Skills shortage in small and medium-sized enterprises: Why professional process management is more important than additional employees

Skills shortage: Achieving more with less – through better process management

How process optimization and lean management help companies become more productive and resilient despite the shortage of skilled workers

The shortage of skilled workers is increasingly weighing on companies in the Aachen–Maastricht–Liège Euregio. Projects are delayed, teams are overworked, and many companies are struggling to fill vacant positions. But while the focus is strongly on recruitment, one crucial lever often remains untapped: professional process management.

"You don't need more people — you need better processes."

— James P. Womack & Daniel T. Jones, Lean Thinking (international management classic)

This statement comes from one of the most cited works in the field of lean management. And it is more relevant today than ever before.

The Harvard Business Review also points out in several analyses that companies lose an average of 20–30% of their working time due to inefficient processes. In many cases, the core problem is not a shortage of personnel, but a shortage of processes.

1. The real bottleneck is rarely the personnel, but the process system

When processes have evolved over time, are unclear, or are overly complicated, a situation arises that many managers are familiar with:

• Tasks remain undone

• Responsibilities are unclear

• Teams work in silos

• Information flows in an unstructured manner

• Meetings replace productive work

• Errors have to be corrected repeatedly

  
  

These symptoms are often attributed to a shortage of skilled workers. However, the real problem lies deeper: in process design and process management.

Lean management classifies seven types of waste

(e.g., unnecessary travel, waiting times, overprocessing, error corrections)→ many of which are caused by poor process management – not by a lack of employees.

2. Why new employees cannot save inefficient processes

Companies hope to generate more output by hiring more staff. But reality shows that

1. Onboarding costs capacity New employees only start to ease the workload after weeks or months.

2. Complex processes scale poorly More people in poor processes increase friction.

3. Skilled workers are expensive — process losses are free Process errors cost more than any job advertisement.

   
   

Process management creates capacity — before personnel are even available.

3. Process optimization: The most effective lever against overload in SMEs

Companies that use lean methods or professional process design achieve:

• clearly defined processes (process clarity)

• less duplication of work (process efficiency)

• shorter throughput times (process flow)

• better collaboration (process alignment)

• Less stress within the team (process resilience)

  
  

Typical improvements through process optimization:

• 20–40% less time wasted

• 30% faster decisions

• 50% less meeting time

• Significant reduction in error costs

  
  

These effects have been scientifically proven many times over, including by:

📌 Harvard Business Review – "Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform"→ Core thesis: Overloading is caused by inadequate process structures, not by a lack of competence or capacity.

4. Process management instead of firefighting mode: A change of perspective

Many SMEs work in what is known as "reactive mode":

• Putting out fires

• improvising in the short term

• Starting projects halfway, rarely completing them

• Knowledge in heads instead of in processes

  
  

But effective process management creates:

Process management instead of firefighting

• Responsibilities (RACI)

• Process maps

• Standards for handovers

• Clear priorities

• Visual control (Kanban, boards, daily huddles)

So that teams have less to manage – and more time to work.

5. Lean management: Achieving more with less – scientifically proven

Lean management is not a cost-cutting concept. It is a concept for freeing up capacity.

Lean means:

• less friction

• less stress

• less waste

• more focus

• more added value

• more time

Lean is a crucial success factor, especially in a region like the Euregio, where companies collaborate across borders and often in hybrid teams.

6. Business moderation: The starting point for any process improvement

Before processes can be improved, teams need to understand:

• where bottlenecks lie

• why work is stalling

• what the priorities are

• how collaboration should work

Facilitation creates this clear space. It is the "organizational tool" that brings structure to chaotic work realities.

Professional moderation creates:

• Clarity about processes

• a common understanding of processes

• Alignment in management teams

• Decision-making ability

• Momentum for change

  
  

7. Conclusion:

Skills shortages cannot be "recruited away" – but they can be organized away

A company with good processes needs:

• less staff to do the same work

• shorter training periods

• less stress

• less staff turnover

• fewer costly mistakes

• Fewer unnecessary meetings

  
  

Process management is the most powerful antidote to skills shortages. And lean management is the tool that actually makes "doing more with less" possible.

Further support (Corevento)

If you want to make your processes clearer, more efficient, and more team-friendly, Corevento supports you with:

✔ Process management & process design

✔ Lean workshops & Kaizen methods

✔ Business moderation

✔ Support for process projects