The War for Talent continues…
So we are now (hopefully!) starting to venture out of our home offices more and more and returning to the work place. For some, that is a relief and a chance to reconnect with work colleagues and friends and get back to some normal, social interaction. Remote meetings are now a standard part of almost everyone’s daily work life and on a positive note, have resulted in less time and expense spent travelling and arranging meeting venues, the ability to work from anywhere where the job permits and a better work-life balance. Moreover, there is the important issue of climate change and we know that less travel = less negative impact on the environment.
So it seems that most of us are onboard with the concept that working from home is not going to disappear any time soon and that surely is a good thing. It offers flexibility that we never had before and, recent research (PwC,2021) suggests that overall, this option actually increases employee productivity.
Remote working is here to stay but, and you know there is a but, what impact does this remoteness really have on our overall perception of our roles in the workplace and our commitment to the company, our colleagues and, importantly, our own part to play in our role and how important our input is to achieve company and individual goals.
From a recruitment and retention point of view, it is ever more important to realise how remoteness can affect employee and employer engagement and commitment. In the early stages of the pandemic, we were all only too keen to say that we had the technology to conduct remote interviews and, the stark truth is that we had no choice! If we hadn’t done that, recruitment and all the processes around it would have come to a standstill which was not an option.
However, now we do have a choice. Both the external recruiter and the employer. It is no secret at present that there seem to be plentiful jobs, but we are hearing “lack of skills” and that potential employees are turning down offers, being counter-offered or just not showing any interest or commitment. They are also “ghosting” more, a term used to describe the sudden lack of communication from a prospective candidate who previously showed an interest.
How can we overcome this lack of commitment and move back to Engagement?
- Firstly, think about your interview and retention process from start to finish.
- Have you moved to a remote first interview or telephone screening as part of your standard process?
- Did you do this purely because of COVID? If so, do the benefits of convenience and cost outweigh the lack of engagement and commitment?
Consider how this comes across to the candidate. It may be convenient and, in some cases, it still may be necessary – for instance, if the candidate resides a long distance from the site or if you have to conduct many interviews or involve several colleagues.
However, having conducted my own research in to online coaching and engagement with coachees, I found evidence that the first meeting is actually the most important and allows the creation of rapport and relationship building. You’ve heard the term “first impressions” many times and in recruitment, first interviews are a prime example of how this works in reality.
At first interview, you have the opportunity to engage and this is both from the employer and candidate perspective. How can you fully engage with a head and shoulders on a screen when you cannot fully immerse yourself in the process and react to the nuances of body language that we as humans are so adept at recognising?
I am not averse to online interviewing, coaching or meetings at all. Quite the contrary. But there is a clear pattern of increased job offer rejections, successful counteroffers and a lack of new candidates coming forward in the first place. It is not a lack of skills per se.
So we might argue the point of how do we attract the candidates in the first place? Today’s market is difficult and competitive and the answer lies in firstly getting the whole offer right. Job title, description, responsibilities, development opportunities and of course, benefits. But this is not a “one size fits all market”. Be prepared to be flexible on what you offer the candidate. What do they want? It is not all about money these days but be clear on what you are prepared to offer as that one extra flexi day may just hit the right note.
Once you have some interest, then you must follow through with engagement – from start to finish. First interview is your greatest and most powerful opportunity to do this. If you need to, you can still conduct another interview online but remember always that you will never reach the same levels of commitment or buy in and that goes for both sides.
Follow through – ONBOARDING
Engagement doesn’t stop once the candidate has joined you organisation. I have heard horror stories of candidates being interviewed on site – that’s great – but then they are “made” to work remotely and, as new employees, feel more and more isolated and forgotten about. They begin to disengage. Consequently, they leave the business, but you cannot understand why which results in the same process starting again. Increased cost to hire, wasted time, adverse feedback from candidates and so this continues.
Be mindful of remote workers’ needs and consider that not all will be the same. As humans, we have differing levels of needs in terms of social interaction but generally, being away from our colleagues and the workplace indeterminably can be damaging.
So to sum up – Engage, Engage, Engage! Don’t use COVID as an excuse to carry out poor, meaningless interviews and meetings when the benefits of human contact at the first opportunity could result in better performance, contented employees and what’s more, a more efficient, productive and cost-effective recruitment and retention process.
DSA Can Help You
For more information regarding this topic and how DSA can help improve your cost to hire, retention and hiring process, contact me directly:
diane@dsaexecutive.com or call 01675 464060