The Shortage of Skilled Labour is a Myth: The Real Shortage is Skilled Supervisors

Many commentators are complaining about the shortage of skilled labour; their comments show that they don’t understand the problem.

There are compelling reasons why companies should not expect to be able to hire people “off-the-street, and cannot rely on poaching or educational institutions to supply the skills.

Instead, companies need to improve the skills of their supervisors, so that they can hire motivated people, and teach them the specific skills they need.

There are five core skills supervisors need; Hugh will talk about what they are, and how you can develop your supervisors so they have the skills to produce the workforce you need.

 

About Hugh Alley

Hugh Alley is still learning how to pass along the skills front line leaders need to do their job and create great workplaces.

An author and consultant, he is a fan of the Training Within Industry model, and the scientific thinking practice of Toyota Kata.

An industrial engineer by background, he has run three different manufacturing operations, and a department in a public sector agency.

He has consulted with over 100 companies from $1 million to $1 billion in sales.

He has taught leadership skills to over 1,000 front line leaders.

His book, Becoming the Supervisor: Achieving Your Company’s Mission and Building Your Team, is a story about how to develop the skills of supervisors.

He currently focuses his consulting work on helping organizations achieve significant operational improvements by developing the skills of the leadership team.

Hugh lives in Vancouver, Canada on the traditional and unceded lands of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (Musqueam) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squa-hō-mesh) speaking peoples.