Go Back, Stay Remote, Be accountable in a Hybrid way. After the pandemic, some are opting for a “new normal,” while others are insisting on a “return to normalcy.”
For some, a forced to return to the office is even more disruptive than it was to go remote in early 2020. For others the need to be together in a common space maximizes and employees focus that are claimed to impact efficiency and productivity. Office space is downsized but there is a balance that is struck in most corporations between remote working from home and on-site collaboration. There will be long-lasting changes to industries and roles where there was frequent travel, and some of that change will be dictated by the employees themselves who want to stay safe. Employers who recognize that an employees primary office may be their home, might have to consider any trip to a company facility as a travel expense.
COVID vaccination mandates.
Long term, employers waiting in the wings to see the reaction of employees of other companies to vaccination mandates will eventually be the biggest losers in retaining workers. Those who step up- putting safety above trying to please everyone will help anti-vaxxers to go find work elsewhere faster. Just as school age vaccinations, safety belts in cars, licenses to drive cars and insurance are mandated for public safety, those who choose not to comply for public are welcome to find alternatives on their own. The alternative will make it harder to manage the next pandemic.
More transparency and communication.
One of the biggest factors in the reduction of negative candidate sentiment – and increase in positive candidate sentiment – uncovered in the 2020-2022 Talent Board Candidate Experience Benchmark Research survey is the importance of increased communication and transparency. Ironically, companies do not intentionally improve their transparency. It simply is becoming easier for candidates to learn about a company from sources that are not controlled by the employer.
During the spring and summer of 2020 when the health of the world was changing day to day, companies were simply trying to keep candidates warm if hiring was frozen, or assure candidates that it was safe to get interviewed if they were surge hiring. That small bit of extra communication from employers to candidates was enough to change a five-year global pattern of negative candidate sentiment and make candidates feel like they were finally getting what they had asked for all along, which was more transparency. Once pandora’s box is open it may very well be demanded by employees in the future from employers attempting to revert.
Fairness in the selection process.
The perception that “I was not chosen AND it was done fairly” is a huge challenge in a world where cognitive dissonance is the rule for tens of millions. Still, employers contribute to the perception that I was deselected for reasons unrelated to my potential and skills, knowledge and experience, by systemic bias built into more than 100 years of reliance on everything from an intuitive ‘feeling about chemistry’ to hamstringing recruiters who are willing to source more inclusively. Collective pressures to change public perceptions about hiring will require significant improvements in transparency, access to data and holding peers and colleagues accountable.
Hiring Managers must become accountable for hiring activity.
It has become standard practice to research names on LinkedIn as soon as we are introduced to a candidate, hiring manager, or even company title. In the past, hiring managers could make hiring decisions without much accountability and be shielded from having to deliver negative news to candidates by their recruiting teams who do the majority of rejecting applicants. Nowadays, information is pervasive, and it’s easy to find out who hiring managers are. Not only are we extensions of the company brand, but extensions of each other’s professional brands. In order to keep professional bridges and reputations intact, it is imperative we work more in union than ever before.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts.
It’s about inclusion and engagement. Does everyone feel like they belong and are involved in decisions? In this decade, we will develop analytics that capture goals and efforts for equity and inclusion, not just diversity stats. We’ll also develop more authentic messaging that truly captures the voice of the employee. The more diverse a company becomes, the more it can look like the community in which it does business. More and more buyers are demanding this, and so successfully implementing a DEI model will positively impact the business. The trade off will be that traditional institutions may feel like they are losing part of their identity when they have to shed practices and images that are not inclusive.
Smarter AI.
We have seen the benefits of chatbots and other AI tools that relieve our talent acquisition teams from some of the volume requests and questions so that we can prioritize our top candidates’ experiences. The next phase is that candidates will demand and expect smarter AI tools, conversational chatbots, and more technology that helps them to research your organizations and what it’s like to work for you.