best employees want to work for.?

Here’s how to do it:

When you interview applicants, think big, and share those plans with them. Tell them your plans for growth. Tell them that you’re looking for someone who wants to grow and excel with the company. Tell them that you’re willing to invest in them as an employee if they’re willing to completely align themselves with the company mission and vision.?

Don’t just think about hiring for “this job” at “this moment.” Think ahead.?

Where will the company be in five years? Maybe now you do $4 million a year, but in 5 years you want to be doing $40 million . Interview each applicant with that in mind and share that plan with them. Ask them if they’re willing to be a part of that and if they’re willing to put in the work to grow. This will naturally reveal which applicants are serious about working with you and which ones are less enthusiastic and not a good fit.

Next, you need to adopt what Brandon Dawson calls the PPF Alignment Meeting.

This is where you sit down with each of your employees (and potential employees) and create a plan for them to attain their Personal, Professional, and Financial goals by working with your company.?

In this conversation, your job is to build a bridge that unites the goals and growth of the company, to the goals and growth of the employee.?

Again, 98% of employees have never had this experience with an employer before. It’s a priceless opportunity to create an enormous degree of trust and confidence and creates a tone of mutual benefit and respect. In my own business I want my people to think, “Cardone’s got my back and I’ve got his.” That’s what you should aim for.

And because most employees have never needed to answer these questions, you have the opportunity in many cases to help them set those goals.?

Help them set goals that will stretch them and make them better, more successful people. Show them exactly how they can achieve any and all of their goals more effectively with your company than trying to do it on their own. That’s another opportunity to show that you’re in a completely different league than most employers.?

Get very specific on this.?

Maybe one of their goals is to take their whole family on a vacation to Central America. Ask them how much that would cost. Help them figure out a number. For example, maybe it’s $5,000. Then encourage them to figure out a way they can provide value to the company that allows them to hit that goal. Help them out, but not too much. You’re looking for thinkers and doers, innovators and ideators. Maybe they could hit their goal through commissions. Maybe it’s milestone bonuses or a revenue-share on their projects.?

Whatever it is, they need to see what success looks like in their role and how to achieve it. Your job is to make it as easy as possible for them to create that value. This will give them control over their success. It will also demonstrate that the more they help your company win, the more they win.

But don’t stop at helping your employees fund family vacations. Help them set and achieve mid and longer-term goals as well. If you want employees that will help you succeed for the long term you need to help them see how they can provide and receive value for extended periods of time. This is essential for maintaining the great employees you hire. Regularly touching base with them, recognizing their efforts, and rewarding their successes. Follow up with them to keep them engaged in the company's goals as well as their own.

If you’re going to continue to expand during a labor shortage, just like every business owner, you’ll need to work with a choosier labor market. But that’s okay, as long as the best of the best workers choose to work with your business.?

And if you’ve structured your culture properly, align with your current and future employees, and put in the work to be the leader people love to follow, you’re on the right path. You’ll have no problem attracting the best talent in the marketplace, no matter how tight the labor market is.

Hope you found these tips valuable. Make sure you don't miss my webinar on '10 Strategies to Add $10 Million to Your Top Line' on September 30.

Be great, nothing else pays.

Grant Cardone