Liz Ryan is the chief executive officer and founder of Human Workplace, a publishing and consulting firm whose mission is to reinvent work for people. Below, she discusses how to recruit talent in a digital workspace.
Liz Ryan
Founder and CEO, Human Workplace
How can corporate leaders positively leverage recruiting platforms and other solutions to recruit and retain top talent in an increasingly digital workplace?
The key to recruiting great employees now is to sell them—something that, unfortunately, too many recruiters and hiring managers don’t do as well as they could.
Employers have been slow to evolve out of the mindset “The purpose of recruiting is to choose the most worthy candidate” into the appropriate mindset for these times: “The purpose of recruiting is to sell great candidates on our opportunities.”
Recruiting moves way too slowly, and it can be an insulting process for candidates. There is no reason for the outdated systems and interview questions still asked of candidates today. Great candidates have choices. They don’t have to work for your company. We need to get better at selling talent and worry less about weeding out unsuitable candidates.
With remote work becoming the new norm, what advantages does working remotely offer both an employee and their employer?
The benefits to remote work are many, and they are powerful. When your workforce is remote, your talent pool becomes many times larger. You can hire brilliant and talented people who for one reason or another cannot commute or choose not to. You can hire people in other time zones. Every employee who doesn’t commute gets an extra one to three hours added to their day. They don’t have the stress of commuting or the expense of fuel or parking.
The benefits to employees are obvious. The pandemic has taught us that many if not most so-called Knowledge Worker jobs can be performed perfectly well from home.
There is still irrational fear among some managers about work from home. They need to get over it because the future is in remote work. Companies will lose talent if they can’t stay current with the times.
Amidst “The Great Resignation,” how can companies ensure their employees feel valued to prevent burnout and retain top talent?
The first step is to listen to them. The number-one reason people leave jobs is that they don’t feel valued or respected.
It’s a great practice to ask your employees what they need and what you can do for them. Here are five more ideas:
Respect their time outside of work, and the boundaries they need around their personal life.
When they need something from you like approval for a vacation request, attend to it quickly. Taking care of your employees’ needs is a manager’s top priority.
When somebody on your team makes an extra effort or has a triumph, tell them! Congratulate and acknowledge them for it.
Give employees as much latitude as you can. It’s much more fun and satisfying to put your own stamp on a job than to be forced to do the job the way any other human being would do it.
Finally, pay people correctly. If the market rate for a job has gone up, give those employees an increase even if their annual performance review is months in the future. Otherwise, you leave the door open to your competitors to swoop in and hire away your brilliant team members.
What types of benefits are employees seeking that can promote their wellbeing overall?
Flexibility in where they get their work done, and when
Paid sick time
Time off (with no penalty) during the week for doctor visits and other healthcare activities
A reasonable workload—that’s more important than onsite yoga classes or a company-paid gym membership.
Are there any specific solutions or resources successful HR leaders can utilize to further promote employee wellbeing in the hiring process and beyond?
HR leaders can follow me on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/lizryan) or Twitter (@humanworkplace) to learn about my free monthly events for HR professionals, and check out my book “RED-BLOODED HR: Essays on Human Resources as a Force for Good.”
