Business all across New Zealand are grappling with the national staffing shortage. Research shows that 75% of employers are experiencing a shortage of talent.[1] And with less talent available, more and more employees are having to take on more and more responsibility to fill the skills and labour gaps within their organisations. The result is staff burnout – the #1 issue faced by employees today.[2] Ultimately, this leads to the loss of existing staff as over-worked employees leave for greener pastures – 49% of workers are thinking about or are already looking for a new job in the next 12 months.[3] In turn, employee departures place even more pressure on remaining staff. It’s a viscous cycle that’s hurting businesses nationwide.

But employers may be missing out on a potential solution by not seeing what’s right in front of them – employees who are keen and ready to learn.[4] Providing useful and desired training to employees can be a great way to break the cycle of staffing exodus and help meet the skills needs of an organisation. Teaching employees the skills they want increases their job satisfaction, making them more likely to stay, while at the same time enabling them to perform new roles for which employers would otherwise need to source external talent.

Yet there is a disconnect between what workers want to learn and what training they are being offered. A recent survey of 1448 New Zealander employees and 102 kiwi businesses showed that there is a strong desire among employees to learn transferable skills: 47% want problem solving skills, 43% want leadership skills, 42% want team management skills and 42% want to learn critical thinking. However, only 19% of employers offer training in problem solving skills, 24% offer leadership training, 25% teach team management and 14% develop critical thinking. While almost half of employees want to learn skills, only 20% of employers offer the relevant training.[5]

Bridging the gap between the personal development goals of your staff and the training your organisation offers could be the key to growing and retaining your talent. Human-centric skills like problem solving and critical thinking are transferable, which is why they are particularly useful for businesses in making the most of existing talent, and particularly attractive for employees who want to increase their own personal value. But to provide these skills, you need a robust learning and development programme that aligns employee expectations with the training being offered.

The national staffing shortage is a challenge that all businesses are facing. To develop and retain staff, increase productivity and future-proof your organisation, think about investing in upskilling your employees. They want to learn.

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Here at Advanced Accounting, culture is paramount to us. We have an amazing team and culture, and this is not by accident. It takes intentionality. If this is an area you are wanting to cultivate, we provide training around leadership and culture development for business owners. For more information contact Aaran or Marko


[1] Skills Consulting Group, The Smart Skills Gap, 2022

[2] Skills Consulting Group, Burnout – A Business Issue that Can’t be Ignored, June 2022

[3] SGEi, The Culture Report 2022, 2022

[4] Skills Consulting Group, The Smart Skills Gap, 2022

[5] Skills Consulting Group, The Smart Skills Gap, 2022

Additional Source: Gwyn Thomas, quoted in

https://businessdesk.co.nz/sponsored/the-costly-divide-in-nz-workplaces

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