Staffing challenges – what can businesses do now?

Written by Louise Merrall

Finding good staff is becoming a real challenge again, particularly in trades but also across other sectors. 

Here in Queenstown Lakes and Central Otago, we’ve been somewhat insulated from the economic downturn experienced in other parts of the country. That’s great in many ways – but it also means employers can find themselves competing for a relatively small pool of good people. 

So, what can businesses do now to reduce the risk of staffing becoming a barrier to doing business? 

1. Make retention a priority 

Before worrying about where your next employee is coming from, look after the good people you already have. 

Replacing someone comes with recruitment costs, time, disruption and the inevitable learning curve while a new person gets to know your business. Sometimes people do need to move on, but often there are things employers can do to make staying more attractive. 

A few simple starting points: 

• Ask your staff. What do they enjoy about working for you? What would make their working life better? Don’t assume you already know the answer. 

• Have regular catch-ups. Small frustrations are much easier to deal with before they become big ones – or a resignation. 

• Give requests genuine consideration. Flexible hours, training, different responsibilities or other changes might be easier to accommodate than you initially think. 

• Look honestly at pay. We know businesses are facing real cost pressures. But ask yourself: if this person left and I struggled to replace them, would I end up offering a new employee more? If the answer is possibly yes, it may be worth looking at what you are paying now. 

• Think about benefits – but make them meaningful. What your staff value may be completely different from what you assume they value. 

2. Plan ahead 

“Strategic workforce planning” can sound like something designed for a large corporate HR department. It doesn’t need to be. 

For a small business, it can simply mean knowing what everyone does, where your pressure points are, and what will trigger the need for another person. 

Think about the full cost of taking someone on – not just their wage – and plan for it. 

One business owner recently told me they are putting money aside now while working towards hiring their first employee. When they are ready to make the move, they want several months of wages in reserve to give themselves some breathing room if business dips. 

Simple, practical planning like that can make a huge difference. 

3. Look at efficiency before adding another person 

We hear about AI constantly at the moment, but it is only one part of the picture. 

Before automatically deciding you need another employee, look at how the work is currently being done. Are there systems, technology, automation or simply better processes that could remove some of the workload? 

Some work genuinely requires another pair of hands. But understanding exactly where another person will add value means you can recruit for what you actually need. 

It can also free existing staff from unnecessary admin or repetitive work, allowing them to spend more time on the things they are actually there to do. 

4. Don’t leave recruitment until you’re desperate 

Timing recruitment is hard. 

Hire too early and you may not have enough work to sustain the role. Leave it too late and you create a different set of problems. 

You may find yourself unable to service customers properly, rushing the recruitment process, compromising on the person you hire or throwing someone into a role without proper onboarding. 

That can quickly become a vicious circle: you desperately need someone, hire in a hurry, don’t have time to train them properly, and then lose them – putting you straight back where you started. 

Once you know a role is genuinely needed, give yourself as much time as possible to find the right person. 

5. Recruit for what you actually need 

Before advertising a vacancy, stop and ask: what gap are we actually trying to fill? 

If someone has left, you don’t necessarily need a carbon copy of them. Your business may have changed, the team may have changed, or some parts of the old role may no longer make sense. 

Then consider what will genuinely make someone choose your role over a similar one down the road. 

In our region, that might include: 

• Accommodation support. This remains one of the biggest barriers for people considering a move into the area. Even if you cannot provide accommodation yourself, think creatively about what support you could offer. 

• Flexibility. Where the outcomes of the role allow it, consider whether traditional fixed days and hours are actually necessary. 

• Training and development. Could you support someone to gain a qualification or experience that will help their career? 

• Additional leave or lifestyle benefits. That could be five weeks’ annual leave, a birthday day off or even the occasional powder day. 

• Your reputation. Queenstown, Wānaka and Central Otago are growing, but they are still communities where people talk. Being known as a genuinely good employer matters. 

And ask your existing team what they think makes you a good place to work. Their answers might give you the best recruitment message you have. 

Also consider employee referrals. Good employees often know other good people – and they are unlikely to enthusiastically recommend someone they think will make their own working life harder. 

None of this guarantees that finding staff will be easy. But retaining good people, planning ahead and giving yourself time to recruit properly can put you in a much stronger position. 

We’d also love to hear what other employers are seeing. What has helped you attract or retain good people? Or are you finding recruitment challenging too?