How to Recruit: Employers Can Attract Great Employees During COVID

COVID-19 has changed the way workplaces function. Physical distancing has prompted more opportunities for remote work. Essential service providers have been prioritized as health care, grocery, pharmacy and delivery workers continued working on the front lines. This reliance on these workplaces has shed some light on how these - and all - workers are compensated, recruited and retained. As an employer, you need to know what employees are looking for in a job and show how you can provide it. Here’s some help to rethink what you’re offering new staff when hiring during a pandemic.

Think About These 3 Employee Needs When Deciding How to Recruit

Traditional workplace ideas are changing to accommodate success in a pandemic era. Some businesses are even loosening up their resumé and application requirements, making successful hiring more likely because more people have the ability to apply equally. Plus, recognizing and tapping into the Hidden Workforce is a win-win situation for employers and job seekers. There’s a large population of people not in the workforce now because of factors like poverty, age and gender.

Employees are looking for employers who value their safety, recognize their skills and appreciate their efforts at work. Here are three ways employers can attract the job seekers they want in this worker-shortage era:

1. Make it easy, and acceptable, for staff to work from home. For some workplaces such as government offices, the working-from-home (WFH) option was a fairly easy transition. Private businesses may have had a more difficult time implementing this type of work for fear of lost productivity and disconnected departments. Two years into the pandemic, there are clear success models for productive working-from-home strategies. For employers looking to hire now, WFH options need to be on the table wherever possible. Think about the ways in which your employees are their most productive. You’ll note that not everyone is the same. For instance, some people like to come to work at an office where they can work face to face. Others have family obligations, commute issues and even mental health needs that WFH has helped them overcome. WFH has possibly even improved their quality of life and made them better workers. When deciding how to recruit, offer a hybrid work experience that your employees can choose. It’s a positive hiring practice for you and will attract lots more talent to your business.

The computer-based office work arena includes offices of all sizes and administrative workspaces in hospitals, courts, and factories. Work in this arena requires only moderate physical proximity to others and a moderate number of human interactions. This is the largest arena in advanced economies, accounting for roughly one-third of employment. Nearly all potential remote work is within this arena.

-McKinsey & Company, The future of work after COVID-19

2. Rethink your compensation packages. As more employees look to switch employers during the pandemic and into the post-COVID era, higher pay and better benefits packages are high on the list of must-haves. Financial hardship brought on by the pandemic, such as depleted savings, means people are looking to regain their financial stability while working for an employer who values their worth. Money and benefits coupled with company culture and work-life-balance awareness are key to attracting and retaining employees.

3. Provide career advancement opportunities. According to Forbes Magazine, as people look to change their jobs, the opportunity to learn and move up in the company is a significant factor in where they’re going to work. Work is no longer just for making money to live; it provides purpose and fulfillment for life outside of home and family. Providing workers with an avenue to advance if they choose, or the opportunity to move to a different department within your company through training and mentorship, will put your business ahead of others for job seekers.