A student in one of my MBA classes made a remarkable statement the other day. She wrote, “Short staff think only inside the box.” The unusual wording made an impact, and I decided to write on the concept.
Of course, she was not referring to people of lesser stature. She was commenting on the habitual practice of numerous organizations to run so thin on staffing that they compromise the viability of the business.
Knowing the “correct” level of staff is a tricky business for sure. I have done consulting for organizations where the employees are screaming that they are totally overloaded. Later on, working with these same groups, people would grumble about how most people are not pulling their fair share of the load.
In truth, most organizations get only a small fraction of the discretionary effort inherent in the workforce. My own unscientific estimate is that a typical organization these days manages to extract only about 30% of the capability of their workforce.
Some leaders use the amount of screaming for more resources as a guide to hiring. If the whining is not there, they figure the organization is running too fat.
If people are complaining but toughing it out, they conclude things are about right. If people are becoming ill and if turnover is sky high, they grudgingly agree to put on a couple more people.
Gauging the level of staff based on the complaint level is dangerous on both extremes.
If things get so thin for an extended period, the best people will just leave. If you wait until people whine to hire anyone, then you are probably running a Country Club.
Back to my student’s comment on the impact that running thin has on creativity. I thought her observation was spot on.
You can observe overworked people in numerous venues. According to many students, one typical place to see the stress is in nursing.
According to the Gallup Organization, the nursing occupation is the highest trusted occupation category of all every year since they have been measuring trust in organizations. Yet, nurses are normally so stacked up with critical tasks that they don’t find time to eat let alone try to figure out creative solutions to problems.
I am only singling out nurses because it is easy to observe this situation, in reality the problem occurs in numerous types of jobs.
In an effort to improve productivity, leaders stretch their resources like a rubber band. The problem is that if you do that, eventually you will exceed the elastic limit of the rubber, and it will permanently deform or just snap.
In those conditions, people are going to do the requirements as best they can and not be very engaged in improving the conditions. They become case hardened and bitter.
When people feel abused, they go into a survival mode, which severely limits productivity, so the managers get exactly what they deserve. It becomes a vicious circle.
The antidote is to work on changing the culture so that the current workforce is producing at a multiple of their prior productivity instead of just a tiny percentage higher than the prior year.
That means working on trust rather than forcing existing people to work in a constant state of overload.
It means investing in the resources you have, and maybe even adding some, rather than continually cutting back in an effort to survive. You may survive in the short term, but your long term prognosis is terminal.
When I suggest to leaders that they need to invest in their culture, I often get an incredulous or outraged look in return. “How can we possibly afford to work on our culture when everybody is already at the limit of their capability?”
Well, you cannot unless you change your attitude about how people work. If you would try the alternate path, it would quickly become apparent that the road to long term health and even survival is to have the right level of resources so that you can invest in the culture.
As always Robert, you observations are spot on. In my area of expertise (challenging children) I can see this same situation with teachers, parents, and mental health providers who simply work in crisis mode because they don’t have any breathing room to think or act outside the box.
Thanks for the great post and I will repost it to my blog with thought links to how it applies to my population.
Reblogged this on The Pediatric Profiler ™ and commented:
Robert Whipple is a man of wisdom. This blog post focuses on environments where there isn’t enough time or resources to allow people to do their best work.
Looking at our children with developmental and behavioral challenges, the same situation is apparent. Just think about your child’s classroom, their school, your home. Are each of these areas functioning in crisis mode? What would it take to get this changed?
It is not just about getting more bodies involved. It is about providing those already in the situation with the cognitive tools they need to process, plan, and implement useful interventions and accommodations so that developmentally and behaviorally challenging children can learn and succeed.
I would love to help parents, schools, and community agencies and organizations learn more about these children and how to truly help them. We have to get past the “short staffing” mentality both in physical bodies and in cognitive action. Let’s agree to begin now.
Thanks for the kind words. You are always right there with a good observation that broadens my work out to cover larger areas of the population. I appreciate that!
Hi, Bob.
Interesting perspectives, as always. I observed just yesterday the effects of stretching your staff thin. I know it’s always a balancing act, and I also know that employees are, in a word, expensive. But I’ve noticed the trend as of late, especially in retail. I was at the mall and noticed two things: 1.) It took me quite a long time to find an employee so I could ask a question, and 2.) The checkout process was very slow with 2 of the 4 possible registers open.
I rarely shop at the mall, and generally prefer to patronize small owner operated businesses, but I don’t know any small owner/operated clothing stores, and I needed some dress pants. It seems to me in larger organizations (the kinds you find at the mall) the trust issue is especially hard to inculcate down to the level of the people interacting with customers, but that’s also where it’s most needed.
How would an organization as big as one of the Mall anchors start to generate enough trust to make customers feel good about their shopping experience? I think generating that trust environment is the answer because even if they added more staff, I still the experience wouldn’t feel any better.
Hi Gordon. You are right, the attitudes of some of the attendants in the mall stores leave a lot to be desired. But it is the culture, not the industry that makes the problem. Look at the culture of Nordstrom http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2014/03/15/the-nordstrom-two-part-customer-experience-formula-lessons-for-your-business/
Great article. I love the fact that the author talks about empowering employees by providing great training, standards, and consistency.
I totally get that it is culture and I agree. So, the answer to my questions seems to be: Study Nordstrom’s and do what they do!
Once again, seems like it comes down to hiring good people, trusting their judgement, and helping them feel as if they are a real and important part of the company.
Thanks, Bob!
I do believe all the ideas you have offered to your post. They’re really convincing and will certainly
work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for starters.
May you please extend them a little from subsequent time?
Thanks for the post.
always i used to read smaller posts which as well clear their
motive, and that is also happening with this article which I am reading here.
Apparently, some of these items are out of your efforts
and makes your body collects nutriennts andd fiber, complex carbs — think a good alternative.
I chowe tto write down your try this goals are. He was one half and half creamer has 10 calories
for points.
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Awesome post.
Reblogged this on Gr8fullsoul.