Who would have thought, looking 18 months ago, that we would be where we are today. There has likely never been a hotter time to be in the technology industry in particular with employees having a smorgasbord of choice.
As the world comes to terms with everyday life post pandemic, if there is such a thing, businesses are now coming to the realisation of what the pandemic has done for the landscape of hiring and retention.
What we giveth, we taketh away
People have tasted the delights of remote/flexible working and a new level of control over their work/life balance. If you are like me, you have also found that the level of focus and productivity has also increased, dramatically in some cases.
As we approach a level of “normal”, some businesses are trying to reel back flexible working and are surprised to find, there is resistance to these moves. I have even heard of people using these triggers to start looking around for new opportunities. Unsurprisingly, they are finding there is so much opportunity available now that remote working has opened up the global recruitment market.
It is now more important than ever that organisational leadership be looking to its people, their growth and the culture of their business as a focal point. Given the ease at which employees can “lift and shift” to another company, the barrier to exit has never been lower.
Working together
In his book “The Alliance” Reid Hoffman, cofounder and chair of Linkedin, talks about the dynamic between employer and employee being a contract or agreement on a journey together. Reid’s book acknowledges the fact that it is a privilege for businesses to have great people work for them and the statement “you are lucky to have a job” no longer applies.
Reid talks to a construct called “tours of duty” which are essentially purpose or goal contracts between employers and employees. It defines the relationship businesses have with their people and defines a project or outcome for these people to perform. This project is a collaborative process where it aligns a business objective with the persons passions, purpose and growth aspirations.
Jobs are now short and long term journeys that employers and employees embark on together.
This aligns nicely with Dan Pink’s work on people and how to motivate them.
Employers need to curate individual relationships with people to help motivate them through autonomy, helping employees master their craft and giving them purpose. The trick being to align these empowered people to the ultimate business outcome.
So my advice to all leaders and business owners. Focus on your people, your organisational culture and good flexible working and you will be ahead of the game and attraction and retention of talent will be a much easier and sustainable job in the future.
Retention
With the industry on literal fire and the competition for talent has never been more fierce organisations are now struggling to keep up with market demand as well as market “rates” for new people.
In my experience, remuneration is only one, sometimes small, part of the equation. As a business the ultimate goal is to responsibly take money out of the equation so that it isn’t something that people are constantly reviewing. The last thing an organisation needs is people having one eye on the door, ready to jump ship because they feel they either could get more else where or worse, feel under valued.
In her book Powerful, Patty McCord talks about “pay people what they are worth to the business” which in my mind where the “responsibly remunerate” comes from. Ensure you are paying your people what they are generally worth to you, of course keeping conscious of what the market is paying as well.
One key way to take money out of the equation is a focus on culture and growth. I have worked for numerous companies that didn’t pay “well” but their people wouldn’t leave for any money because they had achieved that nirvana of culture where the departments and company cared about its customers and its people and constantly worked to evolve and iterate on its culture.
The other key factor is around growth. Again Dan Pink has some great things to say on this topic around helping people master their craft or build a path for them to evolve to where they are passionate. Having a very robust career development framework for all members of staff is the first step to ensuring you are helping set longer term development goals and also being able to measure progress on those goals through one on ones etc.
In Summary
COVID has force a some what resistant business world into the joys that is remote or distributed working. I see this has an unparalleled opportunity for organisations to achieve a greater level of flexible work than ever and also help its people achieve a much better work life balance, or at least more control over where and when people work.
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