Much has been made of the never-before-seen employment shakeups of the past 18 months. The Great Resignation. The Great Reshuffle. Yes, recruitment, talent development and employee retention have all experienced a major realignment during this most unpredictable time period.
But that doesn’t mean hiring professionals won’t be able to re-establish steady ground. In fact, with a forward-thinking talent management strategy and a willing openness to greater adaptability, you can position yourself and your company for greater growth and resiliency in the days ahead.
In this post, we’ll address our current state of employment as a nation and explore some actionable ideas about intentional and impactful hiring practices we can all implement to reimagine the future of work and build stronger organizations moving forward.
How Labor Shortages Affect Us All (in a Good Way)
We have all heard about the dire and unexpected labor shortages caused by the unforeseen aftershocks of the pandemic.
Let’s crunch some numbers: A February 2021 report found that 52 percent of 2,000 employees surveyed in the U.S. and Canada plan to look for a new job in 2021, an increase from 35 percent a year earlier, according to the Workplace Institute Engagement and Retention Report, which was released by Achievers Workforce Institute. Better compensation and corporate benefits, improved work/life balance and lack of recognition for their work were all cited as chief reasons for why an employee would jump ship.
If that figure has you wondering what that means for your own company’s own talent pool, you’re not alone.
By taking the long view, these stats can be viewed as a positive development. Workers now have the liberty to be more selective in their choice of employment, putting unforeseen power squarely in their hands.
How does this newfound freedom benefit an employer? An empowered workforce is an engaged and motivated workforce. That’s just one reason why it’s essential to develop leaders, not just hire managers in an organization: You need people who make their reports feel heard, seen, and valued for the best possible business outcomes.
With the jobs reports slowly but surely improving and life crawling back to some sense of normalcy (taking the Delta variant, vaccines, mask mandates and the ever-fluctuating return to in-person work into account), we should all be preparing for the next chapter in the American economic picture and the redefinition of the American worker.
What Matters Most Now
As employers and employees alike reassessed what they most need from their work lives as the pandemic upended their future plans, hiring practices were suddenly ripe for re-evaluation.
From an organizational standpoint, management should now take a hard look at what qualities they need to find and cultivate in their new hires. The capabilities that seemed indispensable before might not pass muster in 2021. Essential soft skills such as problem solving, flexibility, critical thinking and teamwork are now more important than ever to the nurturing of a productive workforce and, therefore, the success of an organization’s bottom line.
In order to stay competitive and well ahead of the curve, organizations now need to be well equipped to fight the “war for talent,” incorporating several strategies for attracting top candidates and retaining their best employees, such as promoting leadership development, investing in ongoing learning opportunities, encouraging greater work-life balance and taking into account an individual’s personal considerations needed to perform at their highest potential.
Winning the War for Talent
It is becoming increasingly well known that workers leave bosses, not companies. Gallup studies have revealed that as many as 50 percent of workers will resign from jobs because their managers don’t live up to expectations.
This fact is now more imperative than ever because as the playing field is leveled, employees have the power to be much more selective about where they choose to work. Let’s call it the Great Equalizer.
What does that mean for your company’s senior management? If the pandemic has taught us anything about leadership, it is that for an organization to be successful in the long run, managers need to take into account an employee’s full life and welcome more opportunities to nurture and sustain long-term working relationships for long-lasting returns.
Founded in 1994, 20/20 Foresight Executive Search has been a trusted partner for companies navigating their way through tricky economic times — including the current financial climate and what that means for hiring. Think of us as your go-to resource for everything recruitment related — we’re here to help your business succeed no matter what the world has in store.