It's no surprise to anyone who has tried to hire someone in the past year that the labor market is incredibly tight. The unemployment rate (percentage of people who are unemployed and looking for work) is historically low. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, voluntary turnover in 2021 was 25% and that trend has extended into 2022. That means one of every four workers is changing jobs each year!
Managers and small business owners in all industries are scrambling to find and keep workers. There is one unintended consequence of this panic that managers should be cautious of. That is the tendency for supervisors and managers to tolerate behaviors and performance that they would not tolerate during periods when the labor market is not so challenging. Some individuals who were C players even before the pandemic have responded to their new power position by becoming C- players. They used to come in late once per week. Now they're late virtually every day. They used to make a few mistakes per week, now they make a bunch.
The problem for managers who tolerate this lower level of performance from their most disengaged employees is that the more engaged workers see this and are demotivated by it. Too much of this can result in the A and B players leaving the organization.
The question managers should ask themselves is, "would I prefer to be short-handed with my best, most productive workers or be short-handed with only my least productive workers." The answer is obvious. Managers should not tolerate behaviors and performance during a tight labor market that they wouldn't in more "normal" times. They should address performance issues with those whose performance is slipping, encourage them to improved, and if they remain defiant, invite them to exit the organization. It'll hurt in the short-term, but they are more likely to keep their best talent in the long-term.
