Lasting Solutions for Labor Shortages

Guests: Dave DuBose & Will O’Brien What if your labor shortage isn't really a hiring problem? When workers are scarce, the conventional responses are predictable: raise wages, offer bonuses, hire earlier, add temporary labor, and hope you make it through the next peak. But what if those tactics are treating the symptoms while leaving the real problem untouched? Supply chain leaders Will O'Brien and Dave DuBose join Maureen Metcalf to challenge the way leaders think about workforce shortages. Drawing on decades of experience in operations, supply chain, and organizational transformation, they argue that lasting solutions begin by asking a more fundamental question: Does the work itself need to be redesigned? The conversation explores how organizations can reduce unnecessary labor, use technology more strategically, rethink fulfillment and operating models, expand the pool of people they can successfully employ, and become “sticky employers”: organizations that create enough genuine value for employees that leaving becomes unthinkable. You'll also hear why wage increases alone rarely create a sustainable advantage, how benefits such as childcare can become hard business investments, why yesterday's most efficient operating model may become today's vulnerability, and how reactive workforce planning can reveal a deeper leadership problem. When the environment changes structurally, working harder inside the old system isn't a strategy. Sometimes the system itself has to change. This conversation begins in supply chain, but its implications reach any leader facing talent scarcity, retention challenges, rising costs, technological disruption, or an operating model built for a world that no longer exists. Other episodes you'll enjoy: - Looking at Labor Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow with Kevin Cassidy & Christopher Washington - What Leaders Miss in the Talent Shortage Myth with Doug McCollough - Developing Future-Fit Employees with Faris Alami and Christopher Washington For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn. RESOURCES:  Learn more about Dave & Will’s work at their company website, https://truenorthgrowthpartners.com/.   Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here.   Maureen’s latest book is Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. You’ll find details about it at https://bit.ly/LeaderInAI, or check out the Kindle version at https://amzn.to/44buVz8. The audiobook version is now available at  https://amzn.to/4dTCleZ.   Her other 10 books are available on Amazon here.   -----------------------  OUR PODCAST TEAM:  Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf Editor & Executive Producer: Dan Mushalko Graphics Editor: Stacia Rogan Sponsorship Sales Manager: Kristine Gross ([email protected]) Booking Producer: Jenna Reik ([email protected]) Theme Music by Pavel Bekirov from Pixabay.   CONNECT WITH US: YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/ILI-LinkedIn2 Website: InnovativeLeadershipInstitute.com   Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! -----------------------  About Our Guests:  Will O'Brien is a Partner at True North Growth Partners and an executive leader and advisor with more than 30 years of experience in operations, supply chain, and business transformation. His career includes executive leadership roles in industry and consulting, including Lowe's and Sedlak Supply Chain Consultants. Will helps organizations improve operational performance, align people, processes, and technology, and build the capabilities needed for sustainable growth. Dave DuBose is a Partner at True North Growth Partners and an executive advisor and transformation leader with more than 30 years of experience. His career includes leadership roles with Pepsi Bottling Group, Accenture, Limited Brands, IBM, and Sedlak. Dave helps organizations align strategy, operations, people, and technology to execute complex transformations, improve performance, and achieve sustainable business results.