Marcia's Leadership Q and As: 8 Ways Leaders Can Solve Their Labor Shortages

Q. The bottom line is, we can’t find enough skilled people to do the work we have. What do we do? 

A.  Across industries, leaders complain that they cannot find good people. They post hundreds of jobs, offer signing bonuses, and still struggle to attract or retain talent. At the same time, millions of capable individuals, from college graduates to experienced professionals, remain unemployed, underemployed, or disengaged. This paradox is not a labor shortage; it is a leadership shortage.

Too many leaders rely on outdated management practices while the nature of work, technology, and expectations have radically changed. The systems built for the industrial era, such as rigid hierarchies, short-term metrics, and credential- based hiring, no longer serve a world of accelerating innovation and human complexity. 

If leaders want to solve their workforce challenges, they must stop blaming the people and start transforming the systems. The solutions require courage, creativity, and a profound respect for human potential. 

Here are eight ways leaders can address their labor and skills shortages and build organizations ready for the future of work. These are not possible, theoretical solutions. As necessary, my clients have adopted and implemented these processes. 

1. Redefine Work and Talent 

Most job descriptions today are relics, static lists of duties, credentials, and years of experience. They exclude capable people who could learn quickly and contribute immediately. Leaders should redefine work in terms of purpose and contribution, not rigid positions. Ask, “What outcomes do we need to achieve?” not “Who has five years in this narrow role?” Hire for curiosity, collaboration, and problem-solving, traits that fuel long-term growth. When you define talent as the ability to learn and contribute, the pool of potential employees expands dramatically. 

2. Build a Learning System, Not Just a Training Program 

Training in skills is one way to learn. But another essential part of learning is education, as a system. In high-performing organizations, learning is also embedded in daily work through mentoring, cross-functional projects, reflection sessions, and feedback loops. Teams learn from successes and mistakes. Leaders must make learning continual and accessible. That means funding development and encouraging experimentation and knowledge sharing. The question should shift from “How do we fill this gap?” to “How do we develop our people and create and optimize our system, so all the essential parts of the system are connected?” A learning system produces resilience, adaptability, and innovation, some of the most valuable skills any organization can possess.

3. Partner with Education and Community Systems 

The pipeline problem starts long before a job posting. Schools and colleges often teach theory disconnected from real-world systems of work. Leaders can bridge this divide through partnerships that benefit both sides. Offer internships, apprenticeships, and co-op programs that expose students to real challenges. Invite educators to see your operations and understand evolving industry needs. Sponsor projects that teach systems thinking, teamwork, and creativity, not just technical tasks. When employers and educators collaborate, students graduate ready to contribute, and companies develop loyal, prepared employees who understand their purpose from day one. 

4. Remove Fear and Bureaucratic Barriers 

Fear kills initiative and engagement. Bureaucracy slows everything. Employees who fear failure, punishment, or micromanagement will never take ownership or innovate. Likewise, applicants drop out of hiring systems filled with long delays, unclear expectations, and impersonal screening tools. Leaders must reduce fear at every level. Simplify processes. Communicate openly. Invite feedback and act on it. Create psychological safety so employees can ask questions, challenge assumptions, and learn without fear of blame. When fear is reduced in the system, energy, creativity, and productivity rise naturally. 

5. Communicate with Teams and Decentralize Decisions 

Bottlenecks destroy speed and morale. In many organizations, decisions must travel up and down a rigid hierarchy before any action is taken. That delay kills agility and drives talent away. Communicate the aim and expectations clearly. Define the purpose, boundaries, and outcomes, then trust people closest to the work to make decisions. When employees can act and have the knowledge to improve their processes, productivity and innovation accelerate. People thrive.

6. Expand Pathways for Nontraditional Talent 

Too many potential employees are screened out by arbitrary requirements: four- year degrees, specific software experience, or continuous employment histories. These filters exclude veterans, caregivers, older workers, people from community colleges, and those who have shifted industries. Leaders should create flexible on-ramps: paid apprenticeships, project-based roles, skill bootcamps, and mentoring programs that let people prove their capability rather than rely on credentials. Hire for potential and cultural contribution, then train for skill. You will find committed, capable people who grow with the organization instead of chasing the next offer. 

7. Create a Culture of Trust 

The root cause of retention problems is rarely pay; it is often a lack of trust. People want to know their work matters and that their leaders care about their development. Leaders must make purpose visible. Connect every role to how it creates value for customers, community, or society. Communicate with honesty and consistent transparency. Recognize contributions that advance learning and improvement, not just short-term results. Trust reduces turnover, increases engagement, and attracts amazing talent. People join organizations for opportunity but stay for meaning. 

8. Lead with Systems Thinking, Not Short-Term Fixes 

Chasing short-term fixes, such as hiring sprees, layoffs, incentives, or bonuses, only perpetuates instability. The real solution is systems transformation. 

Leaders must study the system of work to understand where breakdowns occur in poor processes, unclear roles, lack of learning, conflicting goals, or outdated technology. When you improve the system, you improve results sustainably. Systems thinking allows leaders to see interdependencies, anticipate consequences, and make decisions that strengthen the whole, not just patch a symptom. As Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught, “A bad system will beat a good person every time.” Solving the skills shortage means fixing the system that creates it. 

A Wake-Up Call for Modern Leaders 

The skills shortage is not inevitable; it reflects leadership choices. Fear, short-term thinking, and outdated systems have created an unnecessary divide between employers and potential employees. 

The organizations that will thrive in the next decade will be those that redefine work around contribution, build systems that learn continually, develop courageous system-thinking leaders, and foster trust, flexibility, and purpose. 

People are not the problem; systems are. When leaders redesign their systems to bring out the potential in people, they will not just fill jobs; they will ignite innovation, commitment, and joy in work. 

Solving the labor shortage is not about finding workers; it is about becoming the kind of leader people want to work for.