How leadership training helps employers with staffing shortages

When Kelli Cavasin wants to ensure a co-worker correctly understands her, she makes use of a communication technique called “paint done” to ensure there are no misunderstandings.

“Paint done” means fully walking through expectations of what a completed task will look like. 

Paint done is one of the key takeaways Cavasin, vice president of people and culture for New Holland Brewing, learned around two years ago as a result of enrolling in AG Collaborative’s Manage Like a Boss (MLAB) seminar. The Zeeland leadership firm helps train staff to be leaders. Learning to be an effective manager has always been needed, but perhaps more so now in light of staff shortages partially due to the challenge of recruiting new talent.

“Sometimes, leaders will tell employees to do something, and the leader may have one idea in mind and the worker another,” Cavasin says of the paint done technique. “When someone says, ‘I heard what you said but can you paint done it for me?’ That has really resonated with our team because, when people walk away, both the giver and receiver of the communication need to understand what the goal is. It’s really about setting clear expectations of what the goal and the vision of the project are.”

MLAB has six components: unlocking your management approach + strengths; building connection + trust; mastering interpersonal communication; navigating tough conversations; leading successful 1:1s + creating accountability; and mapping your next 90 days + owning influence.

A different skill set

It’s not uncommon for a person to be promoted to a management position because they made a great lower-level employee. However, they may not have the requisite skill set to be an effective manager. That’s where MLAB comes in, according to Abbey Johnston, who co-owns AG Collaborative with Greg Mutch. 

Conversely, employers find themselves in a talent crunch for a host of reasons, making current employee retention all the more crucial, says Johnston. MLAB syncs those two trends.

“A lot of people are retiring, and there’s a lot of open positions,” says Johnston. “There’s the gig economy (I can work for myself) and the difficulty in finding child care has made it super difficult for people to find jobs. It’s hard to get new people, so retaining people is very important. And that’s where I work: Taking the necessary steps to retain those people, so our program is helping to retain people.

“Just because you have the title doesn’t mean you have the skills,” adds Johnston. “What happens is people are promoted as managers because they were excellent contributors in their area, and now they’re responsible for people and what they were doing before doesn’t mean they’re good at this part of their job.

What is ‘leadership’?

Compounding the workplace challenge is the word “leadership.” It’s a word that’s frequently used but doesn’t have one universal definition.

“What makes a good leader?” Johnston asks. “We start from ground zero so we know what it is to get better at. Leadership maximizes others toward a specific goal. It really shows up in our moment-to-moment situations. It’s the way we take responsibility for the impact on other people.”

MLAB principles are for all businesses and management levels. It’s a good fit, whether it’s a small, medium, or large company.

“(Managing) is ongoing, it’s life work,” says Johnston. “It’s not something you check off your to-do list, it’s a lifelong process. We want to turn the light bulb on to how to lead people and how to make the most impact, particularly in the manager role. It’s for anyone who hasn’t been trained on the human side, including those who have been at this for decades. It is for new or older managers.

“We’re giving very practical skills, like how to we generate trust or maximize their contribution,” says Johnston. “(Managers) need to be listening well, getting feedback, and have more of a coaching approach rather than a commanding approach.”

Finding areas to improve

That insight strikes a chord with Eliza Beaulier, operations director for Rim Guard in Caledonia.

“I highly recommend it for taking a step away to think about what you’re doing well, what are you doing OK at, and being honest with yourself about how you can improve in interacting with other people,” says Beaulier. “At the end of the day, people remember how you led them. Not necessarily how much money you made for the company but how you bring humanity back to the job.”

MLAB covers how important the manager is to someone’s perception of how well they work. That’s key to spurring them to do their best.

“It was a good reminder that, as a leader, you have the blessing and the curse of making someone’s job really enjoyable and impactful as well,” says Beaulier. “Manage Like a Boss really laid out how you can do that successfully. Some seminars can be classroom-y but (co-founders Greg Mutch and Abbey Johnston) are very relatable, and it was hands-on learning and discussion, and not just sitting there being talked to.”