Whether you’re hiring now or planning for next year, it’s important to understand how the coronavirus pandemic reshaped the recruiting landscape. Attracting high-qualified, motivated employees remains essential for future success, and these three strategies will help you build a post-pandemic workforce.
- Build the Right Team and Encourage Diversity in Hiring
Diversity in hiring should be both comprehensive and inclusive. This means:
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- Building a team with varied skillsets, experiences and areas of expertise
- Hiring women and men
- Maximizing unique insights from millennials to baby boomers
- Valuing different perspectives from multiple countries and cultures
Finding the right people is critical to your company’s future and growth, and collaboration is key in fostering productive and efficient work environments. So, ensure every team member embraces diversity and inclusion, and is committed to one another and your organization’s success.
- Understand How Top Talent is Using the New Normal to Advance Careers
While it may sound unlikely, the coronavirus pandemic created opportunities for top talent to accelerate their careers. With more time working at home or remotely, many individuals took advantage of online trainings and courses. Several institutions and organizations offered discounted or free classes, and savvy professionals made good use of newly found time freed up from daily commutes.
Online networking also exploded exponentially. More time spent on computers resulted in updated LinkedIn profiles, perusing job boards and building new connections with colleagues who might have previously been out of physical proximity. And, as the days got longer at home, many attended virtual networking events. Exploring these online avenues enabled employees to find and hone approaches to new careers.
There was also a seismic shift in leveling up digital skillsets. Adapting to new collaboration platforms, video conferencing software, and other automated processes greatly improved digital literacy and future-forward skills for a vast majority of the global workforce.
- Promote a Dynamic Company Culture, Competitive Benefits, and Opportunities to Grow and Learn
From flexible work policies to holistic wellness plans and professional development, there are many new incentives to attract top talent and keep your workforce engaged, recharged and satisfied. Here are just a few:
Employee Wellbeing
If leaders have learned anything from the pandemic, it is that employee wellbeing is an essential factor in business survival. If your employees aren’t healthy your business won’t succeed. It’s important to understand that employee wellbeing is more than physical health; a robust approach includes mental and emotional wellness too.
When hiring, offer competitive packages that include exercise incentive programs with discounts at local gyms or dedicated workout space and time at the office. Meditation or quiet rooms, outdoor work spaces, and mental wellness programs are also increasingly popular methods for reducing stress and boosting productivity.
Be Flexible
Perhaps the biggest incentive resulting from COVID is offering flexible work policies. These might include staggering work schedules or offering “extra” office hours that allow employees to work earlier or later in the day. (This also helps reduce time spent commuting during peak hours.) Or you might consider blending onsite and remote days, such as three days in the office and two offsite.
Professional Development
Nothing says “I value you” more than investing in your employees, and upskilling is a lot less expensive than replacing talent. Professional development and learning opportunities increase employee engagement, productivity and quality — a win-win from all perspectives.
There are both online learning programs that empower employees to grow at their own pace on their own time, as well as group trainings that promote self-growth, company improvement and team building. For top performers, create a strategic plan, a career path and key performance indicators tied to clear objectives and goals. This serves twofold in keeping them engaged while emphasizing the company’s commitment to their development and long-term value to the organization.
Company Culture
The pandemic reminded us how success is achieved through collaboration and teamwork. Companies with engaged, high-performing employees embraced a culture of transparency and servant leadership. Senior leaders and employees were actively involved in improving local, regional and global communities together. As business leaders and HR professionals demonstrate a greater emphasis on culture, core values and community, employees will respect and take pride in the positive impact beyond office walls.
Consider providing opportunities for your employees to invest more in the company through task forces, inter-department improvement teams and interest-based groups or clubs. Building inter- and intra-department networking and team-building events will strengthen company culture while inherently emphasizing company mission, vision and values.
Smart hiring in the post-pandemic era focuses on the employee experience, building diversity and inclusion, offering creative and competitive packages, and improving company culture. Attracting and retaining employees hinges upon your ability to show gratitude for your teams while investing in their careers and future growth.
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