Investing in people: how employee development could be a solution to labour shortages

Addressing one of the biggest challenges impacting small business success by investing in those who help support it.

// By Jocelyn Rhindress, Senior Manager of Business Resources, National & Atlantic Region, Canadian Federation of Independent Business

One of the biggest problems that small business owners face today is shortage of labour: finding and keeping good workers can be a challenge. Over half (55%) of small business owners have indicated that labour shortages have had a severe impact on their ability to run their business. Retail businesses are not immune, as of February 2024, over 45,000 retail jobs remained vacant. We are in a tight labour market and employees have choices. There is an assumption that increasing wages will be an easy fix to this problem, but that isn’t always true. In fact, only 22 per cent of small business owners who increased wages found it to be an effective way to fill open positions.

So, what are employees looking for?

Aside from fair compensation, today’s employees are motivated by things like flexibility, a healthy work-life balance, purpose-driven work, career development opportunities, and positive company culture (to name a few). These are things that businesses have significant control over and many of them can be done at minimal cost.

Investing in your employees

Employee development is something that can create long-lasting relationships, benefiting both the employer and employees. Training and development lead to improved skills and knowledge, increasing efficiency, overall work quality, and retention. Employees generally report greater work satisfaction knowing their employer appreciates their value by investing in their skills. Growing employees will also help identify future leaders by revealing those who are motivated to continuously learn and adapt to changes as they come.

It doesn’t need to be complicated

Business owners are experts in their field, and there is no one better to uniquely share knowledge and skillsets with employees. These learning opportunities can be in-house and be an extension of the owner’s expertise. But the owner doesn’t need to be the only one involved. Another great opportunity for employee development is a peer mentorship program. Peer-to-peer learning allows more experienced and skilled employees to share their knowledge with newer employees. This can serve as not only a leadership opportunity for the mentor and a great growth opportunity for the mentee; but it also becomes an opportunity for the mentee to teach new perspectives to the longer tenured employee. As retailers, there are areas in which you can invest in training that will benefit both the business and the employee. Consider product knowledge training to help the employee understand the products and services, including origins, special features and unique selling opportunities, teaching different sales strategies, and sharing how to best engage with customers. And, don’t forget the importance of technology training on retail software, including POS systems, inventory management, and other online platforms.

Investing in employee development is a great way to reduce skill gaps, improve risk management, and create innovations. It can forward health and safety protocols, reinforce company policies, improve wellness in the workplace, and build a positive company culture. Employee development also creates a regular touchpoint to ensure performance management is on the right track in order to guide the employee’s future within the company.

How to get started:

Communication is key. Implementing a regular employee evaluation process to communicate your expectations helps the employee focus on growth and understand how they are doing. This is not for discipline; this is a process to help formalize where the employee has been, where the employee is now, and where you would like to see them grow. The review should be done at least annually, but you could do this quarterly or every six months. It is an opportunity to set goals, record milestones and achievements, and keep the focus on growth and development. For this process, allow the employees to participate in setting their goals and evaluating their own performance, with you providing feedback.

Final thoughts:

Employee development doesn’t have to involve expensive courses and seminars. It can be comprised of in-house learning, peer-to-peer men-

toring, and learning opportunities through the expertise you already have. Employees want to feel appreciated, respected, and have a passion for what they do. Helping them grow their skillset and knowledge shows that they are valued by the company. That, along with a “great job” and “thank you” will help cement the relationship between today’s employees and your workplace.

CFIB’s HR Now! for small business™ has knowledgeable Business Advisors who provide customized advice on all employee challenges from hiring through to termination - The right advice at the right time to make the right difference. Visit cfib.ca/hrnow or call 1-833-568-2342 to learn more.

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Jocelyn Rhindress is the Senior Manager of Business Resources, National & Atlantic Region at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), Canada’s largest association of small and medium-sized businesses with 97,000 members across every industry and region, 22,000 of whom are operating in retail.