Finding Opportunity When Resources are Scarce

Written by Philip Jennings, Senior Leadership and Philanthropy Facilitator

What is it like to lead teams in today’s workforce? Although many of my colleagues exude a passion to lead their teams in creating exceptional results, there seems to be a common struggle among them: Sufficient staff to get the job done.  

Many of us have experienced the impact of staffing shortages when we are customers: Waiting in line to purchase a product. Waiting to speak to a service representative on the phone. Waiting for a critical merchandise shipment for a business . . .  These impacts often indicate that there simply aren’t enough people to do the work and statistics reveal that the U.S. is indeed understaffed in a variety of industries.¹ Given that nearly all leaders face staffing shortages, how can they address it in a positive way that creates long-term solutions? One leader’s experience illustrates how changing beliefs and behaviors can lead to finding opportunities and create long-term benefits.

During one of my training sessions, a leader attending the course shared her frustration with staff shortages and balancing the needs of her teammates and clients. Her frustration intensified when teammates requested to be absent from the office. The absences, coupled with working with an already reduced staff, created real challenges and risks for meeting business goals.  She opted to deal with the problem by stepping in to do the work herself. I wondered whether the leader had considered other solutions as filling the gap herself seemed like a short-term strategy with quite a bit of cost to her. I asked her whether she had considered developing other team members so they could handle the work and increase the ability to scale.

The same leader shared with the class a negative experience. One of her direct reports expressed an interest in taking on a new task for development purposes. The leader provided the teammate with limited coaching on how to perform the task. Unfortunately, the teammate was not successful with completing the task, putting the work and the team at risk. The leader reacted by removing the responsibility from the teammate. Her beliefs were that the teammate lacked the skillset to perform the task and she did not have the time to teach and coach.

The leader’s candid example led the class into a conversation on leaders’ roles in developing teammates and how that investment could solve staffing issues. The leader reflected on her role setting the teammate up for success and how her behaviors might change. An underlying belief she held was that there was little time to coach and mentor. Yet what if she traded off the time “doing the work” of the teammate and opted instead to coach and mentor, expanding the capabilities for her team? The leader reached different conclusions about how to address staffing shortages by looking at the issue from a different angle. What was viewed as a scarcity of resources became an opportunity to grow and develop her team.

As leaders, we need to examine our own mindsets and beliefs about staffing shortages. Rarely – if ever – do managers get all the resources and headcount they want or even need. Leaders must creatively manage through this and adopt a positive mindset that motivates our teams and helps them get through tough times. Thoughts like “I’ll just do the work myself” do not create positive results for teams and clients. A short-term mentality that focuses on getting through scarcity will wear thin quickly – for you and everyone on your team.

To shift to a more positive mindset so you CAN motivate teams, leaders must reevaluate their own beliefs and seek opportunities to creatively meet business goals with current staffing levels.   Four strategies can help you and your employees meet business goals while doing more with less:

1. Acknowledge the situation. Be open and forthcoming about the current situation and acknowledge that there are shortages and explain why. Most people appreciate full transparency.² If an employee is curious about the reasons for taking on additional tasks based on lack of staff, providing the “whys” promotes a clear understanding of the situation.
2. Think long-term instead of short-term. Stepping in to do work yourself can solve the immediate problem. But it cannot work as a long-term strategy. It sets you up for burnout, loses opportunities for teammates to grow and learn, and doesn’t deliver on the long-term strategy of scaling the business. Take every opportunity to coach and mentor and your let your teammates be part of the solution!
3. Recognize and reward. Take the time to recognize the efforts provided by each employee. It can be quite easy for your team to become discouraged, and feel a little exploited, when they take on additional tasks due to lack of people resources. As leaders, taking the time to show your appreciation for your employees putting in the extra effort, no matter how big or small, goes a long way.
4. Lead with purpose. Purpose is the ingredient that enables the special form of resilience known as grit, which allows employees to stay motivated for the long-term, instead of only addressing short-term goals and issues as they emerge.³ Leading with purpose is about persistently working towards a goal, despite challenges and setbacks. This space allows you to lean into your strength to persevere. When you establish purpose as the “North Star” guiding your team’s actions, you allow them to maintain passion for their work.⁴
5. Support well-being. Meeting the requests of clients, your manager, your business partners, and stakeholders requires a balancing act. That means adapting to shifting priorities and that can take a toll over time. To maintain well-being, be sure to message how important it is and then support the activities your teammates choose to recharge. And don’t forget that the way you model well-being and recharging will be carefully watched—you set the norms. Self-care is not a luxury—it’s a necessity in today’s fast-paced world.  

To navigate through workplace challenges with a finite workforce, examine your beliefs about what it will take to succeed. Most leaders rarely obtain all the resources they want or even need. Consequently, leaders have choices on how they show up for their teams and whether they operate with a short-term scarcity mentality or a long-term, opportunity building strategy in mind. By focusing on opportunities, leaders can change their behaviors to address staffing shortages and scale the business for success.  

This article is part of a series from the TLI team that delivers leadership development for mid-level and frontline leaders. Leading in today’s environment is complex and requires the ability to navigate change, engage teams, and optimize performance. TLI offers leadership development programs and experiences designed for both mid-level and frontline leaders. Contact us to learn more or visit our website at www.truistleadershipinstitute.com!  

References:

1. Ferguson, S. (2024, June 24). Understanding America’s labor shortage. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. https://www.uschamber.com/workforce/understanding-americas-labor-shortage
2. Jiang, H., & Men, R. L. (2017). Creating an engaged workforce: The impact of authentic leadership, transparent organizational communication, and work-life enrichment. Communication Research, 44, 225–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215613137
3. Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., & Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087-1101.
4. Jordan, S.L., Ferris, G.R., & Wright, T.A. (2019). Toward a work motivation conceptualization of grit in organizations. Group and Organization Management, 44, 320-360. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601119834093