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Change is Good
Playing It Safe
Overcome the Labor Challenge

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© Bill Main & Associates

In a past issue of Nation's Restaurant News, Gregg Cebrzynski reported on restaurant executives who gathered for a conference on training. They reported that one of "the toughest challenges they face is getting a young generation of workers excited about learning." The reasons are many:

• Current training methods are no longer the most effective
• The 20-something generation is "not like past generations of employees"
• Young employees don't like to read, and
• Today's youth live in a prosperous economy with many job options.

Once again the labor crisis strikes. Only this time it's not that the employees aren't out there, it's that we aren't doing what it takes to keep the ones we already have. We know what needs to be done, and we like to get together to talk about it. But it's time to stop talking, stop playing it safe, and time to start doing!

As owners and managers, there's one clear first step...and that is to change. Change the way we view this mysterious generation of 20-somethings. Change the way we train. Change the way we view our own jobs as managers of people. Change the way we view training as a one-shot, necessary evil that's just another expense on the books. Change is good... you go first.

Change doesn't have to be hard, and it doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, I guarantee that in the long run, it will save you money and help you succeed. There are lots of ways to start overcoming your own labor challenges today--not tomorrow. So don't wait. Start today. Stop thinking about it, and stop complaining about it. Make the change.