Companies will continue to experience ongoing labour and skill shortages across all industries, ultimately impacting business growth. Buying and retaining talent with the right skills needed to deliver on deal success will be a greater priority due to an increased appreciation of the value of the right skills.

Addressing skills gaps will require a strong understanding of the external labour market and internal capabilities. It is fair to say we can expect continued competition for talent across various industries, with recruiting focus shifting to skills rather than experience in particular roles or jobs.

 

When assessing skill shortages, organisation leaders must address questions such as:

  • What skills are we purchasing and in what quantity?
  • Are there skill gaps across the organization?
  • Are critical skills plentiful or rare?
  • What skills risks are we buying into? 
  • Will we be able to deliver on short- and medium-term growth?
  • What are the post-close skills/talent needs we will need to invest in?
  • How do we best match skills to roles at speed and scale?

 

Achieving financial targets means analysing workforce issues with the same rigour as other strategic elements. If not adequately mitigated, people risks in transactions can have an enormously negative impact. With investor pressure coming from all sides, deal success requires a combination of speed, capability and execution to deliver sustainable value.

 

Strategies to Address Skill Shortages?

Invest in Training and Development

  • Internal Training Programmes: Upskill your existing workforce using online learning platforms and professional development courses.
  • Apprenticeships: Look out for government incentives for hiring apprentices and use the schemes to train employees in specific skills.

Foster a Culture of Continuous Learning

  • Lifelong Learning: Encourage your team to pursue skill development and enable them to do this.
  • Mentorship Programmes: Pair less experienced employees with seasoned professionals to facilitate knowledge transfer.

Talent Recognition

  • Competitive Compensation: Offer competitive salaries, benefits and career progression opportunities to retain talent.
  • Recognition and Rewards: Recognise and reward employees for their contributions and achievements.

Leverage Technology and Automation

  • Adopt Advanced Technologies: Utilise AI and automation to alleviate the burden of routine tasks letting your team focus on higher-value activities.
  • Digital Skills Training: Provide training in digital literacy and advanced tech skills to keep the workforce up to date.

Instruct and Interim Manager

Interim managers are a valuable and knowledgeable resource with a number of benefits including:

  • Specific experience & skills
  • Ability to deliver results right away
  • Provision of a roadmap for ongoing business success

How can interim managers help plug a skills gap?

Interim managers are a valuable and knowledgeable resource and may benefit your business in many ways, depending on your individual business requirements. While engaging an interim may not be a long-term solution, hiring an independent senior-level professional who can hit the ground running and take on the responsibilities left to ensure results and continued success is highly beneficial.

 

Interim Managers have the benefit of:

  • Having the specific experience required at a cost-effective price
  • The individual will be able to step in, take control and start delivering results right away
  • Interim managers are highly skilled, senior-level resources
  • They can provide a roadmap for onboarding replacement senior-level staff
  • They will ensure change management is well embedded across the business

 

Whether there is a team that needs to be led, several teams or even a department, or a project's management that needs to be overseen, any high-level skills gap within the company could have significant effects on the day-to-day operation of the organisation or impact time-critical project delivery.