When your employees have the knowledge, resources, time and tools to do their job well, productivity soars. Innovation abounds. And your business runs like a well-oiled machine.

But if even one of these factors is in short supply?

A “scarcity mindset” can creep in – causing mistakes that bring business to a screeching halt.

As this Deloitte University Press article illustrates, even top performers can make poor decisions when forced to operate under conditions of scarcity. Whether it’s a lack of time, focus, money, collaboration or any other valuable resource, scarcity can undermine decision-making by depleting one’s finite capacities for self-control and intelligence.

As a manager, what can you do to combat the harmful effects of scarcity in the workplace? Here are a few helpful takeaways from the Deloitte article:

Guard against the fundamental attribution error.

It’s easy to attribute poor decision-making to a “character flaw” in an individual. He misses deadlines because he’s a procrastinator. She made the mistake on that report because she is lazy and doesn’t check her work. In reality, however, poor decisions often are the result of situational factors. Make sure that you really understand the root cause when someone makes a poor decision (i.e., is it due to an internal characteristic or scarcity of an external resource?). Only by identifying the real culprit can you effectively resolve decision-making problems.

Understand how scarcity exhausts the mind – and impacts decision-making.

When resource scarcity exists, individuals are continually forced to deal with urgent, unmet needs. Over time, this mindset:

• Depletes mental reserves and leads to “decision fatigue” (i.e., the inability to make smart, careful choices).
• Can lead to an irrational discounting of future consequences (i.e., instead of making rational decisions, individuals are susceptible to taking lower payoffs now instead of waiting for a much larger reward in the future).
• Makes individuals prone to “planning fallacy” (i.e., convincing oneself that a task will take much less time in the future than it will now).

Build in adequate “slack time.”

While conventional wisdom holds that “slack time” is just wasted time, emerging research suggests that today’s knowledge economy can’t operate successfully without it. Why? Think-time allows individuals and organizations to grow, adapt and change – all of which are essential to creating long-term competitive advantage.

To find the right amount of “slack time” for your organization, identify the situations which most frequently lead to decision fatigue – and the negative cascade of effects it creates. Then, use simple strategies like effective prioritization, scheduled focus-work time, frequent breaks and meditation to build in the slack your team needs to make better decisions.

Make sure your most important resource – talent – is never in short supply.

Keep your business humming by taking a proactive, strategic approach to staffing – with help from the experts at Exact Staff. Our national staffing agency provides a full complement of staffing and placement services to help you:

• Analyze talent supply, considering composition (i.e., demographics) and capabilities (i.e., competencies);
• Consider your demand, giving priority to positions that are the toughest to fill – and most critical to your organization’s success;
• Create a comprehensive workforce strategy to close the gaps and prevent a scarcity of talent from jeopardizing your business’ success.

Schedule your free workforce consultation today.