Deloitte released their Global Human Capital Trends 2014 survey earlier in the month, which highlighted a glaring problem facing many businesses these days: The gap between talented employees and leadership issues that prevented potential growth in the future.
Respondents to the survey indicated that they recognised the need for action to be taken on critical issues as soon as possible, including things like employee retention and engagement, leadership and the continued development of staff. However, many of these leaders also expressed concerns about their teams' ability to address these issues.
Deloitte partner Hamish Wilson said the recent Talent Edge New Zealand survey highlighted 83 per cent of organisations are experiencing talent shortages - which are impacting business results and profits - but most businesses fail to have programmes in place that promote employee attraction, retention or engagement in the long term.
"We have observed that New Zealand organisations have few answers in response to the demands and expectations that Millennials (Generation Y) have of their employers, which is particularly worrying for the future of our workforce," said Mr Wilson in a March 13 statement.
For example, one thing that can be adopted into the workplace is new technology. With younger, technological natives entering the workforce, providing them with streamlined software is a great way to engage them and their skills in a productive way. The CashManager software from Accomplish, for example, could be great to help keep your finances and accounts in top order while utilising Generation Y's natural abilities with computers.
Furthermore, a number of these companies need to revitalise their use of social media. While 62 per cent of these companies rely on these channels for sourcing recruitment and advertising available positions, 54 per cent of these respondents admitted their engagement practices were weak.
These are things to think about when trying to maximise the amount of productivity you can get out of your small business.