Just as with most employers, my work place is having some struggles in finding new people to join the team, and several people are opting to look for a new job. Many of them are finding success in their search.
This evening my brain finally said it was time to put the challenge with my current team(s) in terms of workload and capacity down on paper. What can we do as our jobs are too specialized to hire a temporary worker? Are there tasks that can be put aside for the moment? What are the priority areas (and when it comes to dealing with money and finances, it is all a priority!)? What are things we are doing that aren’t in statute or regulation we can stop doing without any negative consequences and domino effects?
I’ve been playing around with the skill sets of people, rearranging the org chart over and over with questions in mind. How can all of our talents be channeled to be the most productive? Part of the puzzle is to also, while using our skills to the utmost, provide a place to feed our passions. We can’t be all one task, over and over, without causing burnout, a drop in morale, or both.
The goal is not to push people to their breaking point causing them to leave. The goal, albeit quite the challenge, is to get the work accomplished while still feeling good about it and ourselves in our accomplishments.
I think I have an idea that might work, but I need to run it by those who are involved, and those who can make the actual decision to bring the idea into fruition. I’m not high enough on the hierarchy to effect change. But, I can help affect change by advising and consulting to help enroll others into the concept to then shift our paradigm.
I’m going to go back and look at what I’ve gotten down on paper so far—the puzzle of the org chart. Tomorrow I’ll share with the boss and see what they think. The worst that can happen is it is shot down right away, the best is the shift is made and it works.
One never really knows until an idea is put into action. So, only time will tell.
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 