by Christina Vermette and David Portney
Stiles Associates
A lot’s been written and discussed how the workplace has dramatically shifted since the start of the pandemic. Companies have struggled to keep up, resulting in talented employees leaving for new opportunities while being unable to replenish them at the same rate. Part of the problem is senior leaders have long managed employees and hiring a certain way, so not only acknowledging, but immediately updating areas that employees care most about will result in significant improvement in recruiting and retaining A-talent.
Compensation
Compensation extends beyond annual salary, though even that must be regularly evaluated to assure fair-market value. If leaders sit back and expect a “hometown discount”, they’ll find out there’s no such thing when their top-performing employees put in their notice.
Equity in the company and performance bonuses also go a long way in attracting top talent. If an individual is looking at joining the company, offering equity stake shows confidence in themselves and the new leaders who are coming on board. On the bonus side, we’ve seen some candidates willing to sacrifice up to 30 percent of their annual salary to gain a 50 to 75 percent performance bonus because they’re confident they can reach the agreed upon numbers.
Diversity & Inclusion
Much like the other points, we can dedicate an entire series on this topic alone. To perhaps oversimplify the issue, people not only want, but expect a diverse group of people to be part of the team. This goes beyond ethnicity and culture (but these are also factors) to include diversity in backgrounds, personalities and thought processes. Every candidate will browse the team page on a company website and look closely at leadership to see if they’ll feel “different” from the others. Depending on what they find, doubts could be cast – sometimes unfairly based on the mere perception – about being otherized among their own team, resulting in a potentially contentious workplace environment. Don’t be shy about promoting the human side of your employees to make a candidate feel more comfortable.
One way a client of ours makes a candidate feel like they belong is email the person before their interview explaining what they bring to the table and how it pairs with the company; and a little more information about themselves as an organization. This sends the message the organization sees candidates, respects candidates and doesn’t see candidates as just another cog in the hiring wheel.
Impact and growth within the company
No one wants to feel like a small fish in a large pond. Many executives come from well-known companies with their own teams, but can still feel like their overall impact is somewhat limited and their upward trajectory stifled. For companies searching for top talent or struggling to keep their own, promising an impactful role with increased exposure to more aspects of the company goes a long way. This is especially true in private equity backed companies, where solid performance can be rewarded down the line with a number of different portfolio companies.
Work-life balance
One can make a good argument the phrase “work-life balance” in of itself shows there’s likely an imbalance. After all, work is a significant part of life, so why does that need to be “balanced” with everything else? Good companies acknowledge their employees’ lives go hand in hand with their work.
Right now, the biggest issue in this particular area is where the employee is physically working: on-site, remote or a hybrid situation. There’s no correct solution in this scenario, as each company has its own needs, but the more flexible a company can be the bigger the pool of talent that can be attracted. If a role can be fully or partially remote, be very vocal about that.
However, sometimes a remote or hybrid schedule is not possible, and in those cases, honesty is the best policy. We’ve seen companies claim a role is hybrid – even though it’s not – to simply grow the candidate pool, which can lead to distrust when they find out during the hiring process it’s not the case. If the reality is revealed after the new person has started, this can ultimately lead to an unhappy employee who will quickly leave for a truly hybrid role. What we’re also seeing is individuals who have already been exposed to working remotely or on a hybrid schedule would prefer to stay in those types of roles.
Having proper life balance goes beyond where one is physically working. Issues surrounding working parents continue to be incredibly important among top executives. “What are companies’ parental leave policies? Will my job be impacted if I get pregnant? Will I be able to pick up my kids from school?” These are all questions being asked, and companies have a better shot at landing and retaining top talent if they provide the benefits that satisfy those needs.
Bonus tip: Ensure the entire team is on the same page with policies. Nothing sows distrust quite like one senior leader saying there’s one policy while another leader says something different.
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