#TalentAttraction #Tuesday – THE OLD WAY EQUALS THE HIGHWAY – WISH CERTIFIED TALENT GOODBYE!

Long ago, the technology world (or most of it) learned a valuable lesson. Their brightest Engineers could leave their company ANY TIME THEY LIKED. They were in demand – and everyone knew it. They were allowed to focus on a problem at work or in a home office for 48 straight hours. Once the problem was solved, they may not see them for a couple of days as they recovered. And the immediate problem was solved. They spent a workweek plus overtime equivalent in two days. Who cared if they showed up for a day or so? No one, especially their manager.

The Cat Is Out Of The House

Have you ever owned a cat? You may have kept your cat in your house until it slipped out one day. It seemed happy inside your house – food to munch on as it wished, naps were safely available when desired, the litter box was close and easy to find, windows for safely staring at the world outside.

Then, one day, the cat’s world suddenly exploded as it discovered the world outside the window. There were birds to chase and eat, baby bunnies to jump and eat, even vols and mice, Oh My! So much to do while outside. Then only come home when it suited the cat’s wishes.

The Cat Analogy Is What Your Company Faces Today

One result of Covid-19 and its variations was to send your employees home who did not have to be in the workplace. Working from home was sometimes painful, sometimes fun, and always interesting. It was a learning experience.

One learning experience was the benefits of no commuter time. A car that “normally” would rack up 30,000 to 40,000 miles over two years only had 12,000 miles over two years. The expense of maintaining their vehicle was saved, not to mention their commute time in each direction. Suddenly their work became much more convenient.

Virtual meetings have their advantages and have been utilized in recent years to reach remote workers, mostly in sales and technology. Is there a need for teams to meet in person? Absolutely, but it generally does not need to happen daily.

After many people worked from home for months, they discovered they liked it – just like the cat wanting to go outside once they discovered their freedom.

Just Like The Engineers…

They discovered how to effectively work from home. They created a routine, sometimes working around their children. They saved money because they did not have the expense of after school childcare. Despite their challenges, many workers found the workarounds. Their saved commuter time enabled them to wake up and begin work earlier in the morning. They may have worked more hours.

These employees discovered the advantages of focusing on their work and not having to deal with the in-office drama. Reports demonstrate that many of these professionals were able to accomplish more during a week working at home than they accomplished working in the office.

Professional workers have begun to understand their skills are in demand by other companies, some of whom will allow them to work at least some time per week at home. Those companies’ Managers have developed the new skills required to manage remote workers.

Unlike the cat that escaped from inside their house and found a new world they liked outside their house, these professionals were told to leave their offices. Over time, they found they liked Their new world Inside their home.

The Employment Market Swings

As a Recruiter, the Employment Market is interesting to watch as it swings from the Employers’ benefit to the Employees’ benefit – and back. This market can be very fluid. During Covid-19 last year, the Employment Market benefitted the Employers. As we scratch our way out of the pandemic, the Employment Market is swinging to the Employees’ benefit.

Why? There are several reasons.

1. Companies lost valuable employees to Covid-19. Many of those people need to be replaced.
2. More people retired. The pandemic was a wake-up call for them. They realized how fragile life is. They probably know at least one person who died due to the pandemic – and others who died from various other causes. They decided that they earned their retirement – and now want to take advantage. Those valuable employees need to be replaced.
3. Instead of listening to the wishes of their workforce that they sent from their offices to work from home, they are ordering their workforce to return to their offices. This is causing yet another disruption for employees who proved they successfully could work from home.

This is a time of change for all of us. Many people will wear masks more often, especially in offices during the winter. Many companies will benefit from hiring workers from inflexible managers, more so than ever before.

Inflexible managers will lose not only workers, they will also lose the company intelligence those professionals take with them. The companies will learn the hard way that employees now have more choices than ever before.

Suggestions To Adopt With Our New Workforce

Accept that many professionals now want to work from home and understand the many reasons why. We have a workforce that watched their parents, the Baby Boomers, spend long hours in their offices. Many of those Boomers missed out on their children’s lives because of their dedication to their companies. In many cases, they saw there was no reward for that loyalty at the end of their careers, not even the watch the previous generation received.

Ever hear employees complain there is no work-life balance in their workplace? Suddenly, everyone who could work from home was thrust in that direction. The change was uncomfortable at first. Then they developed their routines where they created that work-life balance – and they valued that change. Now inflexible managers are demanding they return to their commutes and time in offices.

If your company values its employees, it is important to listen to your workforce. Possibly consider office sharing. We all learned over the past 18 months that not everyone needs to be in the office All of the Time.

One way that office sharing may work is to propose that everyone is in the office on Wednesdays (or the day that works best for you). There is value in your team meeting in person – new ideas are generated during conversations in the hall. Professional relationships are developed and strengthened. Let the people who are sharing their office attempt to work out a schedule that benefits both. If they cannot agree, the manager can become involved and negotiate a solution. Office sharing could benefit the company by saving on commercial real estate. On Wednesdays when everyone is in the office, meetings are scheduled in conference rooms. Develop the solutions that work best for your company AND your workforce. Otherwise, you will need fewer offices.

Remember, The Cat Has Learned The World Outside The Office

Recruiting is Not Magic. It is Focused, Hard Work.

Talent Attraction is Better than Talent Acquisition!

If you would like a conversation on how to ATTRACT talent instead of using an Applicant Tracking System or HRIS to screen them out, we should chat. Call me directly at 435-714-4425 (mountain).

I am available to consult with your company to improve your Top Talent Attraction strategy. Attracting and integrating Top Talent gives your company an industry edge. The process is worth the effort by improving productivity, innovation, and profitability – Look at Google, Tesla, SpaceX, and Apple. Retaining Top Talent keeps your industry knowledge inside your company – instead of with the competition.

The RecruiterGuy.com Top Talent Attraction business model is my differentiator.  I focus on one client at a time and charge a flat monthly fee.  This model enables me to attract new talent to your organization while identifying and suggesting improvements to your company’s Talent Attraction process, including Manager Interview Training.  https://recruiterguy.com/

Learn how I coach my Career Transition Clients in my most recent book – Employee 5.0: Secrets Of A Successful Job Search In The New World Order  http://amzn.to/2D9w39f  My book includes an appendix with action verbs and sample interview questions.

I help organizations Recruit, Onboard, Actuate, and Retain Top Talent.

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